Typhoid in Colonial Bangalore: Epidemics and Responses

Before Indian Independence in 1947, the power over the Indian state of Mysore was divided between the princely Wodeyar dynasty and the British Empire. The ruling elite of Mysore were considered modern for their progressive support of novel reforms.

An endemic fever caused the British military to abandon the capital of Srirangapatna. In 1809, the British built new barracks near Bangalore Fort around the village of Halsoor (modern Ulsoor), establishing the Cantonment away the local Pete settlement.

Though the Indian Revolt of 1857 did not reach Bangalore in its full force, the effects of it were felt. After the mutiny of the Indian soldiers was quelled, the racial framing of colonial politics increased and impacted the design of sanitary and hygiene interventions.

The Bangalore garrison was the largest British military cantonment or 'Dandu' in Southern India, maintained separately from the local community. However, deaths due to contaminated food and water soon became a major threat to the British soldiers and civilians stationed in India.

The British nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale, who rose to prominence as a result of her contributions to field hospitals during the Crimean War and her ideas on sanitary measures, was assigned the task of studying the causes of death amongst British soldiers in India.

As a champion of the British imperial project of civilising India, Nightingale's analysis was strongly shaped by her racist views. She pronounced the local customs as uncultured and unclean. Unsurprisingly, she focused on water carriers or 'Bheesties' as the source of illness.

During the course of these investigations, Indian locals were frequently seen as a source of contamination of the water supply. From unclean housing and sanitation habits to a general lack of hygiene, the onus was placed more on the locals than on British practices.

However, the 'Station and Barracks Report of 1869' described "natives" as adept at identifying clean water sources. Historically, the locals were experts of natural water filtration methods, and appointed 'Neerugantis' or water managers to oversee equitable water distribution.

In the Military Cantonment Act of 1866, the sanitary regulations highlighted the requirement for good drainage, sewage and water systems. Due to the large cost of these infrastructural changes , they were hardly made. Human involvement in water carrying and sanitation continued.

The high number of deaths linked to contaminated water sources and unsanitary living conditions prompted inquiries into the state of British Barracks. Recommendations were made to improve the available infrastructure of the hospitals, drinking water sources and drainage system. 

'The Sanitary Commissioner Report for Madras of 1869', noted that epidemics persisted through the nineteenth century. British medical officers recorded deaths and treatments of the Imperial soldiers, and often referenced the techniques of local physicians.

Meticulous patient records described bouts of fever, diarrhoea, changes in complexion and even, facial expressions. A diet of brandy, port wine, chicken and beef broth was allotted alongside laxatives, mercury and quinine, which likely worsened patients’ condition.

A study called 'Prevalence of Typhoid Fever in Bangalore' by Dr. J.L. Ranking in 1869, recommended improved sanitation. The British doctor firmly stated that the local settlement by the Ulsoor tank was to blame for the spread of waterborne illnesses in the British Cantonment. 

In 1875, the Sanitary Commissioner released a report on sanitary measures, discussing the abolishment of the Ulsoor village settlement, and cleaning the "filthy native districts" to control the spread of typhoid. The recommendation was never actualised.

With the growth of the population, British medical officers began thinking of public health more broadly. They recommended installing piped water for the whole of Bangalore. Cases of disease apparently reduced as conservancy or sanitation services were reportedly running well.

The focus on providing clean water and safe sewage disposal further  intensified with the wide acceptance of Robert Koch's germ theory, which theorised that microorganisms or pathogens invading living hosts were the cause of disease, leading to further study of microbiology.

Attempts at diagnosis and prevention were bolstered by scientific breakthroughs, namely the discovery of the typhoid bacteria by bacteriologist Carl Joseph Eberth, and further research by Robert Koch. Indian medical reports post-1888, replaced 'enteric disease' with 'Typhoid'.

The British medical officers suggested various methods of water filtration in Bangalore, from boiling water in tea kettles, to the use of Pasteur Water Filters. However, the most economical solution was to source water from the naturally filtered wells used by dhobis (washers).

The coming of the twentieth century saw the installation of the Chamarajendra Water Works scheme under K. Seshadri Iyer, the Dewan to the Mysore Princely State. The scheme was operational in August 1896, supplying filtered water for a population of 250,000 in Bangalore city.

The most substantial improvement was the installation of the twelve-foot Jewell Water Filter in 1896, in Hebbal, north of the city. Though it served civil and military areas, the capacity of the largest combined purification system in India  was insufficient for the population.

A deadly epidemic of bubonic plague broke out in Bangalore in 1898, thousands succumbed despite efforts to segregate and inoculate in the City and Cantonment area. Infrastructure developed exponentially, with widened roads, inauguration of Victoria Hospital and new extensions of the city.

A total of 889 acres were allotted to build the new extensions Malleshwaram and Basavangudi. Planned by a British municipal engineer and executed by Dewan Seshadri Iyer, they were considered to be ‘model hygienic suburbs’, with piped clean water and organised sanitation systems.

Houses were allocated by religion and caste, with preference given to government employees. Behind each row of houses, drains were laid to carry sewage away, or conservancy lanes were built for scavengers and carts to be brought to manually remove human waste ‘conservatively’.

However, cases of typhoid and malaria broke out across Bangalore, claiming hundreds. The Mysore Princely State rushed to set up bacteriological labs and mobilise health officers. By mapping cases geographically, the majority of cases were observed in the new suburban extensions.

By mapping cases geographically, it became clear that the new suburban extensions were hotbeds of disease. Typhoid cases rose dramatically during the monsoons of 1937-38 with rich upper caste Brahmin homes hit particularly hard, challenging notions of  hygiene and social status.

In 1938 a detailed investigation by Dr. Narasimha Moorthy, a bacteriologist with the local Public Health Institute, showed multiple causes of typhoid infection. He reported on infrastructural flaws of the extensions and recommended multiple civil and sanitary interventions.

The 1938 report found the Jewell Water Filter taps contaminated,  explaining the higher case rate in the extensions compared to the cantonment. The British authority accused the municipality of not chlorinating the city water, but the municipality claimed they lacked funds.

Moorthy also found that many of the allegedly hygienic conservancy lanes were being used for open defecation. Not only were there not enough scavengers for such a large area, but their salary was not covered by the municipality and many residents could not afford their wages.

Typhoid continued to be reported in Government Surveillance programs. It is endemic in many urban areas in India like Bangalore which saw a sizeable outbreak in 2017. In some states in India Typhoid vaccinations are given as preventive measures during local outbreaks. 

Better sanitation systems are a fortification against these outbreaks, yet workers are heavily relied on with little support. While typhoid is no longer considered a public health endemic, we remain vigilant for new antibiotic resistant strains that threaten local populations.