Caste, Cleanliness, and Control:  Epidemics and the Politics of Public Health in Colonial Kerala

Author(s)	Mr. Himanshu Pandey
Country	India
Abstract	This paper explores how caste and social hierarchy affected public health in colonial Kerala, and how health policies also reinforced those hierarchies. Using archival materials such as Travancore Administration Reports, Malabar District Health Reports, missionary hospital records, and local newspapers, the study looks at public health measures like quarantine, sanitation campaigns, vaccination programs, and burial rules. It argues that these measures, although presented as scientific and neutral, often reflected caste-based ideas of purity and pollution. This influenced who received care and how people followed health rules. By studying epidemics such as cholera, plague, and the 1918 influenza, the paper shows that epidemic control was not just about medicine but also about social power and control. The findings suggest that state health policies and local customs shaped each other, making some caste groups more vulnerable to disease than others. Overall, the study highlights how modern public health in colonial Kerala was closely linked to social inequality and cultural beliefs.
Keywords	caste, colonial Kerala, epidemics, public health, sanitation, social hierarchy, cholera, influenza, plague, medical history
Field	Sociology > Health
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-02
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.62139
Short DOI	https://doi.org/hbdsmx

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