Medicine in British Frontier Policy

Abstract

Medical missions formed an important part of British colonial policy in the Northeast India. This study will trace the evolution of colonial medical policy from the early decades of twentieth century in Arunachal Pradesh. Considered to be on the fringe of the British Empire which was based in the Brahmaputra Valley, and thus outside the administrative limits of the colony, this study will provide a fresh vista to re-assess British frontier policy in the erstwhile tribal areas of Assam. Medicine, so far, has not been seen or understood to have been part of these colonial interventions in Arunachal Pradesh. The findings and the arguments of this study is primarily based on archival records.