Missionaries and their medicine is a lucid and enthralling study of the encounter between Christian missionaries and an Indian tribal community; the Bhils; in the period 1880 to 1964. The study is informed by a deep knowledge of the people amongst whom the missionaries worked; the author having lived for extensive periods in the tribal tracts of western India. He argues that the Bhils were never the passive objects of missionary attention and that they created for themselves their own form of 'Christian modernity.' The book provides a major intervention in the history of colonial medicine; as Hardiman argues that missionary medicine had a specific quality of its own - which he describes and analyses in detail - and that in most cases it was preferred to the medicine of colonial states. He also examines the period of transition to Indian independence; which was a highly fraught and uncertain process for the missionaries.
#624389 in Books Duckworth Publishers 2001-09-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 5.75 x 1.25l; 1.50 #File Name: 0715630873624 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A Dedicated HumanitarianBy Kindle CustomerIn 1857 David Livingstone accepted the position of British consul at Quilimane and; at the same time; took charge of the "Zambesi Expedition"; which the British government had established to further pursue the possibilities of mineral and agricultural resources of Eastern and Central Africa. On this expedition the Zambesi was explored; and lakes Shirwa and Nyassa were discovered. Livingstone's second expedition to Africa is not only an account of exploration of the Zambesi and its waterways but also a detrailed portrait of the local tribes and the consequences of the slave trade."Dr. David Livingstone; the Scottish medical missionary; is known to history as the greatest explorer of his age and a dedicated humanitarian who devoted his life to the eradication of the African slave trade. He was a national hero to his contemporaries and time has confirmed his reputation as one of the greatest; if not the greatest; of the eminent Victorians; both in his achievement and in his influence." He resigned from the London Missionary Society and accepted the position of British Consul at Quilimane; at the same time he agreed to lead an expedition; financed by £5000 from the British Government; to chart the course of the Zambesi and investigate the agricultural potential and natural resources of the region. In private Livingstone had hoped that the expedition would ultimately lead to the founding of an English colony in Central Africa. The expedition was plagued by supply problems; internal disputes; sickness (Mary Livingstone died on 27th April 1862) and problems arising from the unsuitability of the steamship and inspite of all of this; Livingstone reached Murchison Falls; Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa and the Victoria Falls. The expedition carried on for approximately six years. "Other explorers we have had whose fame rose as high; but it lasted only for a few years. The influences of Dr. Livingstone's life-work; on the other hand; are so far-reaching that his fame is above the passing feelings of the time."
