Institutionalizing of Veterinary Science in Colonial India

Animal husbandry was a profitable practice from the time of Maurya dynasty in Ancient India. The animal husbandry with facilities of farming and management were also paid attention during the medieval period. In the pre-colonial period, there were no veterinary schools and colleges to control the animal diseases, and even during the early colonial period there were widespread cattle mortalities. The Indian Cattle Plague Commission in 1869 recommended the establishment of veterinary institutions under the colonial management. As a result a number of institutions including Imperial Bactarial Laboratory at Poona (1890); shifted to Mukteshwar in 1893 with a branch in Ijatnagar in 1913. With the advice of Robert Koch, a German Bacteriologist a number of serums from 1893 onwards against rinderpest, hemorrhagic septicaemia, anthrax and other diseases were produced. The animal vaccination was an important milestone which ushered in the process of immunization for the animals. This article examines the origin and development of western veterinary medical science and institutions during the colonial period.