10.5281/ZENODO.4064404
Mukherjee, Gargi
Gargi
Mukherjee
Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan, West Bengal
The Bubonic Plague in Bombay and Pune (1896-1897)
Zenodo
2020
2020-10-02
Journal article
https://zenodo.org/record/4064404
10.5281/zenodo.4064403
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Open Access
<p>The Bombay plague epidemic was a bubonic plague that struck<br>
the city of Bombay in the late nineteenth century. The plague<br>
killed thousands, and many fled the city leading to a drastic fall<br>
in the population of the city. In September 1896 the first case of<br>
bubonic plague was detected in Mandvi, Bombay, by Acacio<br>
Gabriel Viegas. It spread rapidly to other parts of the city, and<br>
the death toll was estimated at 1,900 people per week through<br>
the rest of the year. Many people fled from Bombay at this time,<br>
and in the census of 1901, the population had actually fallen to<br>
780,000. Viegas correctly diagnosed the disease as bubonic<br>
plague and tended to patients at great personal risk <br>
From Bombay, it spread quickly to Bengal, Punjab, the United<br>
Provinces, and later even to Burma. However, its impact was<br>
most severe in Western and Northern India, while southern and<br>
eastern India escaped with relatively fewer deaths. By 1901, 4<br>
lakh Indians were reported dead, and by 1905, the toll was 10<br>
lakh! <br>
</p>