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A few days back I read a small piece in Madras Musings about Dr K Raghavendra Rao and since primary sources are unavaiblabe due to Lockdown I have written this Blog on the basis of evidence culled from the 10 volumes of "Health Department Reports" presented to the Corporation of Madras whose Health Officer was Dr Raghavendra Rao. This is only the first part of my work and will return to the theme as and when interest material and inclination permit.
A few days back I read a small piece in Madras Musings about Dr K Raghavendra Rao and since primary sources are unavaiblabe due to Lockdown I have written this Blog on the basis of evidence culled from the 10 volumes of "Health Department Reports" presented to the Corporation of Madras whose Health Officer was Dr Raghavendra Rao. This is only the first part of my work and will return to the theme as and when interest material and inclination permit.
PartI
The late Nineteenth century and the early Twentieth centuries were Hard Times for India and Indians. Charles Dickes was able to see Hard Times for his people in England but an astute observer would see te same in India, as well. The Railways, the Suez Canal, the introduction of Telegraphs and the gradual introduction of electricity were all factors that changed the urban landscape. And in this times of change stradling the lte nineteenth and early twentieth century we encounter Dr Kaiwar Raghavendra Rao, a trained Physcian and a Public Health specialist with higher qualification from the University of Cambridge. As his name suggests, the Doctor was probably hailed from the Kaiwar region of present day Karnataka, and was born in 1884. He took his BA degree from Bangalore Central College, the nucleus of the Bangalore University and came to Madras now Chennai to join the Madras Medical College,
Medical Education in Madras Presidency was undergoing a major change at around the time Raghavendra Rao entered th Medical Clooge. Until just a few years earleir Indians who wanted to qualify for the Medical Profession and practice in the Presidency were restricted to the LMP certification which was essentailly a Licentiate in the field of Medicine. Theferfore Dr Raghavendra Rao was one of the first qualified mediacal professionals in India. The introduction of the MB&CM degree from 1904 meant that Indians did not have to make the costly trip to England to take their qualifying examinations for the Royal College of Suregeons/Physicians at London or Edinburgh, Scotland. Dr Rao lived though the time when Medical traditions and practices were slowly but surely undergoing irreversible changes.
Indians traditionally depended on their vaids, acharyas, siddhas for medical needs and were quite content to leave their fate to the enthusiastic though largely unqualified people. The East India Company opened a small dispensary for its Englih soldiers in Fort Saint George and the practice of Western Medicine. Right from the start there was an undercurrent of competition, indeed hostility, between the two traditions: the Native and the European. Traditional Indian medical practices were neither codified nor were there any prescribed cerification for its practioners.
Indians traditionally depended on their vaids, acharyas, siddhas for medical needs and were quite content to leave their fate to the enthusiastic though largely unqualified people. The East India Company opened a small dispensary for its Englih soldiers in Fort Saint George and the practice of Western Medicine. Right from the start there was an undercurrent of competition, indeed hostility, between the two traditions: the Native and the European. Traditional Indian medical practices were neither codified nor were there any prescribed cerification for its practioners. Introduction of Western Education, particularly the establishment of the University of Madras in 1857 was to change native perceptions. The immense prestige of Western Education began to outpace the validity and legitimacy of Indian medical practices. Efforts were made from time to time to drive Indian practices under ground by creating the smokescreen of Quakery. It is against this background that young men like Dr Raghavendra Rao, fresh from College, were attracted to the brave new world of scientific medicine. At the time when Dr Rao was a student the Medical Degree course consisted of 4 years with six months of internship. I have not been able to locate a copy of the Syllabus of the Madras Medical College. However, it may not have been that much different from other medical colleges. Chemistry, Physiology, Anatomy, Medical Statistics and Hygine together with exposture to reallife on the ground training in an establsihed Hospital must have formed part of his training. Dr Rao retained th lesson learnt well because as Medical Officer of the Madras Corporation during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 he drew upon all these methods in order to study the Influenza Pndemic in the Madras Preseidency. We are running ahead of the story.
Dr Kaiwar Raghvendra Rao lived in Madras and died in the city in 1944 just as World War II was drawing to a close. He lived through two major Wars and died a few yeras shy of the transfer of power in 1947 folloing the Partition of India. I have been able to piece together a part of his professional life from the Reports of the Health Department of the Cororation of Madras. He seems to ve joined as an Assistant Health Officer soon after he graduated and spent the rest of his life serving Madras Presidency. The introduction of the minto-Morley Reforms in 1919 saw Public Health as a transfered subject and a Department of Public Health established with Dr Raghvendra Rao as its first Director of Public Health.
To be continued in Part II
Dr Kaiwar Raghvendra Rao lived in Madras and died in the city in 1944 just as World War II was drawing to a close. He lived through two major Wars and died a few yeras shy of the transfer of power in 1947 folloing the Partition of India. I have been able to piece together a part of his professional life from the Reports of the Health Department of the Cororation of Madras. He seems to ve joined as an Assistant Health Officer soon after he graduated and spent the rest of his life serving Madras Presidency. The introduction of the minto-Morley Reforms in 1919 saw Public Health as a transfered subject and a Department of Public Health established with Dr Raghvendra Rao as its first Director of Public Health.
To be continued in Part II
