Famines, Cattle Diseases and Cattle Mortalities: History of Civil Veterinary Departments in India

The material culture of nineteenth- and twentieth-century BengalBengal revolved around domesticated animals. Agricultural cultivation, its mainstay of economy, depended primarily on cattle. The urban city life relied on draft animals which also featured in food and rituals of the indigenous Bengali subjects. Yet, in spite of the socio-economic implication of animals in Indian culture, contemporary South Asian scholarship is somewhat silent on the importance of studying non-human animals as historical actors.