Health and Medicine in the Indian Princely States : Routledge : 9780367866501 : 0367866501 : 12 Dec 2019 : Since the 1980s there has been a continual engagement with the history and the place of western medicine in colonial settings and non-western societies. In relation to South Asia, research on the role of medicine has focussed primarily on regions under direct British administration. This book looks at the ?princely states' that made up about two fifths of the subcontinent. Two comparatively large states, Mysore and Travancore ? usually considered as ?progressive' and ?enlightened' ? and some of the princely states of Orissa ? often described as ?backward' and ?despotic' ? have been selected for analysis. The authors map developments in public health and psychiatry, the emergence of specialised medical institutions, the influence of western medicine on indigenous medical communities and their patients and the interaction between them. Exploring contentious issues currently debated