1918 flu pandemic in India

Known in India as "Bombay Fever" May 2021 April 2020 Spanish flu 1918 flu pandemic in India was the outbreak of an unusually deadly influenza pandemic in British India between 1918 and 1920 as a part of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic. https://scroll.in/article/966655/a-study-maps-the-spread-and-decline-of-the-1918-spanish-flu-in-india A study maps the spread (and decline) of the 1918 Spanish flu in India 8 April 2020 Scroll.in 8 March 2020https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-when-corpses-of-influenza-victims-were-dumped-in-narmada-river-in-1918-7310909/ Explained: When corpses of influenza victims were dumped in Narmada river in 1918 Man Aman Singh Chhina 12 May 2021 The Indian Express Also referred to as the Bombay Influenza or the Bombay Fever in India, https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/coronavirus-pandemics-of-the-past-1656730-2020-03-18 Deja flu: Spanish Lady killed 14 million in British India a century ago 8 April 2020 The Times of India 8 March 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-51904019 Coronavirus: What India can learn from the deadly 1918 flu 10 April 2020 BBC 18 March 2020 the pandemic is believed to have killed up to 17–18 million people in the country,https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/references-to-death-and-disease-in-hindi-literature-6357805/ References to death and disease in Hindi literature 12 April 2020 the most among all countries. 1118673 2000 Mayor S. Flu experts warn of need for pandemic plans British Medical Journal 321 7265 852 11021855 10.1136/bmj.321.7265.852 https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/how-the-spanish-flu-changed-the-course-of-indian-history-1.1584285312898 How the Spanish flu changed the course of Indian history 8 April 2020 Gulf News 15 March 2015 Historian David Arnold estimates at least 12 million dead, about 5% of the population.10.1017/S0080440119000082 Death and the Modern Empire: The 1918–19 Influenza Epidemic in India 2019 Arnold David Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 29 181–200 211656275 The decade between 1911 and 1921 was the only census period in which India's population fell, mostly due to devastation of the Spanish flu pandemic.https://www.livemint.com/news/world/why-1918-matters-in-india-s-corona-war-11584033795146.html Why 1918 matters in India's corona war 13 March 2020 Sreevatsan, Ajai https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/what-the-history-of-pandemics-tells-us-about-coronavirus/story-Fb3XDfXe0lyk0JukqtdG1L.html What the history of pandemics tells us about coronavirus Malik, Shiv 15 April 2020 Hindustan Times The death toll in India's British-ruled districts was 13.88 million. Chandra S, Kuljanin G, Wray J Mortality from the influenza pandemic of 1918–1919: the case of India Demography 49 3 857–65 August 2012 22661303 10.1007/s13524-012-0116-x 39247719 free The pandemic broke out in Bombay in June 1918, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/an-unwanted-shipment-the-indian-experience-of-the-1918-spanish-flu/articleshow/74963051.cms An unwanted shipment: The Indian experience of the 1918 Spanish flu 8 April 2020 The Economic Times 3 April 2020 2014 Chandra S, Kassens-Noor E The evolution of pandemic influenza: evidence from India, 1918–19 BMC Infectious Diseases 14 510 510 10.1186/1471-2334-14-510 25234688 4262128 free with one of the possible routes being via ships carrying troops returning from the First World War in Europe. https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/coronavirus-pandemics-of-the-past-1656730-2020-03-18 Pandemics of the Past 8 April 2020 India Today 18 March 2020 It hit different parts of the country in two waves, with the second wave being the highest in mortality rate.Mills, I D 1986 The 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic – The Indian Experience The Indian Economic & Social History Review 23 1 1–40 10.1177/001946468602300102 11617178 29136588 The outbreak most severely affected younger people in the age group of 20–40, with women disproportionately impacted. According to the Sanitary Commissioner's report for 1918, the maximum death toll in a week exceeded 200 deaths in both Bombay and Madras. The spread of the disease was exacerbated by a failed monsoon and the resultant famine-like conditions, that had left people underfed and weak, and forced them to move into densely populated cities. As a result of the severity of the outbreak, the year 1919 saw a reduction of births by around 30 percent. The population growth of India during the decade of 1911–1921 was 1.2%, the lowest among all decades under the British Raj. The sanitary commissioner's report for 1918 noted that all rivers across India were clogged up with bodies,White F. Norman https://wellcomecollection.org/works/baz3x459/items?canvas=11 A preliminary report on the influenza pandemic of 1918 in India / by the Sanitary Commissioner with the Indian Government Government Monotype Press 1919 Simla 9 United Provinces "Such a huge number of deaths occurring within such short a time made the disposal of corpses a very great difficulty, with the result that numberless bodies were thrown into the rivers of the province." 20 April 2022https://www.indianculture.gov.in/flipbook/134563 The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 in India June 1919 National Archives of India, New Delhi 93 Copy of a letter no.3324/3 Q.2, dated 13th November 1918. From the General Officer Commanding 5th (Mhow) Division. To the Major-General L/c Administration, Southern Command "The deaths are so numerous while whole families, and also those who attend to cremations, are suffering so severely from this epidemic of influenza that cremation had become impossible" "Wood or cow-dung cakes were not available and hence bodies were simply thrown into the Narbada." 20 April 2022 because of a shortage of firewood for cremation. Mahatma Gandhi, leader of India's independence movement, was also infected by the virus. The pandemic had a significant influence in the freedom movement in the country. The healthcare system in the country was unable to meet the sudden increase in demands for medical attention. The consequent toll of death and misery, and economic fallout brought about by the pandemic led to an increase in emotion against colonial rule. History Spanish flu Initial outbreak at Bombay The pandemic, believed to have originated in Camp Funston, Kansas,Spinney L Pale rider: the Spanish flu of 1918 and how it changed the world. Penguin Random House 2018 978-1-78470-240-3 London made its way to Europe via the American expeditionary force, and soon spread across the Western front to units on both sides. On the 29th of May, 1918, an Indian troop transport anchored at Bombay for 48 hours. While initially going unnoticed, it is believed this was the initial catalyst for the outbreak of influenza in India, having come loaded with troops returning from Europe. On the 10th of June, seven police officers, one of whom was posted at the docks, were hospitalised with influenza, in what would be India's first reported cases of Spanish flu. From Bombay, the disease spread inland through India's roads and rails, spreading all over the country by August. The outbreak coincided with a drought affecting the central provinces in 1918, which caused a famine and left large portions of the population vulnerable to disease. Mirroring the rest of the world, the disease hit in three waves, the mild first wave hitting in the summer of 1918, the deadly second wave (where death tolls across the country peaked in the autumn of 1918), and a limited third wave in the early months of 1919. First wave By July 1918, death tolls in Bombay were crossing 200 people a day. Health officials in Bombay debated upon the source of the epidemic, with the Executive Health Officer of the Bombay municipality Dr. J.A. Turner, submitting a report that stated the first signs of a major epidemic came on the 22nd of June, when several bank employees, office workers, and millhands reported themselves absent due to fever.2018-07-12 From the Archives (July 13, 1918): The Influenza Epidemic. Dr. Turner's Note. https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-archives-july-13-1918-the-influenza-epidemic-dr-turners-note/article24401455.ece 2025-03-21 The Hindu en-IN 0971-751X Dr. Turner said the whole city, "may be compared to huge incubator with suitable media already prepared for the dissemination of the germs of the disease, the temperature, moisture and material in suitable conditions". The first cases in Calcutta and Karachi were reported in the middle of June, and in Madras by the end of June. By July, cases had sprung up in the United Provinces. Reports of influenza began springing up amongst troops stationed in Karachi, Lansdowne, Jabalpur, Abbottabad, Khandwa, Quetta, Dehra Dun, etc. Initially, deaths during the first wave sprung up mostly amongst the very young and old, and were overlooked.gateway 2020-09-17 The 1918 'flu: India's worst pandemic https://www.gatewayhouse.in/1918-flu-india/ 2025-03-22 Gateway House en Bombay suffered 1,600 deaths in the first wave, with Bihar, Orissa, and the United Provinces having a "mild impact". Second wave The second wave of the pandemic saw a sharp increase in the mortality rate across all provinces. Across the country, death rates peaked from September to November 1918. In the Central Provinces alone, 791,000 deaths were reported from October to November. The flu first hit Delhi in August, with the city suffering its highest casualty rate in October. Delhi suffered 7,044 deaths in October and November, a death rate of 31.2 per mile. Fatalities in Punjab spiked in October, with a majority of the dead being young adults. Punjab suffered more than 800,000 deaths during the second wave, with the Provincial Sanitary Commissioner stating in a report, "the hospitals were choked so that it was impossible to remove the dead quickly enough to make room for the dying; the burning ghats and burial grounds were literally swamped with corpses, whilst an even greater number awaited removal."Punjab (India). Sanitary Board https://archive.org/details/b31489394#:~:text=Report%20on%20the%20sanitary%20administration%20of%20the,of%20the%20Sanitary%20Board%20for%20the%20year&text=and%20the%20report%20on%20sanitary%20works%20for. Report on the sanitary administration of the Punjab and proceedings of the Sanitary Board for the year ... and the report on sanitary works for 1913 Lahore Government Printing Wellcome Library Estimates for the dead in Punjab amount to 816,317 deaths, roughly 4.2 percent of the provincial population. On the 6th of October, 1918, Bombay alone saw 768 deaths. An average of 326 deaths were reported per day in the Bombay presidency. The Times of India reported, "nearly every house in Bombay has some of its inmates down with fever". Overall, Bombay was hit hardest by the second wave, with an estimated total of 20,258 deaths. Madras city saw 3,481 deaths, while Bengal saw 213,098 fatalities. The second wave of the pandemic had a major impact on the Indian populace. In his memoirs, the Hindi poet Suryakant Tripathi wrote, "Ganga was swollen with dead bodies."Tripathi Suryakant Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' Kulli Bhat Rajkamal Publication 1958 New Delhi 53 hi Nine 10 April 2022 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.403047/page/n53/mode/2up?view=theater He himself had lost his wife and many family members to the flu, but could not find enough firewood to perform their last rites. Indian independence activist and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi suffered from influenza in October 1918, having written in his autobiography, "all interest in living had ceased".Gandhi M.K The Story of My Experiments with Truth Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. 2011 978-81-291173-0-4 India 478 en The healthcare system in the country was unable to meet the sudden increase in demands for medical attention. Tensions rose between colonial authorities and the Indian populace over the former's handling of the pandemic. Despite the epidemic, Indian-grown food was still being sent overseas to aid the war effort. The poor standard of health infrastructure in the country led to a huge disparity in death rates in India, compared to the rest of the world. While colonial authorities dithered, local organizations associated with the independence movement mobilized to organize relief efforts. Science Journalist Laura Spinney lists the pandemic as the event that put India on the road to revolution, as many of these organizations finally got the grassroots support they had for long struggled for. Impact Just prior to the pandemic, a drought in north India led to famine in many parts of the country, leaving many people underfed and weakened. With many of these rural migrants coming from isolated villages in India, and thereby lacking exposure to many of the diseases prevalent in cities, the famine left these people especially vulnerable to the flu. The Sanitary Commissioner also notes the improved transport systems, especially the railways, were a key factor in facilitating the spread of disease across the country. Of the estimated 50 million deaths worldwide, 10 million to 20 million deaths were from India, the highest death toll worldwide. Several prominent figures in India suffered from influenza, including Charles Freer Andrews, and Mahatma Gandhi. References Further reading Bibliography of the history of the 1918 influenza pandemic Tumbe Chinmay The age of pandemics (1817–1920): How they shaped India and the world HarperCollins 2020 Category:Epidemics in India Category:1918 in India Category:Spanish flu pandemic Category:Influenza pandemics Category:India in World War I Category:1918 disasters in India