Table Of ContentHISTORY OF INDIGENOUS PHARMACEUTICAL
COMPANIES IN COLONIAL CALCUTTA
(1855-1947)
In the context of life and civilization, the pharmaceutical industry
is as old as human existence. Since time immemorial India had its
own enriched indigenous tradition of medicine. The development of
alchemy and its application for human welfare was also an important
step in Indian scientific tradition. The present monograph is an
innovative attempt to understand the history of the indigenous
pharmaceutical companies in Calcutta during the colonial times.
Here pharmaceutical companies have been viewed as an illumi
nating lens to understand the interconnectedness between Indian
traditions of thought and Western science and subsequent develop
ment of pharmaceutical industry in colonial India. The entire gamut
of discussion centres around the issues of medical education, medical
services, public health, pharmaceutic al profession and politico-
economic contexts of the development of pharmaceutical industry in
colonial India. Three indigenous pharmaceuticals namely – Butto
Krishna Paul & Co., Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works
Limited, and East India Pharmaceutical Works Limited have been
studied. The study not only portrays the politico-economic back
ground to the emergence of the pharmaceutical industry in colonial
India but links it to the economic nationalism and the quest for self-
sufficiency among Indian nationalists and entrepreneurs. The
pharmaceutical industry in India can be symbolic of a cultural re
sponse to modern science which was to pave the subsequent trajectory
of national scientific endeavours in India.
Malika Basu is presently Assistant Professor in History, Kalna
College, University of Burdwan. She began her career as a Research
Assistant under the internationally acclaimed Social Scientist Prof.
Partha Chatterjee.
Dr Basu’s research papers have been published in national and
interna tional journals, edited volumes and conference proceedings.
She is also recipient of the Travel Grants from University Grants
Commission and Indian Council of Historical Research.
History of Indigenous
Pharmaceutical Companies
in Colonial Calcutta
(1855-1947)
MALIKA BASU
MANOHAR
First published 2021
by Routledge
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© 2021 Malika Basu and Manohar Publishers & Distributors
The right of Malika Basu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
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Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Pakistan or Bhutan)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-69962-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14401-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Adobe Garamond 11/13
by Kohli Print, Delhi 110051
Contents
List of Tables and Figures 6
Preface 9
Acknowledgements 13
Abbreviations 17
1. Introduction 21
2. Medical Education, Public Health and Development
of Pharmaceutical Education in India 57
3. Medico Pharmaceutical Profession and Professionals 98
4. Colonialism, National Economy and the
Development of Indigenous Pharmaceutical
Companies in India 139
5. A Case Study of Three Indigenous Pharmaceutical
Companies in Colonial Calcutta 171
6. Conclusion 222
Glossary 237
Bibliography 245
Index 269
Tables & Figures
TABLES
2.1 Distribution of Hospitals and Dispensaries in
British India 65
5.1 Growth of Capital and Sales of BCPWL from
1901-27 188
5.2 The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works
Limited: Number of Drug Products in the 1930s 198
5.3 The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works
Limited: Research and Development Expenditure 200
5.4 The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works
Limited: Advertisement and Sales Promotion
Expenditure 201
5.5 Sales of East India Pharmaceutical Works Limited:
1937-47 213
5.6 Dividend on Shares 214
5.7 Items Produced by East India Pharmaceutical Works
Limited: 1937 to 1946 214
FIGURES
2.1 Kadambini Ganguli—The First Woman
Practitioner in India—Bengal Presidency 71
2.2 Anandibai Joshi—Bombay Presidency 73
2.3 Muthulaxmi Reddy—Madras Presidency 76
5.1 Heritage Building of Butto Krishto Paul & Co. 184
5.1a Butto Krishto’s Main Product Edward’s Tonic 184
5.2. Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works Limited 186
5.3. Main Entrance of Manicktala Factory of BCPW 186
5.4 Annual Rate of Growth of Sales of Bengal Chemical
and Pharmaceutical Works Limited 197
List of Tables & Figures 7
5.5 Share of Profit in Sales of Bengal Chemical and
Pharmaceutical Works Limited 197
5.6. Share of Dividend in Net Profits of Bengal Chemical
and Pharmaceutical Works Limited 199
5.7. Dividend Rate on Ordinary Shares of Bengal
Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Limited 199
5.8. Sarsuna Factory, Behala, Kolkata, East India
Pharmaceutical Works Limited 211
Preface
From the very beginning I was very keen to learn about the making
of medicines in Ayurveda and their application for human welfare.
The major motivation to write this book cropped up from this
desire and my source of inspiration has been Prof Partha Chatterjee
whom I met when I was working as a research assistant in the Centre
for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata. During an academic discus
sion, the issue of indigenous pharmaceuticals were raised by him
and in course of time it became a research concern. However, it is
not because of the lack of a substantive historical research tradition
which instilled me to think over the present work. Rather, it was
the dearth of suitable historical material which provided me with
the impetus to conduct my own study and the present study is a
result of it.
The history of indigenous pharmaceuticals encompasses a broad
spectrum of subjects—from the emergence of indigenous pharma
ceutical industries to the pharmaceutical profession, the making
of the medicines and finally its application for human welfare. It
comprises a vast and multifaceted story which has had different
developmental consequences in different civilizations. The present
monograph attempts a new kind of challenge to explore the rich
historical account of the development of indigenous pharmaceuticals
in colonial Calcutta. The term ‘indigenous’ has been the subject of
several debates for its positive and negative connotations. The author
has used the term ‘indigenous’ to denote the civilizational origin
of systems of medicine. The present monograph tries to explore
the two-way interaction between science and colonialism and the
development of indigenous pharmaceutical industries in colonial
India and to highlight the growth and development of the indi
genous pharmaceutical industries in colonial Calcutta with focus
on indigenous entrepreneurship and scientific developments, and
their interrelationship. The broader canvas tries to unravel how
