‘For the Recovery of His Health’: The East India Company and the Problem of Tropical Invalidism

In the late eighteenth century, the number of Europeans falling sick in India became a major cause of concern to the East India Company, as well as the Crown’s armed forces. While those who fell gravely ill were granted leave to return to Britain, there were many others whose ailments were less serious but which nevertheless rendered them incapable of performing their duties. ‘Tropical invalidism,' as it became known, constituted a major drain on efficiency and finances across the British Empire but, in India, the problem was particularly acute in Bengal, which was reputed to be the most deadly part of the Company’s territory. From the 1820s, sanatoria in upland areas were established to deal with these invalids but prior to that other strategies were developed. This chapter examines procedures for assessing the need for medical leave and the methods to which the Company resorted to allow its officers to recuperate in the age before the hill station became a familiar part of Anglo-Indian life.