One of Kipling's protagonists, Spurstow, is a doctor in the British Raj. His role in serving the empire requires him to the tend to the sick and injured locals working from them in India, most of whom are sickw ith cholera. Cholera was an epidemic not only within the narrative, but in most colonized states at this time. The lack of clean resources and proper sanitization made the local indigenous populations primarily susceptible. Pictured here is a lithograph that reveals the racial biases the Empire held about this disease.
Faherty, Anna, editor. “John Bull catching the cholera.” Colored lithograph. The ‘Blue Terror’: British Troops and Cholera in 19th-Century India, 1832. Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas, Wellcome Collection, Creative Commons, https://brewminate.com/the-blue-terror-british-troops-and-cholera-in-19th-century-india/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025