The Medicalisation of a Colonial Space: Sanatoria, Public Health, and the Political Geography of Darjeeling

This article interrogates the entangled histories of colonial medicine, spatial governance, and public health infrastructure in the Darjeeling Hills. It critically analyses how British colonial authorities deployed medical rationalities—particularly through the construction of sanatoria and health institutions—as instruments of imperial control and spatial reconfiguration. The medicalisation of Darjeeling, far from being a neutral or purely humanitarian endeavour, served to legitimise the consolidation of British authority in a strategically vital frontier region. Through a close reading of archival records, colonial gazetteers, and secondary literature, the study charts the transformation of Darjeeling from a peripheral frontier into a militarised cantonment and elite European hill station. It further examines the long-term implications of these interventions on postcolonial healthcare trajectories in the region. By foregrounding the intersections of biopolitics, empire, and geography, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the colonial legacies embedded in the region’s health infrastructure.