Abstract

This study rigorously examines the medical history of Kashmir (1846–1947), contesting linear narratives of Western medical advancement. The text contends that the Dogra state, in collaboration with British missionaries, established Western medicine as the dominant practice while sidelining indigenous systems such as Unani and Ayurveda. Medical missionaries, masquerading as benevolent agents, propagated religious and cultural imperialism, transforming hospitals into venues for conversion and oversight. Public health initiatives exhibited significant disparities—classist, gendered, and regionally biased—favoring urban elites and the military while disregarding rural and marginalized communities. Utilizing archival sources and oral histories, the research demonstrates that medicine operated not only as a therapeutic field but also as a mechanism of governance, ideological expression, and social regulation. Indigenous healers and communities, rather than being passive recipients, actively negotiated, rejected, or adapted to these interventions. This study reconceptualizes medicine in Kashmir as a contentious domain influenced by power dynamics, identity, and resistance, rather than merely a humanitarian or scientific pursuit