Clinical images, imperial power and Bhau Daji’s secret treatment for leprosy at the Royal College of Physicians Museum

Abstract

In 1874, Indian polymath physician Bhau Daji (1822–1874) passed away suddenly – and the details of his secretive ‘cure’ for leprosy died with him. Drawing on a collection of clinical photographs and illustrations at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Museum, this paper will unravel Daji’s place in the College’s empire-wide enquiry into leprosy in the mid-nineteenth century. We will argue, drawing on Elizabeth Edward’s (2014) work, that these images represent ‘photographic uncertainties’ – both conforming to and undermining traditional conventions of colonial photography, while at the same time highlighting Daji’s place as an ambiguous figure in colonial medical hierarchies. We treat the images as ‘visual arguments’ (Fox and Lawrence, 1998) testifying to the effectiveness of Daji’s secret remedy and the contagious nature of the disease. Despite the supposed objectivity of the photographic form, Daji’s treatment was never seriously investigated by the Leprosy Committee of the Royal College of Physicians. Transported from Bombay to London, we will consider the differential value placed on Daji’s medical expertise as captured by the patient images. In the spirit of the current movement to ‘decolonise collections’, we reflect on how this case study demonstrates the need for specialist medical museums to interrogate their own colonial pasts.

Keywords

• medical photography
• leprosy
• empire
• bhau daji
• royal college of physicians
• collection history
• medicine
• decolonising