The DOI matches its Crossref record; 42 of the 42 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Beasts of Burden: Animals and Laboratory Research in Colonial India
Open accessAbstract
The article discusses animals and laboratory research in colonial India. The focus of the article is how India managed to procure the vast numbers of animals it needed to conduct animal experimentation in Indian laboratories. The author presents the use of animal experimentation from the perspective of India's social history of colonialism arguing that is necessary to view animal experimentation in Indian laboratories within the context of Indian animals being subjects and resources of Great Britain. Topics include how the use of animals in Indian laboratories was shaped by Victorian moralities and Hindu animal sensibilities, the transformation of the animal body into a scientific object, and the importance of animals as part of colonialism.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The author highlights, for example, the somehow ambiguous role that British rulers played, on the one hand, in introducing legislative acts for preventing animal cruelty (the first being passed in Bengal in 1869) and, on the other hand, in massively exploiting animals in colonial economic enterprises such as in the army and on hunting expeditions (Chakrabarti 2010, p. 139).”
From Animals in the Public Debate: Welfare, Rights, and Conservationism in India (2019) · cites this paper as Chakrabarti 2010, p. 139
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The author also brought up the contradiction between British condemnation of native practices considered to inflict brutality on animals, which prompted them to pass the very first laws to prevent acts of cruelty, and the practice of vivisection which began to be introduced on a large scale in India in the late nineteenth century.”
From Animals in the Public Debate: Welfare, Rights, and Conservationism in India (2019) · cites this paper as Chakrabarti 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Chakrabarti (2010) has shown how the 'dilemma' that the animal protection issue caused in the West-of seeing animals both as resources for human consumption and as 'objects of compassion'-was even amplified in India as a consequence of the complex political and socio-religious dynamics of the colonial situation.”
From Animals in the Public Debate: Welfare, Rights, and Conservationism in India (2019) · cites this paper as Chakrabarti 2010
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
INDIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH.
(1931) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)82268-0 · Cited by 1,643
Winner, L. (1993) · Science, Technology, & Human Values · doi:10.1177/016224399301800306 · Cited by 924
Berge, A. F. L., Latour, B., Sheridan, A., & Law, J. (1990) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2163587 · Cited by 820
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine
(1942) · The Indian Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1007/bf02816934 · Cited by 799
The English Utilitarians and India
Furber, H., & Stokes, E. (1959) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1846620 · Cited by 581
Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteenth Century India.
Adas, M., & Arnold, D. C. (1994) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2168516 · Cited by 431
Animals and Modern Cultures: A Sociology of Human–Animal Relations in Modernity
Franklin, A. (1999) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781446217764 · Cited by 420
Journal of Postgraduate Medicine
(1955) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/pgmj.31.361.583-c · Cited by 370
Lynch, M. E. (1988) · Social Studies of Science · doi:10.1177/030631288018002004 · Cited by 317 · cited 1×
“One way of explaining these sentiments is to see these as reactions towards the transformation of the animal body into a scientific object.(4) Pasteur’s method of producing vaccines by attenuating the virus, by passing it through a series of animals, turned animals more directly into productive resources for science,…”
BackgroundVivisection in historical perspective
Bracegirdle, B. (1988) · Endeavour · doi:10.1016/0160-9327(88)90239-6 · Cited by 311
Research works printed but not linked: 23
- Latour B., 1988, Pasteurization of France
- Rangarajan, 1908, “The Raj and the natural world”, 2005
- Stewart John, 1850, The Canadian Medical Association journal, 1053
- 1914, Indian journal of medical research, 126
- Gordon R. J., 2003, Social history of Africa and environment, 240
- “The dog question” from “Anti Rabies”, Letters to the Editor, Civil and military gazette, 6 March 1896, 5.
- 1885, “Destruction of mad dogs in Shimla, 1885–1906”, 15
- “Letters to the Pioneer”, Pioneer mail, 20 February 1896, 27.
- Bannerman W. B., 1914, Indian journal of medical research, 153
- Copland I., 2005, Bulletin of SOAS, 59
- 1890, Modern Asian studies, 3
- Ram L. Sundara, 1927, Cow-protection in India
- “Minute Recorded by the Honourable Mr Justice Starling on the draft of the Bill to make further provision for the prevention of cruelty to animals”, Ibid. , pp. 294–5.
- “Memorial of the Scottish Society for the Total Suppression of Vivisection praying that the practice of vivisection may not be legalised in India”, Scottish Society for the Total Suppression of Vivisection, 37 Lutton Place, Edinburgh, 23 December 1893, P/4554, pp. 371–2, APAC.
- Elgin, White G. S., Miller A. E., Brackenbury H., Pritchard C. B., Westland J., MacDonnell A. P. to Secretary of State for India, Simla, 28 August 1894, P/4554, pp. 375–6, APAC.
- Elgin and Council to Hamilton [he became Sec. of State for India in 1895], Calcutta, 25 March 1896, P/4963, pp. 199–200, APAC.
- “Despatch from the Secretary of State, no. 57 (Revenue), 21 May 1896, P/4693, Part B, pp. 39–40, APAC.
- The camels were not deserted. Most of them died in the long marches through the treacherous terrains of Afghanistan and from lack of food and supplies. Private William Atkinson, who had recently joined the army and went on to the Afghan campaign, witnessed many of these deaths which he described in his diary: 24 march 1879, During the march we had many of our poor baggage camels drop on the road side and die for want of food and sheer exhaustion as the poor animals had been on the continued march for several long days they were completely fatigued and worn out. The camel is a very hardworking animal and will go as long as the poor thing can get one leg before the other, and fall down and die rather than shirk their work…. And the camels which had dropped down would remain where it had fallen to be torn to pieces by the wild jackals, and other wild beasts and large birds of prey, who would very soon have the whole of its flesh stripped from their bones and leave their skeleton frame glaring in the trailing sun. These sceneries was [ sic ] witnessed daily by me and my comrades and most particular round about our camping ground where there was always scores of dead carcasses of camels and bullocks in all stages of mortification. And the stench which arose from the dead carriage of war was something most terrible to mention. We found every encampment in the same way in which I have spoken of [“Journal, completed 1883, of Private William Atkinson, H.M. 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment”, Mss Eur D1093, pp. 29–30, APAC].
- “Typescripts of different versions of articles by Sir Torick Ameer Ali on Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1832–1914), John Lockwood Kipling (1837–1911) and the Second Afghan War”, Ch (6), Mss Eur C336/10, pp. 16–17, APAC.
- Grant Colesworthy, 1850, Sketches of oriental heads
- Elgin and his Council to Sec. of State, 17 March 1897, P/5188, pp. 1151–2, APAC.
- Note by Risley (6 May 1903) “Proposed Establishment in Madras Presidency of the Institution for Treatment of Hydrophobia similar to Pasteur Institute at Kasauli”, Home-Medical, June 1903, Part A, pp. 3–4, NAI.
- 2003, Animal experimentation in India, unfettered science: How lack of accountability and control has led to animal abuse and poor science
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Animals through Chinese History
Sterckx, R., Siebert, M., & Schäfer, D. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108551571 · Cited by 56
Quinine, mosquitoes and empire: reassembling malaria in British India, 1890–1910
Roy, R. D. (2012) · South Asian History and Culture · doi:10.1080/19472498.2012.750457 · Cited by 40
Welfarist and Imperial: The Contributions of Anticruelty Laws to Civilizational Discourse
Deckha, M. (2013) · American Quarterly · doi:10.1353/aq.2013.0033 · Cited by 41
Colonizing elephants: animal agency, undead capital and imperial science in British Burma
Saha, J. (2017) · BJHS Themes · doi:10.1017/bjt.2017.6 · Cited by 39
Roy, R. D. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316771617 · Cited by 38
Metadata
- Authors
- Chakrabarti, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Kent (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Chakrabarti, Pratik
- ORCID
- Chakrabarti, Pratik
- Venue
- History of Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 125-151
- ISSN
- 0073-2753 (ISSN-L)
- 1753-8564
- PMC
- PMC2997667
- OpenAlex
- W1660652942
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 13.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- History of Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (078703)
- University of Kent
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Natural History
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal testing and alternatives
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Geographies of human-animal interactions
- Keywords
- animal experimentation, colonial India, laboratory animals, colonialism, Victorian morality, Great Britain
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
