{"id":9356,"date":"2026-02-18T23:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/?p=9356"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:54:13","slug":"margins-of-immunity-women-space-and-the-disparities-of-smallpox-vaccination-in-colonial-bengal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/volume4-issue1\/margins-of-immunity-women-space-and-the-disparities-of-smallpox-vaccination-in-colonial-bengal\/","title":{"rendered":"Margins of Immunity: Women, Space, and the Disparities of Smallpox Vaccination in Colonial Bengal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-vivid-cyan-blue-color has-text-color\"><strong>Author: Anirban Das<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DOI Link:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04010028\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04010028<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract:<\/strong> The essay is a probe into how smallpox vaccination was shaped by and shaped the lives of women in colonial Bengal, emphasizing urban and rural contrasts. Vaccination was a universal solution that was also imbued with gender issues, caste issues, and geographical issues. In urban areas, vaccination was actively pursued by colonial authorities through urban regulations, mission activities, and hospital services. However, women\u2019s participation was also accompanied by issues such as purdah, their physical well-being, and their being kept under surveillance at their homes. In rural areas, itinerant vaccinators found it difficult to reach scattered settlements and deal with issues such as variolation. Interestingly enough, from 1887 to 1890, rural areas such as Behar and Sonthal Pergunnahs recorded a significant level of gender parity in vaccination rates, while Calcutta recorded the lowest level of female access to vaccination services. In the end, it is women\u2019s bodies that have been portrayed as a meeting ground\u2014a meeting ground where colonialism, culture, and modernity converge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keywords:<\/strong> Smallpox Vaccination, Colonial Bengal, Urban\u2013Rural Disparities, Female Bodies, Public Health History<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-1-color has-text-color\"><strong>Page No: 212-218<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-ast-global-color-6-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/212-218.pdf\">download journal<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Anirban Das DOI Link: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04010028 Abstract: The essay is a probe into how smallpox vaccination was shaped by and shaped the lives of women in colonial Bengal, emphasizing urban and rural contrasts. Vaccination was a universal solution that was also imbued with gender issues, caste issues, and geographical issues. In urban areas, vaccination was &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/volume4-issue1\/margins-of-immunity-women-space-and-the-disparities-of-smallpox-vaccination-in-colonial-bengal\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Margins of Immunity: Women, Space, and the Disparities of Smallpox Vaccination in Colonial Bengal<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","_joinchat":[]},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/author\/asraful-alibiswas\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/category\/volume4-issue1\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Volume4 Issue1<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Author: Anirban Das DOI Link: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.70798\/Bijmrd\/04010028 Abstract: The essay is a probe into how smallpox vaccination was shaped by and shaped the lives of women in colonial Bengal, emphasizing urban and rural contrasts. Vaccination was a universal solution that was also imbued with gender issues, caste issues, and geographical issues. In urban areas, vaccination was&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9358,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9356\/revisions\/9358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bijmrd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}