Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:53:20.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Goddess Śītalā and Epidemic Smallpox in Bengal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Ralph W. Nicholas
Get access

Abstract

Śītalā, Goddess of Smallpox, is the preeminent tutelary deity of villages in southwestern Bengal, and a goddess of the same name has a prominent role in Hindu pantheons throughout northern India. Her rise to importance is closely related to the history of smallpox, which was not recognized, in Ayurvedic medical texts, as a serious or fatal disease before the seventh century A.D. There is no evidence of the Goddess of Smallpox before the tenth to twelfth centuries, and she appears to have attained her present special significance as goddess of the village in southwestern Bengal abruptly in the eighteenth century. Earlier Indian approaches to smallpox treatment were naturalistic; when Śītalā was added to the etiology of the disease, her worship was not seen as a replacement for the biologically based therapy, but as something different and complementary. The appearance of smallpox as an epidemic calamity, rather than as an ordinary disease, during a period of more general distress in rural Bengal, marked its goddess as a figure especially suitable for community worship.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , November 1981 , pp. 21 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Baldaeus, Phillipus. 1917. Afgoderye der Oost-Indische Heydenen. Edited by Dejong, A. J.. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. (Orig. pub. 1672.)Google Scholar
Banerji, R. D. 1915. “The Pālas of Bengal.” Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 5, 3: 43–113.Google Scholar
Bengal. Department of Agriculture. 1912–1931. Annual Season and Crop Reports. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.Google Scholar
Bengal. Department of Agriculture. Sanitary Commissioner. 1912–1931. Annual Reports of the Sanitary Commissioner. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot.Google Scholar
Bhaṭṭācārya, Āśutosa. 1970. Bāṃlā Maṇgala-kāvyer Itihāsa. 5th ed.Calcutta: Mukherjee and Co.Google Scholar
Bhaṭṭacarya, Surendra-mohana, ed. 1973–1974. Purohita-darpana. 37th ed. Revised by Yogendra-candra Vyākaranatīrtha Vidyāratna. Calcutta: Satyanārāyana Library.Google Scholar
Bhattacaryya, Benoytosh. 1958. The Indian Buddhist Iconography. 2nd ed.Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay.Google Scholar
Miśra, Bhāva. 1958. “Bhavā-prakāśa,” with the Hindi Commentary of Pandit Lālacandrajī Vaidya. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.Google Scholar
Bhishagratna, Kunja Lai, ed. and trans. 1911. An English Translation of the “Sushruta Samhita.” 3 vols. Calcutta: Published by the author.Google Scholar
Buchanan, Francis. 1808. “An Account of the District or Zila of Dinajpur.” Book II: “People.” London: India Office Library, MSS Eur. D 71, “Buchanan Hamilton Collection.”Google Scholar
Cossigny, Charpentier. 1798–1799. Voyage au Bengale. 2 vols. Paris: Émery Imprimeur.Google Scholar
Das, Veena. 1977. Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Deutschmann, Z. 1961. “The Ecology of Smallpox.” In Studies in Disease Ecology, ed. May, J. M.. New York: Hafner Publishing.Google Scholar
Dharampal, . 1971. Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts. Delhi: Impex India.Google Scholar
Dimock, E. C. Jr., and Gupta, P. C., eds. and trans. 1965. The “Mahārāshṭa Purāṇa”: An Eighteenth-Century Bengali Historical Text. Honolulu: East-West Center Press.Google Scholar
Dixon, C. W. 1962. Smallpox. London: J. and A. Churchill.Google Scholar
Eck, Diana L. 1978. “Kāśī, City and Symbol.” Purāṇa 20:169–92.Google Scholar
Filliozat, Jean. 1964. The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine. Translated by Chanana, Dev Raj. Delhi: Munshi Ram Manohar Lal.Google Scholar
Greaves, Edwin. 1909. Kashi, The City Illustrious, or Benares. Allahabad: The Indian Press.Google Scholar
Greenhill, William Alexander, trans. 1847. A Treatise on the Small-pox and Measles by Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī (Rhazes). London: The Sydenham Society.Google Scholar
Greenough, Paul. 1977. “Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Bengal Famine of 1943–44.” Ph.D. dissertation, Department of History, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Greenough, Paul. 1980. “Variolation and Vaccination in South Asia, c. 1700–1865: A Preliminary Note.” Social Science and Medicine 14:345–47.Google Scholar
Hahon, Nicholas. 1961. “Smallpox and Related Poxvirus Infections in the Simian Host.” Bacteriological Reviews 25:459–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, Ronald. 1967. “The Antiquity of Diseases Caused by Bacteria and Viruses.” In Diseases in Antiquity, eds. Brothwell, D. and Sandison, A. T.. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Havell, E. B. 1905. Benares: The Sacred City.: London: Blackie & Son.Google Scholar
Hazra, R. C. 1975. Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs. 2nd ed.Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.Google Scholar
Henderson, Donald A. 1976. “The Eradication of Smallpox.” Scientific American 245, 4 (Oct.):25–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilgenberg, Luise, and Kirfel, Willibald, eds. and trans. 1941. Vāgbhaṭas A⊡ṭāṇgahṛdayasaṃhitā, Ein altindisches Lehrbuch der Heilkunde. Leiden: E. J. Brill.Google Scholar
Hirsch, August. 1883. Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology. 2 vols. Trans, from 2nd German ed. by Creighton, Charles. London: The New Sydenham Society.Google Scholar
Holwell, J. Z. 1767. An Account of the Manner of Inoculating for the Small Pox in the East Indies. London: College of Physicians. (Reprinted in Dharampal 1971: 143–63.)Google Scholar
India. Archaeological Survey of India. 1908–1909. Annual Report. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing.Google Scholar
India. Archaeological Survey of India. Sanitary Commissioner. 1918. Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing.Google Scholar
Ives, Edward. 1773. A Voyage from England to India in the Year 1754. London: Edward and Charles Dilley.Google Scholar
Jolly, Julius. 1901. Medicin. Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde. Vol. 3, part 10. Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner.Google Scholar
Kane, P. V. 1930–1962. History of Dharmaśāstra. 5 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.Google Scholar
Kangle, R. P., ed. and trans. 1969. The “Kautilīya Arthaśāstra.” Part I: A Critical Edition with a Glossary. 2nd ed.Bombay: University of Bombay.Google Scholar
Kangle, R. P., ed. and trans. 1972. Part II: An English Translation with Critical and Explanatory Notes. 2nd ed.Google Scholar
Kaushik, Meena. 1979. “Religion and Social Structure: A Case Study of the Doms of Banaras.” Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Delhi.Google Scholar
Kielhorn, F. 1887. “A Gaya Inscription of Yakshapala.” Indian Antiquary 16:63–66.Google Scholar
Langer, William L. 1976. “Immunization for Smallpox before Jenner.” Scientific American 234, 1 (Jan.): 111–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeill, William. 1976. Plagues and Peoples. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday.Google Scholar
McVail, John C. 1893. “Small-pox and Vaccination.” In A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health, eds. Stevenson, Thomas and Murphy, Shirley F.. 3 vols. London: J. & A. Churchill. Vol. 2:383–463.Google Scholar
Mādhava-kara, . 1920. “Mādhava-nidānam,” with the Commentary “Madhu-ko⊡a” of Vijaya-rak⊡ita and śrīkaṇṭha-datta, and the Commentary “Ataṇka-darpaṇa” of Vācaspati Vaidya. Edited by Yādava-śarmana, . Bombay: Nirnaya-sagara Press.Google Scholar
Majumdar, M. R. 1965. Cultural History of Gujarat. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.Google Scholar
Marshman, John Clark. 1850. A Guide to Bengal. Calcutta: Government of Bengal.Google Scholar
Meulenbeld, G. J., ed. and trans. 1974. The “Mādhavanidāna” and Its Chief Commentary. Chaps. 1–10. Leiden: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, James. 1815. The History of the Small Pox. London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.Google Scholar
Needham, Joseph. 1980. China and the Origins of Immunology. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong. (First S. T. Huang-Chan Memorial Lecture, Nov. 9, 1979. Department of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong.)Google Scholar
Needham, Joseph, and Gwei-djen, Lu. 1962. “Hygiene and Preventive Medicine in Ancient China.” Journal of the History of Medicine 17: 429–78.Google Scholar
Nicholas, Ralph W. 1978. “Sitala and the Art of Printing: The Transmission and Propagation of the Myth of the Goddess of Smallpox in Rural West Bengal.” In Mass Culture, Language and Arts in India, ed. Apte, M. L., pp. 152–80. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.Google Scholar
Needham, Joseph, and Sarkar, Aditi Nath. 1976. “The Fever Demon and the Census Commissioner: Śītalā Mythology in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Bengal.” In Bengal: Studies in Literature, Society and History, ed. Davis, M., pp. 3–68. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Asian Studies Center Occasional Papers (South Asia Series, No. 27).Google Scholar
Nirmalānanda, (Svami). 1967. Deva-devī o Tader Vāhana. Calcutta: Bhārata Sevāśrama Saṇgha.Google Scholar
Cakravartī, Nityānanda (“Dvija Nityānanda”). 1878–1879. Śītalār Jāgaraṇa Pālā. Calcutta: Trailokyanath Datta.Google Scholar
Cakravartī, Nityānanda (“Dvija Nityānanda”). 1931. Bṛhat Śītalā Maṇgala bā Śītalār Jāgaraṇa Pālā. Calcutta: Tarachand Das and Sons.Google Scholar
“Old Resident.” 1918. All About Benares. Benares: K. S. Muthiah&Co., Silk House.Google Scholar
Orth, Johannes. 1900. “Bemerkungen ueber das Alter der Pockenkenntniss in Indien und China.” Janus, no. 5:391–96, 452–58.Google Scholar
Patil, D. R. 1963. The Antiquarian Remains in Bihar. Patna: Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute.Google Scholar
Purāṇas, . N.d. Śrī Śītalā⊡ṭakam. Varanasi: ṭhākurprasād & Sons, Bookseller.Google Scholar
Purāṇas, . 1908–09. Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. Bombay: Veṇkateśvara Steam Press.Google Scholar
Purāṇas, . 1911. Skanda Purāṇa [in Bengali characters]. With a Bengali translation by Pañcānana Tarkaratna. Calcutta: Baṇgabāsī Office.Google Scholar
Purāṇas, . 1947. Śrī Skanda-purāṇokta Śītalā⊡ṭakam. Banaras City: Caukhamba Sanskrit Pustakālaya.Google Scholar
Purāṇas, . 1960–1962. Skanda-mahāpurāṇa. Calcutta: Manasukha-rāya Mora (Guru-maṇḍala Granthamālā, No. 20)Google Scholar
Razzell, Peter. 1977. The Conquest of Smallpox: The Impact of Inoculation on Smallpox Mortality in Eighteenth Century Britain. Firle, Sussex: Caliban Books.Google Scholar
Rhodes, Andrew J., and van Rooyen, C. E.. 1958. A Textbook of Virology. 3rd ed.Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Risley, H. H. 1891. The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. Ethnographic Glossary. 2 vols. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press.Google Scholar
Rogers, Leonard. 1926. Small-pox and Climate in India: Forecasting of Epidemics. London: Medical Research Council of Great Britain, Special Report Series, no. 106.Google Scholar
Rolleston, J. D. 1937. The History of the Acute Exanthemata. London: William Heinemann.Google Scholar
Roy, Satindra Narayan. 1927. “Popular Superstitions in Orissa about Smallpox and Cholera.” Man in India 7:217–26.Google Scholar
Russell, A. J., and Sundararajan, E. R.. 1929. “Epidemiology of Smallpox.” Indian Journal of Medical Research 16:559–638.Google Scholar
Śabdakalpadrumaḥ [Sanskrit Encyclopaedia in Bengali Characters]. 1931–1934. 7 vols. Compiled by Rādhākānta Deva. Calcutta: New Bengal Press.Google Scholar
Sahai, Bhagwant. 1975. Iconography of Minor Hindu and Buddhist Deities. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications.Google Scholar
Scrimshaw, N., Taylor, C., and Gordon, J.. 1968. Interaction of Nutrition and Infection. Geneva: World Health Organization Monograph Series, No. 57.Google Scholar
Sen, Sukumar, ed. 1975. Kavikaṇkaṇa Mukunda-viracita Caṇḍī-maṇgala. New Delhi: Sahitya Academy.Google Scholar
Sherring, M. A. 1968. The Sacred City of the Hindus; An Account of Benares in Ancient and Modern Times. London: Triibner & Co.Google Scholar
Sinha, N. K. 1967. “Administrative, Economic, and Social History, 1757–1793.” In The History of Bengal (1757–1905), ed. Sinha, N. K.. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.Google Scholar
Sircar, D. C. 1965–1966. “Inscriptions of Two Brahmana Rulers of Gaya.” Epigraphia Indica 36:81–94.Google Scholar
Stavorinus, J. S. 1798. Voyage par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance à Batavia, à Bantam et au Bengale, en 1768, '69, '70 et '71. Translated from Dutch by Jansen, H. J.. Paris: H. J. Jansen, Imprimeur Libraire.Google Scholar
Stevenson, , [Mrs.] Sinclair. 1920. The Rites of the Twice-Born. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sukul, Kubera Nath. 1970. “Original Sites of Some Important Temples in Varanasi.” Journal of the Ganganath jha Research Institute 26:717–24.Google Scholar
Suśruta, . 1915. The “Suśruta Saṃhitā,” with the Nibanda Saṃgraha Commentary of śrī ḍalhaṇācarya. Edited by Ācārya, Jādavjī Trikunjī. Bombay: Nirnayasagara Press.Google Scholar
Underhill, M. M. 1921. The Hindu Religious Year. Calcutta: Association Press.Google Scholar
Wadley, Susan S. 1980. “Śītalā: The Cool One.” Asian Folklore Studies 39, 1:33–62.Google Scholar
Ward, William. 1970. A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos. New ed. 3 vols. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press. (Reprint of 1822 ed.)Google Scholar
Wilson, Charles R., ed. 1895. The Early Annals of the English in Bengal. 2 vols. London: W. Thacker and Co.Google Scholar
Wilson, H. H., ed. and trans. 1864. The Vishnu Purāṇa. 7 vols. London: Trübner & Co.Google Scholar
Wise, Thomas Alexander. 1867. Review of the History of Medicine. 2 vols. London: J. Churchill.Google Scholar