Madness, Cannabis and Colonialism

This fascinating, entertaining, and often grueling book by James Mills examines the lunatic asylums set up by the British in 19th-century India. The author asserts that there was a growth in asylums following the Indian Mutiny, fuelled by the fear of itinerant and dangerous individuals, which existed primarily in the British imagination. Once established, however, these asylums, which were staffed by Indians and populated by Indians, quickly became arenas in which the designs of the British were contested and confronted. Mills argues that power is everywhere and is behind every action; colonial power is therefore just another way to assert control over the less powerful. The social history draws on official archives and documents based in Scotland, England, and India.