ABSTRACT
Historians working on leprosy in medieval Europe mention the idea of isolation/forcible confinement as a practice affecting those who had leprosy, which in effect implied targeting the poor. This chapter explores the Adivasi methods related to the treatment of leprosy. It also explores the negotiations of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj with the disease. The Princely state of Keonjhar seems to have taken the propaganda aspect against leprosy rather seriously. The reports demonstrated the self-congratulatory attitude of the darbar in its negotiations with leprosy. Missionary interventions in Orissa associated with leprosy began in Mayurbhanj in 1879, when the Roman Catholic Mission, which was also known as the Nagalkata Mission was founded. 'The Mission of Lepers' extended "generous" help to the Leper Asylum at Baripada. The Administrative Report of 1935-1936 mentions two kutcha sheds that had been constructed to 'treat' leprosy patients in the dispensaries at Bangripsi and Udala.
