ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the writings of Unani practitioners in the context of cholera in nineteenth-century India. It goes beyond existing paradigms that seek to understand Unani in terms of its relationship with western biomedicine. In doing this, it argues that, while it is important to situate Unani within nationalist cross-currents, or to highlight strands of resistance within it, it is also necessary to acknowledge its diverse nature. At a much broader level, it looks at the ways in which hakims responded to large-scale disasters such as cholera epidemics, which appeared to defeat all available methods of treatment.
