ABSTRACT
The period between 1885–94 was not only the most active period of Florence Nightingale's Indian work but also a remarkable period in the history of India. The politicisation of the Indians was almost complete as the 'multitudes' were finally finding their voice. This period saw the manifestations of strong political aspirations of the Indians and the birth of the Indian National Congress. Florence, who initially never thought of relinquishing the Empire, but always maintained that it should be kept, not by force, but by exporting civilisation, now in her old age wholeheartedly supported the efforts of Allan Octavian Hume and William Wedderburn, the two Britons who were associated with the founding of the Indian National Congress. In October 1893, she published Health Lectures for Indian Villages which was followed in December 1896 by Health Missioners for Rural India, the second article being a sequel to the first, both aiming for the same goal, sanitation in rural India.
