3.8 | The Third Plague Pandemic
The Third Plague Pandemic (1894–1901), compared to the Black Death, was
a smaller outbreak of bubonic plague. It killed between 30 to 60 percent
of infected and untreated people. Most often, only one bubo was
discovered in the infected. The disease, which claimed 1 million lives
in India (see Table 5), led to violence in 1896–1898. However, this was
due to the oppressive and ineffective measures taken by the British
colonial authority. Infected people were placed under strict quarantine
restrictions, their homes and personal belongings were burnt, religious
buildings and cemeteries were shut down, and male doctors forcefully
checked women against the wishes of their communities. In the context of
metropolitan areas, the policies also displayed a clear class bias. This
was based on the idea that the urban poor carried viral transmission in
cities rather than the ”respectable class.” The slum areas of Bombay saw
the destruction of hundreds of huts.