Understanding Disease and Health in a Eurasian Context: Early Cholera Pandemics in the Ottoman Empire (1817-1860)

Authors : Mohammad Hossain

Pages : 721-734

Doi:10.21551/jhf.1807522

View : 96 | Download : 241

Publication Date : 2025-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Environmental history is an emerging field within the history discipline that helps in looking at historical change and continuity of human societies in relation with nature. As a tool of enquiry that is able to transcend nation-state borders, national histories and politically framed historical timelines, it is also helpful in the study of vast expanses of land, both temporally and spatially. Throughout various periods, epidemics have significantly impacted human populations, altering demographic patterns and contributing to the rise and fall of civilizations, among them the bubonic plague, better known as the Black Death, in the 14th century, and the six cholera pandemics of the 19th century. With this backdrop in mind, this paper will focus on two aspects, how to imagine disease as an important aspect of Ottoman history, as well as look at the case study of early cholera pandemics, especially the first cholera pandemic (1817-24), second cholera pandemic (1826-1837), and third cholera pandemic (1846-1860). Through this paper, aspects of the interplay between diseases, human populations, and societal structures of the early nineteenth century will be explored in order to understand the role that geography and communication networks determined how Eurasian societies like in the Ottoman empire dealt with public health challenges amidst a global pandemic.
Keywords : Çevre tarihi, kolera, Avrasya, on dokuzuncu yüzyıl

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