The First Dissection Controversy : Introduction to Anatomical Education in Bengal and British India

The history of Calcutta Medical College (CMC) is intertwined with the rise of rational scientific medicine in India. This new kind of medicine was premised on dissection-based anatomical knowledge and was secular in nature. The first dissection in CMC by a high-caste Hindu ushered in ramifications of this medicine into every aspect of Indian society. The singular act of dissection entailed indelible changes in the perception of body, disease and self of the Indian population. Medicine brought forth a new paradigm of knowing the body. Arguably, being the first Indian dissector, Madhusudan Gupta is historically tied up with this transformation of medicine