Healing from Our History: How Colonial-Era Famines Led to a Modern South Asian Health Crisis

Healing From Our History presents a clear, often shocking case of how man-made famines and systemic depopulation of South Asia during the British colonial era led to a modern health crisis among South Asians today. How with knowledge of this hidden history, South Asians can be proactive about living healthier lives.

Dr. Mubin Syed, a practicing physician with six board certifications and a published health historian, details how South Asians, who make up 25% of the world population, have alarmingly high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. This is partly due to lifestyle choices like poor diet and lack of exercise, but there's also a growing body of evidence, some previously hidden or whitewashed, that it was the numerous and tragic colonial-era famines all over South Asia that led to modern genetic predispositions for disease.

Over the 190 years that the British controlled South Asia, there were more than 25 famines that led to the death of an estimated 165 million people. South Asia was seen as an abundant territory to exploit, the population considered an obstacle to remove or disregard. Studies of children and grandchildren of famine-surviving populations show that genetic differences make them more susceptible to disease and early death.

Healing From Our History shares details of the man-made famines and systematic and destructive policies and practices. It presents commentary from contemporaries who implemented the policies that taxed, subjugated, starved, imprisoned millions of people. There were people who tried to help by shedding light on the tragedies like Florence Nightingale, and Willoughby Wallace Hooper, a British photographer who took pictures of South Asians famine victims hours before they died. It was a small but vital attempt to document the tragedies being ignored or hidden under the British colonial-era zeal for wealth at all costs.

This book is a reckoning with the past to help people and leaders acknowledge these historical truths that affect South Asian health today. It is for individuals, doctors, and leaders to help current generations pay closer attention to the unique healthcare needs of South Asians, and pave a healthier path for future generations.