Indian Medical Service

The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officers, who were both British and Indian, served in civilian hospitals. Among its notable ranks, the IMS had Sir Ronald Ross, a Nobel Prize winner, Sir Benjamin Franklin, later honorary physician to three British monarchs and Henry Vandyke Carter, best known for his illustrations in the anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy. History The earliest positions for medical officers in the British East India Company (formed as the Association of Merchant Adventurers in 1599 and receiving the royal charter on the last day of 1600) were as ship surgeons. The first three surgeons to have served were John Banester on the Leicester, Lewis Attmer on the Edward and Rober on the Francis. The first Company fleet went out in 1600 with James Lancaster on the Red Dragon and three other ships, each with two surgeons and a barber. This was the voyage on which the serendipitous experiment on lemon juice as a cure for scurvy was carried out. The establishment of the East India Company in India was greatly aided by a doctor, although a lot of fiction may have been introduced into accounts relating to this. Gabriel Boughton is said to have saved Shah Jahan's daughter princess Jahanara from injuries due to burns. In reward he was given duty-free trading rights and this document was utilized by the East India Company to obtain a farman or rights for itself from the ruler in Surat. As more factories of the East India Company were established in India at this time, new positions began to be created for the appointment of surgeons and physicians. These men of medicine included Nicholas Manucci, a Venetian born in 1639 who served Dara Shikoh before studying medicine in Lahore where he served Shah Alam from 1678-82. Later, he then settled in Madras. An Armenian named Sikandar Beg served as surgeon to Suleiman Shikoh, son of Darah Shikoh, and there are records of several Dutch and French physicians in various courts across India. Samuel Browne served around 1694 at Fort St. George, Madras from where he also reported on his botanical and other natural history studies. Jean Martin served Haider Ali and Jean Castarede served under Tipoo Sultan.