Anatomy Trade in India and the West, 1810–1985

The poster shall depict certain facets of my research work on the human osteological trade between India and the West, mostly the United Kingdom and the United States of America during the later colonial and post-colonial eras. It shall trace the bone trade, its origin, and the skeleton merchants that played a pivotal role in such a burgeoning trade throughout the period under scrutiny, along with the various logistical details that largely contributed to the grisly affair.

The osteological trade, the more covert companion to the body trade, has been a controversial subject in the current historical scholarship, having been under the covers for decades. While a utilitarian endeavour, its success was primarily hinged on a certain lack of morality and ethical considerations. While disputed, it is certainly true that studying skeletons renders medical learning infallible, with little room for errors. Due to no proper policies on procurement of anatomical materials, bodies to be processed into skeletons were obtained anywhere they were found, be it alleyways, the Ganges, or crematory pyres. These bodies were then processed into skeletons and shipped globally for medical labs

A wide network of partnerships came into existence that solely centered around skeletal materials. Companies published their catalogues of the various anatomical parts for purchase and set (fixed) prices for buyers. The business gradually became extremely lucrative, and generations of ‘skeleton merchants’—what these company owners came to be known as, ran businesses in different parts of the world.

Eventually, the trade came upon rocky grounds, with public protests and governmental bans in the post-colonial times. Erstwhile bone dealers began to find alternative, ethically acceptable employments to avoid going bankrupt, and with a wide variety of other issues in the changing socio-political landscape, the ghastly trade was permanently prohibited in 1985.