The history of Kala-Azar or Kala Jwara in India dates back to the 1880`s. The disease was earlier dominant in parts of Mediterranean Europe and Africa. It is believed that the disease was transported to the orient by European traders. The disease slowly spread in the eastern parts of British India. After 1885 the British gradually assumed power and authority over entire India. During that period the government was gravely concerned about the news of an epidemic of quinine resistant fever in the Bardhaman district and Hooghly district. The government in Calcutta (now Kolkata) received news about an epidemic fever that affected the Bardhaman. It was later discovered to be Kala-Azar by Sir Leonard Rogers.

The earliest Kala-Azar epidemic recorded in India was in 1870 in Assam. The disease is similar to malaria but it could not be cured with the drugs that were used for curing malaria. The disease was highly fatal. The locals addressed it as `Sarkari Bimaari.` It had a devastating effect in the 1890`s in Assam. It also spread in Bardhaman district and Kolkata. The disease was known as Bardhaman fever and Dum Dum fever in the two districts respectively. It soon spread all over India. Kala-Azar out broke in Assam five years after the second epidemic in 1885. It lasted till 1900. Kala-Azar spread through the hilly regions of north east India and extended to some parts of the plain. The fatal disease depopulated several villages and killed many people. Another epidemic affected Assam and Bengal in 1917 and lasted till 1925. In 1931 Kala-Azar subsided completely. Later in 1937 it affected Bihar and killed several people. Recently, in 1978 it swept through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Discovery of Cause of Kala-azar
Till the end of 19th century the cause of this disease remained unknown. Research work began in full swing to identify the germ for Kala-Azar. The first discovery was made in 1903 by Dr. William Leishman. He was a lieutenant in the British Indian Army and worked as a physician in his regiment. He had served several patients suffering from Kala-Azar during his service in India. He extensively studied blood samples and discovered strange bodies in the blood cells. These germs were later named as `Leishman bodies`. About the same time an Irish physician Charles Donovan also researched on Kala-Azar. He was a professor of physiology at the Madras University Medical College. He participated in the sanitary service of the British Crown in India. He also studied the blood samples of the patients and successfully discovered a new germ. James Homer Wright also described the first case of Leishmania infection in an Armenian patient. Their works were published and the parasite was named as Leishmania Donovani.

The researchers then worked to understand how the germ was transmitted to control the spread of the disease. In 1907, Patton in India discovered that the germ for Kala-Azar multiplied in the gut of the bedbug. It then gradually changed into a form that was infectious for man. The Kala-Azar Commission under the leadership of Christopher, Shortt and Barraud began their work in Assam in 1924. In 1925 Shortt and his colleagues concluded that the bedbug was not the cause of transmission of Kala-Azar. A year before Knowles, Napier, and Smith had discovered that many sandflies became infected when they were fed with the blood of patients suffering from Kala-Azar. This discovery was confirmed by Shortt`s group. Several research works were conducted for years together on Kala-Azar. The drug urea stibamine was then finally discovered by Sir U. N. Brahmachari. This timely discovery prevented the spread of the disease over other parts of Assam and Bengal. The use of DDT to control malaria after World War II also substantially declined the spread of Kala-Azar.