While exploring the historical relationship between the Burdwan fever and agriculture in Burdwan, a district in West Bengal, in connection with my PhD research in the 1990s at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, I was considerably excited and resolved to undertake a project on the history of kala-azar as my postdoctoral studies. I noticed the conflicting comments of contemporary physicians and health personnel on the nature of the Burdwan fever—some referring to it as malaria whereas others naming it kala-azar. Malaria in Bengal by then had already gripped the attention of historical scholarship, and some scholars were engaged in research on various aspects of malaria, including its epidemic episodes and endemicity. The history of kala-azar was rather a neglected field of historical enquiry even though there was abundant material on it. This sparked my interest and attracted my attention. After having completed my PhD, I started exploring the history of kala-azar and wrote a small piece on it towards the end of the 1990s. Subsequently, I undertook it as my postdoctoral project, came into contact with David Arnold, and applied for Commonwealth Fellowship to work with him on this subject. I was selected and was based at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, to pursue my studies during 2002–2003, and thus began the trajectory of my postdoctoral work. I felt honoured to work with Professor Arnold, who was very supportive and generous with suggestions, and inspired me a lot to produce a book based on my work. Thus, the idea of this treatise was conceived way back in the early 2000s. It took a long time to produce this treatise since after gathering information on it in the United Kingdom's libraries and archives, I looked into some additional sources in India. Finally, the baby came out of the womb. I am grateful to Professor Arnold for his advice and assistance in completing the research successfully.

I am greatly indebted to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, London, for sponsoring my trip to and supporting my stay in London during 2002–2003, which gave me ample opportunities to use the esteemed libraries and archives in London. This facilitated my research at the British Library, Wellcome Library, London School of Tropical Medicine Library, and the British Medical Association archives in London.