: ▁ ▁English ▁historian ▁Peter ▁C ain , ▁has ▁challeng ed ▁Mant ena , ▁arg uing ▁that ▁the ▁imperial ists ▁truly ▁believed ▁that ▁British ▁rule ▁would ▁bring ▁to ▁the ▁subjects ▁the ▁benefits ▁of ▁‘ ordered ▁liberty ’ . ▁thereby ▁Britain ▁could ▁ful fill ▁its ▁moral ▁duty ▁and ▁achieve ▁its ▁own ▁great ness . ▁Much ▁of ▁the ▁debate ▁took ▁place ▁in ▁Britain ▁itself , ▁and ▁the ▁imperial ists ▁worked ▁hard ▁to ▁conv ince ▁the ▁general ▁population ▁that ▁the ▁civil ising ▁mission ▁was ▁well ▁under way . ▁This ▁campaign ▁served ▁to ▁strength en ▁imperial ▁support ▁at ▁home , ▁and ▁thus , ▁says ▁C ain , ▁to ▁bol ster ▁the ▁moral ▁authority ▁of ▁the ▁gentleman ly ▁el ites ▁who ▁ran ▁the ▁Empire . ▁ ▁Public ▁health ▁Mark ▁Harrison ▁arg ues ▁that ▁the ▁history ▁of ▁public ▁health ▁administration ▁in ▁India ▁dates ▁from ▁the ▁assumption ▁of ▁Crown ▁rule ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 9 . ▁Medical ▁exper ts ▁found ▁that ▁ep ide mic ▁disease ▁had ▁seriously ▁de ple ted ▁the ▁fighting ▁capacity ▁of ▁British ▁troops ▁in ▁repr ess ing ▁the ▁re bell ion ▁in ▁ 1 8 5 7 ▁and ▁ins isted ▁that ▁prevent ive ▁measures ▁were ▁much ▁more ▁effective ▁than ▁waiting ▁for ▁the ▁next ▁ep ide mic ▁to ▁break ▁out . ▁ ▁Ac ross ▁the ▁Empire ▁it ▁became ▁a ▁high ▁priority ▁for ▁Imperial ▁officials ▁to ▁establish ▁a ▁public ▁health ▁system ▁in ▁each ▁col ony . ▁They ▁applied ▁the ▁best ▁practices ▁as ▁developed ▁in ▁Britain , ▁using ▁an ▁elaborate ▁administrative ▁structure ▁in ▁each ▁col ony . ▁The ▁system