Explanation:

Although there are references to a disease similar to bubonic plague in the 17th and 19th centuries, the first official acknowledgment of the existence of bubonic plague date to 1896. The plague was probably imported from Hong Kong, where an epidemic had been seething since 1894.
Its initial impact was limited to port cities, particularly Bombay, but later also Pune, Calcutta and Karachi. By 1899, it had appeared in many smaller towns and had a growing regional impact as it spread out into the countryside. The demographic impact of plague epidemics was felt most in western and northern India – in the provinces of Bombay, Punjab and the United Provinces. Eastern and southern India were not as badly affected.