History of Medicine From Vedic Period

History of Medicine From Vedic Period

Vedic Period (1500–500 BCE) is the Roots of Traditional Indian Medicine

• Scriptural Sources:
  • Rigveda: Mentions over 67 medicinal plants, indicating early knowledge of plant-based healing.
  • Atharvaveda:
    • Contains hymns and spells for healing diseases.
    • Believed illnesses were caused by both supernatural forces (like spirits) and natural imbalances.
    • Suggested rituals, herbal remedies, and chants.
  • Features:
    • Healing was integrated with religion and cosmology.
    • Considered the nascent phase where intuition and observation began forming the basis of health practices.

Classical Period (800 BCE – 1000 CE): The Flourishing of Ayurveda

• This period saw the systematization of knowledge and emergence of core texts of Ayurveda.

Key Texts:

• Charaka Samhita (by Charaka):
  • Focus on Kaya Chikitsa (internal medicine).
  • Introduced Tridosha Theory:
    • Vata (air & space) – movement, communication.
    • Pitta (fire & water) – digestion, transformation.
    • Kapha (water & earth) – structure, lubrication.
  • Diagnosis through eight-fold examination (Ashta Sthana Pariksha).
• Sushruta Samhita (by Sushruta):
  • Emphasis on Shalya Tantra (surgery).
  • Describes:
    • Over 300 surgical procedures.
    • 100+ surgical instruments.
    • Plastic surgeries (like rhinoplasty).
    • Anatomy and physiology in detail.
  • Ashtanga Hridaya & Ashtanga Sangraha (by Vagbhata):
    • Synthesis of Charaka and Sushruta.
    • Easier verses for memorization and transmission.

Medical Education:

• Universities like Taxila (where Jivaka studied) and Nalanda provided formal education.
• Early system of gurukul-based learning with oral and textual transmission.

Siddha Medicine: The Southern Legacy

• Origin: Deeply rooted in the Tamil culture and language.
• Founders:18 Siddhars, including Agastya (father of Siddha medicine).

Features:

• Uses herbs, metals, and minerals (especially mercury, sulfur, gold).
• Emphasis on alchemy (Rasa Shastra).
• Pulse diagnosis (Naadi Pariksha) as a key diagnostic method.
• Five elemental theory: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether – balance needed for health.

Philosophical Base:

• Siddha aims for spiritual and physical perfection (Siddhi).
• Medicine, yoga, alchemy, and philosophy are integrated.

Unani Medicine: Greek Roots, Indian Integration

• Introduced in India: Around the 12th century CE by Arab traders and scholars.
• Supporters: Delhi Sultanate, Mughals (e.g., Akbar, Shah Jahan).

Basis of Theory:

• Four humors:
  • Dam (blood) – hot & moist.
  • Balgham (phlegm) – cold & moist.
  • Safra (yellow bile) – hot & dry.
  • Sauda (black bile) – cold & dry.
• Health = balance of humors; Disease = imbalance.
• Treatments: Herbal medicine, diet therapy (Ilaj bil Ghiza), physical therapy (Hijama – cupping), and surgery.
• Indo-Unani Tradition: Local herbs and techniques were added to classical Unani practice in India.

Folk, Tribal, and Local Healing Systems

• Uncodified but widespread.
• Oral traditions passed across generations.
• Deeply connected with local ecology:
  • Herbs, roots, oils, animal parts, rituals, songs.
• Especially vital in remote tribal areas.
• Significance: Example of Ethnomedicine – healing systems rooted in cultural belief and local environment.

British Colonial Period: Rise of Allopathy, Neglect of Tradition

• British introduced Western biomedicine in 18th–19th centuries.
• Colonial bias: Indian systems labeled as “unscientific.”
• Suppression of indigenous systems from official policy.
• Persistence of traditional practices among rural and culturally connected populations.

Post-Independence Era: Revival and Institutionalization

• 1947 Onwards: India began re-evaluating traditional knowledge systems.

Government Steps:

• Creation of institutions like:
  • CCRAS (Ayurveda), CCRUM (Unani), CCRS (Siddha), CCRH (Homeopathy).
• Educational councils for standardizing curriculum.
• Inclusion of AYUSH in public health policy.

AYUSH Defined:

• Ayurveda
• Yoga & Naturopathy
• Unani
• Siddha
• Homoeopathy
  • Homoeopathy, though Western in origin, has been adapted into Indian systems and widely used.

21st Century: Global Recognition and Scientific Focus

Growth Factors:

• Limitations and side-effects of allopathy.
• Demand for holistic, preventive, and lifestyle-based
• Global interest in plant-based and mind-body healing.

Ministry of AYUSH (est. 2014):

• Promotes research, development, education, and international cooperation.
• Yoga's global popularity gave an international push to AYUSH systems.