MEDICINE AND ANCIENT HISTORY

HISTORY PROJECT

Advika Photumsetty
2014070
DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY
VISAKHAPATNAM
OCTOBER 2014

Acknowledgment

I would like to sincerely thank our Professor Dr. Viswachandranath Madasu for giving me this
opportunity to take up this project regarding Medicine and ancient history. I have tried my
level best to collect various data and information about the topic in order to provide a clear
picture regarding the same.

Contents

1. Abstract

2. Research Methodology

3. Introduction

4. Folk Practices

5. Ayurveda

10

6. 20th Century medicine

14

7. Conclusion

17

8. Bibliography

18

Abstract
Humans have been practicing the art of healing for millions of years and enhancing this practice
along the way. The practice of medicine refers to this profession that is patient-focused and
revolves around disease treatment and enhancing the overall wellbeing of a human being. It
deals with diagnoses, treatment, prevention of disease and caring of a person and dedication to
their health and well-being. Medicine, over time has developed into many different forms and it
branches into vast categories such as Ayurveda, homeopathy, allopathy, acupuncture and the
likes.
In this project the researcher analyzes these factors and looks into the evolution of the art of
medicine and healing, and the changes it has been through with time.

Research Methodology
The topic of Ancient medicine and history has a very vast background. Documentation of many
practices has not been found and thus there are many views on the evolution of medicine. The
research methodology used in this project is a doctrine study. The material mentioned in this
project has been derived from various other research papers and other online documentation.

Introduction
As stated by E.H Carr History is an unending dialogue between the past and present. Similarly
the medical history of our country and the world alike is an evolution from the past used in the
present and developed for the future. The systematic development of medicine over the years
proves Carrs point, showing clearly the effects of ancient medical practices on the present era.
Medicine is the science and art of dealing with the maintenance of heath and prevention,
alleviation and cure of the disease. It deals with surgical and non-surgical treatment of disease.
Medicine is also the practice which helps in reducing the diseases in the world.1
According to the Indian medical tra- dition the knowledge of medicine had a twofold origin. On
the one hand, it was delivered by the god Indra to the sage Bhara- dvaja, and by him to Atreya :
on the other, it descended from Indra to Dhanvantari (also called Divodasa,and Kaslraja), and
from him to Susruta. This tradition traces medicine from a mythical, through a semi-mythical, to
an historical beginning*. It may be taken to mean that Atreya, the physician, and Susruta, the surgeon, were understood to be the first founders, in their respective departments, of medicine as a
science. Before them there existed only what may be called medicine men, who practised
medicine as a witchcraft, and the source of whose knowledge was claimed to be supernatural.2
In around 1000 BC, doctors in northern India wrote the Atharva veda, a medical textbook
explaining how to aid diseases. Like Egyptian medical texts from previous years, the Atharva
veda says that diseases are caused by bad spirits, and you treat the disease by killing the spirits
with poisons or spells. An example is the treatment of leprosy with a kind of lichen, which might
have worked as an antibiotic.
The surgeon Sushruta may have lived about 500 BC. Sushruta is believed to be the father of
medicine in India. He left a book, the Samhita, enlightening his surgical methods. He identifies
1120 diseases, names 760 medicinal drugs, and says the surgeon's equipment amounts to 20
sharp instruments (including knives, scissors, saws and needles) and 101 blunt ones (such as
forceps, tubes, levers, hooks and probes). In the book he also described how to pull teeth, how to
fix broken bones, and how to repair blockages of the intestines. He didn't have any form of
anesthesia other than wine.
By 200 AD, Indian doctors, like Chinese and Greek doctors, had abandoned the idea of bad
spirits in favor of the somewhat less wrong idea of dosha or humors. The doctor Charaka wrote
perhaps about this time. Charaka recognized that avoidance was the best cure for many diseases,
1 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/medicine. 12:45a.m, 21th November 2014
2 , A. F Rudolf Hoernle C.L.E, Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, A. F Rudolf
Hoernle C.L.E, Oxford University Press

and he recommended keeping your humors in balance in order to stay healthy. Charaka
recognized three humors - bile, phlegm (snot), and wind. If your humors go out of balance, they
believed you need to take medicines to rebalance them.
By this time, Indian doctors also knew more about how the body worked. Charaka knew
that blood vessels both transported food to various parts of your body and also carried wastes
away.
Charaka also made the earliest Indian reference to smallpox, and this is just around the time that
smallpox first devastated the Roman Empire, coming from the East. Indian doctors were also the
first to invent a way to inoculate people against smallpox. In 700 AD, a doctor called Madhav
wrote on inoculation. Madhav knew that you could keep people from getting smallpox by
scraping a little pus or scabs from someone who had smallpox, letting it sit around for a while,
and then giving a small amount as an inoculation, either by sticking it into their skin on a needle,
or by blowing the powder up their nose3.
The Vedic hymns of the migrant Aryan tribes are the earliest literary source of information about
healing practices in the sub-continent4. These hymns provide visions into diseases prevalent
during the period and their alleged causes. Most ailments, both physical and mental, were
attributed to malicious spirits and cures consisted of rituals, charms, mantras, medicines and
surgical intervention. The hymns in the Atharva Veda, the last of the four Vedas, and largely
composed after the Aryans were well settled in the sub-continent, indicate that ethnic non-Aryan
healing practices had influenced the Vedic Aryan healers5.
The Sanskrit-speaking Vedic Aryan influence eventually spread eastward from the Punjab and
Doab region towards the Middle Gangetic plains, which had its own socio-cultural and linguistic
context. This was a period when various cultures were interacting in small kingdoms and urban
centers and there was growing attentiveness of the influence of life-style and regimens on health
and well-being. In such a context, in the region east of the convergence of Ganga and Yamuna,
Buddhism, Jainism and other new ascetic and philosophical movements arose. Many of these
movements promoted free spirit of enquiry and experimentation in all fields of knowledge,
especially in medicine. We find early Buddhist and Jaina texts in Prakrit (Pali and other
vernacular languages) re-counting the use of medicines, surgical procedures, trepanation, purges
3 1 http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/india/science/medicine.htm
4 http://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions
5
http://www.springer.com/cda/content/document/cda_downloaddocument/978813221
9248-c2.pdf?SGWID=0-0-45-1465617-p176759395

and emetics, practices consolidated from all levels of society. The early texts also recognized the
importance of cultivating compassion and humanistic values as being essential for health and
well-being6.
Buddha himself was seen as the healing guru (Bhaishajyaguru) and healing practices were part
of the Buddhist monastic tradition. Medical centers benefiting humanistic values that were
attached to Buddhist monasteries catered to monks and lay persons. Buddhist monks dispersed
Indian medical knowledge westward to Persia and Central Asia, to China and to South-east Asia.
Buddhism also took with it medical knowledge to southern part of the sub-continent and Sri
Lanka, especially during and after the reign of Ashoka the Great7
Herbal medicine is the earliest scientific practice in medical practice, and it remains an important
part of medicine to this day - in a line plunging directly from those distant beginnings. The early
physicians lurched upon herbal substances of real power, without understanding the manner of
their working8
Although there is no record to establish when plants were first used for medicinal purposes
(herbalism), the use of plants as healing agents is a long-standing practice. Over time through
emulation of the behavior of fauna a medicinal knowledge base developed and was passed
among generations. 9

6 http://www.pitrashish.in/Pitrashish%20Wellness%20Vol%20I.pdf 21st nov 2014,

12:40 am
7 2 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions
8 3 http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=aa52
9 A. F Rudolf Hoernle , Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, C.L.E, Oxford
University Press

The Art of Surgery

The practice of surgery has been recorded in India around 800 B.C. The oldest dissertation
dealing with surgery is the Shushruta-Samahita (Shusrutas compendium). Shushruta who lived
in Kasi was one of the many Indian medical practitioners who included Atraya and Charaka.
Shushruta was one of the first to study the human anatomy. In the Shushruta Samahita he has
defined in detail the study of anatomy with the aid of a dead body. Shusruta's talent was
rhinoplasty (Plastic surgery) and ophthalmology (ejection of cataracts). 10
Shushruta has described surgery under eight heads Chedya (excision), Lekhya (scarification),
Vedhya (puncturing), Esya (exploration), Ahrya (extraction), Vsraya (evacuation) and Sivya
(Suturing).11
Shushruta specialized in ophthalmic surgery (extraction of Cataracts). A typically operation per
formed by Shushruta for removing cataracts is recited below. "It was a bright morning. The
surgeon sat on a bench which was as high as his knees. The patient sat opposite on the ground so
that the doctor was at a comfortable height for doing the operation on the patient's eye. After
having taken bath and food, that patient had been tied so that he could not move during the
operation. The doctor warmed the patient's eye with the breath ~ of his mouth. He rubbed the
closed eye of the patient with his thumb and then asked the patient to look at his knees. The
patient's head was held firmly. The doctor held the lancet between his fore-finger, middle-finger
and thumb and introduced it into the patient's eye towards the pupil, half a finger's breadth from
the black of the eye and a quarter of a finger's breadth from the outer corner of the eye. He
10 A. F Rudolf Hoernle, Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, C.L.E, Oxford
University Press
11 A. F Rudolf Hoernle, Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, C.L.E, Oxford
University Press

moved the lancet gracefully back and forth and upward. There was a small sound and a drop of
water came out. The doctor spoke a few words to comfort the patient and moistened the eye with
milk. He scratched the pupil with the tip or the lancet, without hurting, and then drove the 'slime'
towards the nose. The patient got rid of the 'slime' by drawing it into his nose. It was a matter of
joy for the patient that they could see objects through his operated eye and the doctor drew the
lancet out slowly. He then laid cotton soaked in fat on the wound and the patient lay still with the
operated eye bandaged. It was the patient's left eye and the doctor used his right hand for the
operation."12

12 http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/india_contribution/medicine.html

10

Folk Practices
In India, folk medicine is highly conditioned by the impact of folk deities and, sometimes it is so
deep rooted that medicine and folk deities become an integrated whole.
Even before medical knowledge was codified into the acknowledged texts of Ayurveda, there
were abundant sources of medical knowhow in the subcontinent. Healing is practiced by people
from all levels of society who live and work in intimate relation with their environment. They
range from home remedies related to nutrition and treatment for minor illnesses, to more urbane
procedures such as midwifery, bone setting and treatment of snake bites and mental disorders.
There were also specialists in bloodletting, experts in physical medical practices and others with
familiar knowledge of medicinal plants. All these areas of folk practices have their particular
folklore that preserved and transmitted such knowledge. Some healing practices were considered
to be sacred and were associated with rituals that helped safeguard them. It is interesting to note
that in folk traditions there is considerable overlap between healing plants and sacred plants, and
certain healing plants were venerated.13
Traditionally Sanskrit-based Ayurvedic practice was limited to certain segments of society; folk
healers came from all levels of society. Although folk practitioners from the lower strata of
society lack the scholarly aura, many who specialize in specific healing practices are held in high
esteem. For example, it is not unusual for scholarly Ashtavaidyas to seek the help of folk healers
in pediatric care, poison therapy or diseases of the mind. Classical Ayurveda has been enriched
over centuries through such interactions and exchange with regional folk practices

13 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions, 12:45 am, 21st novemebr 2014

11

Ayurveda
This is the indigenous system of medicine in India. Ayurveda literally means 'the science of
living' (longevity). Ayu means life and Veda means knowledge. The origins of this system of
medicine are lost in the past, and the body of knowledge that comes under the heading Ayurveda
consists of ideas about diseases, diagnosis and cure, which have been accumulated over the ages
past. The feature that distinguishes this system of medicines from other systems like Allopathy
and Homeopathy is that it is solely based on herbs and herbal compounds. This it shares in
common with the ideas on this area in tribal societies. But what makes Ayurveda, a scientific art
of healing is its disassociation from the magical aspect which tribal forms of healing normally
have. Hence the practitioner of Ayurveda could never degenerate to the level of a shaman or
witch-doctor. Hocus pocus and voodoo which is still widely prevalent in rural India could not
become a part of Ayurveda as it always retained a physical link between the disease and its
cure.14
This is the art of healing had been held in high esteem in ancient India. It was elevated to a
divine status and Dhanvantari the practitioner of this art was deified as the God of Medicine.
Even ordinary practitioners of this art - the Ashwinikumars - were given a special status in
mythology and folklore. Although very few ancient texts are available today, this method of
healing was systematized in early times. The fact that the term Veda was attached to this body of
thought testifies to this.
The Ayurvedic classics mention eight branches of medicine: kycikits (internal medicine),
alyacikits (surgery including anatomy), lkyacikits (eye, ear, nose, and throat diseases),
kaumrabhr t ya (pediatrics), bhtavidy (spirit medicine), and agada tantra (toxicology),
rasyana (science of rejuvenation), and vjkaran a (aphrodisiacs, mainly for men).15
Knowledge of this art was spread among sages, hermits and medicos who travelled from place to
place. Those who practiced solely this art were called Vaidyas and they generally belonged to the
Brahmin caste. Knowledge of this art was passed from generation to generation. But it remains
surprising how this vocation did not obtain the status of a separate caste.
In the absence of a caste, wherein this body of ideas could get crystallized and changeless which
incidentally could ensure their preservation, along with the absence of a system for regular
education and training for practitioners of the art has resulted in its gradual though partial
14 http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/india_contribution/medicine.html
21st November 22, 2014, 12:45 am
15 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine, 21st November 22, 2014, 12:45 am

12

withering over a period of time. The above two lacunae also resulted in the emergence of
quackery and made it difficult to distinguish bonafide practitioners from quacks in absence of
professional standards. These lacunae have been identified in modern times and recently,
organized efforts have been launched to revive and nourish this flagging discipline.16
The spirit of scientific enquiry influencing the intellectual world since the time of Buddha led to
old belief systems being questioned and tangible proofs being sought after. In this cultural milieu
in the Indo-Gangetic and lower Himalayan regions, tribal and wandering healers, learned
physicians, ascetic and yogic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism, and philosophical schools
such as Samkhya, Visheshika and Nyaya all contributed to the emergence of a formal scientific
culture of healing that became Ayurveda.
Sanskrit, which is the language of the Vedas and Brahminical culture, reemerged as the dominant
scholarly medium around the beginning of the Common Era. The earliest works on Ayurveda
probably dealt with one specific branch of medical practice. The fundamental concepts and
practices of Ayurvedic healing continued to be elaborated and refined over centuries and were
codified during the early centuries of the C.E. in treatises composed in Sanskrit. The earliest
available works are Caraka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtangahrdayam, Ashtangasamgraha,
Bhela Samhita and Kashyapa Samhita, the latter two in incomplete versions. These works are
compilations of medical practices composed in a systematic manner and define principles,
therapeutic methods and moral guidelines for medical practitioners. Ashtangahrdayam (circa 6-7
century C.E.) organized the theory and practice of Ayurveda in a coherent fashion and is
considered to mark the culmination of the classical period. While these works set the norms for
the future of Ayurveda, other works, some specializing in particular branches of medicine were
also composed during this period. The multi-cultural origins of Ayurvedic knowledge that we
alluded to earlier are revealed in the classical texts themselves. Both Charaka Samhita and
Sushruta Samhita urge physicians to seek the help of cowherds, hunters and forest-dwellers for
procuring medicinal plants. In the Charaka Samhita, we notice the participation and contribution
of a Central Asian physician in one of the assemblies of scholars gathered to formulate the
principles of Ayurveda. While the three major classical texts attribute the origin of Ayurveda to
Vedic divinities, they give eminence to Buddhist moral values, and Vagbhata, the author of one
of the classical texts (Ashtangahrdayam), was a Buddhist.17
According to Charaka, a noted practioner of Ayurveda in ancient India: "A physician who fails to
enter the body of a patient with the lamp of knowledge and understanding can never treat
diseases. He should first study all the factors, including environment, which impact a patient's
16 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions
17 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions, 21st November 2014, 12:47 a.m

13

disease, and then prescribe treatment. It is more important to prevent the occurrence of disease
than to seek a cure".
According to him a body functions because it contains three dosha or humours, namely, bile,
phlegm and wind. These dosha are produced when dhatus, namely blood, flesh and marrow, act
upon the food eaten. For the same quantity of food eaten, one body, however, produces dosha in
an amount different from another body. That is why one body is different from another. For
instance, it is weightier, stronger, more energetic, further, illness is caused when the balance
among the three dosha in a human body is disturbed. To restore the balance Charaka prescribed
medicinal drugs.
Under the guidance of the ancient physician Atreya, another physician named Agnivesa had
written an encyclopedic treatise in the eighth- century B.C. However, it was only when Charaka
revised this thesis that it gained popularity and came to be known as Charaka-samahita. For two
millenniums it remained a standard work on the subject and was translated into many foreign
languages, including Arabic and Latin.
The medical system of Ayurveda draws heavily from the doctrines developed in the CharakaSamahita. The main quality which Ayurveda has borrowed from Charaka is its objective of
removing the cause for illness and not just curing the disease itself. In Ayurveda there are no
such things as instant relievers, pain killers or antibiotics. The herbs used in Ayurvedic remedies
do not operate against the body's metabolism, their effect is registered gradually and hence there
are minimum side-effects. The constituents of Ayurvedic medicines are largely based on organic
matter. The absence of fast registering inorganic compounds which are at times corrosive,
contributes to the absence of side-effects from Ayurvedic medicines.18
How does it work?
Just as everyone has a unique thumbprint, according to Ayurvedic beliefs, each person has a
distinct pattern of energy - a specific combination of physical, mental, and emotional
characteristics. It is also believed that there are three basic energy types called doshas, present in
every person:
Vata - energy that regulates bodily functions associated with motion including blood circulation,
breathing, blinking, and the beating of the heart. When vata energy is balanced, there is creativity
and
vitality.
Out
of
balance,
vata
produces
fear
and
anxiety.
Pitta - energy that governs the body's metabolic systems including digestion, absorption,
nutrition, and body temperature. In balance, pitta promotes contentment and intelligence. Out of
balance,
pitta
can
cause
ulcers
and
arouse
anger.
Kapha - energy that controls growth in the body. It supplies water to all body parts, moisturizes
18 http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/india_contribution/medicine.html,
21st nov 2014, 1:34 a.m

14

the skin, and maintains the immune system. In balance, kapha is expressed as love and
forgiveness. Out of balance, kapha leads to insecurity and envy.
All people have vata, pitta, and kapha, but usually one or two are dominant in a given individual.
Many factors can disturb the dosha balance such as stress, an unhealthy diet, the weather, and
strained family relationships. Such disturbance is expressed in the body as disease. Ayurvedic
practitioners prescribe treatments designed to bring the doshas back into balance.
From a Western medical perspective, relief of stress appears to be one of the ways that Ayurveda
works to help fight illness. For example, studies have found that Transcendental Meditation, a
component of Maharishi Ayurveda, reduces anxiety. Other studies have found that Ayurveda
lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, slows the aging process, and speeds recovery from illness.
The herbs used in Ayurvedic medicine often have antioxidant effects, which means that they may
help protect against the damage from free radicals (by-products of normal metabolism in the
body) like long term illnesses such as heart disease and arthritis. Many Ayurvedic practitioners
also recommend a vegetarian diet, which is believed to be better for your heart than diets
containing red meat.
What is Ayurveda good for?
The goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to prevent diseases before they occur. Studies have suggested
that Ayurveda may be particularly effective at reducing the risk of heart disease. For example, a
recent study found that this traditional Indian medicine helped reduce plaque and reverse the
thickening of artery walls known as atherosclerosis in both healthy adults as well as adults at
high risk for heart disease. (Atherosclerosis is a slow, complex disease in which fatty substances,
cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and other substances build up in the inner lining of
an artery. This build-up, also known as plaque, can lead to heart attack and stroke.)
Combining yoga with an Ayurvedic herbal remedy containing Winter cherry (Withania
somnifera), Boswellia (Boswellia serrata), and Turmeric (Curcuma longa) can reduce pain and
disability if you have arthritis.
A number of Ayurvedic herbal remedes have been evaluated for their beneficial effects. For
example, Guggulipid (Commiphora mukul), a traditional Ayurvedic medication used to treat high
cholesterol, is widely used in India. It appears to effectively lower cholesterol by blocking the
production of cholesterol in the liver. Similarly, fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) seeds
can decrease LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and increase HDL cholesterol levels. These
effects seem to be due to reduced intestinal absorption of cholesterol, and may be related to the
high fiber content of the seed. Fenugreek seeds may also help control your blood sugars if you
have diabetes, again because of the high fiber content.
Other Ayurvedic herbs are being studied as treatments for Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, asthma,
dementia, dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation), herpes, high blood pressure, Parkinson's

15

disease, perimenopausal problems, and premenstrual syndrome, amongst many other conditions.
Ayurvedic herbs combined with conventional medications may also be helpful for acne, chronic
constipation, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, and uterine fibroids.
Are there any risks?
Most Ayurvedic therapies, such as pranayama and rasayana, are unlikely to have adverse side
effects. Ayurvedic herbs, however, may interact with medications. In addition, one review found
that some Ayurvedic herbs contain mercury that can produce skin lesions; mercury can also raise
blood pressure. Be sure to consult your doctor before trying Ayurveda, especially if you take
medicines or have certain dietary restrictions such as with diabetes.19

Pre-colonial Medicine
Over centuries Indian indigenous medical systems were renowned for skilled physicians,
sophisticated medical therapies and for the extensive materia medica. While interplay of myriad
complex factors was responsible for the outcome, there is no debate about the fact that traditional
medicine entered a period of decline during the colonial era.
However, during the pre-colonial period early Portuguese and Dutch settlers relied on the
booming medical systems they found in India for their healthcare needs. There were very few
physicians among the early European settlers, and they did not have the medicines or the
knowledge needed to combat tropical diseases. During this period it was official policy of the
Portuguese and Dutch governments in India to actively seek out and document Indian traditional
medical knowledge. Several books on Indian medicine written during this period introduced
Indian medical knowledge to European medical schools, and botanical medical knowledge of
India was tremendously influential in the global context. Works on Indian botanical medical
knowledge, by Garcia da Orta (1568), Christoval Acosta (1578) and the 12 volume Hortus
Malabarius (1678-1693) compiled by Aadrian Van Rheede, became reference books for tropical
botany and medicine for a hundred years or more.
During the early days of the British East India Company, Indian medical knowledge and native
physicians were important resources for the colonial establishment. The skills of Indian
physicians to treat regional diseases and the rich materia medica of traditional medicine put them
at an advantage over the newly arrived British doctors, struggling to deal with diseases
unfamiliar to them. Later as the British East India Company established itself in India, many
British physicians assumed broader scholarly roles as botanists, foresters, zoologists, geologists
19 http://www.quantumhealth.com/news/ayurveda_indian_medicine.html 21st
november, 2014, 12:45 a.m

16

and European medicine came to be looked upon as the dominant medical knowledge system. By
mid-19th C. British official colonial policy marginalized indigenous medicine to secondary
status. And later as the Indian Medical Service opened to accept Indian nationals, students from
upper classes as well as Christians and Muslim entered modern medical colleges and European
medicine became the official health care system. 20

Medical Traditions since the 20th Century

Even
though throughout British colonial amount official standing of piece
of
writing and different ancient healing systems were relegated to secondary roles and
western drugs became dominant, Ayurvedic schools providing diplomas were created and also
the study of classical texts in Sanskrit language were initiated in several centers around Asian
country. Several of those establishments combined piece of writing education with medical
specialty education programme
and
western ideas of disease and upbeat.
Pharmaceutical corporations additionally began to manufacture Ayurvedic and different varieties
of ancient medicines on an oversized scale to take care of the diminished capability of
practitioners and patients to form medical preparations.
After Independence, the government of India made efforts to recognize Ayurveda, Siddha and
Unani as being on par with allopathic biomedicine. In 1964 a government body for setting norms
for the production and the regulation of the quality of traditional medicinal preparations was
formed. In 1970 the government of India passed the Indian Medical Central Council Act to
homogenize Ayurvedic teaching institutions, their curriculum and their diplomas. More recently
the government created the Department of AYUSH (Department of Ayurveda, Yoga &
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) to support research and development of
traditional medicine, and to set standards and regulate the activities related to practice. Today the
general trend is to comply with the norms of modern biomedicine. In traditional medical schools
the vocabulary and diagnostic tools of modern medicine are replacing traditional terms, and
techniques and students are increasingly becoming unfamiliar with classical references and
methodologies.
In the last few decades there has been growing interest in alternative forms of therapy
globally. In addition, attempts by devotees of New Age culture to ascribe new layers of meaning
to the concepts of Ayurveda have proliferated a simplified and modified version of Ayurvedic
culture and practice. While this has stimulated the development of tourism for well-being, leisure
Ayurveda, in India, with spas and hotels offering different kinds of simplified treatments, for
many in India and abroad these commercialized variants have come to represent Ayurveda.
20 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions 21st November 2014, 12:45 am

17

There are attempts by biomedical and Ayurvedic researchers to correlate Ayurvedic

understanding of the nature of disease with modern biomedical concepts. The materia medica of
Ayurveda has enticed the attention of researchers and commercial concerns in India and abroad
interested in identifying active molecules and manufacturing commercial versions of traditional
formulations. These novel demands along with renewed popularity traditional medical practices
within India itself have created conflicting conditions for traditional medicine in general and for
Ayurveda in particular.21
The hereditary Ashtavaidya Ayurveda physicians of Kerala are among the small group of
traditional medical practitioners who have undertaken to retain the scholarly study and practices
of their ancestors. With changing social structure and the norms imposed by the government
regulations, Ashtavaidyas too are striving to adapt their practice to contemporary standards. The
interviews that we conducted over the last few years with the remaining Ashtavaidyas of Kerala
highlight the issues that traditional medicine faces in such a modern context.

First World War

The ABO blood group system was discovered in 1901, and the Rhesus group in 1937,
facilitating blood transfusion.
During the 20th century, large-scale wars were attended with medics and mobile hospital units
who developed advanced techniques for healing massive injuries and controlling infections
rampant in battlefield conditions. Thousands of scarred troops provided the need for
improved prosthetic limbs and expanded techniques in plastic surgery orreconstructive surgery.
Those practices were combined to broaden cosmetic surgery and other forms of elective surgery.
During the First World War, Alexis Carrel and Henry Dakin developed the Carrel-Dakin
method of treating wounds with an irrigation, Dakin's solution, a germicide which helped
prevent gangrene.
The Great War spurred the usage of Roentgen's X-ray, and the electrocardiograph, for
the monitoring of internal bodily functions. This was followed in the inter-war period by the
development of the first anti-bacterial agents such as the sulpha antibiotics.

Improvements in HealthCare

21 https://www.ncbs.res.in/HistoryScienceSociety/content/overview-indian-healingtraditions, 21st November 2014, 12:12 am.

18

The 1918 contagious disease pandemic killed a minimum of fifty million individuals round the
world. It became a crucial case study in medical specialty. Bristow shows there was a gendered
response of health caregivers to the pandemic within the u. s.. Male doctors were unable to cure
the patients, and that they felt like failures. ladies nurses additionally saw their patients
die, however they took pride in their success in fulfilling their skilled role of caring
for, attending, comforting, and easing the last hours of their patients, and serving to the families
of the patients cope in addition.
From 1917 to 1923, the American Red Cross affected into Europe with electric battery ofsemi
permanent kid health comes. It designed and operated hospitals and clinics, and arrange
dantituberculosis and antityphus campaigns. A high priority concerned kid health
programs like clinics, higher baby shows, playgrounds, recent air camps, and courses for
ladies on baby hygiene. Many U.S. doctors, nurses, and welfare professionals administered these
programs that aimed to reform the health of European youth and to reshape European public
health and welfare on American lines.

19

Conclusion
The changes in the field of medicine over the years are something that never stops to amuse. Till
today, there is always some improvement in a form which lead to the development of society and
the empowerment of the future. Today, due the changes overtime, Ayurveda is increasingly
popular because it speaks of those elementary concepts of (1) contact with nature, (2) holism,
and (3) we are what we eat. Ayurveda forms an integral part of the daily regimen of hundreds of
millions of people worldwide. Its principles are utilized not only to treat persons who are ill but
also to prepare a balanced meal and to construct a harmonious environment. Ayurveda brings to
life the concepts of preventive health care and health promotion. The goal of Ayurveda is to help
the individual discover a personal knowledge of living.
Medicine is an ever-changing field, and the best is yet to come.

20

Biblography
Books:1. Upinder Singh, Nayanjot Lahiri, Ancient India: New Research, Oxford University Press, India
2010
2. Zysk,K. Medicine in the Veda: Religious healing in the Veda Motilal Banarisidas, Delhi 1996
3. Zysk, K. Asceticism and Healing in Ancient India: Medicine in The Buddhist Monastery,
Motilal Banarisidas, Delhi 1998
4. Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, A. F Rudolf Hoernle C.L.E, Oxford University
Press

Online Articles
1. http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/india_contribution/medicine.html
2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine

3. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/india/science/medicine.htm

21