Page 2 - Oct-Dec 2013

History of Traditional Medicines

The history of traditional medicines in India can be traced back to ancient times. In fact, India is known to be the
land of miraculous cures and remedies.

Medicine Story Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita

indian medicine has a very long history. its earliest The ‘golden age’ of indian medicine from 800 bC to 1000
concepts are set out in the Vedas, especially in the aD was marked by the production of two medical treatises-
atharvaveda which dates back to the 2 millennium bC. the Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita, attributed
nd
respectively to Charak, a physician and sushrut, a surgeon.
During the Mauryan and gupta period, indian medicine
reached its peak. under the Mughals, the system of The Charak Samhita mentions around 500 medicinal
medicine which flourished was unani. several hospitals plants and the Sushrut Samhita mentions around 760.
were also established by the Mughal rulers and nobles. These classical sanskrit encyclopaedias on medicine are
with the coming of the british to india, new forms of among the foundational and formally compiled works of
modern medicine were introduced. allopathic medicines ayurveda.
became the mainstay. Dhairyansh Dangara, IX D, All Saints Sr. Sec. School, Ajmer

UNANI MedICINe
SIddhA MedICINe
unani medicine is greco-arabic in origin and was evolved siddha medicine is one of the oldest medical systems
around 980 aD in Persia. The comprehensive knowledge of
this treatment as a healing system was collected by hakim known to mankind. it originated in the state of Tamil Nadu.
ibn sina. The word siddha comes from siddhi, meaning an object to
Practitioners of this form of medicine in india can practice as be attained perfection. The world siddha Day is celebrated
qualified doctors. on 14th april.
Paridhi Aggarwal, X, Delhi Public School, Maruti Kunj, Gurgaon
an outstanding physician and scholar of the unani medicine,
hakim ajmal Khan (1868-1927), championed the cause of
the unani system in india.
Krishna Prakash, IX, Visakha Valley School, Visakhapatnam
Natural cure, we are
DID YOU KNOW always sure...
In 1920, the Indian National Congress Convention Charak and Sushrut
at Nagpur recommended that Ayurveda should gave us remedies that
be the national system of medicine, and in 1921, were pure...
Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated the Ayurvedic
& Unani Tibbia College in Delhi.

ACTIvITy

Imagine yourself to be an assistant of
Charak. What herbs did you observe him
use and which ailment would he have used
this for? Also, who would be the lucky
one whom he would have liked to cure?

Illustration by: G. Rashmi, X, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan's Public School, Hyderabad
Background Illustration by: Sagarika Agrawal, VI, Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Gurgaon

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