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Medicinal Plants and Formulations Used by the Soren Clan of the Santal Tribe in Rajshahi District, Bangladesh for Treatment of Various Ailments

Mohammed Rahmatullah*
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Abid Hasan,
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Waheda Parvin
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Md. Moniruzzaman
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Asha Khatun
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Zubaida Khatun
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Farhana Israt Jahan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Rownak Jahan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The Santals form the largest tribal community in northern Bangladesh reside primarily in Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions, where they live in the districts of Rajshahi, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, and Panchagarh. Although they are fast losing their traditional medicinal practices, they still have their own medicinal practitioners who rely mostly on medicinal plants for the treatment of a variety of ailments. The traditional medicinal practices vary quite extensively between the twelve clans of the Santals. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey amongst the Soren clan of the Santal community residing in two villages of Tanor Santal Para in Rajshahi district to collect information on their use of medicinal plants. Interviews were conducted of the two existing Santal traditional medicinal practitioners of the Soren clan with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and using the guided field-walk method. Plant specimens as pointed out by the practitioners were collected and pressed on the field and identification completed at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. Information on 53 medicinal plants distributed into 32 families was obtained in this survey. Ailments treated by these plants included skin disorders, respiratory tract disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, sexual dysfunctions, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, helminthiasis, pain, urinary problems, filariasis, leprosy, tuberculosis, epilepsy, snake bite, enlarged heart, and paralysis. The medicinal plants used by the Santals merit further scientific studies for some of their formulations are used to treat diseases like diabetes, paralysis, enlarged heart, tuberculosis, and filariasis for which modern medicine has no known cure or medicines have developed resistant vectors.

Keywords: Asian medicine, CAM, Ethnomedicine, Alternative therapy

Location: Two villages of Rajshahi district, namely Kannapara and Mondumala.

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

The objective of the present study was therefore to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey among specifically the Soren clan of the Santals who resided in Tanor Santal Para of Kannapara and Mondumala villages of Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. An advantage of conducting an ethnomedicinal survey in the present study area was the exclusivity of the Soren clan, who resided in an area distinct not only from the mainstream Bengali-speaking population but also from other Santal clans.

Methodology:

The present study was conducted among the Soren clan of the Santal tribe residing in two villages of Rajshahi district, namely Kannapara and Mondumala. Cumulatively, the two villages were called by the Bengali population as Tanor Santal Para, meaning that they were inhabited exclusively by the Santals. The two villages had a Santal population of around 2,000. The clan had two traditional medicinal practitioners. Typical of the clan system of naming among the Santals, the two traditional medicinal practitioners of the Soren clan were named Goyeswar Soren and Rabikeshta Soren. Informed consent was initially obtained from the practitioners as well as the clan Headman. The Santals could speak Bengali fluently, and interviews were conducted in Bengali with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method of Martin (1995) and Maundu (1995). Briefly, in this method, the practitioners took the interviewers on a guided field-walk through areas from where they collected their medicinal plants, pointed out the plants and described their uses. Formulation details were obtained from the practitioners in evening sessions. Plant specimens were collected on the spot, pressed and dried and brought back to the Bangladesh National Herbarium at Dhaka for identification. Help was also taken regarding the identification of plants from Mr. Manzur-Ul-Kadir Mia, ex-Curator and Principal Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh National Herbarium.

Source of Information: Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med.(2012)9(3):350?359

Article Link (Online Journal): http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v9i3.8

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Many of the plants used by the Soren traditional healers are yet to be studied through modern scientific methods. Such studies can prove beneficial to human beings, for the Soren healers treat diseases like diabetes, enlarged heart, and paralysis against which allopathic medicine has no known cures. Pain is also prevalent among vast sections of human beings every day due to a variety of causes. Modern drugs like aspirin or paracetamol, which are used against pain, have side effects like ulceration of the stomach and hepatotoxicity. The Soren healers used 8 different plants for the treatment of various types of pain, any of which can prove efficacious as an analgesic with less or no side effects. In short, the medicinal plants used by the Soren healers merit further scientific studies towards the discovery of more efficacious drugs against a variety of diseases than are currently available in allopathic medicine.

Knowledge Management: Journal