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Ethnobotanical Uses of Medicinal Plants by the Tudu Sub-clan of the Santal Tribe in Joypurhat District of Bangladesh

Tanzan Zahan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Istiaq Ahmed
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Sabrina Islam Omi
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Kamrun Naher
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Simin Islam
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

A.S.M. Sale Hin Bin Mahmud
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

Sefat Sultana
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh

S.M. Shatil Shahriar
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

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

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

An ethnomedicinal survey was carried out among the Tudu sub-clan of the Kisku clan of the Santal tribe in Joypurhat district, Bangladesh. This sub-clan is almost on the verge of disappearance and presently numbers only about 200 people. Their ethnomedicinal wisdom is also on the point of complete disappearance, and so it was important to document whatever remaining ethnomedicinal knowledge existed among this sub-clan. Only ten medicinal formulations were obtained from the sole tribal practitioner. These formulations included ten medicinal plants distributed into ten families. The various ailments treated with these formulations included gastrointestinal disorders, bleeding, oral lesions, blood purification, and ‘meho’, the last being a set of conditions usually identified by allopathic doctors as indicative of endocrinological disorders, and more particularly diabetes. Meho is an Ayurvedic term but also used by the folk medicinal practitioners of Bangladesh, who practice among the mainstream Bengali-speaking population of the country. The low number of ailments treated by the Tudu practitioner suggests that most of the tribal ethnomedicinal knowledge has been lost (a point acknowledged also by the practitioner). The study underscores the importance of documenting ethnomedicinal knowledge of the various small tribes of Bangladesh and their clans and sub-clans before this knowledge is totally lost.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Tribal medicine, Tudu, Santal, Bangladesh

Location: Joypurhat district of Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

The Santals are one of the largest indigenous communities in the northern and northwestern regions of Bangladesh. They are divided into a number of clans, each clan having again a number of sub-clans. Some of these sub-clans are now on the verge of disappearance because of rapid decline in populations caused through loss of their natural forest habitat and consequent loss of food (particularly protein) which was previously obtained through hunting. The tribal medicinal practices differ considerably among the various clans and subclans of the Santal tribe. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey among the Tudu sub-clan of the Kisku clan of the Santal tribe in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh. This sub-clan now numbers less than two hundred people and will possibly die out or become assimilated with the mainstream population within a short time period.

Methodology:

The present survey was carried out among the Tudu sub-clan of the Kisku clan of the Santal tribe residing in Nowda Santal Para in Joypurhat district of Bangladesh. The tribal population numbered about 200 and the tribe had a sole practitioner, namely Subol Tudu, about 65 years in age. Informed consent was first obtained from the practitioner and the tribal Headman. They were apprised as to the nature of our visit and consent obtained to disseminate any information obtained both nationally and internationally. The tribe could speak fluent Bengali and the plant names that the practitioner provided were in the Bengali and not in the Santal language, which suggested that the tribe although living separately from the Bengali-speaking mainstream population, is gradually assimilating the language of the mainstream population.

Actual interviews were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method of Martin (1995) and Maundu (1995). In this method, the tribal healer took the interviewers in guided field-walks through areas from where he collected his medicinal plants, pointed out the plants, and described their uses. Plant specimens were photographed and collected on the spot. A number of visits were made to collect the plant specimens, all parts of which plants like flowers, fruits or seeds being available only in particular times of the year. Plant specimens were dried and brought back to Bangladesh National Herbarium at Dhaka for complete identification. Voucher specimens were deposited with the Medicinal Plant Collection Wing of the University of Development Alternative.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 7(3): 137-142, 2013 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Solanum tuberosum (English: potato) was advised by the Tudu practitioner for treatment of stomach pain; stomach pain can arise from hunger, and so partaking of boiled potatoes with a little salt can alleviate such problem, for it would mitigate the hunger. Abroma augusta bark was used by the Tudu healer for treatment of ‘meho’, which is often indicative of diabetes; aqueous extract of fresh leaves of the plant have been shown to significantly reduce the absorption of glucose administered orally. Alpinia conchigera, used by the Tudu healer for treatment of dysentery has also been reported to be used by the Chakma tribe of Bangladesh to treat dysentery (Khisha et al., 2012). Cumulatively speaking, the plants used by the Tudu healer, although small in numbers, possess ethnomedicinal and pharmacological significance and merit further studies by the scientific community towards discovery of new drugs.

Knowledge Management: Journal