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Inter-country Exchanges of Folk Medicinal Practices: a Case Study of a Folk Medicinal Practitioner of Savar in Dhaka District, Bangladesh

Sophia Hossain
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Safayat Mahmud
UniMed UniHealth Pharmaceuticals, Lalmatia, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Folk medicinal practice is one of the ancient and possibly the most common form of traditional medicinal practices in Bangladesh. Folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, use for the most part, simple formulations of medicinal plants to treat a diverse variety of diseases, including complicated diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. It has always been a question as to how the folk medicine practice has evolved in Bangladesh and how the Kavirajes have accumulated their knowledge on the healing properties of medicinal plants. India is currently a separate country neighboring Bangladesh, but not too long ago, both under the British rule as well as for long before, the two countries used to be one with the inclusion also of present day Pakistan. Folk medicinal practice and other traditional medicinal practices like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, has been practiced in undivided India from ancient times and possibly dates back thousands of years ago. Since folk medicinal practice was in vogue in undivided India and since folk medicinal knowledge is usually kept within the family of the Kaviraj and transmitted through successive generations, it was of interest to find out the extent of Indian influences on present day Bangladesh folk medicine, and whether Kavirajes still obtain any form of training or gather their medicinal knowledge from present day Indian sources. A Kaviraj was located in Savar of Dhaka district in Bangladesh who claimed to have received her folk medicinal training from Assam, which is a state within India and borders Bangladesh. The objective of the present study was to conduct an interview of the Kaviraj and compare her treatment method with the information obtained from other Kavirajes in our previous ethnomedicinal surveys. Thirty one formulations were obtained from the Kaviraj involving 36 plant species, two animals and one insect. The ailments treated included fever (including dengue and malarial fever), helminthiasis, gastrointestinal disorders (diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, and gastric problems), diabetes, skin diseases, pain, respiratory tract disorders (coughs, asthma), cuts and wounds, liver problems, edema, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, whitish discharge in urine of women, sexual weakness, hair loss, and measles. Although a number of formulations or plants were identical to what has been previously documented from various Kavirajes of Bangladesh (who did not mention any Indian training), some of the treatment modes were new like the use of fox meat for treatment of rheumatic pain, or application of raw cow milk for measles. Some medicinal plant formulations also were different from typical Bangladeshi Kavirajes. Other formulations were similar to current Indian traditional medicinal practices, suggesting a common origin. It is hypothesized that folk medicinal practices in Bangladesh and at least the bordering states of India have a common origin, which gradually diverged, but still retain similarities because of the still ongoing exchange of folk medicinal knowledge between the two countries’ folk medicinal practitioners.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Kaviraj, Savar, Bangladesh

Location: Savar In Dhaka District, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

During our ethnomedicinal surveys, we came across a female Kaviraj who claimed to have received her folk medicinal training from Assam in India. Since this appeared to be an interesting instance, the objective of the present study was to interview and document the medicinal formulations of this particular Kaviraj in Savar of Dhaka district in Bangladesh.

Methodology:

Informed consent was initially obtained from the Kaviraj, namely Aziza Khanam, age around 50 years, and who practices in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka city in Dhaka district of Bangladesh. The Kaviraj claimed that she obtained her training in Assam state of India, which borders Bangladesh and where she served a period of several years as an apprentice to a ‘guru’. Consent was obtained that the information that she provided would be provided readily without any reservations and that such information may be disseminated in national or international publications. Actual interviews were conducted in the Bengali language (same language spoken by the Kaviraj as well as the interviewers) with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided fieldwalk method of Martin (1995) and Maundu (1995). In this method, the Kaviraj took the interviewers on guided field-walks through areas from where she collected her medicinal plants, pointed out the plants, and described their uses. All plant materials were collected on the spot, dried and brought back for identification by Mr. Manjur-Ul-Kadir Mia, ex-Curator and Principal Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh National Herbarium at Dhaka.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 6(4): 281-291, 2012 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Overall, it can be concluded that the various formulations used by the Kaviraj in the present survey can be classified into three groups – first, formulations that are common in Bangladesh and may have local origins; second, formulations, which show Indian traditional medicinal influences and could have originated from various Indian traditional medicinal systems and come to the Kaviraj via Assam, where she obtained her training; and third, some which may be considered as the Kavirajes own innovations. Our survey strongly suggests that folk medicinal practices in Bangladesh are closely related to folk medicinal practices in India, at least with areas in India close to the Bangladesh border. Irrespective of the origin, it is of importance that the formulations be studied scientifically with the objective of discovering novel and better medicines. Scientific reports have already validated the Kavirajes use of some of the plants, and more scientific research can lead to more validations and spur conservation efforts to save the plant and animal species.

Knowledge Management: Journal