NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
6
A Short History of Ayurvedic Veterinary Literature
The Hastiayurveda has a somewhat similar tale to tell of elephants, who
were deprived of their wings by the curse of the angry saint, Dirghatapa,
who was pestered by their tumbling down upon him from the trees around
his hermitage, on which they used to perch in order to graze on the leaves.
The wild and wingless elephants thereafter caused so much havoc in the King-
dom of King Romapada, of Campa (modern Bhagalpur), that he appealed to
the learned Palakapya to tame them. Palakapya was reputed to be the son of
Samagayanakhya Muni by a pious female elephant, which had drunk his
urine containing his seminal discharge. His mixed parentage apparently gave
him insight into the treatment of elephants, and when, owing to the change in
environment, disease broke out among the captive elephants, he condescended
to remain at Ramapada's court to teach the science of Hastiayurveda.
III. THE BEGINNINGS OF A VETERINARY ART
The historian is at long last beginning to realize the important part played
by disease in shaping the destinies of mankind, and to recognize that cattle
plagues may, in prehistoric times, have influenced the migrations of people at
least equally with the necessity for finding pasturage ; and it is quite possible
that the Indo-Aryans endeavoured, in leaving Central Asia, to escape from
enzootic areas of disease. Certain it is that they entered India bringing with
them their flocks and herds, and elementary theories of veterinary medicine.
It is, indeed, probable that many of the actual charms of the Atharvaveda
date from Indo-European times. They breathe the spirit of a prehistoric
age and show some similarity with old German, Lettic and Russian spells
(Macdonell).
The Vedas were the principal repositories of this early medicine. Although
the Rig and Yajurvedas contain many prayers for the health of domestic
animals, such as the following :—
' Give medicine for ox, for horse, for man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Medicine that is rich in healing
Good for ram and sheep '
It would appear that they were mainly left to the mercy of the gods and their
own devices, when attacked by disease ; while the unfit were weeded out by
the economical custom of giving them as sacrificial offerings. The Atharva-
veda actually states that ' the mother of no second calf should be given to the
priests ', while the Yajurvedas recommend the use of ' an aged, stupid, utterly
bad cow ' for the funeral sacrifice.
The early Hindus generally believed disease to be caused by demons
(Pisakas and Raksasas) and their curative efforts were consequently directed
towards exorcisms, while the wearing of amulets was their method of
prophylaxis. Lead was often employed against the demons of disease, much
as the horse shoe was used against witches formerly in England. An Athar¬
vavedic charm runs :— ' If thou destroy a cow of ours. . . . . . . . or a steed,
we pierce thee with this piece of lead'. Lightening, however, 'the dart which
Rudra casts ', was believed to cause fever, coughs and headaches, probably
LESLIE HAMILTON SHIRLAW 9
a swelling in his mouth, which will however rapidly pass away without doing
any injury. An operation upon the swelling is then performed with ' a splinter'
which Griffeths identifies as a ' tent or probe made of a pointed slip of bamboo
used in surgery '. The writer has met with no other references to animal
surgery in these early works.
IV. THE CATTLE DOCTOR
The status of the veterinary practitioner about this time may be gauged
by quotation of the Parasara Samhita,' If a cow is kept confined for treatment,
or for the rectification of any abnormal presentation during delivery, and not¬
withstanding all possible precautions taken for its prevention the cow dies,
then no expiation would be necessary. But if a number of diseased cows are
kept under control, and if one of them dies, after being treated by a cattle
doctor, who is not proficient in his art, an expiatory ceremony must be per-
formed ', while ' all physicians and surgeons acting unskilfully, must pay for
injury to brute animals the lowest (i.e. 250 panas), but for human beings the
highest amercement ' (Code of Manu).
The assailant of any animal guilty of ' hurting the limb, of wounding or
of fetching blood ' had to ' pay the expenses of a perfect cure ' (Manu).
' If
a cow is killed by any man, the blood of the dead cow must be examined, for
it becomes necessary to know whether the cow was diseased or weak before
her death ; for the ceremony of expiation would vary according to the state
of health or disease of the cow ' (Parasara Samhita). This examination of the
blood can hardly be paralleled, as suggested by Mukhopadhya, with the
modern Coroner's Inquest, since the method employed was as follows :—
Some of the dead animal's blood was poured on to a stone, and ' if it was eaten
by dogs and crows ', it was regarded as healthy blood, but ' if not eaten by these
creatures ' it was ' inferred to be bilious blood '.
The herdsman had himself to make good the loss of any animal in his
charge but ' when cattle died (he had to) carry to his master their ears, their
hides, their tails, the skin below their tendons, and the concrete bile of the cow '
and has also to ' point out their limbs ', an injunction which presupposed in
him an elementary knowledge of anatomy. He was also expected to know
the names, habitat and appearance of medicinal plants. It may be presumed
from these facts that the services of a Veterinarian were rarely utilized and
that the herdsman alone attended to the majority of cases.
V. EARLY STUDIES IN VETERINARY ANATOMY
There are numerous references to the dissection of animals at sacrifices,
and it is clear that, to the early veterinarians, the temple acted as the anato-
mical laboratory, the altar as the post-mortem table. This method was at
least to be preferred to that adopted in the study of human anatomy, described
by Webb as ' poking in a puddle at a putrid carcase ' : though the method of
dissection with a ' hatchet ' must have been very crude and the anatomical
knowledge (greatly resembling that of Plato) thus acquired extremely super-
ficial and often inaccurate. It is of interest to observe in passing that ancient
20
A Short History of Ayurvedic Veterinary Literature
onger extant; Gana who was the son of Durlatha and wrote the ' Aśvayurveda
Sarasindhu ' (sometimes called the ' Siddhayogasamgraha ') manuscripts of
which are mentioned in Weber's Berlin Catalogue and in H. Sastri's Report of
the Search for Sanskrit MSS (1895-1900) ; Garga Rishi quoted by Gana and
mentioned by Kielhorn as the author of the ' Aśvayurveda ' ; Jayadeva and
Sukracarva, both referred to in Jayadatta's ' Asva Vaidyakam ', the latter as
the author of a treatise entiled ' Nitisara ' ; the sages Vatsya and Vahada, the
latter the son of Vikrama and the author of the ' Aśvayurveda-Sarasangraya '
a copy of which is in the Raghunath Temple Library, Kashmir ; Sarangadhara
the author of the " Turanga Pariksa " and the " Vaji-Cikitsa " , Simhadatta,
who is reputed to have produced a monumental work on the examination,
colour, marks, and smell of horses, their age, nursing and feeding and on the
care of mares in pregnancy; and finally Sargarkhosi, who wrote the ' Aśvakarna¬
yudha ', and is sometimes, though incorrectly, said to be the author of the
'Ghora Nidan'. In another treatise on the science of horses called 'Vajisastra',
the writer calls himself ' Dipankara', (i.e. one whose mind is devoted to the
feet of the great Buddha, Dipankara). This work comes from Kathmandu,
where the author's grandfather, Trinidhanakara, was a famous physician.
It is, however, full of lacunae and very corrupt. Sastri mentions a writer of
this name as the author of a treatise entitled ' Aśvaidyasastra ' (or ' Aśva¬
vaidyaka').
Reference must also be made to numerous other works on the horse, which
are anonymous ; such as the medieval ' Siddha Yoga Sangraha ' ; the ' Yukti¬
Kalpataru ' ; the ' Manaproyamantani ' ; the ' Aśvalaksana ' (Taniore L'brary
No. Lix, 12305 Dff 8) ; the ' Hayalilavati ' ; a manuscript of which is in the
Bodleian Library ; the ' Fras-nama-i-Rangin ' and the ' Fras-nama-i-Hashimi ',
both of which are reputed to be translations from Hindi ; and the famous
' Ghora Nidan '. This last work claims to be a purely Assamese production,
owing no debt of any sort to older Sanskrit authorities. It embodies the re
sults of practical experience among the horses imported into India through
Assam from Bhutan. It was, in all probability, composed for the use of the
officers of the Ghora-Chowa Barua (State Department of Horses) in the reign
of King Siva Singha (1714-44).
Other works on horse medicine may be found mentioned in the following
catalogues :—
(a) In Burnell's Index of Sanskrit MSS in the Tanjore Palace Library :—
(i) Aśvaśástra.
(b) In Peterson's Report on the Search from Sanskrit MSS :—
(i) Aśvádigunah.
(c) In Oppert's List of Sanskrit MSS in Private Libraries in Southern
India:—
(i) Aśvalaksana.
(ii) Asvalīlavati (or Hayalilavati).
(d) In Buhler's List of Sanskrit MSS contained in Private Libraries in
Gujerat, Sindh, etc.:—
(i) Aśvasāra
(e) In the Catalogue of Government Oriental Library, Madras :—
(i) Aśva Lakshana Sāstra.
LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
23
Among the fragments of Megasthenes' ' Indica ' (fourth century B. C.)
still extant, is a detailed description of the ' manner of hunting the elephant ',
of its taming and training and of the ' many distempers to which it is liable.'
He describes how diseases of the eye were washed with cow's milk and most
other diseases cured by the administration of draughts of black wine or warm
urine. ' For the cure of wounds they are made to swallow butter, for this
draws out the iron. Their sores are fomented with swine's flesh '.
Kataulya makes mention of the state care of elephants by qualified
veterinarians, of special rules of hygiene and sanitation, but concentrates
mainly on the numerous ceremonies to be performed for their protection,
describing these after the manner of Palakapya. The Sukraniti points out
the good and bad types of elephants, how to tell their age from their teeth,
states that special elephant doctors were employed by the government, but
says little regarding the actual treatment of disease.
Tradition ascribes treatises on elephants to several other sages ; to
Virasena, who wrote the ' Hasti-vaidyaka ', which is quoted by Bhattotpala
on ' Brihajjataka '; to Brihaspati, the author of ' Gajalahsana ' (Characteris-
tics of Elephants), copies of which may be found in the Bikaner Palace Library,
in one of the Private Libraries of Southern India catalogued by Oppert and
in one of the Oudh Libraries listed by Pandit Deviprasad ; to Nil-kantha
whose book on the capturing of elephant and their diseases, the ' Mathanga
Lila' has been translated by Professor Edgerton and published in the Tri¬
vandrum Sanskrit Series ; to Vyasa whose work is to be found at Tanjore,
and to Sukumar Kaith, who wrote a sister volume to the ' Ghora nidan '
called ' Hastividyarnarva '. This treatise was written at the order of Queen
Madamvika of Assam in 1734. It was produced for the use of the officers
of the Hati-Barua of the Ahom Government, profusely illustrated by the
court painters of the day, and makes clearly apparent the richness of the
Assamese pharmacopoeia.
Other works on elephantology no longer extant are said to have been
written by Gautama, Narada, Mriga Charma and Rajaputra.
Mention is made of other manuscripts on the subject in the following
catalogues :—
(i) In the Library of the late Pandit Radhakrishna of Lahore ;
(a) Gajachikitsa.
(ii) In Oppert's List of Private Libraries in Southern India ;
(a) Gajapariksa.
(iii) In Aufrecht's Catalogus Catalogorum ;
(a) Gajavarta-Laksana.
(iv) In Peterson's Report on Sanskrit MSS in Bombay Presidency ;
(a) Gajapariksa.
(v) In the India Office Library ;
(a) Gajavaidya, with a commentary in Telugu.
(vi) Mukhopadhya mentions ;
(a) Gaja-Nirupana,
(b) Gaja Cikitsa.
24 A Short History of Ayurvedic Veterinary Literature
(vii) Hemadri and Dinakara quote respectively;
(a) Gajadarpana,
(b) Gajasastra.
(viii) And Alberuni in his ' Indica' speaks of a treatise on elephant
medicine, without, however, mentioning its name.
The subject is also dealt with in the Agni Purana, the Brihat Samhita,
the Kavi Kalpalata, in the Yukti-Kalpataru, in Kamandaka's ' Nitisara',
by Varahamihira and in the Ayeen Akbari. This last, though a Mohammedan
production, is recognized as a mixture of Ayurvedic and Yunani knowledge,
and it may safely be assumed that the section on the habits and feeding of
elephants is Hindu in origin, since the Muslims had not met with elephants
before their arrival in India.
(C) CATTLE MEDICINE
It is a curious fact that in a country where the cow has throughout history
been of enormous economic and religious importance, there is only a very
limited indigenous literature on bovine medicine and no authority on the
subject in any way comparable in importance to the masters of Aśvayurveda
and Hastiayurveda. There are, it is true, scattered throughout Sanskrit
literature innumerable references to the care and treatment of cattle ; but
the ' Juktikalapatam ' of Bhoja-raja (eleventh century A. D.) on draught and
other animals (now printed in the Calcutta Oriental Series); an anonymous
work entitled ' Go-Chikitsa ', to be found in the Government Oriental Library,
Madras ; a Hindi manuscript of little value entitled ' Brishakalpadruma ',
and a Tamil book discovered in 1888 by James Mills, Principal of the Bombay
Veterinary College, are the only individual works on the subject that have
achieved any sort of recognition. Sankararya, the commentator on the
' Nitisara', does indeed mention a treatise on cattle rearing and treatment
by Gautama and S'álihotra, called ' Vacca Gautama S'álihotra-pranitam ',
which, however, is presumably lost; while the Pandava prince, Sahadeva,
is reputed to have written a treatise on the subject, which, if it ever did exist,
certainly does so no longer.
The Tamil work mentioned above is described by Léclainche as being a
' very old medical treatise on cattle written by an anonymous rishi', and
he claims that it ' proves that in that far-off epoch bovine diseases were
classified and treated.' Unfortunately the expression ' far-off epoch ' gives
little real clue to its date and the writer has been unable to discover any
more exact information on the subject. Léclainche, moreover, goes on to say
that the treatments described ' recall closely Arab medicines ' and thinks
that they ' probably came from a common source '. It may possibly, there
fore, not be legitimate to include this work among Ayurvedic productions,
but it is certainly of interest in showing an early knowledge of many diseases
in India, such as ' bovine plague, charbon, tympanite ague, meningo-ence¬
phalitis, staggers, dysentery and piroplasmosis '. The treatments include
the use of herbs and of a few minerals, such as salt, red sulphur, saltpetre
LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
27
(E) PLAGUES IN ANCIENT INDIA
Curiously little is to be discovered in ancient Indian history regarding
widespread cattle epidemics, though the existence of special ceremonies
for the prevention of cattle plagues indicates that they can have been by no
means uncommon.
In the Charaka and Suśrutha Samhitas, plagues are attributed to un
seasonable conditions which affect the soil, which ' becomes affected by
wild beasts, gnats, insects, flies, rats, owls, vultures and jackals ', which in
their turn disseminate disease widespread. Various Buddhist books, such
as the ' Raja Ratnacari' and the ' Rajavali' give accounts of ' pestilential
fevers which become general throughout the land
(when) all flesh
began to die ' and of drought and famine ' followed by pestilence ', but,
since it was generally believed that all epidemics were visitations of the god
dess Mata, the people bowed their heads to what they regarded as inevitable
and incurable.
(F) BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM THE VETERINARY BOOKS ALREADY MENTIONED
TO GIVE SOME INDICATION OF THEIR VALUE
(i) Classes
Nearly every Indian veterinary work, Hindu and Mohammadan alike,
commences with a dissertation on the respective merits and breeds of the
animals concerned; in order, doubtless, to guide the would-be purchaser.
Much of this information is crude and superstitious, dealing with favourable
and unfavourable markings, such as, in the case of a horse, the colour (Varna),
the whorls of hair (Avartta), the marks on the forehead (Pundraka), dot
marks (Puspa), the voice (Swara) and the smell (Gandha). Some of these
prognostications have an element of reasonableness, such as the following
from the Aśva Vaidyakam :—
' A thick coat with soft and silky hairs is adored '. Others, like the
following quotation from the ' S'áloter ' appear merely superstitious :—
' A horse that has three feet white and a very white forehead, is vicious
and worthless ',
while the advice to be found in a few books is frankly absurd, as when we
read in the ' Fankht Vaalaj Aspan ' that the following horses bring very bad
luck to their owners :
' A horse with one ear longer than the other
a three-eared horse....
a five legged horse '.
Most animals are divided into four classes, Brahman, Khatri, Waish
and Shudar. Those of the first class were regarded as fit for kings and
ministers, those of the second as excellent for war, those of the third as useful
to traders and those of the fourth as wholly bad. They were apparently
classified according to their method of drinking water.
Other classifications are too numerous to mention ; though that in the
' S'áloter ' as judged by special points as ' his head small . ., his nostrils
wide . , his ears small and tapering to a point, his neck long . . and slender
.. , his back short .. , his chest broad .. , his legs long &c '; that in the Artha¬
sastra and the Ayeen Akbari, as according to their place of origin ; and that
in the 'Sukraniti' made according to their conformity to certain measurements,
30 A Short History of Ayurvedic Veterinary Literature.
Gurh; Haryegurh; the subah of Behar on the borders of the Rohtas ; at
Tharkhend; in the subahs of Bengal and Orissa, particularly at Satgong,
there are great numbers. The best elephants are those of Tipperah.'
In the Rigveda, the Indus valley is called 'rich in sheep'; the regions
settled by the Gandhari, on the banks of the river Kubha up to its junction
with the Indus and for some distance down the eastern side of the Indus
itself, producing the best wool. Huien T'sang tells of vast herds in Paryatra
and Sind and describes the people of the Indus lowlands as ' sheep rearers '.
Later, Marco Polo describes the sheep of Masulipatam as ' the largest in the
world '.
The western regions of India have always been the natural breeding areas
of camels and are so described by Bala and Huien T'sang. According to the
Ayeen Akbari, they were ' bred in the following places : Ajmeer, Judehpoor,
Nagore, Beyganur, Jalmeer, Hetinda and Tahnesir ; and in the subah of
Gujrat, near the province of Ketch are the greatest numbers and very fine.
But in Sind is the greatest abundance
The swiftest camels are those
of Ajmeer, the best for burden are bred in Tatah (Jang in the Punjab)'.
Bala speaks of the best asses coming from Mathura, while Abul Fazl
says ' Mules are not bred in Hindostan, excepting in Pakely and its vicinity ',
though Huien T'sang mentions the mules of Sind. Other animals, possibly
because, in their case, good stock was unimportant, appear to have had no
particular location.
(iii) Age judged by the teeth
The chapter on the age of horses in the ' Saloter ' commences with the
following rhyme :—
' Examine well their teeth with caution sage
That thence you may determine what their age.'
The author then continues :—
' The natural life of a horse is 32 years, during the first five of which he
sheds his teeth and they grow again
The remaining 25, his teeth con-
tinue fixed and unmoved, though subject to such alterations as will here-
after be explained '. These alterations consist in colour changes, from black,
by degrees to yellow and then to white, and the appearance or disappearance
of ' black hollow spots or grooves'. These are explained in considerable
detail.
Most other veterinary writers deal with this subject with regard to horses
and other domestic animals in much the same manner.
(iv) Diet
This is a subject on which the authorities seem to have achieved less
unanimity. For instance, in the Agni Purana, we find a calf marvellously
thriving on a diet consisting of masa (Phaseolus radiatus), sesame, wheat,
ghee, cream and salt, while in the ' Toy Cart', the oxen are fed with ' straw
and oil cakes '. The Mauryan state table of dietry for the best bulls was as
follows :—
1/2 bhara (1-1/2 seers) of meadow grass, 1-1/2 bhara of straw, 1 tula
(2-2/3 chattacks) of oil cakes, 10 adhakas (12 chattacks) of bran,
5 palas (2-2/3 sikis) of salt, 1 prastha (1-1/2 kancha) of drink,
LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
37
the edges should be keen enough to divide the hairs of the skin, well-shaped
and capable of a firm grasp. Copper needles were used in operations on
cataract. Blunt instruments were generally made of tin, but included, also,
tubes of lead for fumigation, animal horns for suction work, wooden tubes
(probably of bamboo) for inspection and stone collyrium probes. Neverthe
less, though no less than 120 surgical instruments are described in ancient
Hindu surgical works, they all declare that ' the first, best and most important
of all implements is the hand.
Finally, it might be salutary for us all to take to heart Sursutha's dictum
with regard to surgery :—
' Theory without practice is like a one-winged bird that is incapable of
flight.'
VII. CONCLUSION
It is evident that a considerable body of ancient veterinary literature
exists in India and that many of these early writings were scientific in origin,
though they subsequently suffered gross mutilation. A detailed study of
these works should be of interest not only to the historian but of vital impor
tance to the unprejudiced veterinarian of today, who is prepared to seek good
wherever it may be found. In this respect, the medical profession has proved
itself more progressive than the veterinary, since, under its auspices, the
Susruthasastra and the Charaka-Samhita have been fully and accurately trans
lated. The advantages derived from this study are clearly visible in the
adoption by Europe of such Ayurvedic practices as that of rhinoplastic surgery.
This article does not pretend to be the final word on the subject of Indian
veterinary literature. The writer is only too conscious of its inadequacy
and possible inaccuracies. The research involved, undertaken purely from
a love of ' digging up the past', has been seriously limited by the confines of
a roadless Himalayan station, the extreme difficulty of borrowing books and
the writer's inability to travel throughout India in search of original sources.
If, however, it should succeed in stirring up interest in this great and practically
unexplored Indian heritage : if it should succeed in persuading Indian veteri
narians to undertake the translation of some of the works mentioned and to
conduct more accurate research on the subject: if, indeed, it should only
succeed in fanning the flames of controversy regarding the accuracy of the
writer's facts, she will feel herself amply compensated for her labours.
VIII. REFERENCES
ORIGINAL SOURCES
Agni Puranas
.
.
.
. .
Aitareya Brahmana . . .
Arthaśastra .
.
.
.
.
Asoka's Edicts
.
.
.
.
Asva Vaidyakam .
.
.
.
Atharvaveda .
.
.
.
.
Ayeen Akbari
.
.
.
.
Bower MS . . . . . .
Brihat Samhita.
Buddhist Tracts
.
.
.
.
Charaka Samhita .
.
.
.
ed. M. N. Dutta.
trans. Haug.
trans. Shama Sastri.
cd. V. Smith.
part. trans. M. N. Majumdar.
trans. Griffeths.
Abdul Fazl.
cd. Hoernle.
trans. Upham.
trans. Kaviratna.