P A P E R zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
JGFEDCBA
D O C U M E N T A T IO N
OF THE HISTORY OF
M E D I C I N E IN IN D I A
A NEELAMEGHAN
(DOCUMENTATION IN MANY LANDS 8)
Documentation Research
&:
Training Centre.
Bangalore-3.
The various activities for the promo-
tion of the study, research, collection of
documents, and documentation of the histurs
of medicine in India in the last fifteen:
years, are briefly described. The annual
bibliography, Recent Indian medical hist-
oriography, for the period 1954-61 i
B
ana~
lysed from different points of view.
Indi~l
contri bution on l.ndian medical hi s
t
or
y
has
risen by about 65 per cent, while the for-·
eign contribution to the subject has de-
clined by about)O per cent, in the 8-year
period. Over 80 per cent of the papers ara
in English. Only 10 per cent of the paper e
are in Indian languages. Among the latter,
Telugu, Hindi, and Urdu take up about 90 pe:~·
cent. Ancient Indian medicine is the suu-
ject most widely wri tten upon. The hi stor;y
of the development of· medicine in
Indi
a
f
ror.,
about the 10th century to the 19th century
AD has received little attention.
Eighty
per cent of the articles are to be found in
50 periodicals. Out of the 2Q8 periodicals
indexed during 1954-61, a little over 80 per
cent of the papers are to be found in the
111 Indian periodicals. Coverage of the
articles by certain indexing periodicals is
also indicated. Periodicals from India,
Great Britain, German~, and USA together
contain about 95 per cent of the papers.
About 80 per cent of the papers have seeped
into periodicals devoted to subjects other
than history of medicine and the history of
science. 1he possiole reasons for some of
the features mentioned are advanced. Per-
iodicals in the General Medicine group gave
over 50 papers per year but the number o r'
116
articles per periodical in that group was
only about 6. Compared to this though the
periodicals on the history of medicine gave
over
.8
articles per periodical, they gave
only a
Ii.
t
t
I.e
O V 5 r'
2"7papers per year. The
rn a
i
n
:,yr-es
o
f
tb"
sev(;nty-three books ci-t.ed
i.n
t
he b
i
bLi.{).~raphy
are also indicated.
o
INTRODUCTION
In the last two decades considerable
attention has been focussed on the study of
the medical history of India. This is not to
suggest that Indian medical historiography
gained interest only after post World
War II. For, even the ancient Indian medi-
cal classics such as the works of Charaka,
Susruta, Kasyapa, Vaghbhata, and Bhela,
rn en
ti
on the various theories and practices
of medicine in India. India's contact with
the western world. became extensive from
the 16th century AD. Foreign and Indian
scholars have made sporadic atteznpts to
reconstruct the scientific and cultural
history of India. To stimulate research in
India's past and to collect the necessary
documents of information, Sir William
Jones founded the Asiatic Society in 1783.
Further, kings or maharajas in different
parts of India patronised scholarship, built
up valuable library collections, and spon-
sored the publication of learned treatises
expounding the culture, tradition, and the
AIJ.
lib sc
HISTORY OF MEDICINE
sciences of India. Some members of the
late Indian Medical Service have written on
broad or specific topics relating to the medi-
cal history of the country. A brief account
of the story of medical historiography in
India may be found in a lecture by Subba
Reddy [SUE].
01 Search in Non-Medical Fields
The earlier documents on the subject
are naturally scattered. Some of them are
rare, and not all of them are in the con-
ventional book form. Systematic and ex-
tensive searches have to be made in non-
medical writings in the field of sociology,
history, culture, archaeology and in travel
accounts, to. obtain a more cogent picture
of the development of medicine in India,
particularly from the 16th to 19th centuries.
In this paper the activities for the promotion
of the study, research, and documentation
of Indian medical history during the last
fifteen years are reviewed. Data on the
writings on Indian medical history during
1954-61 are presented, and an interpreta-
tion of the data is also attempted.
LEARNED SOCIETIES
11 Indian Association of the
History of Medicine
The Indian Association of the History
of Medicine was formed in 1947, with its
headquarters in Madras, for the purpose
of promoting the study of and research in,
medical history with special emphasis on
India. With this in view lectures and sym-
posia have been held under its auspices
from time to time. The publication of the
Association's official organ - the Indian
journal of history of medicine (1956-) pro-
vides a definitive medium for the publica-
tion of original papers, reviews, news,
notes etc of medico-historical interest. It
is also the purpose of the periodical lito
bring to the notice of the cultured public
and the profession, various archaeological,
epigraphical evidences, traditional lore,
extracts from ancient literature, religious
or secular or scientific, lists of manus-
cripts, records of documents, old books
and works of art, useful for the study of
V 10 N 3-4 Sep-Dec 1963
J27
the history of medicine in India. It will
collect and publish clues and traces of the
influence of ancient Indian medicine on other
lands and people in ancient and medieval
times •••• It also aims to bring medical
science into closer relation with the hu-
manities". Further, with a view to help
scholars and bring about contact and colla-
boration among them, the periodical has
been documenting the current writings on
Indian medical history in a series of annual
bibliographies. The first instalment cover-
ing the documents for the years 1954-55 was
published in 1956. The Upgraded Depart-
ment of History of Medicine (Hyderabad,
AP) maintains a card index to the docu-
ments. The Department has a project to
complete the bibliography for the years
1951-53 so that a decennial (1951-60) cumu-
lative index could be issued.
12 History of Medicine Club
The History of Medicine Club was
formed in 1958 in the Seth G S Medical
College (Bombay) by a group of enthusiasts.
The college itself possesses a valuable
collection of documents on medical history
received from the Royal Asiatic Society
(Bombay). The Club has been successful
in enthusing the medical profession in medi-
cal history. It has arranged several learned
lectures on medical history subjects [SE].
13 Museum of Medical History
The Topiwala National Medical College
(Bombay), has a hall ;'n its new building set
apart for a museum of rnedi ca.l history.
Donations and loan of exhibits depicting the
development of medicine in India are soli-
cited by the institution [T].
2 TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND LIBRARIES
21 Prof SigeraZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
i
s
tt
s Recommendations
The late Prof Henry Sigerist, recom-
mended in a memorandum submitted to the
Health Survey and Development Committee
(Bho.e Committee), the establishment of an
Institute for the History of Medicine in India
preferably in connection with or as an an-
nexe to, the library of the All-India Institute
of Medical Sciences, almost two decades
117
J21zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
NEELAMEGHAN
ago. He pointed out that the staff of such
an institution should include scholars
in
Sanskrit, Greek, Arabic, Persian,
eaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
t
c,
and that it should have a strong collection
elf:
n
The basic medico-historical
liter",
ature - books and journals - rn edi cal texts
in the best editions and translations
and as
many reference books as possible.
It
should
also include a number of norivrne di cal books,
such as basic books on political, social
a.n
d
economic history, the history of philosopy,
religions and other disciplines, books that
are constantly needed for general orienta-
tion" •
II
The institute will in addition
c
oll ect
other
do
curn en ts pertaining to the rn ed
i
ca.l
history of India, manuscripts photographs.
portraits, objects such as instruments, etc ,
and it may consider the creation of
a m u -
seum of indigenous drugs".
The
B h o
r e Committee endorsed
P ~ '()f
Sigerist's recormnendations [I].
22
The McDonald Report
Perhaps the first official atternpt.
II I
recent years to evaluate the medical
l ibr-a
rv
facilities in India was that undertaken
b y L :
Col D P McDonald in 1945 under
o
rde rs
o
f
the Director of Medical Services.
A;'LOI'"g
other things he
r
eco rnrn ende d the
p
ro per
classification and cataloguing of
the doc u
ments, and provision of additional
g
r ant s
r.::'
periodicals. Further, he suggested
thCl.t .;
rn edi cal rn an conversant with
m
ed
i
cal
li
t
e ,--
ature should examine the collection
o f
0]
j
and rare
do
curn en
t
s lying neglected in
:,') 1" :" "'
libraries so that really worthwhile
i
te ms
rn
av
be preserved, and gaps in out-of-print
p'.;,'-
iodical sets filled with microfilm copies
[NM).
23 Madras Medical and Public
Health Conference
The Medical Education Committee of
the Madras Medical and Public Health Con-
ference in its report of 1947 examined the
library facilities in the Madras State. The
Committee recommended that in addition to
a chain of district medical libraries for th e
medical practitioners and public health men
1 18
of the d
i
s tr
i
c
t
s , the library of the Office of
the Director of Medical Service (formerly
Surgeon-General's Office) should have
a
c
ol le ctio n
on
such subjects as medical edu-
cat.ion , rne d
i
cal philosophy, history of
medicine, etc, subjects in which the medi-
cal colleges might not acquire material to
any a
pp r eci abl e extent.
24
Survey of Medical Publications
About 1949, Dr D V Subba Reddy sent
out a questionnaire to several medical
colleges
a n d
other institutions in the country
to compile a list of the medical publications
published before 1900, available in the res-
pe c
ti
ve libraries. A tentative schedule for
the
classification of these documents was
also drawn up [SUC] [SUH].
25
TJnder-Graduate Medical
Education Conference
In November 1955, the Under-gradu-
at
e Medical Education Conference sponsored
b
v the Gove
r
nm errt of India recommended,
for
certain laudable reasons, that history
o f
medicine should be included in the medi-
(': 2• .
1GFEDCBA
c u r ric u lu m .
;:,6
Implementation of the Bhore
Co
rnrrri
tt
e
et
s
Re
cornrn eridat'ion s
In
1956, the Government of India pas s-
e;~l
legislation to implement the Bhore Com-
rrri
tt
ee' s recommentation to establish the
An
India
Institute of Medical Sciences.
There
w a s
no provision for the institute of
History of Medicine in this All India Insti-
tut
e
a
lthough the A L Mudaliar Committee,
appointed by the Government of India to work
out
the details of implementation of the
Bhore Cornmittee's suggestions, had re-
commended a Department of History of
Me dic
i
ne in that Institute.
27 Government Support
In 1956 the Ministry of Health of the
Government of India offered financial sup-
port to proposals for the establishment of
Chairs of History of Medicine in selected
rnedical colleges as part of the programme
for the p r om ot
i
on of indigenous systems of
An lib sc
HISTORY OF MEDICINE
medicine during the Second Plan period [C]
[0].
3 DEPARTMENT OF mSTORY
OF MEDICINE
The Surgeon-General with the Govern-
ment of Madras recommended the establish-
ment of a Department of History of Medicine
in the Andhra Medical College, Vishakapat-
narn , This Department, the first of its kind
in India, was opened on 26 September 1956
with the object of teaching, conducting re-
search, and training personnel to staff
medical history departments. The Depart-
ment also began organising a library of
medical history. With the formation of the
Andhra Pradesh in 1957 the Depart;ment was
shifted to Hyderabad, the capital of the State,
famous for its museum, art collections,
large private and public libraries, and
presenting a harmonious fusion of Hindu,
Islamic, and European culture [INJ]. The
Department which was first located in the
Gandhi Medical College, is now in the Salar
Jung Museum Compound functioning as a
department of the Osmania Medical College.
Since its establishment, the Department has
been upgraded and receives Government of
India financial support.
31 Organisation and Programmes
The Department is organised into five
sections:
1 Library, with special emphasis on
documents on Indian medical clas-
sics, and Indian culture and socio-
logy;
2 Museum of pictures, sculptures,
etc;
3 Ar chival records useful in the study
of Indian medical history;
4 Art section; and
5 Photography section, for repro-
graphy work.
The teaching programrne of the De-
partment includes: Ten to twelve lectures
on history of medicine to undergraduates in
medicine; two to four lectures to po stg r adu-
V 10 No 3-4 Sep-Dec 1963
14
ates; and guidance in preparing historical
r~view of their speciality of study. The
Osmania University has also approved the
scheme and syllabus for a post-graduate
Diploma in History of Medicine.
Research programmes of the Depart-
ment include medicohistorical and other
special studies relating to Andhra Pradesh,
and investigations of the history of medicine
in India in all aspects.
The publication programme compre-
hends a journal or transactions, biblio-
graphies of medicine in India, reprinting
of ancient texts and rare books on Indian
medicine. The first number of the organ
of the Department - Bulletin of the Depart-
ment of History of Medicine - was issued
this year. [U].
The Department has so far published
nearly a hundred papers and a few mono-
graphs.
4 INSTITUTE OF mSTORY OF MEDICINE
In 1960 at a conference of eminent
medical men and scholars who met at the
invitation of Hakim Abdul Hameed Mutawali
of Hamdard Laboratories (Wagf), Delhi, the
formation of an Institute of History of Medi-
cine was recommended. The Institute's
building at Badarpur was recently opened
by the Prime Minister. The Institute was
inaugurated by Dr Jivaraj N Mehta on 12
August 1961.
The main objectives of the Institute
are:
1 To found a vast library for exten-
sive studies of the history of medi-
cine with special emphasis on the
collection of:
i)
Books on the history of medicine
in whatever languages available;
ii) Publications on Greek, Egyptian,
Arab, Ayurvedic, Siddha, and
Chinese medicine;
iii) Important publications on mod-
ern medicine;
iv) Literature on all important sys-
tems of medicine; and
119
J4
NEELAMEGHAN
v} Old literature for research.
2
To establish a museum of history of
medicine; and
3
To establish a herbarium of medi-
cinal plants of medicohistorical
interest.
This organisation named the Institute
of History of Medicine and Medical Research
is a registered body under the Societies Act
of 1860.
The publications of the Institute in-
clude Unani and Arab medicine by M A Aziz,
Notes on ethical basis of medicine by Ha-
keem Abdul Hameed, A Survey of indigen-
ous drugs by H H Siddiqi, and Theories and
philosophies of medicine (a product of the
Institute's research team) [A] [INSTI]
[INSTZ].
5 STUDY OF INDIGENOUS SYSTEMS
OF MEDICINE
From the early part of the nineteenth
century, Western medicine steadily struck
roots in the Indian soil. With the founding
of the medical schools to impart instruction
in English in Western medicine with a view
to meet the medical requirement of the
British army, Indian systems of medicine
receded into the background. However, in
the last two decades, there has been renew-
ed interest in the study of Ayurveda, especi-
ally its materia medica. Fresh impetus
carne from the rediscovery of the medicinal
properties of Rauwolfia or Sarpagandh.
51 History of Ayurveda
During the Third Plan Period special
attention is to be paid to Ayurvedic studies.
A programme for the study of and research
in the history of Ayurveda during this period
was recently outlined [SUP]. The scheme
envisages three stages of work:
1 Collection of the material neces-
sary for study. Study and analysis
of the materials, their cataloguing,
collation, editing and annotating of
the texts;
2 Publication of papers, books, per-
iodical s , bibliographies, transla-
tions, etc; and
120
3 Training of research workers and
teachers of Ayurveda in the methcxis
of hi sto raZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
i
cal research and teaching
of t\le history of medicine.
Award of fellowships and scholarships
to encourage research in the history of
Ayurveda is also programmed.
52 Nagarjun Research Institute
The periodical Nagarjun was launched
in September 1956 with a view to spread and
revitalise the study and practice of Ayur-
veda. Encouraged by the warm reception
received by the periodical in India and
abroad, in 1960 the sponsor s began planning
for the establishment of a Nagarjun Re-
search Institute to give
n
impetus to funda-
mental and post-graduate studies in various
branches of the ancient science of life, in
the context of the precepts of Charaka,
Susruta, and Vagbhata, the three great
teachers of Ayurveda". A ful1fledged hos-
pital of 125 beds, an outpatient department,
a herbarium, and a drug research labora-
tory are to be established in association
with the Institute. Such a large scale enter-
prise, costing about Rs , 50 lakhs, cannot
succeed without adequate support from the
Government as well as from the private
sector.
The activity of the Institute of specific
interest to the present review is its pro-
gramme for the preparation of an Ayurvedic
encylopaedia. This compilation is to be in
ten volumes of I, 000 pages each. ·The pro-
posed contents of each of the volumes are
as follows:
I History of Ayurveda;
2 Ayurveda and its utility in modern
days;
3 Different aspects of the art and
science of Ayurveda with particular
reference to Panch Bhuta Theory,
Tridosh Theory and Nadi Vignan;
4 List of writers of authentic books
giving their life-sketch and names
of works;
5 Subject-wise list of books so far
published in Indian and foreign
languages;
An lib sc