History

Cataract in Human Eye—magnified view seen on examination with a slit lamp. Cataract surgery was known to the physician Sushruta.[24] and was performed with a special tool called the Jabamukhi Salaka, a curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision.[24] The eye would later be soaked with warm butter and then bandaged.[24]
Ayurveda traces its origins to the Vedas, Atharvaveda in particular, and is connected to Hindu religion.[22] The Sushruta Samhita of Sushruta appeared during the 1st millennium BC.[5] Dwivedi & Dwivedi (2007)— on the work of the surgeon Sushruta—write:[5]
The main vehicle of the transmission of knowledge during that period was by oral method. The language used was Sanskrit — the vedic language of that period (2000-500 BC). The most authentic compilation of his teachings and work is presently available in a treatise called Sushruta Samhita. This contains 184 chapters and description of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.

Underwood & Rhodes (2008) hold that this early phase of traditional Indian medicine identified 'fever (takman), cough, consumption, diarrhea, dropsy, abscesses, seizures, tumours, and skin diseases (including leprosy)'.[7] Treatment of complex ailments, including angina pectoris, diabetes, hypertension, and stones, also ensued during this period.[5][23] Plastic surgery, cataract surgery, puncturing to release fluids in the abdomen, extraction of foreign elements, treatment of anal fistulas, treating fractures, amputations, cesarean sections, and stitching of wounds were known.[7] The use of herbs and surgical instruments became widespread.[7] The Charaka Samhita text is arguably the principal classic reference. It gives emphasis to the triune nature of each person: body care, mental regulation, and spiritual/consciousness refinement.
Cataract in Human Eye—magnified view seen on examination with a slit lamp. Cataract surgery was known to the physician Sushruta.[24] and was performed with a special tool called the Jabamukhi Salaka, a curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision.[24] The eye would later be soaked with warm butter and then bandaged.[24]

Other early works of Ayurveda include the Charaka Samhita, attributed to Charaka.[7] The earliest surviving excavated written material which contains the works of Sushruta is the Bower Manuscript, dated to the 4th century AD.[25] The Bower manuscript quotes directly from Sushruta and is of special interest to historians due to the presence of Indian medicine and its concepts in Central Asia.[26] Vagbhata, the son of a senior doctor by the name of Simhagupta,[27] also compiled his works on traditional medicine.[7] Early Ayurveda had a school of physicians and a school of surgeons.[2] Tradition holds that the text Agnivesh tantra, written by the sage Agnivesh, a student of the sage Bharadwaja, influenced the writings of Ayurveda.[28]

The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (ca. 337 - 422 AD) wrote about the health care system of the Gupta empire (320 - 550 AD) and described the institutional approach of Indian medicine, also visible in the works of Charaka, who mentions a clinic and how it should be equipped.[29] Madhava (700 AD), Sarngadhara (1300 AD), and Bhavamisra (1500 AD) compiled works on Indian medicine.[26] The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka were translated into the Arabic language during the Abbasid Caliphate (750 AD).[30] These Arabic works made their way into Europe via intermediaries.[30] In Italy, the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta.[30]

British physicians traveled to India to see rhinoplasty being performed by native methods.[31] Reports on Indian rhinoplasty were published in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1794.[31] Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods.[31] Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the western world in 1815.[32] Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in the Western World.[32]

The mantra ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ written on rocks. Chanting mantras has been a feature of Ayurveda since the Atharvaveda — a largely religious text — was compiled.[21]