Feature

My experiences with herbal plants & drugs as I knew XXIV :
The Origin and the Botanical identity of plants used in
Unani-Tibb System of Medicine : An Appraisal

N.C. Shah

 

Introduction: It was the year 1976, I was in the CCRIMH Unit at National Botanic Gardens ,Lucknow. The director T.N.Khoshoo stated, “The NBG planned to organize  an exhibition of Indigenous Herbal Drugs with the main objectives  of collecting all the available information, expertise and materials under one roof, to explore the possibilities of forging a front  programme of action for the development of the indigenous systems of medicine  and for bringing these with the main stream of medicare  in the country “ (Anonymous 1976).

The action and the work on the proposed exhibition started about six months earlier, and I was nominated as a member, in the scientific organizing committee and was allotted  two tasks; firstly, to demonstrate the controversial drugs in Indian medicine and, secondly to display 600 important herbal drugs, after identification with botanical  names  and common names ( Hindi. Sanskrit, Unani and English) and display  in the glass jars. Though, it was an easy  task  for me to deal with but I requested Dr. T.N.Khoshoo then the director of NBG to allot me the work to prepare and demonstrate the history of Unani System of medicine in India. Dr. Khosshoo, asked me what knowledge and experience I had on Unani system of medicine. I replied, “ Sir, I do not have any knowledge and that is why, I want it to have.” Dr. Khoshoo  thought for while and then said ‘O.K.’ to me.

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N.C.Shah
Founder-ex Director Herbal Research & Development Institute, (Govt. of U.P.
Gopeshwar (now Uttarakhand).
Retd. Head of the Dep. of Botany & Pharmacognoy CIMAP(CSIR), Lucknow.
& Founder Secy.cum Treasurer, Society of Ethnobotanists. India
E-mail: shahncdr@gmail.com