Goitres, Worms, and Haemorrhoids: Geographical Localisation of Endemic Diseases in Classical Āyurveda

Description

As Āyurveda is at its core a highly individualistic science, information on how collective suffering was understood and treated is scarce in its foundational works. While the passages referring to epidemics and similar events have attracted some attention in the last decades, endemic diseases are an almost completely neglected topic. Francis Zimmermann, in his inspiring monograph The Jungle & the Aroma of Meats, noticed that passages on the quality of river water virtually provide maps of health and disease for the South Asian subcontinent, but he did not develop this theme any further. By diligent reading and cautious interpretation of the relevant passages it is indeed possible to connect certain diseases with specific regions of South Asia, revealing differing opinions on this topic visible in the various works of Āyurveda.
In this talk, I will introduce, compare, and discuss maps of seemingly shifting endemic diseases as deducible from some of the earliest surviving compilations of Āyurveda (Caraka-, Suśruta-, and Bhelasaṃhitā, all dated roughly around 150 CE). In addition, I will also take into account certain later commentaries and raise the question of the plausibility of the alleged disease distributions.

Period	26 Jun 2024
Event title	Moving Medicine: New Perspectives in South Asian Histories of Medicine
Event type	Seminar/Workshop
Location	Cambridge, United KingdomShow on map