CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE ~

CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE ~

,. -.m--,,,d---. - -? anera-l; - '...-. INTRODUCTION AND _-.. REVIEW OF LITERATURE From time immemorial, man has been depending on Mother Nature for all his basic needs. The plant diversity existed around him always attracted his curiosity. Man'spreliminary interest in plants started fiornhisneed for food, shelter and protection. Then he sought among them the remedies for injuries and diseases. From this arose the science of medicine. Rig Veda says that man learned to distinguish edible plants from poisonous plants by observing animals, which feed on different plants. Gradually he domesticated many of the wild plants for his basic needs. This domestication and large scale cultivation were the result of the identification of the immense potential uses of eachplant. It was also the result of the constant man- //- plant interaction in the pas During industrialization, plants have once again became ; I'd4 tdt the basic raw material for several industries. Now in the modern style of living, direct interaction of human beings with plants are declining because almost all the plant products are available in consumer packets. The result is that the new generation cannot identify some of the vital medicinal and food plants which are immediately available in their surroundings and are capable of solving many of their health problems without a medical consultation. Thus the ethnobotanical knowledge of the people and the listing of the plants of a particular region are important tools for a /'," better understanding of the human-environment interactions The present era, r<i lo marked by a massive destruction of the diversity of plants, animals and human cultures, makes an unavoidable demand on the basic exploration of the plant diversity. This perhaps is the most important and most relevant contribution of the

1.1 ETHNOBOTANY - HISTORY, k\3 Harsberger first coined the term ethnobotany in 1895. At that time the subject included mere identification and cataloging of plants used by primitive aboriginal people (Harsberger, 1896). Today the term has come to denote the entire realm of direct relationship between plants and man (Manilal, 1 989). It is the study of plant-human inter-re lationship embedded in dynamic ecosystems of natural and social components. Put in another way, ethnobotany is the study of contextualized plant use (Alcorn, 1995). Over the ages the indigenous people have developed innumerable arts, crafts and technology and their economic and cultural identities are inextricably tied to their traditional land and resources;?he ancient medical : i!' knowledge of various tribes and folklore systems of medicine provide a powerful and more effective strategy for the discovery of clinically useful compounds. But much larger number of folk medicines remain endemic to certain region or tribes. The knowledge of certain miraculous medicines acquired through ages of experience is usually passed on by oral traditions and are guarded as secrets of certain families. Today, there is a steady decline in human expertise capable of recognizing various medicinal plants. Much of this wealth of knowledge is totally becoming lost as traditional cultures gradually disappear (Hamilton, 1995). Ethno botany is not synonymous with traditional medicine; it must have had its roots in ethnobotanical folklore, and today traditional medicine incorporates several well organized distinct systems of diagnosis and cure. The act of compiling raw information provides the foundation of any natural science, and without a basic inventory, theoretical formulations are not possible. Ethnobotanyincludes the study offood, fiber, dyes, tans, other useful and harmful plants, taboos, avoidances and even magico-religious beliefs about plants (Jain, 1967; Ford, 1978). Ethnobotanists also play apositive role in scientific research (Lentini, 2000). There is practically no human activity in which plants do not play a direct or indirect role. Therefore ethnobotany has linkage with every other science and field of knowledge (Manilal, 1989). It is obvious that

ethno botany by nature is an interdisciplinary science drawing from different aspects of Anthropology, Botany, Archaeology, Ecology, Economics, Medicine, Linguistics and other disciplines. This concept has been lucidly illustrated in the most fascinating book on Ethnobotany, Ethnobofany: Evolution of a Discipline (Schultes and Von Reis, 1995). 1.2 GLIMPSES OF WORLD SCENARIO. All over the world there has been an increasing interest in the scientific study of man-plant interaction in the natural environment, which is clearly visible among various indigenous people, commonly designated as Adhivasi, Vanyajathi, Adimjathi, Janjathi, Tribal et c. More than 300 million indigenous people live in more than 70 countries ranging from Arctic to raidorests of Asia and South America. : Sr-ac~ The Amazon basin is an example of rich ethno bo tanical region. Its almost 3 million square mile supports the world's largest rain forest with an estimated 80,000 species of flowering plants, approximately 1 5% of the world4 half million species. The &-- northwestern sector, particularly the Colombian Amazonia, is home to 70,000 Indians in forty ethnic groups speaking many languages in more than 12 linguistic families. -,- The knowledge that these Indians possess of the biodiversity of their plants is deep. h In this relatively small sector oft he Amazon basin, ethnopharmacological research has recorded almost 1 600 flowering plants in 596 genera and 1 45 families employed as medicines or poisons (Schults and Raffauf, 1990). China and India together have more than 1 50 million tribal people. At least 5000 indigenous groups can be distinguished by linguistic and cultural differences and by geographical separation (Maheshwari, 1996). The Asian region is among the richest ethnobotanical treasures in the world and at least 6,500 species of plants are used locally in traditional and folklore medicine. Deforestation, modernization, transmigration, colonization, population explosion, urbanization et c. seem to threaten the survival of tradit ional cultures. The modern approach to the science of Ethnobotany evolved in USA and /"-.. iui i;' 1-

the foremost centre for Botanical aspect is the Botanical Museum of Harvard University in Massachusetts. Here ethnobotanists like Rachard Evans Schultes, Gorden Wasson, Siri Von Reis, Timothy Plowman, E. Wade Davis and others have contributed to various fields of Ethnobotany (Shah, 1987). The contributions of Indian ethnobotanists like S.K Jain and J.K Maheshwari are worth mentioning. 1.3 INDIAN SCENARIO The Indian subcontinent is inhabited by 68 million tribal people belonging to over 550 tribal communities of 227 ethnic groups (Anonymous, 1994). The presence of these much multiethnic groups of ancient linkage and diverse vegetation- angiosperms alone over 20,000- makes India one of the richest countries in Ethnobotanical knowledge. Studies conducted as part of All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology revealed that the tribes of India use over 9,500 wild plant species for meeting various requirernents.they use 7,500 wild plant species for medicinal purpose, 3,900 species for food, 525 species for cordage and fiber, 400 species for fodder, about 300 species as pesticides and piscicides, 300 species as gums, resins and dyes, 100 species for incense and perfumes and 700 species for cultural and other requirements (Maheshwari, 1996). Early Indian works like A catalogue of Indian medicinal plants and drugs (Fleming, 1 8 1 0), Materia Medica of Hindoastan (Ainsli, 1 8 1 3), Indigenous Drugs of India (Chopra, 1933) dealt mainly with plants and drugs of established indigenous systems ofindian medicine. But, Bazar Medicines and Common Medicinal Plants (Waring, 1897), is a little different and contains a number of folk remedies too. A summary of ethnobotanical research carried out in different states and union territories of India are outlined by Binu et - a1.(1992). The tribal communities living in different geographical regions of : it&c ' k. India may be divided into five territorial groups considering their historical, ethnic, and socio-cultural relations namely, northkastern parts of India, sub-himalayan i regions of north and north west India, central and east India, south India and western

India (Nautiyal el a]., 200 1). Bibliography of Ethnobotany (Jain et al., 1984) contains nearly 2000 references covering almost all the major publicat ions, Indian as well as foreign. A panorama of ethnobotany (Khan& Khan 2004) consists of 862 references from various fields of ethnobotanical research. Ethnobotanical research in India is concentrated mainly at different regional offices of Botanical Survey of India, Regional Research Laboratory, Jammu; Central Drugs Research Institute, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow; National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow; Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha, New Delhi; Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, New DeIhi and National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. Ethnobotanical Research in India attained a momentum with the implementation of AU India Coordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology in 1982. 1.4 KERALA SCENARIO In Kerala, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Trissur, and Department of Botany, University of Calicut are the main centres for Ethnobotanical research. Van Rheed (1678) through his classical twelve-volume work, Hortus Malabaricus compiled the ethnobotanical knowledge of Malabar people. Earlier information on Kerala tribes had been recorded by Dubois, a French missionary in 1897 in his book Hindu Mannans: Customs and Ceremonies. Ethnographic notes in South India (Thurston, 1906) and seven volumes of Caste and Tribes of Sourh India (Thurston, 1909) give a brief account of all the tribes in South India and several customs related to marriage, death, slavery, sacrifice, infanticide, and court practices. Iyer's books The Travancore Tribes and Castes, volume -1 (1937) contains ethnographic accounts of seven hill tribes and volume-ii ( 1938), and volume -11 I (1941) contain the descriptive accounts of tribes of Travancore and also the anthropometrics and serological informations. Ganambal (1952, 1955) and 5

Mukherjee (1953, 1954) studied the Urali, Kanikkar and Muthuvun tribes of Travancore. These studies are conducted from the religious, social, structural, demographic and psychological points of views. Serious ethnobotanical investigation in Kerala begain with the study of ethnobotany of rice of Malabar (Manilal, 198 1) and he reported about 26 primitive varieties of rice used by the tribes of Malabar. Ethnobotany of Cannanore district was studied by Ramachandran and Nair (198 1 ) and recorded 93 species of plants used by different tribes in the district. Prasad et al. (1984) studied the ethnobotany of the Nayadies of North Kerala. Pushpangadan -: and Atal(1984) studied the Medico-ethnobotany of some primitive tribes of Western Ghats and some schedule caste communities of Travancore. Nair et al. (1987) studied the Techno-Economics data on the forest wealth of Silent valley. Sankaranarayan (1 988) studied the folklore medicine for jaundice in Coimbatore and Palakkad districts of Tarnilnad u and Kerala. Pushapangad an-et. al. (1 988) conducted detailed ethnobotanical study on Trichopus zeylanicus used by Kani Tribes for long lasting health and vitality, and in 1990 on Amrithapala (Janakin arayalpatra). Rajashekaran et --+ al. (1989) recorded the Ethnobotanical significances of Aristolochia indica and Arisfolochia tugala among Kani Tribes. They used these plants against snake poison and insect bites. Nazurudinet al. (1986) studied the ethnobotany of r -,- Paniyar communities in North Kerala. S ivarajan and Balachandran (1 994) studied and published the plant resources used in major Ayurvedic drugs. Radhakrishnan et al. (2000) provide information about some of the r--- various tribes of Kerala. Kumar and Sasidharan (2002) information on 36 plant species from Shola forests of Kerala. There is very little mention about the ethnobotany of Muthuvuns of Kerala in books like Glimpses of Indian Ethnobotany (Jain, 1981) and Directory of Indian Folklore medicine and Ethnobotany (Jain, 1991). -

1.5 DEVIKULAM TALUK So far no major attempt has been rnadeyt"o,' gather information on the dependence of the Muihuvan tribes of Jk6kularn Taluk on plants. Sajeev and /' Sasidharan (1997) listed 64 speciedf plants used by the tribals of Chinnar Wild -..,,/- - -- Life Sanctuary. e& and Jayakumar (199atudied the Ethnobotany of Hill-pub '...,,.--...,,--'-.- at Chinnar Wild life sanctuary, &I& h is situated inside the Devikulam Taluk. Kisho re et al. (1999) studied the ethnobotany of the Hill tribes in the Shola Forests of High -. - ranges, mainly concentrated in Marayoor Range of Munnar Forest Division. These investigations throw some light on the range of plants used by the tribes of the taluk, but the major portions remains hidden. So the present study is highly significant as it bridges this gap in information. 1.6 SELECTION OF TRIBES Though various tribal groups are present in Devikulam taluk, Mannans and Muthuvans are the populous ethinc groups.hil2 Pulnya and Oorali are present in scattered patches. when the preliminary investigations are completed, it is found that the Mannan community in Devikulam taluk has already transformed and is getting equated with the civilized people around them. This is mainly because 1. They have become settled agriculturists. 2. Theirhadetsaremostlylocatedinthefiingeareasoftheforestwith a lot of interaction with the nearby town. 3. Freedom for women; both men and women go for manual labour in nearby private plantations. 4. Free interaction with no$ribals, imbibing many of their characters. 1 5. The Kani or head has 1Ast his powers and has absolutely no control over the groups. 6. Absence of herbalists with good knowledge about herbs.

7. Acceptanceofdevelopmentactivitiesfiomgovemmentanduseofmodem medicine. 8. Less dependence on forest and forest products. 9. Mannan has less cohesion among themselves and has became more individualistic. So, the present enthnobotanical investigation is carried out only among the Muthuvan community of Devikularn taluk, in the Idukki district of Kerala. 1.7 OBJECTIVES AND IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY. As modernization is fast progressing, the direct interaction of human beings with plants could be visible only among the tribals living isolated, mostly 1-t C+CC forests. Governments are trying to modernize the tribals by providing them with better shelter, clothing, medicine and education. In this process the much valuable information gathered over generations are lost. Each ethnic group has standardized these information after carehl observations and long trials. There are also chances that the information may be endemic. Most of the information are available only with selected people in each tribe. When the modern man enjoys the achievements of science and technology, we should not ignore the time-tested practices of thse people. The Muthuvan tribes living away from the main stream of the population deep inside the evergreen forest of Devikulam taluk have developed their own practices in satisfying the basic requirements. The use of plants by these people for various purposes like food, shelter, medicine, hunting, artefacts and their agricultural practices need investigation. The proposed study includes - The socio-cultural status of Mudhuvans. Identification of various food plants used by them and the recipes of preparation.

Collection and identification of medicinal plants and documentat ion of recipes for treatment of various diseases and disorders. Comparison of single remedies of Muthuvans with Dravyu Guna Shastra (Indian Pharmacology) of Ayurveda. Preliminary phytochemical studies on selected medicinal plants Collection and identification of plants used and documentation of the traditional knowledge of Muthuvuns in various fields like construct ion of huts, agriculture, fish stupefaction, fiber-yielding plants, artefacts and plants used in connect ion with customs and beliefs. A detailed study of these aspects, identification of plants used for various purposes and documentation of traditional knowledge may provide valuable 4- information for the future generations. These informatio~dl form a platform for the chemists to analyze the compounds in medicinal plants, agriculturists and foresters to introduce new crops and the anthropologists to gather more information on traditional cultures. 1.8 PRESENTATION OF THE STUDY The data collected during the investigation are presented in seven separate chapters. Chapter one with a general introduction and review of literature follows the discussion of common materials and method in chapter two. The four subsequent chapters have their own introduction, review of literature, observation, results and discussions. The summary of the study is presented in the seventh chapter. References follow the seventh chapter. All the photographs are serially numbered from 01 to 2 18. List of herbariums with botanical names, collection numbers and families are given in Index 1 and botanical names along with local 1 tribal names are given in Index 2. Details of the tables are given in Index 3, maps in Index 4 and photographs in Index 5. 9