Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 3(1), January 2004, pp. 96-100 Plants used for the treatment of different types of fevers by Bhils and its subtribes in India Swati Samvatsar* Samaj Pragti Sahyog, Bagli, District Dewas, Madhya Pradesh swatisamvatsar@hotmail.com and V B Diwanji 12/2 Royal Palace, New Palasia, Indore Received 28 February 2003;revised 25 August 2003 Bhil including its subtribes is the third largest tribal community of India. This community of forest dwellers is well acquainted with medicinal properties of plants of their surroundings. Present paper deals with 14 plants used for different types of fevers by this tribal community. Keywords: Bhils, Fever, Medicinal plants. Bhil including its subtribes is the third largest tribal community in India. This is the only tribal community having compact core and periphery. These tribals mainly inhabit western parts of India i.e., in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. In Madhya Pradesh these tribals are spread over in four districts, viz. Jhabua, Dhar, Khargone and Ratlam. Basically this community is forest dweller and well acquainted with medicinal properties of plants of their surroundings. They provide a good source of ethnobotanical information. Present paper deals with plants used for different types of fevers by this tribal community. * Correspondent author Methodology Tribals are secretive by nature. They do not communicate openly with strangers. Hence, frequent visits to tribal villages were made. The village elders and tribal medicine men (Badwa) were interviewed following a questionnaire already prepared. In addition, herbarium specimens of some plants were shown to them to know their uses and local names. Voucher specimens of all plants were made with all necessary entries. The questionnaire included local name of the plant, part used, collection time and locality, dosage, duration, restriction on consumption of food/drinks, storage, mode of cultivation, source of information, etc. From the data so gathered, plants used for different types
SAMVATSAR & DIWANJI: PLANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF FEVERS 97 of fevers were listed. In the present investigation only such plants are reported which have shown positive results in case of affected persons, who were interviewed. Plant names are arranged alphabetically. Enumeration Following plants are found to be used for different types of fevers. Aristolochia bracteolata, Boerhaavia diffusa, Calotropis procera, Celosia argentia, Cymbopogon martinii, Desmodium triflorum, Erantemum roseum, Enicostemma hyssopifolium, Ficus racemosa, Leptadenia reticulata, Marsdenia tenacissima, Moringa oleifera, Phyllanthus virgatus, Vernonia anthelmintica (Table 1). Table 1 Plants used by Bhils for treatment of different types of fevers Aristolochia bracteolata Lam. (Aristolochiaceae) Girdan, Sarpgandha Root in trace amount (weight of wheat grain) mixed with jaggery (weight equals to a Cowry (Kaudii) and made one tablet from this mixture. Oral, twice a day, till relief is obtained. Eat only wheat flour bread (Chapati) and green gram soup (Mung ki Dal) Dried Boerhaavia diffusa L. (Nyctaginaceae) Punara, Dhakani, Munjar Root of one plant rubbed on stone and mixed with ghee. Oral, 5 gm of this mixture twice a day for 7 days. Oily and, non- vegetarian food. Only fresh roots are to be used. Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae) Akada, Aakuwa One pinch of root bark mixed with one teaspoonful of honey. This will be one dose. Oral, twice a day for 3-5 days. Sour, oily food, tea, avoid moving in hot sun. Root bark to be collected in first month of Hindu calendar and within first nine days of this month. Celosia argentea L. (Amaranthaceae) Kujada jad Malaria A small piece of root ground with equal amount of water. This will be one dose. Oral, twice a day till relief is obtained. Oily food, jaggery, Dried (Contd)
98 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 3, No. 1, JANUARY 2004 Table 1 Plants used by Bhils for treatment of different types of fevers Contd Cymbopogon martinii (Roxb.) Wats. (Poaceae) Rosha ghas Smoke of inflorescence. One inhalation only. material. Desmodium triflorum (L.) DC. (Fabaceae) Devchana high fever. Leaf paste. External, leaf paste in water applied on forehead to bring down high fever. Once Enicostemma hyssopifolium syn. E. littorale Blume (Gentianaceae) Nai, Nawali Whole plant ground with equal amount of water and filtered. This will be one dose. Oral, two doses at interval of six hours. Sour, oily food, and black gram.. Eranthemum roseum (Vahl) R. Br. (Acanthaceae) Jungli garao, Tanish, Dusmuli Malaria and Root ground with a glassful of water. This will be six doses. Oral, 1/6 glass twice a day for 3 days Chillies, Ficus racemosa L. (Moraceae) Gular Latex, Raw Oral, 1/4 spoon once a day till relief is obtained. Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wt.& Arn. (Asclepiadaceae) Motha Dudhi, Kavada Dudhi Leaves, Raw Oral, 4-5 leaves chewed like betle leaves 3- times a day till relief is obtained. Oily and (Contd)
SAMVATSAR & DIWANJI: PLANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF FEVERS 99 Table 1 Plants used by Bhils for treatment of different types of fevers Contd Marsdenia tenacissima (Roxb.) Moon (Asclepiadaceae) Kadwa Dodi, Marvesh, Morvech Root ground with water. Oral, 20 gm of paste mixed with a glassful of water is one dose. Repeat for 5 days. Sour food and chillies. Moringa oleifera Lamk. (Moringaceae) Surjana, Sahjan Stem bark, decoction in water. Oral, Once, one glass of water and two teaspoons of decoction. Phyllanthus virgatus G. Forst.(Euphorbi aceae) Aamli Whole plant without fruits, Aqueous extract of whole plant amounting to 8-10 spoons is kept over night. Oral, 2 teaspoons twice a day (morning & evening) for 2-3 days. Chillies, Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. (Asteraceae) Ghoda jeera Leaf extract in hot water. One glass of this extract is one dose. Oral, Once only. Discussion The present article deals with 14 plants used for the cure of different types of fevers. The authors themselves have collected this information during an extensive survey of the study area. A comparison of the data so gathered, with the relevant information obtained from elsewhere shows very interesting results. A comparison with Dictionary of Indian Folk Medicine & Ethnobotany (1991) and present results show that only 6 plants have been mentioned there for fever, but without any details. Use of same part of same plant by remotely placed tribals indicates reliability of the medicinal properties since these people are not in a position to communicate with each other. Out of these 14 plants, only E. hyssopifolium (syn. E. littorale Blume) is mentioned as used for fever in The Useful Plants of India (1994). Remaining plants are described there but for different uses. A comparison with Ethnobotany in India
100 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 3, No. 1, JANUARY 2004 (1992) that includes 58 research papers shows that only one plant, viz. Calotropis procera is used for this purpose. Thus the data gathered by the authors is significant as it provides new information regarding seven plants and details of use for all plants for fever. Acknowledgements One of the authors (SS) thankfully acknowledges Dept. of Sciences and Technology, New Delhi for financial assistance. References 1 Ambashta S P, The Useful Plants of India, (Publication & Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi), 1994. 2 Dwivedi S N & Archana Pandey, Ethnobotanical studies on wild and indigenous species of Vindhyan Plateau, I, Herbaceous flora, J Econ Taxon Bot, Addl Ser, 10 (1993), 143. 3 Jain S K, Dictionary of Indian Folk Medicine & Ethnobotany, (Deep Publications, New Delhi), 1991. 4 Maheshwari J K, Ethnobotany in India, (Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur), 1992. 5 Mandal P & Mukherjee P K, Notes on Ethnobotany of Keonjhar District, Orissa, J Econ Taxon Bot, Addl Ser, 10 (1993), 7. 6 Kulhari O P, The Ethnobotany of field fencings in western Rajasthan, J Econ Taxon Bot, Addl Ser, 10 (1993), 163. 7 Samvatsar S, Flora of Western Tribal Madhya Pradesh, (Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur), 1996.