REVIEW OF LITERATURE ------------------------------------------------------------ The term ethnobotany was first given by Harshberger in 1895 to the studies dealing wit h plants used by the aborigines I {Harshberger, 1896). Ethnobotany has been defined as the study of the relationship between man and his ambient vegetation. According to Schultes {1962), ethnobotany is "the study of ·the i relationship which exists between people of primitive societies and their plant environment". In other words, it is an' anthropological approach to botany. Much before the coining of the term "ethnobotany", usage of plants by man for different purposes was mentioned in classical Indian, Greek and Arabic traditions dating back from ancient times to 9th Century AD. Rigveda and Atharva Veda, which date back to 2000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. are the oldest Vedic literature resources, of· India. They contain valuable information at the latest regarding medicinal plants which were in vogue during that period. Kirtikar and Basu {1935) have stated "The ancient Hindus should be given the credit for I cultivating What is now called Ethnobotany". Works of Kalidasa (fourth century A.D.), Varahamihira (sixth century A.D.), Amarasimha (sixth cen:tury AD), Banabhatta (seventh century I A.D.) and Rajasekhara 1 (ninth century A.D.) provide a fair glimpse into the botanical knowledge and medicinal wisdom of the times (Raghunathan, K. 1987) . 18
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
------------------------------------------------------------The term ethnobotany was first given by Harshberger in
1895 to the studies dealing wit h plants used by the aborigines I
{Harshberger, 1896). Ethnobotany has been defined as the study
of the relationship between man and his ambient vegetation.
According to Schultes {1962), ethnobotany is "the study of ·the i
relationship which exists between people of primitive societies
and their plant environment". In other words, it is an'
anthropological approach to botany.
Much before the coining of the term "ethnobotany", usage
of plants by man for different purposes was mentioned in
classical Indian, Greek and Arabic traditions dating back from
ancient times to 9th Century AD. Rigveda and Atharva Veda,
which date back to 2000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. are the oldest Vedic
literature resources, of· India. They contain valuable
information at the latest regarding medicinal plants which were
in vogue during that period. Kirtikar and Basu {1935) have
stated "The ancient Hindus should be given the credit for I
cultivating What is now called Ethnobotany". Works of Kalidasa
(fourth century A.D.), Varahamihira (sixth century A.D.),
Amarasimha (sixth cen:tury AD), Banabhatta (seventh century I
A.D.) and Rajasekhara 1 (ninth century A.D.) provide a fair
glimpse into the botanical knowledge and medicinal wisdom of
the times (Raghunathan, K. 1987) .
18
WORLDWIDE WORKS ON ETHNOBOTANY
Much work in this science has been done in the last few
decades, in a number of countries like USA, England, France,
India and several Latin American and African countries. The
well known ethnobotanist of the world, Richard Evans Schultes
of Harvard University' reported the ethnobotanical aspects of
North West Amazon in detail, after 12 years of intensive study
(Schultes, 1956, 1962, 1963).
Faulks (1958) wrote An Introduction to Ethnobotany which
is the first book on etbnobotany. This book among other topics
deals with
i) The understanding of plants in material cultures like
food, fibre, medicine, ~helter and agricultural tools and in
rituals and rites.
ii) Physical and psychological problems caused by vegetation.
iii) Influence of man on vegetation by way of destruction,
conservation etc.
iv) Relationship of vegetation with human civilization i.e.,
selection of useful species, organized production etc.
Wasson (1969) conducted Ethnomycological study of .the
divine mushroom Amanita mucaria claimed to be the plant of
immortality, the Soma.
Barrau et al (1973) at National Museum of Natural History,
Paris, have done work on etbno-agriculture. This group has been
engaged in the study of origin of cultivated plants and·
19
linguistics in South East:Asia.
Ford (1978) edited a landmark volume: The Nature and
status of Ethnobotany that contains several interesting papers
on ethnobotany.
ETHNOBOTANY - INDIAN SCENARIO
Researches on ethnobotany were initiated in India by
Janaki Ammal in 1954 as part of an official programme in the
Economic Botany Section of Botanical Survey of India. She
studied subsistence food plants of certain tribals of South
India, particularly to ' explore the better prospects of
Dioscorias in India (Mudg~l, 1987).
From 1960, Jain started intensive field studies among the
tribals of Central India (Jain, 1963a-d, 1964a and 1965a, b).
His observations on plant resources and intimate relationship
of the tribals with their plant environment, encouraged him to
initiate similar work in Eastern India (Jain and Borthakur,
1980; Jain and Dam, 1979; Jain and De 1964).
The pioneering works of Jain thus streamlined the subject
of Ethnobotany and promoted similar works in other regions of
India. Hence, S.K. Jain ,may be rightly regarded as the Father
of Indian Ethnobotany.
Published Books
Books published in this field of ethnobotany are mentioned
below:
20
First book dealing with Indian Ethnobotany is Glimpses of
1ndian Ethnobotany (ed. Jain, 1981). It is a compilation. of
articles on field studies in different phytogeographical areas
of India. The subject has also been discussed in general
including historical perspectives of plants in folk life,
songs, proverbs and tales.
Bibliography of Ethhobotany (Jain et al, 1984) contains
about 2000 references covering almost all the major
publications on ethnobotany; Indian as well as foreign.
Selected poisonous plants from the tribal areas of India
(Thothathri et al, 1985) provides line drawings and
distribution maps along with botanical descriptions of selected
poisonous plants used by the tribals in different parts of
India.
World Directory of Ethnobotanists (Jain et al, 1986)
enlists nearly 500 worker~ with their addresses and areas of
interest.
A Manual of Ethnobotany (ed. Jain, 19~7) deals with scope,
methodology, details of field work procedure and applications
of ethnobotany.
Methods and Approaches in Ethnobotany (ed. Jain, 1989) is
very informative for students and young scientists of this
subject. Contents a~e clearly defined by the title itself.
Contributions to Ethnobotany of India (ed. Jain, 1990) is I
a revised and modified version of Glimpses of Indian
21
Ethnobotany.
Dictionary of .Indian Folk-Medicine and Ethnobotany (Jain,
1991) is a glossary of all important ethnobotanical work done
in India till that :date.
CATEGORIZATION OF ETHNOBOTANICAL WORK
Published works in the field of ethnobotany can be divided
into the following categories.
i) Ethnobotany of ethnically distinct human societies
like:
Mikir tribe of Assam (Jain and Borthakur, 1980); Bhil
tribe of Rajasthan (Joshi, 1982); Tharu tribe of Uttar Pradesh
(Maheshwari et al, 1981); Bhoxa tribe of Bijnor and Pauri
Garhwal (Maheshwari and Singh 1984).
ii) Ethnobotany of any specific geographical region;
viz.,
Central India (Jain, 1963d); Kumaon (Shah and Joshi,
1971); Lahul in Punjab (Koeltz, 1979); Araku Valley in Andhra
Pradesh (Banerjee, 1977); Santa! Paragana (Goel et al, 1984);
Mirzapur (Maheshwari et al, 1986); Balphakram Sanctuary,
Meghalaya (Kumar et al, 1980) ; Koraput, Orissa (Paul and
Mudga1, 1985).
iii) Ethnobotany of particular utility groups of plants:
Jain (1964a) and Aror~ (1981) worked on food yielding
22
plants; Tarafder (1983, 1984) on ethnogynaecology; Billore and
Adichya (1978) on contraceptive herbs, etc.
iv) Ethnobotany,of a particular species, genus or family
of plants:
Bauhinia Vahlii (Jain et al, 1973); captis teeta (Mudgal
and Jain, 1980); Selaginella bryopteris (Dixit, 1982); Genus
Coix (Jain and Banerjee, 1974).
v) Ethnobotanical aspects of diverse tools, appliances,
gadgets and articles of personal adornment:
There are reports of a variety of cattle traps among Bhils
(Joshi, 1982) ; a heat proof water bottle among Marias (Jain
1964c); a large variety of musical instruments (Parmar, 1978
and Jain, 1965a); articles of personal adornment (Mehra et al,
1975).
vi) Ethnobotany with respect to conservation and
management of plant resources:
Vartak and Gadgil ( 1981) studied the preservation of
primeval forests in the fOrm of sacred groves. Arora (1977) and
Arora and Nayar ( 1984) '.observed the preservation of plant
genetic diversity by means of conservational practices of
tribes. Pal and Mudgal ( 1985) studied the conservational
practices of tribals of Purulia, Calcutta. Ramakrishnan et al
(1981) worked on the ecological implications of traditional
agriculture.
23
vii) The study of mythological associations with plants
among the tribes:
Sen Gupta (1965) and Bhatla et al {1984) have studied the
tree worship. Jain {1963 c) noted the plants in offerings.
Gupta ( 1987) observed the plants depicted on carvings in
temples. Aulakh and Mukherjee ( 1984) studied the plants in,
witch craft.
viii) Miscellaneous subjects in Ethnobotany:
Jain {1963a) and Manila! {1980) worked on local names of
plants and their etymology. Vir Jee et al (1984) made some
taxo-ethnobotanical studies. Joshi (1985) studied the weather
forecast from behaviour of plants.
RECENT ETHNOBOTANICAL WORKS ON DIFFERENT STATES/ TRIBES OF INDIA
Over 9,500 plant species being used in material culture
and for magico-religious purposes by various tribals in
different states of India have been identified and documented
by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Some of the notable
works done in different states are enumerated below.
ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS
Bhargava (1983) has worked among the Onge tribes;
Yoganarasimhan et al (1983 & 1984) studied Medicobotany of the
A&N islands; Thothathri {1974 & 1980) has dealt with
interesting and useful plants of A&N islands. Some of the
24
plants mentioned are Borleria prionitis, Alstonia macrophylla,
Rauvolfia reflexa, Pathos scanden, etc.
ANOHRA PRADESH
Pal and Banerjee ( 1971) investigated less known food
plants. Jain S.K. et al (1973) studied ethnobotany of the
Chenchu, Reddi, Valmiki and Gond tribes of the state; Banerjee
( 1977) observed ethnobotany of Araku Valley, Visakhapatnam
district of A.P.; Hemadri et al (1980) studied the folk-lore
claims from A.P.
Hemadri et al ( 1987a, 1987b) enumerated the Medicinal
Plant Wealth of Andhra Pradesh. They have made extensive
medico-ethno-botanical explorations in the state and reported
a total number of 327 well known medicianl plants widely used
in Ayurveda, Siddha and other systems of medicine. Hemadri
(1990 and 1991) also contributed to Medicinal flora of
Karimnagar, Warangal and Srikakulam districts of A.P. Hemadri
(1992) studied knowledge of the tribals concerning nutritional
and medicinal herbs. He discussed some of the interesting
recipes offered by the tribals of Andhra Pradesh on Preventive,
Curative and Restorative Medicine.
Reddy, M.B. et al (1988, ~989 and 1991) surveyed medicinal
plants of Yanadi, Yerukala, Sugali and Chenchu tribes and also
studied the ethnobotany of Cuddapah and Ananthapur districts.
Raja Reddy et al (1989) enumerated about 125 plant crude drugs
25
from Chittoor district. V~davathy et al (1991) gathered folk-
lore information in relation to family planning and birth
control from Rayalaseema ~egion.
Imam et al (1994) enumerated important herbal medicines
from tribal pockets of the state. Nishteswar (1992) analysed -
the project profilds of h~rbal-medicine based integrated health
system in the tribal areas of the state.
However, comprehensive and organized research with
interdisciplinary approach has not been done so far on the
athnobotany of the Eastern Ghats region.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Dam and Hajra (1981) made some observations on ethnobotany
of the Mopa of Kameng district. The authors gathered data on
the use of local plants by these tribals for different purposes
such as food, medicine and construction of house. Some of the
plants mantioned are Hedyotis scandens, physalis angulata,
Ads toni a scholar is, Pousolzia viminea etc. Kohli ( 1992) has
studied the indigenous medicine system of Arunachal Pradesh.
ASSAM
Bhattacharjee et al (1980) investigated the folklore
medicines from the Kamrup district of Assam. Boissya -and
Majumdar (1980) dealt with the folklore claims from the
Brahmaputra valley. Jain and Borthakur (1980) studied
26
Ethnobotany of Mikir tribe .. Mikir depends on the surrounding
forests for their food, medicine and other material and
cultural needs. Baruah and Sharma (1984} worked among Boro
tribe. Borthakur (1993} investigated the native phytotherapy
for child and women diseases from Assam. Antidesma diandrum,