All ancient civilizations created their own medicinal systems. Ayurveda, a comprehensive form of healing developed in India. Traditional healing practices were first documented between 4500 and 1600 BC. Around 2500 to 600 BC, sages are thought to have been the first practitioners of Ayurveda. They dedicated the practice to God and saw health as an essential part of human life. They gave nutritional advice and employed herbs in accordance with a medical knowledge system that served as the practice's foundation. This article will explain to you about the Medicine during Ancient India which will be helpful in Ancient History preparation for the UPSC Civil service exam.

Medicine during Ancient India

• All ancient civilizations developed their own medicinal systems, but the ancient Indian system of medicine is thought to be the most methodical and holistic, both in terms of ideas and curative measures.
• Since the nineteenth century, Western and Indian historians have worked hard to uncover the philosophical foundations of Ayurveda and its methods, as well as the dating of Ayurvedic texts.
• Ayurveda's genesis, science, materia medica, evolution, and decline have all been well researched.
• Ayurveda has also been researched in comparison to the ancient Greek medical system, and its connections with ancient Chinese and Tibetan medicine have been investigated.
• The first trustworthy knowledge regarding medicine and medical practitioners in India dates back to 1500 BCE.
• The four Vedas, along with its Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, provide insights into the Vedic period's therapeutic practices.
• The souls of all objects in the world were worshipped as gods by the Vedic people.
• Ailments of the human body were linked to divine influences, and magico-religious remedies were used to treat them. The priests' job was to make communication between the gods and humanity.
• The origins of Ayurveda may be found in the Atharva Veda, which relied on the therapeutic benefits of plants and other substances.
• Ayurveda, on the other hand, originated as a fully formed logical system of health and illness, deviating purposely from magico-religious and empirical thought.

Ancient Physicians

Physicians	Contributions
Sushruta (7th or 6th century BCE)	Surgery was a well-established medical speciality in India by the time of Sushruta, albeit in a less-advanced form. He made significant contributions to the creation of numerous surgical methods (such as the use of an ant's head to sew sutures) and, most importantly, cosmetic surgery. His book instructs others on how a surgeon should proceed. His specialty was rhinoplasty, or nose reconstruction. One of the three volumes that comprise the Great Trilogy of Ayurvedic Medicine, the Sushruta Samhita (also known as Susruta's Compendium), is largely regarded as the first literature on aesthetic surgery in existence. Sushruta wrote the Sushruta Samhita to instruct doctors how to treat their patients holistically. According to his ideas (which were founded on Charaka's teachings), sickness is caused by imbalance in the body, and it is the doctor's obligation to aid patients in maintaining balance or restoring it if it has been lost.
Acharya Charaka (150-200 CE)	He is well known for creating the Charaka Samhita, which is considered one of the basic works of Ayurveda and traditional Indian medicine. Despite studying all parts of medicine, including the logic and philosophy that underpin the Indian medical system, Charaka saw Ayurveda as a complete system of medicine that addressed both preventative and curative components of health care. He also discussed foetal formation and development, human physiology, and physiological function and dysfunction. According to Charaka, three doshas, or principles, are responsible for a body's functionality: movement (Vata), transformation (Pitta), and lubrication and stability (Kapha). These doshas correspond to how we classify humour, wind, bile, and phlegm in Western culture.
Jivaka (6th Century)	Bimbisara and Ajatsatru's contemporaries. Under the supervision of Atreya, he learned Ayurvedic medicine. Lord Buddha's and the Sangha's personal physician. He encouraged the use of purgatives and natural wound treatments works depicted in Bower's Manuscript, Dipavamsa, and Mahavamsa
Nagarjuna (78 AD)	He believed to be an alchemist who worked extensively with mercury and promoted the use of chemical treatments rather than herbal and vegetable mixtures He explained the circulatory system in detail and referred to blood as rakta dhatu Several specifically formulated compounds with medicinal properties known as bhasmas Sushruta Samhita has been redacted. Vigraha Vyavar Vartika and Rasa Ratnakar are two key works in the realm of medicine and alchemy.
Vagabhata I (6th century AD)	Ashtanga Samgraha, a book on ayurvedic medicine, therapeutics, cleanliness, anatomy, surgery, and other related areas, was his main opus. The necessity of personal hygiene to good health was emphasised, and the importance of pollution control was presented by elaborating on the function of tainted river water in negatively influencing health.

Significance of Ancient Medicine

• The Indian medical system is as old as their civilisation and has provided the groundwork for other countries throughout the world.
• There was no continuous record of health healing art from prehistoric times, much alone a thorough record of progress over many centuries.
• From the Vedic period, 4000 to 2500 B.C., we may trace the rudiments of medicine emerging in two or three little streams from the Himalayan mountains.
• Indians gained a great level of knowledge and intelligence during the Vedic period, as a result of which they cultivated medicine, surgery, materia medica (medical material/substance), and chemistry.
• The ancient Indian monarchs were escorted to the battlefield by surgeons, who utilised surgical equipment to extricate alien bodies and treat wounds.
• Healing was no longer exclusive to Brahmin priests, but was given to a class of people known as Vaidya who specialised in medicine or surgery.
• The ancient Indians paid close attention to cleanliness, food, and physical routine, and the ancient Hindu Shastras have a hygienic code, and Manu, the great law-giver, was one of the world's greatest sanitary reformers.
• The study of the pulse was deemed the most crucial of all, and the radial artery in the wrist was chosen for this reason.
• The similarities between the description of the pulse contained in ancient Sanskrit treatises and the notion of the theory of the pulse presented by Galen, who obtained his knowledge from the works of ancient Indian physicians, is very apparent.
• The dissected corpse was cleansed first, then placed in calm water in a flowing stream for seven days before being removed and each layer evaluated before being removed, beginning with the skin.
• Charaka, Sushruta, Dalvana, Bhanumati, and others had a thorough understanding of blood circulation.
• Their thoughts and approach to consuming appear to be highly current.
• They attributed the cause of consumption to excessive grief, great fatigue, a decrease in mental and physical strength, violent exercise, and excessive venery, and treated it with animal food, ghee (clarified butter) of goats and sheep, barley, prepared barley, flour, and rice with animal broths, a mixture of ghee, honey, and pepper, garlic, and recommended the patient live in the same room as goats.
• Aside from consumption, the treatment of many other disorders is comparable to that of the West.

Conclusion

All ancient civilizations created their own medicinal systems, but the ancient Indian system of medicine is believed to be the most meticulous and comprehensive, both in terms of principles and therapeutic procedures. Ayurveda is an Indian holistic treatment system. Traditional healing procedures were originally reported between 4500 and 1600 BC. Sages are supposed to have been the earliest Ayurvedic practitioners between 2500 and 600 BC.