Why was plastic surgery done in Ancient India?

Ever heard about stories where the nose was chopped of as an insult ?

Rhinoplasty, which originated in India was the solution to the chopped nose.

Firstly, let me share a very interesting story of a "Vaidya" (A doctor) named Jivak. This story just left me dumbstruck. Jivak was abandoned by his mother due to some unknown reasons and was kept near garbage immediately after his birth. The king of that kingdom (Abhayrajkumar) was passing by and he noticed, that there were lot of crows over there. So, just to find out what was wrong, he sent his men to see what was there. His men were shocked to see a new born baby lying. The king was very compassionate and he took Jivak to his palace and asked the maids in his palace to raise him up. And that's how the story of one of the greatest doctors begins. After few years, Jivak was sent to Takshasheela University (Currently in Pakistran), which was one of the world's best learning centers of that time along with Nalanda and thousands others. Infact, these universities were one of the reasons why India was called "Vishwaguru".

It was 7 years at Takshasheela. He was trained in medicines, surgery, psycholoy. One day, he asked his teacher, when his studies will be completed. The teacher said that Jivak was supposed to go through a test and if he passes the test, he is done with his studies and can go back. Now comes the most interesting part.

The Test. Jivak was supposed to go wherever he wanted and get all the roots, or leaves, or branches of the plants and trees which were of no medicinal importance. Jivak went through the Forests, Grasslands and literally everywhere for months. But unfortunately, he could not even find even one plant or a leaf or a root which was of no medicinal importance. Disappointed, he went back to his university and told to his teacher that, he was unable to get any leaf or a plant which was of no medicinal importance. And then, to his surprise, the teacher said, "You have passed the test with distinction." And Jivak was given the certificate, some few hundred gold coins, sweets by his teacher so that he could reach to his place safely. On the way back, he performed several brain, spine surgeries as well.

The point I want you to notice is that, this was how the examinations in Bharat were taken. It was not of the type which we have today. Some fixed pattern, Fixed questions and so on..

It was a very common practice in those days all around the world to cut off the nose even for small arguments. There are incidents where, if scientists disagreed, their noses were cut off. Tycho Brahe is a good example of it. Sounds funny but its true.

English doctors witnessed this operation (Cover Picture) in 1793 in India, where the British Army was fighting Tipu Sahib, Sultan of Mysore (c1750-1799). Cowasjee, who is pictured, was a bullock driver for the British Army. He was taken prisoner by the enemy and his nose and hands were cut off. A new nose was created through a skin-grafting process, using skin from his forehead and a wax template of the desired nose shape. The engraving was taken from a painting created ten months after the operation. The facial features appear natural. This method was far better than anything that had been developed in Europe and was adopted quickly, becoming known as the ‘Hindu method’. The cutting off of noses was often used as punishment in India and the caption reports that this type of operation was common.

(Page 891 - The Gentleman's Magazine).

Then, many Surgeons came to India to learn this technique. Which laid down the foundation of modern day plastic surgery.

There are references, which prove that ancient Indians were not only able to perform the most complex brain surgeries, but also eye surgeries in Ancient India. This art some how disappeared after Mughal and British invasions since the universities were destroyed and burnt down to ashes, But some fraction of this gigantic ocean of knowledge we had, is still alive in pages and palm leaves.

The picture shows the students from the school of Sushruta. At the age of 8, they were trained in Vedas. After that, they were trained as doctors for 6 years. In this picture, they are shown performing mock surgery on water melons and cucumbers. As such, they are the earliest recorded surgeons of the world. Credits : True Indology

This Blog was just about one contribution of Indians to science and technology. I will come up with more blogs related to contribution of Indians to astronomy, quantum physics, metallurgy just to name a few.

Share it with your friends. Do check out other blogs if you haven't.

Blog inspired by Prof. Harish Chandra Verma (H. C Verma )

Dept. of Physics, IIT Kanpur

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WE HAD BEEN THE LEADER IN EVERY FIELD. LET THE TRADITION CONTINUE