J. Antall szerk.: Medical history in Hungary 1972. Presented to the XXIII. International Congress of the History of Medicine / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 6. (Budapest, 1972)
M. Vida : Serving two Nations: Tivadar Duka (1825—1908)
i /¡_2 Medical History in Hungary 1972 (Comm. Hist. Artis Med. Suppl. 6.) in Oxford and the head of the Hereford diocese. Thanks to his abilities and probably to his family connections he was soon appointed medical officer of an important district, Monghyr near the Ganges. This was a more responsible post than the treatment of a regiment. In order to see the difficulties of his task it might be worth while drawing a sketch outlining Indian medicine and Indian medical affairs. The earliest medical theory in India is attributed to Dhavantari, the physician of the Indian temple of Gods. It was based both on theory and empirical practice and was divided into eight sections. It must have been an advanced discipline, since some primitive dissections were performed as early as around 800 B.C. The best known early Indian medical works (Charaka in the 1st and Susruta at the end of the 4th century A.D.) are also good examples. Later, however, it moved towards theory under the influence of the Arabic school and due to the Hindu rules of cleanliness. At the time of the arrival of the British Indian medical and surgical practice was rather backward. In 1807 the British Government sent out Dr. Buchanan to report on the situation. He found the following: "In Behar (the northwestern part of Bengal) medicine is taught by a few pundits , that is learned brahmans, some of whom are practising, too, using the books of Saranggadhar, Babhat and Chakradatta. The first came from the caste of the brahmans but it is not known where he lived and what he accomplished. There is similar ignorance about the other two authors as well. Those who carry on medical practice have pupils in their homes whom they introduce into their knowledge . In addition to them there are about seven hundred brahman families practising medicine and about hundred and fifty barber-surgeons who do cupping and scarification and treat festering wounds. 1' 1' 0 There was a separate class called hardekhakat whose task was the feeling of the pulses "which is considered a very important operation and is connected with lots of ceremonies especially at the Hindus ." The lowest and completely distinct group is made up by the midwives and the "exorcizers" : "The midwives belong to the caste of the pariahs whose sole duty is to cut the naval string. In addition there are the ajhas, all of a low caste, whose task is to cast out evil spirits, the treat snakebites and to make witchcraft ineffective by means of incantation." 1 6 The first systematic medical school was set up by the British in 1822 in Calcutta where native doctors were trained under the supervision of European physicians. It took more than twelve years until European medical training prevailed upon the Arabic system and two regular courses were set up, one in Hindi, one in Bengali. After considerable opposition in 1835 even dissection was introduced in the medical college founded in the previous year. The initiative came from an Indian, Pundit Madhusudun Gupta, who started a regular dissection of corpses on 10 January 1836. 1 7 Several Indian physicians studied 1 5 Quoted by Tivadar Duka „Az orvosi tudomány állása Kelet-Indiában" (The State of Medical Science in East India) Orvosi Hetilap, 1861. No. 18. p. 392. 1 6 Ibid. 1 7 Ibid. p. 394.
