liv INTRODUCTION. 



(2) Madana Pclla ISJighantu, by Madana Pala._ a king of 

 Kanauj. The late Raja Rajendra Lala Mitra placed the date of ■ 

 composition of this work somewhere in the twelfth century (vide 

 R. L. Mitra's Notices of Sanskrit MSS. II, p. 264). 



(3) Bhava Prakdsa, by Bhava Misra. It treats of Anatomy, 

 Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Materia Medica, and Therapeu- 

 tics. Its date has been fixed at about the sixteenth century.* 

 This work gives a very concise and clear account of all the 

 medicinal plants and animal and mineral substances used medi- 

 cinally by Hindoo physicians. 



Yunani Hakims, that is the Muhammadan physicians of India, 

 also have written a great deal concerning the indigenous drugs 

 of this country. The encouragement accorded to Muhammadan 

 physicians by their rulers led them to produce many meritorious 

 works on medicine. Under the patronage of the court of Dehli, 

 the Yunani Hakims vied with one another in paying attention 

 to the study of indigenous drugs. Their works are however 

 not of any antiquity. The Taleef Sheriff is a monograph, 

 clearly setting forth the views of Yunani Hakims on indigenous 

 drugs. The Makhzan-ul-Adiuiya, which has been made much 

 use of by Dr. Dymock in his Vegetable Materia Medica of 

 Western India, is also another important work on the subject. 

 There are several other works by Muhammadan physicians, some 

 in Persian, and others in Urdu, treating of indigenous drugs. 



It is during the Christian period of Indian history, that our 

 knowledge regarding indigenous drugs has been much increased 

 by the investigations and labors of botanists and physicians. The 

 three myrobalans of the East were eagerly sought after by the 

 early Portuguese discoverers of the sea-route to India. Indian 

 spices were also made known to Europe by them. Informations 

 concerning the drugs of this country are scattered in the works 

 of European travellers and navigators to this country during the 

 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.f At the same time several 



• The late Dr. U. C. Dutt has given strong reasons for the work being 

 a production of the sixteenth century, see introduction to his Materia Medica 

 of the Hindoos. 



| A very important work was that of Garcia D'orta, named Colloquios does 

 simples e droges da India. This has been lately translated into English. 



