Amulets as Agents in the Prevention of Disease in Bengal. ., 



Compiled under the superintendence of A. N. Moberly, I.C.S., Superintendent of 



Eth nog raphy , Bcnga 1. 



Contents. 



Page. 



Amulets 223 



Tdwlz 



. . • . . . 224 



Kavac 22 6 



Maduli 230 



Evil Spirits 235 



Precautions against epidemics 237 



Cholera 240 



Smallpox 243 



Diseases of Cattle 244 



Female diseases and babies '."".' 245 



Some other diseases .' 248 



In a country, in which the science of medicine is in a primitive stage and in which 

 sanitation is practically non-existent, it is only natural that a belief in the existence of a 

 countless host of evil spirits and an array of malignant godlings, whose pleasure it is to 

 bring disease and misfortune upon mankind, unless they are studiously circumvented and 

 propitiated, should be well-nigh universal. Some maladies, such as hysteria, are directly 

 ascribed to possession ; and others, such as cholera and smallpox, are regarded as visita- 

 tions of the gods. The masses are inclined to place far greater faith in the efficacy of 

 charms and sacrifices than in the treatment of the Kaviraj and the Hakim ; and a large 

 class of exorcists and religious mendicants, Ojhas and Sannyasis, Ganaks and Faqirs, is 

 ready at hand to foster the superstitions from which it derives a living. 



The belief in the power of amulets to secure for the wearer not only immunity from 

 or the cure of every kind of disease, but also almost every object that the heart of man 

 can desire, is so widespread that it may be said to be universal. It is reported that their 

 use is unknown among the wilder Kols of the Ranchi district ; and that Christians, 

 Wahabis, Brahmos, and certain Hindu sects, such as the Kabirpanthis and Seonarayanis 

 do not place much faith in them. Hindus who have renounced the world do not wear 

 amulets, because they are intended for the protection of the body and not to promote the 

 welfare of the soul, and their use by such Hindu widows as cannot marry again, and who 

 have little to hope for in this life, is not common. The superstition is one which dies 

 hard, and amulets are freely worn even by persons who have received the most liberal Wes- 

 tern education. Doctors of medicine, who of all people might be expected to know the 

 limitations of such charms, have been known to wear Tantrik amulets throughout their 



Mem. A.S.B. 20-4 = 06 



