Burton Cleetus

Indian Anthropological Association
Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility: The experience of the Ezhava in Kerala
Author(s): Burton Cleetus
Source: Indian Anthropologist, Vol. 37, No. 1, Special issue on the Ethnography of Healing
(Jan-June 2007), pp. 147-172
Published by: Indian Anthropological Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41920032
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Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility:
The experience of the Ezhava in Kerala
Burton Cleetus
Abstract
The revival or re-formulation of the indigenous medical tradition among the Ezhava under
colonialism was closely interconnected with the process of caste mobilisation , and the
augmentation of their social aspirations. For the Ezhava, body, health and methods of
care were important sites of negotiation with the dominant caste Hindu tradition as well
as with the western notions of science. This was accompanied by a conscious negation of
the health care and cultural practices practiced by the Ezhava prior to the influence of
colonialism. Thus ' modernisation ' of the indigenous health care tradition can be seen as
an attempt to carve out a space in the immediate social environment by raising a claim to
the dominant tradition as well as being part of the western notions of Science.
Keywords: Indigenous Medicine, Caste Mobilisation, Science, Kerala
Varika Varika Sahajare!
Pathitharilla Manujaril!!1
Come! Come!! My fellow beings!
None is low among men ! !
In the landscape of political struggles of the Indian sub-continent against

colonial dominance, the Guruvayoor Satyagraha was an important turning
point. By 1936, the term Satyagraha (truth force) had already acquired a
definite meaning in the lexicon of the history of Indian Freedom movement.
Having been influenced by the ideas of liberty, equality and a sense of
brotherhood, the Ezhava, a numerically preponderant lower caste in the state
of Kerala gathered on the premises of one of the most important temples of
the southern state of India to peacefully demand for their rights to enter the
place of worship, thereby challenging the hierarchies of the Hindu religious
order so as to legitimately enter the space that had been hitherto denied.
* BURTON CLEETUS, PhD Scholar, Center for Historical Studies, School of Social
Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Email:
cleetusburton@rediffinail.com
148 Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility....
The widely acclaimed couplet urging the fellow being

with on a religious platform on an ideology that all men a
by one of the most prominent physicians among the E
Vaidyan 2, (the term Vaidyan is used to denote indigen
who deals with Vaidyam or Medicine,) who was also a
political activist and an industrialist. It was not by chance
Vaidyan whose profession primarily centred on the w
healing the human body played an important role in a mo
curing what was believed to be the ills of the society. S
who was the spiritual leader of the Ezhava and who had th
impact on the social history of modern Kerala was a Sansk
and above all an Ayurvedic vaidyan.
An important question that arises in this context

medicine being more than a method of cure get entang
politic of the society at large. This paper therefore seeks t
relationship between medicine and society as well as th
that underlie in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen
Colonial Intervention in Medicine
The encounter of traditional health care practices with Western medical ideas
and methods under colonial rule took different forms. Related to the wider
social reform movement and its impact on indigenous knowledge systems
these can be seen as being closely interconnected with the process of caste
mobilisation, and the augmentation of social aspirations under colonial
modernity. The nature of the interaction between the different medical
traditions in Kerala, namely of the Brahmin-Ambalavasi-Nair combine who
constituted the caste Hindus3 and the Ezhava, a caste group that forms the
central focus in this regard, illuminates the way in which those debates
unfolded under colonial influence.
The term 'indigenous medicine' in the colonial context was defined

in various ways. It oscillated between the large compendium of health care
practices followed locally, regionally, and in caste and ethnic minority
specific contexts and also the dominant health care tradition that traced its
lineage from the Samhita texts. Under colonialism, the latter form of
knowledge was deemed to indicate the entire corpus of indigenous medical
knowledge under the name of Ayurveda.
In their interaction with western biological medicine (biomedicine),

the social elites in the area of indigenous medical tradition restructured
themselves through a revival of traditional knowledge4. This process led to
the reconstitution of the dominant tradition in the name of Ayurveda. This
reconstitution of the indigenous medical tradition into a new form is in fact
the historical process which gave birth to Ayurveda However in the modern
Indian Anthropologist (2007) 37:1, 147-172 149
social situation all forms of indigenous knowledge of m

parlance came to be called Ayurveda. As an institutio
medical system, Ayurveda therefore had to differentia
medical practices that did not identify with the larger tra
allows us to . make a distinction between indigenous m
general and Ayurveda in particular and suggests the askin
questions. Can all traditional understanding of health an
be called Ayurveda? Can a system of medicine be unde
from the wider socio-political context? Could there be on
traditional medical knowledge and practice for the whole
The attempt made here is therefore to understand a

name of science, various social groups with different a
practices reorganised their forms of knowledge and mode
the garb of the unifying process of colonial modernity, r
and how the idea of truth was closely tied up with aspira
social position and mobility in the late colonial period. Th
is also to look at those practices that remained specif
dynamics of caste, and how it responded to the situatio
influence of broader colonial ideas as well as to the sp
western epistemic understanding of the human body, i
nature and practices of cure.
Attempts to analyse the relationship between wester

indigenous ones often failed to address the internal diffe
substantial heterogeneity of the health care practices a
various castes and social groups, in a diversified social str
in this context is to argue that, what occurred in the field
a mere confrontation between western medicine and t
rather it was a complex relationship where the 'indig
intertwined with the social and ritual status of the variou
the Ezhava, the body, health and methods of care were
negotiation with the dominant caste Hindu tradition. In t
rather than being a mere practice of health care, the
tradition became an important site for the articulation of
mobilisation and social aspirations
Negation and Modernisation of Tradition

While Guruvayoor Satyagraha was aimed at acquiring de-ju
lower castes in the traditional religious order, in essence,
an attempt to challenge the hierarchies of caste by integra
knowledge systems of the high castes or being willing su
the cultural practices of the caste in question in their desir
position.5 By the late 1930s when the lover castes orga
transgress the visual boundaries of re] *ious spaces, t
1 50 Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility. . . .
negation of different streams of socio-cultural practices into

Ezhava already began to take definite shape.6
Hortus Malabaricus, a multi- volume compilation of me

by the Dutch Governor of Malabar, Vaan Rheede in the seven
points out that the identification of plants, their classification
description of their medicinal values were provided by Itt
was a Chogan (Ezhava) by caste and belonged to a family o
generations. Thus at least a section of the Ezhava had
medicine as early as the sixteenth century. Though, Mala
substantiate the argument put forward by thé Ezhavas that th
tradition based on Ashtangahridaya or other texts of the
elites. The indigenous health care however had been an impor
occupation among them. In his testimony given in the pr
writes:
"I Itti Achyutan, a Malabari doctor, Chego (Ezhava) by

and native of Carapuram or the place called Coladda,
of great-grand parents, grand parents and paren
physicians or doctors testify that I came to the city of
the orders of Governor Henry A. Rheede and thr
Carnero, interpreter of the Noble Indian Society, tol
names, medical powers and properties of plants, tre
creepers, written and explained in our book and which
observed by long experience and practice; that this exp
dictation went without any doubt, nor would any o
doctors doubt about the veracity of the things I said
which I wrote by my own hand and signed".7 (cf pg. no
Thus in the pre-colonial era, the Ezhava physicians s

widespread knowledge about the flora and fauna of the
medicinal value. That the detailed description of the p
medicinal value has been derived out of a long experience
experience and practice signifies that methods of cure even i
situations were based on close observation and interpretat
cause of disease and its forms of cure were intertwined with fa
other magical forms. Thus as Gyan Prakash argues: "t
indigenous traditions was not new; contrary to British beliefs
practices included lively traditions of critical thought. What w
was the invocation of science's authority in the critique of reli
(Prakash, 1997: 538).
In its pre-colonial setting a system of medicine or it

difficult to be separated from the larger ideologies of religio
the period. An indigenous medicine that had an abilit

ritually believed to expel bad omens and act against cur
the beliefs attached to the plant Njaravara, runs as follow
"The natives are firmly persuaded that if the bra

division is given to two men and it is so lacerate
retains just half, he may become wet with sweat a
warms himself; they are mutually attracted towar
with a mad love, but if the other of them looses his p
from him, his love may burn indeed but by the oth
shield with hatred and indeed with such aversion that he cannot see
or think of him without disgust till the other also has set aside his
part, which having been done may become friends again fully.
Neither as to this only, or it is used also for arousing and exiting
several diseases may persons of the same sex by which the friendship
between them may become permanent. This mystery is extended so
far that they are not ashamed to sew this herb secretly to their dress,
shoes and bracelets of those men and women whose friendship they
want to win. Besides it is held by them as a shield against all kinds of
enchanting incantation, curse, and to be well with all, if only it is
used by them according to the rules prescribed" (Manilal, 2003: 49).
The medicine practiced in the indigenous societies during the pre-

colònial period had a prominent role for the Vaidyan in determining the
specific mode of administering treatment which can be called as Yukti
chikitsa. It did not mean that the treatment of diseases was based primarily
on the Yukti or Logic of the Vaidyan (physician). The physicians were
however operating under a broader epistemic base and enjoyed a reasonable
degree of autonomy in the methods of identifying diseases and medicines to
be prescribed as a certain form of shared knowledge. Such treatment differed
from Vaidyan to Vaidyan and hence there was no single method that could be
called the Yukti chikitsa ; rather it was one of the major elements of their
methodological practices. Derived from the Yukti of the Vaidyan was the
treatment of the patients using the Ottamuli (a single medicine believed to
have special power to cure). These medicines with 'special powers' however
in due course became part of the large compendium of indigenous medical
knowledge. The Vaidyan who had the right form of Yukti and were
successful in curing diseases were believed to have Kaipunyam (one who
was believed to have possessed certain spiritual powers). This was also
accompanied by Montrant (incantations, spells) recited at the time of
administering medicines. Diseases were believed to be the work of evil
spirits, which were to be warded off by chanting Mantram and applying other
magical treatments. Th~:e forms were also accompanied by administering of
herbal medicines and b'nasmas (burned mercury or Silajit) as part of
treatment.
152 Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility. ...
As an outcaste in the hierarchy of castes, the Ezhava

to large scale discrimination based on ritual pollution.
advancements achieved by them in the late nineteenth and
centuries provided an opportunity to negotiate with the do
of the land for a higher social position (Jeffrey, 1976). Th
the dominant caste Hindu tradition was aimed at integrati
the caste markers in the hierarchical social situation.
challenge the visual and public markers of caste distin
contested by the higher caste.8
The emergence of the new spheres of public disco

rivalry between various communities and social groups
transgressing the boundaries of ritual spaces in the mid n
Travancore9 witnessed large scale communal clashes an
particularly between the Nair and the Ezhava over the
pollution and access to public places. By the mid ni
members of the ruling families of Travancore, Atting
Haripad like Ananthapurathu Moothakoil Thampuran, A
Thampuran, Harippad Rajaraja Varma Moothakoil Tham
the lower castes Ayurvedic medicine based on Ashtan
Who in SNDP, 1956:11). Overlooking the social situa
disseminated classical knowledge and other art forms amo
The intention of the Travancore state and other prin

not to lower the position and power enjoyed by the ca
evident from the debates on the breast cloth controver
1997). However, with regard to knowledge they encourage
for its dissemination. The circumstances suggest askin
questions. What prompted the members of the Royal f
imparting their tradition of medical practices based on As
lower castes even by overlooking social hierarchies? T
opens up the possibilities of a subset of questions as w
foremost one could be: what were the concrete compulsion
made them take such a step? During the period there w
notions of a progressive society and state, which in turn i
in which sovereignty was understood in its modern forms
the Princely states organise a curriculum for Ayu
disseminate it at a popular level. These activities of the Ro
spread of Ayurvedic knowledge had a profound influ
community. The Ezhava physicians who were trained in A
palaces imparted the same to their fellow caste men. T
characterised as hegemonisation attempt by the dominant
lower castes. Marking a crucial turning point, this ju
closure on all the possibilities to single out the specif
tradition in itself. Any attempt to unravel the Ezhava med
Indian Anthropologist ( 2007 ) 37:1, 147-172 153
therefore has to logically begin with this crucial turning poi

hegemonisation with a much theoretically sophisticated meth
With the colonial system, western medicine with its cli

universality of scientific reason and rationality along with th
of colonial political power ensured the hegemony of w
episteme over the indigenous and local practices. As i
Medicine thus functioned as a tool of the empire and acted as
medium of colonial governance and control (Arnold, 198
Under the influence of colonial modernity the uncer
understanding of health and body had to be isolated and d
made certain. Under the logic of colonial modernity, the
expressively state his curing abilities before a community of
who would verify and observe the validity of the indigenous
basis of scientific principles. Indigenous medicine had thus to
the space of a rational order ( Indian Medical Gazette, 1921
also universalisation and totalisation of indigenous m
However, there were marked differences in the way in
were/are identified both in the western medical episteme
indigenous ones. In the former, to put it simply, the body w
static component where diseases were caused by the v
functioning of the cells or the germs. In the latter, the body
fluid component where diseases were caused by variations in
and composition in the human body. The new discour
modernity and medicine placed Ayurveda as the representati
corpus of indigenous medical knowledge and health care
when there was fundamental difference in theory as we
between the indigenous medicine as well as the western medi
hegemonic influence of bio-medicine, diseases were becom
perceived by the elites in the indigenous medical tradition as a
of the human body and were deemed to have spread within t
its physical body. The cause of the diseases were seen as
variations in the internal functioning of the larger structur
body, where supernatural forces had only a limited role t
magic and Mantram were seen as neither the cause of disease
in its cure.
A new social order, new forms of thought and a new p

were taking shape under colonial dominance. By the late nine
there was an extraordinary burst of conviction among the in
the antiquity and authenticity of Hindu science. The "Ayurv
started by N. Madhavan Vaidyan symbolised the fusion
different streams of the indigenous medical tradition wi
conceptions of medical understanding, thereby re-constitutin
medical tradition into the broad framework of Ayurveda. Th
his pharmacy reads; "Ayurvedic Pharmacy-SiiW/w M

Vaidyasala" (Who is Who in SNDP, 1956: 187). 1
medicines were mass produced, and bottled with the help
as to meet the needs of the emerging urban populat
broader institutional structure of an Ayurvedic pharmacy
of the indigenous health care practices jointly came to rep
One cannot overlook the fact that in reality indigen

neither homogenous in terms of its culture, geography o
did the sub-continent have a single health care meth
however had an ensemble of local practices followed b
and social groups. These remained largely autonomou
traditions of the land. Many studies that have sought to
the relationship between indigenous and western m
visualise the indigenous medical tradition as a unifie
universal entity. It has been argued that over the
Ayurvedic practitioners, like other healers around the gl
their marginalisation in the global ascendancy of modern
(Langford, 2004: 1-2).
The Conflict of Episteme: the Western and the Indige
'Enquiring' into the scientific value of indigenou

represented through Ayurveda, the proponents of weste
that the theory of the tri-dosha failed to satisfy the fund
science. The compartmentalisation of the various health c
sub-continent into a single entity was part of a larger po
the coloniser. This ensured a debate on the varied face
systems of the indigenous society. The colonial author
the indigenous knowledge system could be assaulted in
by giving no scope for its truth claim and it was fo
indigenous knowledge systems were repeatedly verif
Lancelot Wilkinson, assistant resident in the Central Indi
argued that "...only by enlisting the better parts of Brah
could Western ideas be infiltrated into India and native i
(Bayly, 1996: 257). Nevertheless, beyond the political
coloniser, this dichotomy between the indigenous and
obvious result of the way in which the epistemic pa
functioned. C. A. Bayly (ibid. : 271) argues that in practic
collection of Indian knowledge, systematized, general
gradually discarding much of popular lore and hierarchy
enquiry into the 'value' of indigenous drugs undertaken by
1939 was of the view that;
"Only a very limited number of indigenous remed

reputation they have earned as cures and quite a large
them are absolutely worthless and have probably cr
tradition and folklore. This is one of the results o
research undertaken to investigate on scientific lin
the rich materia medica of the Ayurveda and Una
Medicine which was financed by the Indian R
Association.
During the last twelve years this enquiry has done a

considerable amount of work which has not only received local
appreciation but international recognition. The Departments of
Pharmacology and Chemistry of the School of Tropical Medicine,
Calcutta, are now considered an authority on all questions in
connection with the chemistry, pharmacology and therapeutic uses of
the Indian indigenous drugs.
It has been found that many of the pharmacopoeial drugs or

allied species grown in India which could be used in the manufacture
of pharmacopoeial preparations are in common use" (Indian Medical
Gazette, 1939: 104).
One therefore thought that indigenous health care practices in the

sub-continent were aberrations from the scientific and the universal character
of medicine and that very little could be integrated from the health care
practices of the indigenous societies into the world of 'scientific medicine'.
In essence, the proponents of western medicine negated the idea that
medicine had general and religiously sanctioned rules, but in piactice, it was
highly specific to the individual, caste and region. This meant that certain
diseases were specific to certain climes, and to the people who lived in them,
because the vegetable and animal kingdom partook of the natural essences of
particular spots (Bayly, 1996: 274). In the process of generalising the
indigenous medical traditions into a grand narrative, what was overlooked is
the socio-religious contexts of the health care practices.
The Madras government in its attempt to improve the conditions of

the indigenous medical tradition stated that the object of the proposed
enquiry is to afford the exponents of the Ayurvedic and Unani systems an
opportunity to state their case fully in writing for scientific criticism and to
justify state encouragement of these systems (Indian Medical Gazette, 1921:
147). The attempt to articulate the indigenous needed a theoretical
framework within which the oriental society could be conceptualised. Here
the need for a theory that defined the indigenous human body gained
importance.
156 Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility. . . .
The social elites who undertook the responsibility of d

indigenous society and tradition claimed that the indigenous
to all the principles of science and was endowed with rati
Hindu intellectuals claimed that their ancient religion
incorporated scientific truths, that science was Hindu. With s
religion, culture, and the nation, not just laboratory
representation of the modern nation as the return of archa
became a compelling and enduring trope in the nationa
(Prakash, 1997: 538). This led to a revival of the dominant
hegemony over the indigenous medical thoughts that ex
form.
The methods of health care practiced by the high caste population

among the indigenous medical tradition, interpreted the cause of ailments as
one which was based on the tri-dosha siddanta and was seen as a fluctuation
in the Vata, Pitta, Kapha (translated as wind, bile, phlegm) components. The
proponents of western biomedicine placed the onus before the indigenous
medical practitioners to identify and to place before the medical (scientific)
community as to where dosha is situated in the human body. As the dosha
could not be identified and explored or "seen even through the aid of clinical
equipments" (Indian Medical Gazette, 1921: 147). the dominant theory of
bodily composition was rejected. Under such a situation the theory of the
indigenous medicine was scaled down and the role of supernatural forces was
completely discarded. What remained supreme in this exercise was that
diseases became located in the human body and hence the treatment was to
be administered to specific parts of the bodily system. Here a particular logic
about the functioning of the human body gained prominence. The revitalised
or restructured dominant medical tradition among the indigenous medical
traditions gained hegemony over the varied local and cultural practices of the
indigenous society.
This reconstitution of indigenous medical tradition into the broad

framework of Ayurveda necessitated that an institutionalised indigenous
medical system had to differentiate itself from such local health care
practices that did not identify with the larger tradition. Here the dominant
tradition in the indigenous medicine merged along with the emerging
notions of science in the colonised society and internalised the notion that
medicine, societies and cultures was supposed to have universal frames and
standards of meanings. Elites in the indigenous societies internalized the
universalities of science as a liberator of the colonized self and the colonized
societies from its backwardness. P. S Varier, an important proponent among
indigenous medical revivalists in Kerala is a glaring example in this regard.
The preface of his biography written at the centenary celebrations of the
Aryavaidya Sala, Kottakal in 2003, says:
"Himself a 'critical insider', he could, with their help,

system by integrating it with western epistemology.
systematic study of Ayurveda by his pioneering instit
disseminated the ancient wisdom through scientific p
ensured the quality of medicines by adopting modern
manufacturing. His activities were not confined to th
As a good physician, scholar, poet, dramatist, musicia
and philanthropist, his efforts embraced the entir
cultural life" (Krishnakutty, 2001: ix-x).
Varier thus symbolised the way in which the indiv

reconstituted under colonial dominance. The process of re-c
rested on the belief that everything that was superstitious
in the Middle Ages and the national identity was to sec
Hence the most important task of those engaged in th
structuring Ayurveda was to retrieve an imaginary past from
present. In the process of recreating indigenous medici
arranged, institutionalised, and new taxonomies of drugs w
a framing of the authority of Hinduism illustrated the extr
conviction in the antiquity and authenticity of Hindu sc
India witnessed during the late nineteenth century (Prakas
process accepted the power of biomedicine to be a p
(Langford, 2004). Tradition was interrogated in the
rationality and logic. The most important development tha
colonial dominance was that Ayurveda became a reflection
The new Ayurveda that was constituted during the late nin
claimed that the ancient classical texts uncompromisin
tradition in its complete form. Tradition was organise
manner that made practitioners understand, explore and
basis of 'western science'. The new project of defining
science and medicine under colonialism was in tandem w
of the national identity. The new national identity though g
from tradition, represented and functioned under a frame
science as the whole project of nation building and the r
colonial self remained closely connected to the idea of p
understood in the west. In one of his articles to Danwan
the popularisation of Ayurveda, Varier writes as follows:
"It is no secret that all important concepts in Engli

finally accepted only after many worthy doctors pass
of examinations and a majority of them agree on thes
that is not all. They hold discussions with the practit
kind of Vaidyam current in modern countries. Also
facilities to obtain and dissect dead bodies in order
Because of all this, what physicians trained in English
at the moment is more worthy of belief than w

physicians say, especially in the field of anatomy
that Sushrutha's anatomy is completely correct sh
meaning of the sloka given below and judge its verac
Pundareekena sadrisham hridayam syadadhom
Jagrathasthadvikasathi svapathascha nimeela
The meaning of this is: 'the heart is like a lotus,

downwards. When it is awake, it is fully opened;
closes.' Now, if the heart is fully open and hangs dow
child will know that it cannot hold anything. Then ho
a fluid force like energy? How can it deal with the f
is very difficult to agree on such matters. The
contradictions like this" (. Danwantri 17 October,
Krishnankutty, 2001: 119).
Re-structuring the Indigenous and Negating Contemp

Practices
One of the prominent features of the debates between western medicine and
the indigenous ones was that western criticisms of indigenous medicine were
perceived by the elites among indigenous practitioners as a colonial
hegemony that had to be opposed or challenged. However, various premises
of western medicine were at the same time seen as hegemonic truths which
had to be integrated into the traditional knowledge systems in order for it to
be called scientific. This process of acceptance necessitated that certain
modes of medical practice in the indigenous society had to be replaced by
refined ones based on written texts and uniform modes of standards as
prescribed by the principles of western science. The indigenous elite believed
that they had the responsibility of speaking for the colony and the colonial
self. As a nation, the colony was visualized in terms of its homogeneity and
was supposed to represent a clear form of truth. Anything that compromised
this uniformity was a corruption and hence differences had to be identified,
encountered and eliminated. Paul Brass argues that while revivalist leaders
had great respect for the truly competent traditional physicians, for their
abilities to heal and some of their methods of healing, and for the traditional
gwrw-disciple system of teaching, the primary orientation of the supporters of
the Ayurveda is towards the revival, restoration, and further development of
ancient science rather than to the maintenance of contemporary traditional
practices (Brass, 1972: 244). Local practices were seen as a tampering with
the 'universal science' of Ayurveda and were seen as a corruption of the
divine character of the dominant tradition. Such aberrations on the divine, on
science, on self and lastly on Ayurveda itself had to be cleansed off in order
to retrieve the lost glory of Ayurveda. This led to a scathing attack on
Indian Anthropologist (2007) 37:1 , 147-1 72 159
indigenous practitioners as quacks. In his suggestions to improve Ayurveda,

Varier writes:
"Vaidyashalas should be brought under a centralized control and the

conditions of these have to be improved so that the public would get
the maximum benefit from them. Certain measures have to be
undertaken to relieve the people from the influence of the quacks.
The activities of the quacks are doing more harm than good to the
people. Their ignorance and irrational activities have often affected
the glory of Ayurveda and has negatively affected the faith of the
people in that branch of science. These problems have to be rectified
without delay. It is beyond doubt that the Ayurveda form of
treatment is the most preferred, given the health conditions of the
people as well as that of the tropical climatic conditions. Therefore
taking the welfare of the people into consideration our government
should intervene and devote more grants for its improvement"
(Danwantri, 1918: 93).
The Ayurvedic physicians were in due course internalizing that what existed
was what one saw rather than what one perceived. The anatomical structure
of the human body with its pathology was accepted as the base from which
studies about the diseases and their causes in the human body gained ground,
though in theory the Sanskrit slogas claimed to have represented Ayurveda in
its complete form. The task of providing a 'scientific' outlook to the
traditional medicine was primarily twofold. Attempts were made to
incorporate certain parts of western knowledge of medicine into the
traditional system in accomplishing the task of representing the traditional
system as 'scientific'. At the same time the newly institutionalised Ayurveda
was increasingly distancing itself from the traditional indigenous system of
the lower castes on the pretext that practices that lay outside the domain of
the high caste medical system were t 'scientific and obsolete.
The idea of the quack remained intrinsic to the process of Ayurvedic

revivalism, in the same way that colonialism ensured its presence in the
indigenous medical sphere by directing its scathing attack òn its varied
practices. The high caste practitioners who were engaged in the process of
rejuvenating Ayurveda levelled severe criticisms against the practices of
local physicians who had until then been catering to the needs of the local
population. In a caste-ridden society with a distinct and different socio-
cultural hierarchy, any one in a low social position was likely to be called a
quack and discarded. With the help of science, Hindu elites could represent
the contemporary division of Hinduism into different sects and cults as
illegitimate or superficial differences. In place of these divisions, they
invoked the image of a universal and singular archaic religion, validated by
science, to forge difference into unity, multiplicity into sing

1997: 539).
Thus under colonial dominance the tri-dosha theory

indigenous medicine in its discourses on health and
systématisation of local and spatially spread diseases
Ayurveda led to the marginalization and neglect of th
practices that were outside the paradigm of the colon
medicine. Tie earlier local and regionally spread health care p
the Vaidyan (physician) had a certain prominence in arriving
on the nature of disease and the methods of treatment wa
institutional method, by which Ayurveda emerged as a n
claimed to have uncompromisingly represented traditional kn
this that gained prominence under the overarching princ
modernity and the reorganisation of the indigenous tradition
Ayurveda. Those who were branded as quacks in the new c
difficult to articulate their methods of treatment, identificat
and the nature of cure.
Attempts at systématisation did not give space for

medicines thereby ensuring their decline. In this process n
communities had their practices modified or eliminated. Not
the medical community who were branded as quacks complet
to the newly constituted larger tradition. Those communities
the frontiers of the debate on science and the western log
remained more or less unaffected and their medicine was rec
medicine in later times. However, tied to the larger question o
and the desire for a higher social position, as a by p
advancements made in terms of economic development i
period, the Ezhavas became highly receptive to the changes t
place in the field of medicine.
The Christian missionaries who were active in Travanco

important role in the popularisation of western philosoph
domain of the state. They made their presence felt in Travan
siries of issues that had a symbiotic relationship with w
medicine and Christianity ( Travancore and Cochin Diocesa
55; Aftab-I-Dhakkam, 1901). Here the western influence u
much more widespread and complex. The religious and cultur
of the society in Travancore had a major role in decidin
encounter with western ideas. Unlike British Malabar, wh
were limited to the sphere of the social elites, colonial debate
were more mass based and these were acceptable not only to
but to the society at large irrespective of their reli
denominations. Western science thus ensured its presenc
primarily through western theology. The constant stress

the 'true Christian' emerging from the clutches o
'retrograded' cultural past. Here the theological principles
of the colonial discourse on science. In both cases the idea
the individual and the society from a past that had its roo
did not cater to the fundamentals of science. Thus th
biomedicine and science became popular and the indig
became receptive to new ideas.
Travancore state's bondage with tradition and

'modernity' ensured that the state made interventions
indigenous medical system. Institutions of Ayurvedic
organised and promoted along with the support and encou
the promotion of western medical institutions. The measu
by the government for the improvement of the indigeno
were a means to ensure the sustenance of the logic of wes
large number of principles from western medicine were i
make Ayurveda a scientific discipline.
Science in Travancore became not just a point of

framework to which everything in the colonial period had
the logic of science that forced the Ezhavas to undo their t
as unscientific. The acceptance of the idea of science m
to accept the medicine practiced by the high castes as it w
texts.
As a community, the Ezhava with a long tradition of engagement

with healthcare practice came under the influence of the various debates
opened up by colonial ideologies. By the mid nineteenth century, new
notions of life, society and medicine undermined traditional hierarchies and
norms that had sustained the caste system in the social order. The Ezhava
negotiated with both the scientific rationality of the west as well as with the
traditional knowledge systems of the high caste Hindus. The nature of
interaction under colonial dominance ensured that as a social group desirous
of an increased social mobility, the Ezhava became willing subjects of
negating their own health care practices and ways of living by accepting the
dominant standards of the high castes.
How did the acquisition/negation of the dominant traditions by the

Ezhava take place in the arena of indigenous medicine? How was the
religious tradition re-interpreted by the community in the light of its
relationship with both the dominant traditions of the land as well as the new
notions of science-medicine and scientific rationality as interpreted in its
colonial contexts?
Modernisation of Tradition among the Ezhava

Under the overarching influence of colonial modernity, the
desire for a social mobility sought to overcome their su
integration or negation of the dominant standards of the hig
were certain attempts to place and interpret Ezhava histor
outside the Hindu fold. The interpretation of the history of
based on a new historiography, where a lineage was trac
Ezhava and Buddhism. This was to strike similarities between their social
situation of being a lower caste community and their reaction to the existing
social order, using the philosophies of the Buddhism.
For Sree Narayana the caste names and titles that signified the caste
and its ritual position merely conceal the true identity of the human
individual. He argued that the term Ezhavan was a corrupt name for Sinhalan
meaning that Ezhavas came from Srilanka, and thereby struck a connection
with the Buddhism of Sri Lanka. Sree Narayana argued that caste was simply
a matter of false differentiation that had to be abjured; religion or Matham
was the literal meaning for opinion or belief (Kumar, 1997: 257-258).
Kumaran Asan, who was the general secretary of the SNDP union and one of
the leading poets of the early twentieth century Kerala articulated the
concerns of the community through his various poems. His
Chandalabhikshuki is about the story of Buddha's disciple Ananda's
conversation with a Chandala women (a low caste in north India) and her
subsequent conversion to Buddhism. Thus among the emerging intellectual
elites within the Ezhavas, Buddhist philosophy and the possibility of a mass
conversion became an important issue of debate. While Mithavadi
Krishnan12 and others favoured conversion to Buddhism, Gopalan Tanthri
(Priest) and others tried to re-convert people back to Hinduism (Who is Who
in SNDP, 1956: 117). Thus the debate on the methods of overcoming the
social situation by the rejection of the social order or by integrating the
markers of caste remained central to the discourses regarding the strategies of
caste mobilisation among the Ezhava. While Buddhism became an important
means for the articulation of the concerns of the Ezhava, Christianity and the
precepts of Jesus Christ became an important influence on the community
(ibid.: 117). However, as a matter of fact the possibility of a religious
conversion either to Buddhism or to Christianity remained a dead issue. As
early as the first decade of the twentieth century, the missionaries
complained that "for the last twenty years not a single Ezhava was converted
to Christianity" (Jeffrey, 1976: 145). The members of the community were
thus largely desirous of a social uplift within the hierarchy of the Hindu fold.
The Ezhava, as a social group, even when they were drawing inspirations
with the ideology of Buddhism did not try for a conversion to it and rather
chose to stay within the Hindu religious order.
Indian Anthropologist (2007) 37:1, 147-172 _ 163
Even when the community was drawing parallels and t

lineage that had a relationship with the philosophies and prac
Buddha and the interest of the community was articulated throu
of intervention that Buddhism had on the social order of caste, t
intellectual elite who were also socio-religious reformers used the
the Hindu knowledge system and its forms in their desire f
hierarchy. It was Narayana Guru who struck a balance betwee
the negation of the dominant ideas and the integration of t
practices of the high castes. He realised that even when a se
leaders among the community were strong critiques of the cultu
of the high castes, in essence, the criticism was primari
'correcting' the tradition in their process of integrating them in
identity of the community. The attempt was not to break with re
it was a movement towards a reform within religion using n
rationality. Sree Narayana started temples for the Ezhava and pla
as god in the temples, he was urging his fellow human beings to
god within oneself. He was also driving the point that faith
interpreted in the light of rationality, in the same way medicine
based on logic and rationality. Thus claim to tradition was p
through the integration of the traditional knowledge systems an
light of rationality.13
A section of the Ayurvedic practitioners and social elites am

community argued that the relationship of the Ezhava with Ayu
for thousands of years and was a result of their connection with
and hence was autonomous to the dominant Hindu religious order
in reality, irrespective of the fact that a lineage was traced betw
and Buddhism, the Ezhava were increasingly integrating
tradition and practices that were in existence among the hi
Uppottu Kannan, who was a high ranking officer with the Go
Madras, was an early proponent of Ayurveda. He collected a large
medicinal plants from various parts of the province, established
garden and also published the first commentary of B
Ashtangahridaya in Malayalam (Who is Who in SNDP, 195
Kunjuraman Vaidyan acquired the degree of Ayurveda Bhoosh
Madras Ayurveda College and also acquired experience fro
Kaviraj pharmacy and from Bombay High Caste Hindu hospita
started an Ayurveda hospital at Kollam and a journal named A
also published from Kollam. He also started an Ayurveda high
Sanskrit school (ibid.: 43-44). P. M Govindan Vaidyan publish
known as Vaidyamanjari, and also translated Ashtangah
Malayalam (ibid.: 1 1 1). The opportunities thrown open by coloni
in terms of its administrative and political power led to the eme
new class of social elites largely in the cities. They also had the o
1 64 Subaltern Medicine and Social Mobility . . . .
to acquire the dominant forms of knowledge-either western or

ones that were re-constituted as a result of the influx of western ideas.
The integration of the dominant Ayurvedic knowledge into the

cultural life of the Ezhavas was accompanied by the development of new
thoughts, which tended to retrieve the indigenous medical tradition from
magic and Mantras. This amounted to the Ezha 'a negating their own
tradition as unscientific and outside the paradigms of science. They believed
that it was these cultural practices that were unscientific in character and
were the cause of their social backwardness. Social reformers who emerged
in the community forcefully argued and urged their fellow caste men to shed
much of the cultural practices with refined moral codes and social practices.
They glorified the idea of reason and individualist rationality along with
community mobilisation. The new leaders of the community propagated
rationality, logic and spirituality based on Sanskrit and classical knowledge.
These social elites were also the interlocutors between a community desirous
of social mobility and the various ideologies that were prominent in the late
nineteenth century. Thus there were two major contending views as to how
the process of a social mobility was to be made possible. While a section
argued that a conversion to Buddhism would enable them to overcome the
disabilities attached to caste, a large section of the community desired for a
higher position within the Hindu fold. Thus even when they were making
claims for a dominant Ayurvedic tradition and that such a medical tradition
reached them through their connection with Buddhism, in reality they were
making a negotiation with the dominant knowledge forms of the Hindu
religious forms and structure.
Attempts were made to critically evaluate and modernise the

practices that were in vogue among them. A. Kurumpan founded the Achara
Parishodana Sanghom (movement to evaluate the traditional practices)
(ibid.: 24). The cultural practices that prevailed among the community were
examined and interrogated in the light of rationality. Forceful arguments
were made by the leaders of the community to give up toddy tapping and the
consumption of liquor. Once on a visit to the house of A. Kesavan, Sree
Narayana Guru urged him to refrain from the consumption of meat and fish.
Studies however point out that the consumption of fish and meat formed an
important part of the diet among the Ezhava. Creation of a new dietary
pattern was an emulation of the cultural practices of the higher castes. Here
cultural backwardness was equated with social backwardness. Social reform
for the community meant the purification of the body and the self from its
local heritage that were considered the cause of the weakness of the
community (ibid. : 72). The Acharams (traditional practices) were replaced by
a new notion of the Sadacharam (moral codes of practices). Sadacharam, as
norms for a healthy way of living according to a moral code, became an
important way of living for the community. The purification of the self and
the Samudayam (community) became part of the way in

was aimed and visualised.14
The emergence of the self was an important aspect of

and modernisation (ibid.: 13). The idea of a rational traditio
of rationality and logic - became an important way throug
itself was analysed. The rise of the individual was base
rational order. Rationality was to be the hallmark of the ind
he defended tradition in the societal sphere. What wer
defended were the elements of science in tradition. Th
indigenous physician to read the pulse was seen as the c
Vaidyan had over scientific principles. It was understood th
even without having an internal view of the human b
knowledge of the heart beat of the patient, and hence the in
of the body. This was seen as an important landmark
medical system as all traditional knowledge that Ayurv
deemed to be 'scientific', irrespective of the fact that ne
practiced nor did it have a theory derived from anatomical
human body based on a visual gaze. The aim was to prove
Ayurveda were not illusions but on the other hand, con
which were the result of scientific gazes endowed with
was thus the gateway of the scientific location of hum
traditional knowledge system. An Ezhava physician therefo
divinity and rationality to tradition and tradition was inter
The Ezhava physicians became part of a larger body of
certain universality.
The press played an important role in the dis

knowledge among lower sections of the society. Langua
print have often been viewed as the means for cont
propagation of dominant ideas and the fashioning of nat
community identities (Gupta, 2005: 20). The dissem
accompanied by a claim to authenticity which was attac
Books printed at the Church Mission Society (CMS) pres
palm leaf manuscript. Those who possessed manuscripts
sense of authenticity and laid claim to traditional know
were copied and produced in bulk by the second part o
century, leading to a reconstitution and dissemination
tradition.15 The print explosion created a wide arena for
ideas that led to the cultural hegemony ^ the print and
public sphere (Gupta, 2005: 21). The easy availability of
wider readership of knowledge among the community. Wh
the fact that Ayurveda as a system of medicine, which
divine intervention, which had hitherto been a prerogative
households got printed at a press which was owned by the
Such activity helped in making Ayurvedic knowledge a mas

and a secular enterprise. Thus the new public domain with its
emergence of urban centres, means of communication an
understanding that knowledges are secular and had to be
enabled communities who were hitherto kept away due
boundaries to engage themselves in knowledge.
The writing of the manuscripts on Palm leaves t

different form of experience in the late nineteenth century.
became a matter of separating medicine from Mantr
concentrating on the actual practices employed in treatmen
were not visualised and were outside the paradigm of the mod
logic was separated from the traditional indigenous medicine.
nineteenth century the idea of the 'rational' dominated the th
leaf manuscript on Vishachikitsa (poison treatment) by an ano
captures the spirit of 'science' and 'rationality' of the age u
He writes as follows:
"The treatment of poison due to snake bite is good for all men on
earth, though this method of treatment is soon dying out. There are
only a few who are expert in this branch of science, I take the
responsibility to publish this branch of knowledge that I know from
my own experience. When one reads this book he will come to the
conclusion that the treatment of medicine in this branch of science is
possible even without employing extreme methods that are currently
in use... once this book is made available I believe that death due to
snake bite would be a thing of the past. At a time when the people do
no longer have faith in Mantrams, it was a tedious exercise for me to
separate Mantrams from the methods of treatment and make it a
document that deals with treatment alone. I believe that the people
would respect the painful effort that I had to undergo in making this
book a reality. I publish this book on the first of January 1873"
(Visha Vaidyam, 1887: 4-5).
The belief in individualism and the sense of liberty promoted

in iividual initiatives in medicine. While the community embraced Ayurveda
ir. their desire for a claim to tradition, surgery and the biomedical practice
wore equally promoted. Modern medical practice meant science, rationality,
lo, *ic and objective knowledge. Narayana Guru encouraged his community to
learn and practice Western medicine as well. He told P. K. Narayanan
Vaidyan to practice surgery and biomedicine (Who is Who in SNDP, 1956:
151).
Similarly, Palpu, a leading figure among the Ezhavas, who was also
a nominated member of the Legislative assembly while highlighting the
health conditions of the state of Travancore referred to the unsatisfactory
condition of medical relief in the state, owing to th

supply of drugs and specified that sufficient encourage
the Native Vaidyan, who, he pointed out, were seen on
for English doctors. In his opinion the question of the
the Vaidyan and his art had to be carefully consider
government. If it was found that he was very much i
rival, it should be further considered whether he shoul
all. If it was possible to improve him, it should be
practice ought, in the public interests to be summaril
The movement towards the revival of the tra

under colonialism was accompanied by the revival o
language, as most of the traditional literature of the s
Sanskrit language. Sanskrit became the new medium o
The sanctity of Sanskrit as a divine language that enco
of ancient science was glorified and the language
Asan in one of his articles wrote "... it would be bet
basic knowledge in a classical language like Sanskrit
lies in the Sanskrit literature," in the legislative Assem
for the compulsory education of Sanskrit and t
disciplines as Ayurveda, Jyotisha, Malayalam literatur
Publication, 1986: 181).
The spread of Sanskrit accelerated the dissemin

knowledge among the Ezhavas. A large number of
started by the emerging social elites of the Ezhavas and
(Who is who in SNDP, 1956: 189). The mastery of
dissemination of Ayurvedic knowledge, which was hit
to Brahmin households ( illams ). Students who had
Sanskrit found it easy to acquire Ayurvedic medical
schools were started at Kollam and Attingal, which he
and dissemination of Ayurveda through a proper fram
The Ezhava physicians formed associations and organis
Kerala Vaidya Samajom, Ayurveda Mahamandalam,
Vaidya Sala, Ayurveda Samajom etc (ibid.: 43-44)
This new knowledge over time spread among th
with other forms of traditional Sanskrit literature, p
Jyotisha, Yoga etc. replacing the earlier methods of tr
Kapunyam, Ottamuli, etc. Velayudan Vaidyan (ibid.:
as Arackkal Vaidyan acquired the knowledge of ind
Pappu Vaidyan a Physician among the Ezhava. He wa
Chikitsa, Kaipunyam, Ottamuli and other forms of
However, in the course :>f time these practitioners wh
and local practices largely practiced by a subaltern group we

refined medical practice of the dominant tradition.
Conclusion
The encounter of Ezhava with western medicine in the colonial context was
thus mediated through the nature of social conditioning in Trayancore. It was
not just an attempt to become part of the tradition of the social elite and its
forms of knowledge; rather it was a means of negotiation based on a rational
movement where the attempt was essentially to create an indigenous
religious structure based on a distinct autonomous identity. Indigenous
medicine for the Ezhava was thus not merely a desire for the claim for
tradition but rather a claim for a traditional order that was interpreted as
being scientific in character. Here rationalism and tradition joined together in
a particular fashion. Their desire was more to create a space in the social
system that had been earlier denied in their immediate environment using the
newly constructed tradition and western notions of Science.
Notes
1 Guruvayoor Satyagraha. For further details see Menon (1993).

2 C Krishnan Vaidyan was born in 1878. He studied Ayurveda and Sanskrit from
Ananthapurathu Mootha Koil Thampuran. As a devout follower of Sree
Narayana Guru, Krishnan Vaidyan started various schools for the uplift of the
Ezhavas. Even before his activism in the Guruvayoor Satyagraha he had fought
for the rights to temple entry in the Panavalli temple of his native place (Who is
Who in SNDP , 1956: 71-72).
The caste system in Kerala was different from what was in existence in other
parts of India, while a four fold system with the Brahmins , Kshatriyas, Vaishyas
and Sudras prevailed in the rest of India, Kerala's caste system was marked by
the absence of the intermediary castes like the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas. The
Nairs were the Sudras, while the Ezhavas were the untouchables, whose position
in the caste hierarchy was below the Nairs.
Panikkar and Varier depict the history of the re-constitution process of the
dominant tradition under colonialism. Both argue on a similar line and seem to
be in agreement on the question of the modernisation of the indigenous
medicine. But they do not look at whether there were any attempts of the similar
kind by any caste of lower social standing. See Panikkar (1992) and Raghava
Varier (2002).
Most social historians in Kerala agree on this kind of a character of backward
caste movements (cf. Yesudas, 1975).
6 C. K. Krishnan Panikkar (1869-1933) fought for the right to walk on public
roads that were earlier on meant for the exclusive use of the higher castes ( Who
is Who in SNDP 1956: 69).
This extract has been taken from the revised re-edition of Vaan Rheedes' 1678
Hortus Malabaricus: with annotations and Modern Botanical Nomenclature
Indian Anthropologist (2007) 37:1, 147-1 72 169
(Manilal, 2003). Hortus Malabaricus is a 12 volume treatise on

of Malabar (Kerala) published during 1678-1693, from Am
compiled by the then Dutch Governor of Malabar at Cochi
Vaan Rheede. Hortus Malabaricus enshrines the indigenous
hereditary medical practitioners of the Indian state of Kerala
illustrations of 742 plants belonging to 691 modern species, t
descriptions and medicinal and other uses. All plants
illustrated under their local Malayala names, written in Roma
Arabic scripts. In most cases their Konkani, Portuguese an
also given. The entire text of the book is in Latin.
8 Udaya Kumar (1997) cites the example of the addition of titles
the high caste people such as Amma , to the names of Ezhava
to Ezhava men and the dropping of diminutives such as kunju
castes. However at the level of the individual, the acquisition
caste markers had a smooth and entirely unchallenged passage
9 An erstwhile Princely state in the southern part of India, it w
as a progressive one for the wide ranging advancements in th
education and other social indicators. For details, see Jef
Kawashima (1998). The south-west coast is sociologically
oné of the most complex regions in the sub-continent, w
population of Muslims, Moplahs (Muslims), a community of Sy
and even Jews who date from the first or second century A.
were a large and highly stratified Hindu community. Europea
nineteenth century regard the caste system of Malabar in gene
in particular as most rigid in the sub-continent (Cohn, 2002:
10 Siddha was an indigenous medical tradition that was prac
parts of Tamil Nadu. Mantra was Magic while Marma was a m
massaging certain nodes of the body. Visha Chikitsa was a
treatment.
11 A certificate given after having passed the highest test in Ashtangahridhaya was
made compulsory for grant. Government appointed examiners to see whether
the applicant possessed fair knowledge in the Indian system of medicine. All
aided institutions were forced to accept the various standards set by the
government from time to time. Each vaidyan was seen as an arm of the
government, potentially carrying out the necessary orders given by the
government with regard to health and medicine. Daily records and reports were
to be maintained and they were to be submitted to the government. Grant in aid
vaidyans were made answerable to the government. Misrepresentation of facts
was sufficient reason for the withdrawal of the grant Ayurveda Grant in Aid
Rules (Kerala State Archives 1896).
C. Krishanan, (1866-1938) popularly known as Mitavadi Krishnan, the owner of
the famous Press Mitavadi while engaging in a wide ranging activities to bring
about changes in social practices, and at the same time being part of a large
number of movements like the Guruvayoor Satyagraha , Vaikkom Satyagrahom
etc., made strenuous efforts to spread Buddhism among the community (Who is
Who in SNDP, 1956: 65-66)
13 Panikkar resigned his job as a teacher of the Puthupally Sc

student of Kumaran Asan to learn Malayalam literature. In
Malabar and learned Vedanta from Vagbhadananda Samikal. In 1
the Atma Vidy a Sangham (Movement for Self Education). In hi
changed his name to Aryabhata Swamikal and became a yog
advised Puthenthopil Padmanabha Panikkar of Karthikapally to
Upanishads and to engage in social work. This can be seen a
appropriate Tradition (Who is who in SNDP 1956: 13).
P. R. Kochukunju founded the Sadachara Prabodhini Sabha (m
promotion of right practices) and the Sadachara Prabod
Sanghom Ç Who is Who in SNDP 1956: 92). In 1890, P. K Krishn
Sanmarga Pradhayani Samajom (Movement for Right Moral
63).
15 See, for example, Notes on Bala chikitsa copied into Palm Leaf as manuscript
from the book printed at the CMS press, Kottayam (1868).
16 Kerala State Archives (1912), Some suggestions for the promotion of medical
relief research, File no. 457, General, Sree Moolam Popular Assembly, Subjects
eighth session, Assembly Proceedings, Eighth Session Paper 69, subject No. 57,
Palpu suggested that the government should give native medicines a fair trial
and a fair chance of justifying its existence and its historical usefulness, by
making some provision for competent research into the properties of the drugs
ordinarily used by the Vaidyam and the methods employed by them in
treatment; and he proposed that a full time young medical graduate should be set
apart, with a proper laboratory, for this work of research, it being his duty
especially, to publish the results of his investigation in English and in the
vernacular. He then pointed out the harm done by some native physicians
through their ignorance of physiology, anatomy, chemistry, antiseptic treatment
and the properties of mineral drugs and poison, and he proposed as remedial
measure, that a grant-in-aid or diploma should be given only to those candidates
who have passed from the Ayurveda patasala. These would undergo a further
examination in the above subjects, conducted by a board constituted by the
Durbar Physician-facilities being afforded at the same time for Vaidyan
candidates to attend the hospitals and learn work therein.
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Indian Anthropological Association

Indian Anthropological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and

Keywords: Indigenous Medicine, Caste Mobilisation, Science, Kerala

Varika Varika Sahajare!

Come! Come!! My fellow beings!

None is low among men ! !

In the landscape of political struggles of the Indian sub-continent against

The widely acclaimed couplet urging the fellow being

An important question that arises in this context

The term 'indigenous medicine' in the colonial context was defined

In their interaction with western biological medicine (biomedicine),

social situation all forms of indigenous knowledge of m

The attempt made here is therefore to understand a

Attempts to analyse the relationship between wester

Negation and Modernisation of Tradition

negation of different streams of socio-cultural practices into

Hortus Malabaricus, a multi- volume compilation of me

"I Itti Achyutan, a Malabari doctor, Chego (Ezhava) by

Thus in the pre-colonial era, the Ezhava physicians s

In its pre-colonial setting a system of medicine or it

the period. An indigenous medicine that had an abilit

"The natives are firmly persuaded that if the bra

The medicine practiced in the indigenous societies during the pre-

As an outcaste in the hierarchy of castes, the Ezhava

The emergence of the new spheres of public disco

The intention of the Travancore state and other prin

therefore has to logically begin with this crucial turning poi

With the colonial system, western medicine with its cli

A new social order, new forms of thought and a new p

his pharmacy reads; "Ayurvedic Pharmacy-SiiW/w M

One cannot overlook the fact that in reality indigen

The Conflict of Episteme: the Western and the Indige

'Enquiring' into the scientific value of indigenou

"Only a very limited number of indigenous remed

During the last twelve years this enquiry has done a

It has been found that many of the pharmacopoeial drugs or

One therefore thought that indigenous health care practices in the

The Madras government in its attempt to improve the conditions of

The social elites who undertook the responsibility of d

The methods of health care practiced by the high caste population

This reconstitution of indigenous medical tradition into the broad

"Himself a 'critical insider', he could, with their help,

Varier thus symbolised the way in which the indiv

"It is no secret that all important concepts in Engli

at the moment is more worthy of belief than w

Pundareekena sadrisham hridayam syadadhom

Jagrathasthadvikasathi svapathascha nimeela

The meaning of this is: 'the heart is like a lotus,

Re-structuring the Indigenous and Negating Contemp

indigenous practitioners as quacks. In his suggestions to improve Ayurveda,

"Vaidyashalas should be brought under a centralized control and the

The idea of the quack remained intrinsic to the process of Ayurvedic

science, to forge difference into unity, multiplicity into sing

Thus under colonial dominance the tri-dosha theory

Attempts at systématisation did not give space for

The Christian missionaries who were active in Travanco

primarily through western theology. The constant stress

Travancore state's bondage with tradition and

Science in Travancore became not just a point of

As a community, the Ezhava with a long tradition of engagement

How did the acquisition/negation of the dominant traditions by the

Modernisation of Tradition among the Ezhava

Even when the community was drawing parallels and t