Uchh gudwatta wale aushadhiya evam sagandh paadapo ki krishikaran takneek tatha unke upyog

The use of plants as source of medicinal agents lies deep in the roots of antiquity. No one will ever know what led primitive man emerging from his ancestral origin to select certain plant material for the treatment of various ailments and diseases though it may be assumed that during the long transition from instinctive behaviour to more rational action there was a conscious realization that certain roots leaves bark fruits and even plant exudations had some beneficial action. This knowledge and the characteristics of the plant material or even the entire plant itself would be remembered for future occasions and the information passed on to others by word of mouth. Later as different civilizations developed man was able to communicate his knowledge and ideas first by carving into stones or clay and later by writing on parchment or paper with the result that his knowledge became known to the coming generations. Reverence may be made to the clay writings from the library of the Assyrian king to the Ebers Papyrus and to the writings of Dioscorides to indicate sources of our knowledge today about the crude drugs by Arabians Babylonians Chinese Egyptians Greeks Indians Persians Romans and Sumarians thousands of years ago. The oldest treatises dealing with Ayurveda are Susruta samhita and Charaka samhita both compiled between 500-300 B.C. The development of the Ayurvedic system of medicine was based on scientific approach and methodology. Many of the drugs used in the traditional systems have stood the test of time. Most of the MAPs are used in the Indian Systems of Medicines and pharmaceutical and oil industries. About 118 species of MAPs of IHR yield essential oils. The Indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants and therapies was composed verbally and passed orally from generation to generation. Much later some of this information was systematized in treatise forms like Atharveda Yajurveda Charak Samhita Sushrut Samhita etc.