A Brief History of Traditional Indian Medicine: In Particular, Yoga and Siddha Systems of Medicine; Part 2 – Evidence-based Ancient History of India that is Bharat, Revisited

Abstract

A brief history of traditional Indian medicine, in particular, Yoga and Siddha systems of medicine, is presented as a four-part series including Part 1 – Why Indian medicos need to know of the rich medical heritage of Bharat, an eye-opener, Part 2 – Evidence-based ancient history of India that is Bharat, revisited, Part 3 – A brief on the knowledge level of ancient India and knowledge codified under Yoga, pertaining to optimum health and maximising human potential and Part 4 – A brief on the Siddha system of medicine, including their knowledge level and the Siddha contribution to medical education in the ancient world. India’s rich medical heritage has been kept away from India and the world in general by a distorted colonial narrative. In this second part of the series, why we need to revisit the history of ancient India is discussed; evidence that suggests that an advanced civilisation existed in peninsular India in pre-historic times, which went under ocean waters due to sea level rise, is presented; and emerging evidence available on the history of traditional Indian medicine, mainly Siddha medicine which belongs to those timelines, is presented.

Keywords

• ancient indian history
• ayurveda
• siddha medicine
• traditional indian medicine