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Ayurveda Nighantu – History Of Ayurveda Dictionary

Ayurveda Nighantu is a medical dictionary of drugs/herbs used in Ayurveda, the word Nighantu means ‘treasure’. Another early term for a medical dictionary is Dravya Gana Sangraha Kosha. The first compilation of medical substances based on their nomenclature was done by Amarasimha in Amarakosha, but he did not describe the properties of these substances. Several centuries earlier, Charaka and Sushruta had described  and classified different medical substances but these works formed only a part of their Samhitas, which is why these texts do not come under the category of Nighantu.

The oldest known Nighantu is Dravyaguna Sangraha by Chakrapanidalla. He followed the same classification of substances as that followed by Charaka and Sushruta. Then comes Dhanvantari Nighantu although this medieval text was not written by Dhanvantari and it is dated somewhere about 1150 CE. The author has described in it the properties of mercury, five types of magnets and different metals along with the pharmacodynamics of herbs and trees and their uses in various diseases. Raja Nighantu is another important Nighantu, which is also called Abhidhanachudamani. This was written by Narahari who belonged to Kashmir. He used some vernacular names from Kannada, Marathi and Telugu languages.

Given below is a list of various nighantus –

  1. Paryaya Ratnamala by Madhaokar 700 CE
  2. Sabdacandrika by Chakrapani Datta 1040 CE
  3. Nighantu Sesha by Hemachandra 1088-1172 CE
  4. Dhanvantari Nighantu 1150 CE
  5. Soddhala Nighantu by Soddhala 1200 CE
  6. Madana Vinod by Madanpal 1374 CE
  7. Rajanighantu by Narahari 1400 CE
  8. Sivaprakasha by Shivadatta 1677 CE
  9. Pathyapathya Viveka by Kaiyyadeo 1710 CE
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