JoiLz?ialof ~~~~~~O~~~, 20 f1987) 245-290 Elsevkw Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.

245

REPERTORY OF DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN TRADITIUNAL MEDICINE OF AFGHANISTAN

CIXAFIQUE YOUNOSa, JACQUES F”LEURENTINa. DOMINIQUE MAZARSC, FRANCOIS MORTIERd andJEAN-MARIE PELTa$e

NOTTERb, GUY

‘~~o~~o~~~ de Biokqie V&&& et P~~~o~s~~ Centre des Sciences de ~~~nv~rnnne~n~ UniversitG de Mett, 57000 Metz, kabomtoire de &Xogie, Faculty de Pharnzacie, 54&X2Nancy, CCentra Eumpien d%listoire de la M6decine, Universitk Louis Pasteur, 67070 Strasbourg, dLabaraeoire de Pharrnacognosie, FacultB de Pharrnacie, &XXI0Nancy and eInstitut Eumpien d%co@ie, 5700 Me& (Franeel

[AcceptedApril27,198?)

The traditional uses of plants for medicine wore studied in Afghanistan, To date, 215 medicinal plants have been identified and are presented in a table with the vernacular name (in Dari, Pashto and Kat& the ~o~ap~c~ and ecological distribution, and the medicinal use. This study of traditional medicine demonstrates a close relationship between the kinds of medicinal plants used and pathology, and thus may serve as an indicator of the major health problems of the people.

Introduction The subject of traditional medicine in Afghanistan has received little attention in the literature, especially as regards the use of medicinal plants. The medicinal flora is not well known and research work on tractions medicine has been limited (Volk, 1955, 1961; Rochan, 1968). The starting point of this paper is the work done by Pelt et al. (1965) more than 20 years ago and dealing with the medicinal plants available in the bazar of Kabul. During the subsequent years field works were carried out by two of us (Netter and Younosf who have collected specimens of drugs and information all over Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a mountainous and rugged country in Cental Asia bisected by the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Thanks to its geographical situation and climatic conditions (Herman, 1965), the country has a rich flora (Pelt, 1967) and a great number of plant species are used in traditional medicines, These traditional medicines may be divided into two gmups: (if those based on ancient systems which brought forth written literatures and Q 1987 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. 0378Wf41/67/$16.45 Published and Printed in Ireland

246

theories (Greek, Indian and Islamic medicines); (ii) folk medicines which are based on oral transmission and practised by healers of all kinds. The particular location of Afghanistan and its proximity to Iran, the regions of Central Asia (Soviet Turkestan) and Monsoon Asia (India and Pakistan), has made it, since antiquity, one of the most important centres in Asia. But this situation has also made it throughout its history, an endless battleground and aera of struggle and contention for the big Western empires (Greece and Persia), the Eastern empires (Mongol), later the British via the India subcontinent, and finally the Northern empires (Tsarist Russia and Soviet Union). Afghanistan was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, and retained elements of Greek culure as the Kingdom of Bactria (250-150 BC). Bactria played an important part in the spreading of Hellenistic culture through Central Asia, e.g. the Ghandhera culture. Afghanistan was also influenced by the Indian Civilization. After a brief period of Buddhism, the country fell to Muslim invaders in the 7th century AD, and Islam became dominant. Afghanistan was subsequently overwhelmed by Genghis Khan (13th century) and Tamerlane (14th century). Later, from his base in Kabul, Babur (1483-1530), established the Mughol empire in the North of the Indian Subcontinent. This rich cultural background, which will be explored in a subsequent paper, explains the variety of present-day medical traditions. There are many things in common among these medicinal traditions. In the course of time, each one of them has given to and taken from the other, and practitioners of the different systems have borrowed drugs and recipes from each other. Materials

and methods

Collecting

and ordering

the information

Information was obtained from traditional healers in Kabul (Kb), Mazar-e sharif (Ma), Kunduz (Ku), Kandahar (Ka), Herat (He), Faizabad (Fa), Khost (Kh), Jalalabad (Ja), Laghman (La) and Kunar (Kr) (Fig. 1). Four types of medical practice can be distinguished: (a) physicians called hakim or tabib, practitioners of classic Islamic medicine. Most of them have been trained in India or Pakistan, others obtained their knowledge from local hakims (Per&ala, 1980); (b) folk healers including herbalists (atar); (c) midwives (daya); (d) old experienced people. For each drug the following information was gathered: - name of the drug: botanical name and vernacular name in Pachto, Dari and Kati (the transliteration is presented in Table 1); - name of the prescriber or informant; - date and place of gathering of information; - place of origin (local or imported, growing wild or a cultivated species); - part used: aerial parts (AP), leaves (LE), flowers (FL), fruit (FR), seeds

247

248 TABLE

1

TRANSLITERATION Name of the letter 1 -

OF DARI, Symbol

PASHTO TransIiteration

alef

2-be 3-I-Je

AND KATI Name of the letter 21-

ayn

22 -

ghayn

23 -

fe

24 -

qLf

25 -

kLf

26 -

glif

Symbol

TransIiteration


d

++

FR

XMPOSITAE 11

-

khillea santolina

L.

tork-e drawna terx-e drawna zawal biiy-e &dar& biiy-e m&an gol-e spargak p& 1aGak

FL J_Yj cj?JLLr3 ti!JLu2

OE

255

GEOGRAPHICAL AND JCOLOGICAL DISTBIBJJT.

:,S,

common

and

MJXDICINAL USE IN AFGHANISTAN

narcotic

:ultivated

:entral region, high ;tepps (1200-2400 m)

diuretic anthelmintic

:ultivated

aromatic

:entral Hindu-Kosh (2000-2400 m)

antiseptic

I, mediterranean climat antiseptic ;teppic region (Herat) tndigenous

mported

aphrodisiac (A:53, 134,

241)

.mported

purgative

(~~86)

:onunon in all Lfghanistan

antipyretic (A:184,164) antigastritis

256

TABLE

2

(Continued)

BOTANICALs NAMEt OF SPECIES

Aptotaxis

auricutata DC.

Artsmisia Absinthium

L.

VEXNACULAR

NAME IN

AFGHAN.

&iger