In 1793, A Maratha Vaidya reconstructed
the nose of a cart-driver.Illustration from
Gentleman's Magzine (London), Oct. 1794

Great Scientists of ancient India - SUSRUTA



In 1670, when war broke out between the Mughals and the Aadilshah of Bijapur, some Mughal soldiers committed depredations in the Bijapur villages. They were captured and, as a punishment, their noses were cut off. However, after some days all of them received new noses. How ? Describing the treatment of the native surgeons, Niccolao Manucci, the Italian traveller who was in India in those days, says :



"The surgeons belonging to the country cut the skin of the forehead above the eyebrows, and made it fall down over the wounds on the nose. Then, giving a twist so that a live flesh might meet the other live surface, by healing applications, they fashioned for them other imperfect noses. There is left above, between the eyebrows, a small hole, caused by the twist given to the skin to bring the two live surfaces together. In a short time the wounds heal up, some obstacle being placed beneath to allow of respiration. I saw many persons with such noses, and they were not so disfigured as they would have been without any nose at all." (Storia do Mogor or Mogul India, 1653-1708 AD).


This is, perhaps, the earliest description of Indian plastic surgery of the nose given by an European. About a hundred years later, a detailed description of the same technique is obtained from the following episode.

From 1769 AD to 1799 AD, in a period of thirty years, four Mysore Wars were fought between Hyder Ali plus his son Tipu Sultan and the British. As a result of these wars the British learnt two very important Indian techniques – rocketry and plastic surgery. Both these Indian techniques were further improved – first in England and then in other European countries. How the British learnt the art of Indian plastic surgery is a fascinating story.

A Maratha cart-driver, Kawasaji, who had served the British, and four Tilanges (Indian soldiers of British army) had fallen into the hands of the Sultan of Srirangapattanam. Their noses and right arms were cut off as a punishment for serving the enemy. Then they were sent back to the English command.

After some days, when dealing with an Indian merchant, the English commanding officer noticed that he had a peculiar nose and scar on his forehead. On inquiry, he learnt that the merchant's nose had been cut off as a punishment for adultery and that he had a substitute nose made by a Maratha Vaidya of the kumhara (potter) caste. The commanding officer sent for the Vaidya and asked him to reconstruct the nose of Kawasaji and others.

The operation was performed near Pune in the presence of two English doctors. An illustrated account of this operation appeared in the Madras Gazette. Subsequently, the article was reproduced in the Gentleman's Magazine of London in October 1794. This description fired the imagination of the young English surgeon J.C. Carpue, who after gathering more information on the "Indian nose", performed two similar operations in 1814 AD with successful results. After this, plastic surgery became popular throughout Europe. All replacement operations which use flaps of skin in the immediate vicinity of the loss are known as 'Indian plastic surgery'.

In ancient Europe there was no tradition of plastic operations. Genuine records of plastic operations are not found in Europe until the middle of the fifteenth century. These came from Italy. Many European scholars are of the opinion that reports of Indian plastic operations reached Italy by way of seamen and merchants. From Italy we have the record that in 1442 AD, Branca, a surgeon of Sicily, carried out plastic operations of the nose, using flap from the face. This operation by Branca was very similar to the one described in the Susruta- Samhita, an Ayurvedic compendium composed in the early centuries of the Christian era. In fact, Susruta-Samhita is the oldest known work that vividly describes the plastic operations of the nose, ear and lip.

The Susruta-Samhita (i.e., Susruta's compendium) pays special attention to surgery. The work primarily deals with salya and salakya, two of the eight divisions of ayurveda, the 'knowledge of longevity'. As defined in the Susruta-Samhita (SS), salya treats of the extraction of arrows and other foreign bodies from wounds caused by them. It also teaches the use of blunt instruments, cutting instruments, caustic and cautery, together with the diagnosis and treatment of inflammation. Salàkya treats of diseases of the ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and other parts of the body above the clavicle. Thus, the SS is our most important source of information on surgery in ancient India.
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Salakyatantra – treatment of diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, & teeth.
Kayacikitsa – therapeutics.
Bhtavidya – psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Kaumarabhrtya– paediatrics.
Agadatantra – toxicology and treatment of poisoning.
Rasayanatantra – treatment of longevity and rejuvenation.
Vajikaranatantra– treatment for increasing virility.

The SS deals with several branches of Ayurveda, but in it the place of honour is given to surgery. The SS itself states that surgery is the most ancient and honoured branch of the Ayurveda, and capable of effecting immediate cure of diseases amenable to it.