000			03419nam a22002297a 4500
003			CUTN
005			20240729125230.0
008			240729b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9789354428517
041			_aEnglish
082			_223 _a615.53 _bRAI
100			_aRai,Saurav Kumar
245			_aAyurveda, Nation and Society: _bUnited Provinces, c. 1890–1950/ _cSaurav Kumar Rai
260			_aHydrabad : _bOrient BlackSwan, _c2024.
300			_axxiii, 264 p. : _bill, ; _c140 x 216 mm
440			_aNew Perspectives in South Asian History
500			_aAyurveda enjoys a growing global appeal, and is often touted as ‘true’ and ‘time-tested’ by contemporary political actors, governments, social groups, practitioners and NGOs in India. With ‘indigenous’ healing systems enjoying increasing state support today, an examination of the socio-political aspects of medicine, in particular Ayurveda, and its role in nation-building is critically important. Ayurveda, Nation and Society, the latest in Orient BlackSwan’s ‘New Perspectives in South Asian History’ series, captures the late nineteenth and early twentieth century growth of ‘medical nationalism’ through the Ayurvedic revivalist movement in the United Provinces, and observes the ensuing change and continuity in the attitude towards ‘indigenous’ medicine in independent India. The volume critiques the casteist, communal, class- and gender-biased social culture inherent in Ayurvedic discourse of the period under discussion, and notes how the constant blaming of the ‘Other’ for spreading diseases detrimental to the ‘Hindu’ male reveals that proponents of Ayurveda were actively involved in both the ‘reconstruction of a tradition’ and of the society and ‘nation’. The volume also examines the Ayurvedic print and drug market to study the commercialisation of the health discourse and healing practices, with the help of diverse sources such as hitherto untapped vernacular texts like Ayurvedic journals and pamphlets, literary interventions, along with field interviews of practising Ayurvedic healers and shopkeepers. The author also demonstrates how, despite co-opting several traits of Western medicine, Ayurvedic practitioners have often failed to imbibe one of its central tenets—the spirit of rigorous enquiry/experiment. This volume will interest scholars of the social history of health and medicine in colonial India and South Asia, as well readers curious about Ayurveda’s evolution, leading to its present-day form.
505			_aTable of Contents _tList of Tables, Figures and Appendices Map of the United Provinces Acknowledgements Publishers’ Acknowledgements Glossary Preface Introduction 1. Ayurveda as ‘Indigenous’ Medicine: Historical Backdrop and Complexities 2. Indian National Congress and the Late Colonial Ayurvedic Movement 3. Creating an Ayurvedic Discourse: Print, Organisation and Mobilisation 4. Healing the Society: Social Culture of the Late Colonial Ayurvedic Discourse 5. Ayurveda in the Market: Economic Underpinnings of the Late Colonial Ayurvedic Movement 6. Ayurveda at the Crossroads of Independence: c. 1946–50 Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Index
650			_aAyurveda,Indigenous, Medicine, Historical Backdrop, Complexities, Indian National Congress, Colonial Ayurvedic ,
690			_aHistory
942			_2ddc _cPROJECT
999			_c43278 _d43278