23. Chronology of a Nagara Brahmin Family of Physicians in Gujarat

23. The History and Chronology of a Nagara Brahmin Family of Physicians in Gujarat A. D. 1275-1475 * In a recent issue' of the Journal of the Gujarat Research Society, Durga Shankar K. Shastri has published an interesting article on 'Medical Science in Ancient Gujarat.' In this article he makes the following remarks on Narayana, who completed the commentary, vyakhya-Kusumavali of Srikanthadatta on the Vrnda-madhava or Siddha-yoga of Vrnda: - " He is "Narayana (15 th century) - The manuscript evidence of the Kusumavali, a gloss by Srikantha on the Vrnda-madhava indicates that a Vaidya named Narayana, the son of Bhamalla and a nagir by caste is said to have completed the above gloss, which was left unfinished by its author through fear of its becoming too bulky.' Nothing certain is known about his date and domicile. obviously later than Srikantha, who lived in Bengal in the 13 th century. He is, moreover, earlier than the 17 th century for a MS of the completed Kusumavali written in 1630 A. D. is available. It is highly probable that it took a long time for Srikantha's commentary to reach Gujarat and on the other hand, it might have been not too long an interval to blend the two works. It is, therefore, likely that Narayana lived in the 15 th century. As remarked above Vagbhata's commentary written in Bengal in the 13 th century was studied in Gujarat in the 15 th. Similarly, the comments on the * Dr. Siddeshwar Varma Volume, (1950) Part II, pp. 251-256. 1. Vol. VII, Nos. 2 and 3, April and July 1945, pp. 75-88. 2. Ibid. p. 83. 3. The Anandasrama ed. of Vrnda-madhava contains the following verses at the end of the text :- " srikanthadattabhisaja granthavistara bhiruna | tikayam kusumavalyam vyakhya mukta kvacit kvacit || ratnanagaravamsasya bhisag bhamalanandanah | narayano dvijavaro bhisajam hitakamyaya || tikaparti vyadhat samyak tena nandantu sadhavah || (176)

Vrnda-madhava were perhaps studied in the same period and some one tried to fill in the lacuna. Narayana is associated with Gujarat merely because he was a Nagir. From amongst the numerous commentaries on the Sanskrit works on ancient medicine, not one can be credited to Gujarat. Hence the importance of Narayana." These remarks of D. K. Shastri are quite reasonable in the light of evidence adduced by him. I propose, however, to record in this paper some reliable evidence which throws a flood of light on the family of Narayana Bhisaj and its history for about 200 years, say between A.D. 1300 and 1500. This evidence will also, clarify the date of Narayana who is assigned by Mr. Shastri to 15 th century. It will also be seen from my evidence that the interest of the several members of this family of Nagar Brahmins in the theory and practice of medicine remained unbroken for about two centuries. Aufrecht records (CC I, p. 289) the following works of Narayana Bhisaj (1) khn 88, (2) vataghnatvadinirnaya K 218, (3) B. 4. 242 and (4) a B. 4 244. The MSS of these works on medicine are not available to me for examination. I am, therefore, unable to say if Narayana Bhisaj, who completed vyakhya - kusumavali of Srikanthadatta, is identical with his namesake, the author of these works. The catalogues, in which these Sanskrit works are mentioned, do not describe the MSS recorded and consequently it is difficult to say if these works were composed by the Nagara Brahmin Narayana Bhisaj who completed Srikanthadatta's commentary on the Vrndamadhava or Siddh-ayoga. The only MS of vyakhya- kusumavali recorded by Aufrecht (CC I, p. 618 ) is No. 375 of 1882-83 in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute, Poona. This work has been published.2 In his History of Ayurveda (*), written in Gujarati (Gujarat Vernacular Society, Ahmedabad, 1942, p. 180). D. K. Shastri makes the following remarks about narayana bhisajh This 1. This narayana bhisaj should not be confounded with narayana, who composed a commentary on trisati of sarngadhara called siddhanta-sancaya . author was the son of krsnabhatta and younger brother of naganatha (See MSS Nos. 622 of 1895-1902 and 947 of 1884-87 in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute, Poona, described by Dr. H. D. Sharma on pp. 113-115 of his Des. Cata. of Vaidyaka MSS [B. O. R. Institute] Vol. XVI, Part I, 1939. 2. Ed. by Hanumanta Sastri Padhye, Poona, 1894. B.I.L.H.12

srikanthadatta composed a commentary called the vyakhya kusumavali on the siddhayoga of vrnda This srikantha also composed a commentary on the madhava nidana . He lived in the 14 th century. His commentary, incomplete in parts, was completed by narayana son of bhabhala of nagara- jnati, as stated at the end of the anandasrama ed. of the vyakhya- kusumavali . " I propose now to connect our Narayana Bhisaj of with the family of another Nagara Brahmin F, who composed a work called the H in A D. 1457 and on whom I published a paper in 1940 in the Journal of Oriental Research, Madras (Vol. XV, Part I, pp. 74-81). Rao Bahadur P. C. Divanji published a Gujarati rendering of this paper in a Gujarati journal. Evidently, D. K. Shastri has not seen my paper or this Gujarati rendering. In my paper under reference I have recorded the following facts :- (1) ananta composed his kamasamuha in A. D. 1457. (2) He belonged to bhabhalavamsa and was the son of mantrimandana, as stated by him in the following verse:- " bhabhalavamsajatena mantrimandanasununa | anantena mahakavyaprabandhah kriyate maya || 6 || ' " (3) His father mandana was the son of narayana, as stated by ananta in the following verses :- .. vidvajjanasabhanando mantri narayanatmajah | mandanastasya putrena varnyante smartavo'dhuna || 69 || narayanatmajah sriman mantri srimandano dvijah | tatsutena priyavastha prayane varnita muda || " (4) ananta belonged to nagara jnati, as stated by him in the following verse :- " " nagarajnatijatena mantrimandanasununa | anantena mahakavya (? vyam ) sativrttam prakasitam || " (5) ananta states that he was a resident of a town (nagara ) founded by ahimmadah-- " ahimmadanirmitanagare vihitavasatisca vrddhanagarikah | mandanasumurananto racayati sevavidhi nayah || " ahimmadanagara ' mentioned in the above verse cannot be Ahmadnagar founded by Ahmad Nizam Shah in A. D. 1494), It may be identi-

cal with Ahmedabad (founded in A. D. 1513 ) or Ahmadnagar (now Himmatnagar, the capital of Idar State [ founded in A. D. 1427 ). Both these towns were founded by Amad I of Gujarat before A. D. 1457, the date of the kamasamuha of ananta . ( 6 ) One anandapurna was the Guru of ananta, as stated in the following verse :- 66 anandapurna gurupadayugam pranamya | vyakhyam vidhaya surabheh racayasyanantah || 27 || " One anandapurna alias vidyasagara, the commentator of the maha- bharata, was a contemporary of Kamadeva, the Kadamba ruler of Goa, one of whose inscriptions is dated A. D. 1393. (7) ananta describes his father mandana as mantrin 'minister', and, also, as bhupatinam bhisagvarah physician to kings' and gajayurvedavetta vai dhanvantaririvaparah ' proficient in the veterinary science dealing with elephants as at himself." ( 8 ) ananta calls himself a vrddhanagarika of ahimmadanagara . He also calls himself anantasastrajnah 'proficient in many sciences.' He also styles himself as bhisagvidyavid ' expert in medical science ' ( like his father expert in veterinary and general medicine). The identity of Narayana Bhisaj ( who completed the vyakhya- kusumavali of srikanthadatta ) with narayana the grandfather of ananta of A. D. 1457 will be clear from the following tabulated statement :--- narayana bhisaju (1) He calls himself bhabhala- namdana ie son of bhamala (or bhabhala ). (2) He calls himself as descended from nagara vamsa ( Nagar family ). (3) He calls himself narayana bhisaj . narayana, grandfather of ananta (1) anantam tells us that his grandfather was narayana and that he belonged to bhabhallavamsa (bhabhala family). (2) ananta also states his own caste as 'nagara jnati '. (3) ananta calls his gandfather as narayana and his father mandana, son of narayana as bhisagvara and gajayurvedavetta .

The identity of the names bhama (bha)la, narayana and nagara jnati (or nagara vamsa ) as revealed by the statements of ananta and narayanabhisaj is not accidental but real. I have, therefore, no doubt that Narayana Bhisaj who completed the vyakhya - kusumavali is identical with narayana, the grandfather of a of A. D. 1457. If this identity is accepted, we can easily see how the study of medicine was continued in this Nagara family from the grandfather to the grandson, as represented in the following genealogy and its chronology:Genealogy bhabha (ma)la → narayanabhisaj → mantrimandana ananta ( bhisagvara and (bhisavidyavit ) gajayurvedavetta vrddhanagarika in A.D. 1457 Chronology c. A.D. 1275-1350 c. A.D. 1325-1400 c. A. D. 1375-1450 C. A.D. 1400-1475 As regards the chronology given in the above table, I have to observe as follows:- (1) srikanthadatta was the pupil of vijayaraksita whose date is about 1240 A. D. (vide Hoernle: Osteology, p. 17). (2) The date of srikanthadatta, the author of vyakhya- kusumavali, would be c. A. D. 1225-1300. ( 3 ) narayana bhisaj who completed vyakhya-kusumavali, is, therefore, later than A D. 1300. In the above table, I have assigned him to the period A. D. 1325-1400. (4) mandana the son of narayana bhisaj may be safely assigned to the period A. D. 1375-1450. (5) ananta, son of mandana, composed his kamasamuha in A. D. 1457, when he was a . He, therefore, may be assigned to the period A. D. 1400-1475. (6) bhabhalla, the great grandfather of ananta, has been assigned by me to the period A. D. 1275-1350. He appears to have been contemporaneous with srikanthadatta . I believe that the above chronology is quite reasonable within the limits available to me, viz. c. A. D. 1240, the date of facTa and A. D. 1457, the date of a. In this manner, by linking up the evidence given by narayana bhisaj and that given by ananta, we

have been able to give the history and chronology of this Nagara family of physicians for 200 years (A. D. 1275-1475). yo bhisaj It would apppear from my evidence that belongs to the 14 th century and not the 15 th century to which D. K. Shastri has assigned him in his article ananta calls himself as bhabhala- ca, i. e. born in the family. This vague statement of about his great grandfather is clarified by his grandfather narayana bhisaj, who expressly calls himself bhabhalla-nandana . The great grandson had a vague memory of his great grandfather, but the grandfather had no such vagueness in calling himself the son of cg.' It is, therefore, clear that the genealogy established by me in this paper, viz. bhabhalla • narayana mandana- ananta (A. D. 1457) is accurate and reliable. ananta frequently calls his father as mantrin 'minister' and bhupatinam f: 'Royal Physician.' We must investigate the name of the bhisagvara king at whose court he flourished and served as minister. It is possible to suppose that z (c. 1375-1450 A. D.) was patronised by Ahmad I of Gujarat ( A. D. 1411-1442). In this connection I may point out that Mahamud Begda, the grandson of Ahmad I, had a court Pandit, Udayaraja', who composed a poem called the Ta between A. D. 1458 and 1469. Ahmad I of Gujarat (A. D. 1411-1442) twice attacked Malwa (in A. D. 1419 and 1422), without being able to capture Hoshang Ghori, who was ruling at Mandu fort between A. D. 1405 and 1432. I have proved, elsewhere, that Hoshang Ghori had a Jain Prime Minister of the name mandana, son of bahada and grandson of jhamjhana of srimalavamsa . This mahapradhana mandana was a Jain samghapati and composed several Sanskrit works like kavya mandana, sangara-mandana, sarasvata- mandana and -a. He flourished between A. D. 1405 and 1432, the period of Hoshang Ghori's rule at Malwa. This Malwa should not be confounded with a of Gujarat (A.D 1375-1450) who was his contemporary with a different genealogy. 1. Vide my paper: Date Rajavinoda of Udayaraja, a Hindu Court Poet of Mahamud Begda, in the Journal of the Bombay University, 1940 pp. 102-115. refers to the following Sultans of Gujarat :- 3 mudapphara ( A. D. 1392-1410 ); mahammada son of mudamphara ahammada (A. D. 1411-1442 ); mahammada son of ahammada, ( A. D. 1442-1451 ); mahamuda ( Begda ) son of HH (A. D. 1458-1511). 2. Vide my article: The Genealogy of Mandana, the Jain Prime Minister of Malwa, between A.D. 1405 and 1432 in Jaina Antiquary, 1944.