Hortus Malabaricus the first printed Malayalam book by Van
Rheede / ഹോർത്തൂസ് മലബാറിക്കസ്
Hortus Malabaricus (meaning
"Garden of Malabar") is a comprehensive treatise that deals with the
medicinal properties of the flora in the Indian state of Kerala. Originally
written in Latin, it was compiled
over a period of nearly 30 years and published from Amsterdam during 1678-1693. The book was conceived by Hendrik van Rheede, who was the Governor of Dutch Malabar at the time. The book has been
translated into English and Malayalam by Dr. K. S.
Manilal.
Van Rheede is said to have taken a keen personal interest
in the compilation of the Hortus
Malabaricus. The work was edited by a team of nearly a hundred including
physicians [such as Ranga Bhat, Vinayaka Pandit, Appu Bhat and Itti Achuden ] professors of medicine and botany,
amateur botanists (such as Arnold Seyn, Theodore Jansson of Almeloveen, Paul Hermann,
Johannes Munnicks, Joannes Commelinus, Abraham a Poot), and technicians,
illustrators and engravers, together with the collaboration of company
officials, clergymen (D. John Caesarius and the Discalced Carmelite Mathaeus of St. Joseph’s Monastery at Varapuzha).
Van Rheede was also assisted by the King of Cochin and the ruling Zamorin of Calicut.
Prominent among the Indian contributors were three Gouda Saraswat Brahmins(physicians) named
Ranga Bhat, Vinayaka Pandit,Appu Bhat and Malayali physician, Itti Achuden, who was a Thiyya Vaidyan (ayrvedic
doctor) of the Mouton Coast of Malabar. The ethnomedical original information in the work was
provided by these three working on it for two continuous years morning and
evening as certified by them. Their certificate to this effect is given in the
first volume of the book.
The Hortus Malabaricus comprises
12 volumes of about 200 pages each, with 794 copper plate engravings. The first
of the 12 volumes that comprise the book was published in 1678, and the last in
1703. It is believed to be the earliest comprehensive printed work on the flora
of Asia and the tropics. Mentioned in these volumes are plants
of the Malabar region which in his time referred to
the stretch along theWestern Ghats from Goa to Kanyakumari. The
book gives a detailed account of the flora of Kerala, along with sketches and
detailed descriptions. Over 742 different plants and their indigenous science
are considered in the book. The book also employs a system of classification
based on the traditions adopted by the pre-ayurvedic practitioners of
that era. Apart from Latin, the plant names have been recorded in other
languages viz. Konkani, Arabic and Malayalam.
