Vol. 11, Special Issue 5 (2022)

Author(s):
Bhinish Shakeel, Ambreen Nabi, Sabiya Akhter, Hummara Azim, Nayeema Jabeen and Rehana Rasool

Abstract:
Both flora and fauna have been a source of food for mankind since earliest of civilizations. Besides usage as food items, these have also been used as traditional medicine to cure a wide range of ailments afflicting people across civilizations. Apart from fruit and leaves, which are the principle edible portion of plant, flower, root, stem, bark also form an essential part of this traditional medicine. The current paper describes the research findings as part of a Doctorate Programme aimed to study Health Practices in Kashmir, specifically traditional flora used in treatment of dermatological ailments afflicting tribals of District Budgam. The research findings revealed twelve dermatological conditions namely dryness, eczema, wound healing, bruise, blemish, tan and acne, carbuncle, prickly heat, shingles, felon and burns. These were taken care of using locally available floral and faunal resources, natural and chemical substances using simple procedures to obtain cure. Living in close proximity to nature, these resources act as a dispensary of sorts to people for whom public health care is difficult to avail most of the time.