Europe was clueless about the Eastern plants and one man played a prominent role in bringing this information to the Western lands. Through his work, there was knowledge sharing of the traditional Eastern herbs to the modernised Western world of medicine.
Garcias de Orta was a plant-obssessed scholar and a firm believer in homoeopathic applications through the healing power of herbs. A herbalist and physician of Jewish-Portuguese descent, he would devote his entire life to medicine from the very beginning to the end. He was a lecturer in the subject of Natural Philosophy at the University of Lisbon, and he also had some years of experience educating students on the medical practices in Portugal. Impressively enough, he also served the King of Portugal and Algarve, King John III as his physician.
One of his most revolutionary and well-known contributions to the medieval medicine was that he was an author of a treatise on the codex of the Indian remedial herbs for digestion and healing. Back then, in India, people still believed in the curative potential of herbs as medicines that were made were derived from the herbs available akin to the Western philosophy of treatment in the primitive times. He made Goa his permant residence after leaving Portugal, creating a farm that would eventually enable him to gather, all that he could on the individual uses of the Eastern herbs. His dream was to ultimately compile the ingredient list of the Eastern dishes and write down the therapeutic benefits. Most of the aforementioned ingredients are an essential; forming the backbone of a variety of the Goan and the Mangalorean dishes. He was notably the first European doctor to describe the symptoms of many Asian-specific tropical diseases in India, particularly cholera and is also remarkably the first to perform an autopsy on a cholera-diseased person.
His book that was published in 1563 titled ‘Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India’ which translates roughly to ‘Colloquies on the simples and drugs of India’ would ultimately expose the Eastern herbs that Europe was unaware of at that time! His writings consist of 134 different plant species. His book was later translated to Latin and is a widely used reference text on the medicinal plants. It was through his published work that the Europeans learned of the Eastern medicinal herbs pertaining to the Indian approaches.
Under the influential repercussions of the Inquisition of Portugal, his remains were exhumed and burnt on the grounds that he was suspected of secretly practising Judaism as his sister had secretly confessed it in her diary and was burned on the stake upon its discovery. There were detailed accounts of her spiritual connection to Judaism over Christianity and this made Orta, his daughters and his wife the next target. He lived in Goa for over 30 years and is an immigrant and an escapee of the Portuguese Inquisition Wars. Intermixing of cultures and cuisines took place and shaped Goa into the way it is known and loved for today. The Portuguese adapted and shared their knowledge of sourced ingredients and spices with the locals of Goa. The locals, in turn, provided their herbs and spices. Hence, a cultural amalgamation through food, religious beliefs and practices took place-becoming the forefront of Goan and Mangalorean cultural diversity and progressively its identity.
He is honoured in both Goa and Portugal. The 1971 Portuguese bank notes bears his image. Botanical Gardens in Goa and prominent institutions carries his name as a living memory of his invaluable contributions and dedications to his discoveries in medicine!
Even today, it is an established fact that a lot of the Indian varieties of meals have a therapeutic factor to them!
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