Indian J. Trop. Biodiv. 20(1) : 69 - 76(2012)© Society for Promotion of Tropical Biodiversity, Jabalpur

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ETHNOMEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE OF KHASIA TRIBE IN SYLHET

REGION, BANGLADESH

1 2, 3MOHAMMAD BELAL UDDIN AND SHARIF AHMED MUKUL 1Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Sciences, Shahjalal University of

Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh2School of Agriculture and Food Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia

3Centre for Research on Land-use Sustainability, Maijdee 3800, Noakhali, Bangladesh4Corresponding author: sharif_a_mukul@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: A survey was performed over the Khasia tribe of Sylhet region to find out their ethnomedicinal

knowledge and plant parts utilization for curing various ailments. A total of 26 species were identified. The data

revealed that the Khasia tribes rely extensively on herbal medicine for treating 29 different ailments. They

frequently used these species to retrieve from different common ailments like, fever, cough, dysentery, diarrhoea,

joint ache, indigestion and others. For medicinal purposes they mostly used tree species (53%) followed by some

herbs (27%), shrubs (8%), creepers (8%) and palm (4%). For medicinal preparations they mainly used green leaves,

fruit, root/rhizome, bark, seed, flower, whole plant and resin. Since the shrinking of natural forest areas

increasingly limits the indigenous people's ability to access in traditional plant-based medicines throughout the

tropics, introduction of culturally important medicinal plants (MPs) outside their natural habitats could ensure

their sustainable supply as well as ex situ conservation.

Key words: Ethnomedicinal plant usage, Khasia tribe, Medicinal plants, Sylhet region

INTRODUCTION

About 80% populations in developing countries still

use plant based traditional medicine for their health

care (Silva, 1997). This reliance is much frequent in case

of tribal communities as their livelihoods are mainly

dependent on forests that have also built up their socio-

economic and cultural life (Mukul et al., 2007; Shroff,

1997). In addition, such communities are ecologically

and economically inseparable from the forests as forests

provide them food, fodder, fuel, timber, shelter and

medicinal plants. In Bangladesh there are about 21

major tribal groups (Khaleque, 1995) mainly

concentrated in the north and northeastern borders,

north central region and the entire area of greater

Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) (Khan, 1998). Across the

country Sylhet region is important for its cultural

diversification and is inhabited by several ethnic

communities like Hazong, Santal, Kharia, Kukhi, Lushai,

Bono, Uriya etc. However majority of them are Monipuri

and Khasias and others are insignificant in terms of

population size.

The Khasias are forest dwelling aboriginal tribes

living in the hill forests of that region where Monipuri's

lead a comparatively modern life. Khasias prefers to live

in a confined area of the forest which is far away from

the locality and termed as punji. The lifestyle of the

Khasias is fully forest dependent; hills and forests are an

essential part of their lives. Although Khasias are

similar with Mongoloid strains but are found only in

the Meghaloya of India and Sylhet region of

Bangladesh. Generally Khasias do not practices any

shifting cultivation (Jhum) as practiced by the other

tribal groups of CHTs. Their livelihoods are basically

based on a betel leaf (Piper betel) and market oriented

agroforestry systems (Fig. 1) (Saha and Azam, 2004;

Ahmed, 1995; Alam et al., 1993).

Although different studies have so far been

conducted on various aspects of Khasia tribe (Azam

and Saha, 2005; Alam et al., 1993) in Bangladesh, but

very little attention has been paid to the

ethnomedicinal knowledge of Khasia tribes. This paper

therefore attempts to explore the traditional

ethnomedicinal practices of Khasia tribe for curing

various ailments in Sylhet region of Bangladesh.

Fig. 1. The Khasia betel-leaf based agroforestry practice

MATERIALS AND METHODS

º /Sylhet district is situated in between 24 01 to / º / º /25º15 N and 91 05 to 92 25 E. It comprises an area of

about 3,490 sq. km. and located to the north-eastern

part of the country (BBS 1991). The region comprises

about 1.02% of the total hilly areas (12%) of the country.

Khasia and Jaintia Hills of India borders the northern

part of the region, eastern part is bounded by Paatharia

Hills, Tripura and Assam, and in the South the

international boundary with India's Tripura State

(Fig. 2).

Climate of the Sylhet district showed thatJuly is the

wettest month having an average rainfall of about 1250

mm of rain, while December is the driest month with

no rainfall. May and October are the hottest months, ºhave an average maximum temperature around 32 C,

while January is the coldest month when the minimum ºtemperature drops to about 12 C. The total annual

average rainfall is 4162 mm. The relative humidity of

the study area is over 90% during July-August and 74%

during December. The topography of the area is

undulating with slopes and hillocks, ranging from 10

to 50 m in elevation (Choudhury et al., 2004).

Fig. 2. Location map of the study area

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Methodology

In Sylhet division the Khasia tribes mostly lives in

the Sylhet, Maulvibazar and Habiganj districts, and Sylhet

district was selected for the study. In Sylhet district Khasias

are mainly concentrated in three upazillas (sub-district)

namely; Jaintapur, Gowainghat and Kanaighat. Among six

registered Khasia punji (small village) in Gowainghat

upazilla (i.e., Borla punji, Lama Punji, Noksiar punji,

Pratappur punji, Sunattila punji and Synrem punji) Lama and

Noksiar punji were selected.

Questionarie was distributed to 10 households from each

punji. The informations regarding their ethnomedicinal

knowledge for curing various ailments, parts used, sources of

various medicinal plants, preparation procedure,

ethnomedicinal knowledge gathering pattern etc were

recorded. Additional information's were also collected

regarding their demographic and socio-economic condition.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The study revealed the usage of total 26 medicinal plant

species belonging to 20 families by the Khasia tribe of the

area (Table 1). These species were found traditionally used by

the Khasia people to relieve from 29 various common

ailments. Many of the species have found to possess multi

usage. Terminalia chebula alone used to retrieve from 10

different ailments. The species used to cure different ailments

by the Khasias were trees (14 species) followed by some

herbs (7 species), shrubs (2 species), creepers (2 species) and

palm (1 species) (Fig. 3). Moreover, Khasia people were

mostly collecting these medicinal species from the forest

(69%) through wild harvesting followed by a small collection

from the homesteads (31%) and also from vendors.

Fig. 3: Habit-wise classification of ethno-medicinal plants used by the Khasias

Table 1: List of species used by the Khasia people to cure different ailments

Family Botanical name Local/Common name

Parts used Ethnomedicinal use(s)

Occ

urr

ence

Hab

it

Anacardiaceae Mangifera indicaL.

Amm/Mango Fruit, leaves and bark

Diarrhoea, dysentery, cough and indigestion

C Tr

Apocynaceae Alstonia scholaris(L.) R. Br.

Chatim/Matchstick tree

Leaves and bark

Fever, stomach upset, diarrhoea, dysentery, intestinal worm and weakness

FC Tr

Arecaceae Areca catechu L. Supari/Betel palm Tender leaves and fruit

Ulcer, tooth ache, dysentery, joint ache and intestinal worm

C Pa

Bromeliaceae Ananas comosus(L.) Merr.

Anaras/Pineapple Leaves and fruit

Jaundice, constipation and intestinal worm

C H

Terminalia arjunaW and A

Arjun Bark Heart diseases, fever and ear ache FC Tr

Terminalia belerica

Roxb.

Bohera/Bellaric myrobolan

Fruit

Cough, fever, constipation, eye diseases and stomach upset

FC Tr

Combretaceae

Terminalia chebula (Gaertn.) Retz.

Horitoki/ Black myrobolan tree

Fruit

Cough, fever, asthma, heart diseases, skin ailments, diarrhoea, constipation, weakness, vomiting and urinary problem

FC Tr

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Table Contd....

Euphorbiaceae Phyllanthus

emblica L.Amloki/Indian goosberry

Leaves, fruit and flower

Cough, fever, jaundice, skin ailments, dysentery, stomach upset and anemia

FC Tr

Pongamia pinnata(L.)Pierre

Koroch/Pongam Leaves and bark

Cough, fever, indigestion, skin ailments and joint ache

C TrFabaceae

Entada gigas(L.)Fawc. and Rendle

Gilla/Water Vi ne Seed Fever, dysentery and intestinal worm C Tr

Ocimum sanctumL.

Tulsi/Holy basil Leaves and flower

Cough, fever, cold ailments, dysentery and skin ailments

C HLamiaceae

Mentha spicata L.

Pudina/Spearmint

Whole plant

Cough, stomach upset, vomiting and indigestion

C H

Lauraceae

Cinnamomum tamala (Buch.-Ham.) T. Nees and Eberm.

Tejpata/Indian bark

Leaves and bark

Heart diseases, indigestion, joint ache and gonorrhea

FC Tr

Liliaceae

Asparagus racemosus Roxb.

Satamuli/Asparagus

Leaves and root

Fever, diarrhoea, dysentery, chicken pox and sex stimulant

C H

Meliaceae

Azadirachta indica

Adr. Juss.

Neem

Leaves, fruit, seed and root

Fever, dysentery, skin ailments, vomiting, joint ache and intestinal worm

FC Tr

Musaceae

Musa sapientum L.

Kala/Banana

Leaves, fruit and root

Diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and intestinal worm

C H

Myrtaceae

Psidium guagava

L.

Peara/Guava

Leaves and bark

Diarrhoea, cholera and stomach upset FC Tr

Piper betel L.

Paan / Betel Pepper

Fresh green leaves and root

Asthma, cough, eye diseases, ear ache and sex stimulant

C CrPiperaceae

Piper longum L.

Pipul /Indian long pepper

Seed, leaves

and fruit

Cough, asthma, indigestion, joint ache and gonorrhea

C Cr

Rubiaceae

Randia dumetorum

Lamk. Monkanta

Bark and fruit

Cough, fever, vomiting, dysentery and joint ache

C Sh

Rutaceae Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. Serr.

Bel/Wood apple Fruit Weakness, colitis and diarrhoea FC Tr

Solanaceae

Datura inoxia P. Mill.

Dhutura/Prickly datura

Root, leaves and seed

cough, fever, asthma, diarrhoea and joint ache

C Sh

Thymelaceae

Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.

Agar

Resin

Vomiting, diarrhoea and joint ache FC Tr

Gmelina arborea

Roxb.

Gamar/Gumhar

Root and leaves

Fever, dysentery, constipation and indigestion

C TrVerbenaceae

Vitex negundo L. Nishinda Root, leaves and seed

Cough, vomiting, malaria, headache and weakness

C H

Zingiberaceae Zingiber officinaleRoscoe

Ada/Ginger Rhizome Cough, vomiting, indigestion, dysentery and weakness

C H

Keys: Cr-creeper, H-herb, Sh-Shrub, TR-tree, Pa-palm; C-common, FC-fairly common

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During the survey it was found that Khasia people

generally used the ethnomedicinal plants to get relief

from fever (13 species), cough (13 species), dysentery

(12 species), diarrhoea (9 species), joint ache (8 species),

indigestion (7 species) and other diseases. Table 2

shows the types and frequency of different

ethnomedicinal plant used by the Khasia tribe. The

Fig. 4: Classification of ethno medicinal plants based on their parts used

Table 2 : Types and frequency of different ethnomedicinal plant use by the Khasia tribe

Diseases

Tree

Herb

Shrub

Creeper

Total Frequency of

use (%)

Anemia

1

-

-

-

1

4

Asthma 1 - 1 2 4 15.5

Chicken pox - 1 - - 1 4

Cholera 1 1 - - 2 8

Cold ailments - 1 - - 1 4

Colitis 1 - - - 1 4

Constipation 3 1 - - 4 15.5 Cough 5 4 2 2 13 50 Diarrhoea 6 2 1 - 9 34.5 Dysentery 7 4 1 - 12 46 Ear ache 1 - - 1 2 8 Eye diseases

1

-

-

1

2

8

Fever

9

2

2

-

13

50

study also reveals that the Khasia people use different

parts of the plants for various ethnomedicinal

preparations. The mostly used parts for various

ethnomedicinal preparation were, green fleshy leaves

(17), fruits (11), root/rhizome (8), barks (7), seeds (5),

flowers (2), whole plant (1) and resin (1) (Fig. 4).

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It was found that the Khasia people still relies on baidhya

(tribal practicioners) for treating their ailments. It was

also documented that in Khasia community

ethnomedicinal knowledge decreases with age. The

present generation seems to be ignorant about the

diverse usage of these species that also indirectly

threatens the existence of important medicinal plants.

The traditional dependency of tribal peoples on

ethnomedicinal plants is now well recognized.

Research is being carried out all over the world on this

traditional reliance. Sandhya et al. (2006) documented a

total of 63 ethnomedicinal species used by the Valiyan

community of South India. Ignacimuthu et al. (2006)

reported 60 ethnomedicinal species used by the Paliyar

tribes of Tamil Nadu, India and Uniyal et al. (2006)

documented 35 medicinal plant species used by the

tribal communities of Chhota Bengal, Western

Himalaya. A total of 39 ethnomedicinal plant species

used by the Jaintia tribes of northeast India, Seknani

Maasai of Kenya and Mro tribe of Bangladesh have

been documented (Sajem and Gosai, 2006; Bussmann et

al., 2006; Miah and Chowdhury, 2003). In the present

study 26 ethnomedicinal plant species used by Khasia

tribe have been documented, and the tribal community

stated that due to improper documentation and

unawareness of the use of medicinal pants by younger

generations, this indigenous knowledge system has

become vulnerable.

The pattern and use of plants for curing ailments by the

Khasias were also found to have similarity with

etnomedicinal knowledge practiced by other

communities for species like Aegle marmelos (Kar et al.,

2003), Ananas comosus (Miah and Chowdhury, 2003),

Azadirachta indica (Sandhya et al., 2006), Piper betel

(Miah and Chowdhury, 2003), Terminalia chebula

(Ignacimuthu et al., 2006) and Terminalia belerica (Miah

and Chowdhury, 2003).

CONCLUSION

Most of the ethnomedicinal plants used by the Khasia

tribe are comes directly or indirectly from the forest.

But due to huge deforestation and unsustainable

resource exploitation the natural forest of the region is

degraded and shrinking alarmingly and the number of

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Gonorrhea 1 - - 1 2 8 Headache - 1 - - 1 4

Heart diseases 3 - - - 3 11.5

Indigestion 4 2 - 1 7 27

Intestinal worm 4 2 - - 6 23 Jaundice 1 1 - - 2 8

Joint ache 5 2 - 1 8 31

Malaria - 1 - - 1 4

Sex stimulant - 1 - 1 2 8

Skin ailments 4 1 - - 5 19 Stomach upset 4 1 - - 5 19

Tooth ache 1 - - - 1 4 Ulcer 1 - - - 1 4

Urinary

problem 1 - - - 1 4

Vomiting 3 3 1 - 7 27

Weakness 3 2 - - 5 19

species used by the Khasias becomes scares in their

natural habitat. Ensuring sustainable harvesting and

cultivation of popular ethnomedicinal species in

homegardens and other unused or barren lands can be

a proper solution to ensures a sustainable source of

these species as well as to enhance their conservation

outside natural habitat.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors greately acknowledge the help and

hospitality provided by the Khasia people of Lama and

Noksiar punji by sharing their ethnomedicinal

knowledge and their support in field investigation.

They also thank to Mr. M.R. Tito for accompanying in

the field and The Rufford Foundation for their support.

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