Koli Traditional Medicine of Mahisagar

The Koli community, the most numerous tribal group of Mahisagar district, maintains practical folk medicine drawing on the Aravalli hill forest pharmacopoeia. Koli healers (vaidya or kanjar) treat common conditions including malaria (with chirayata and kiratatikta plant decoctions), dysentry (with pomegranate rind), and skin disease (with neem and turmeric paste). The practice of tooth-pulling by wandering rural dentists (dantiya vaidya) using forceps and herbal anaesthetic pastes has declined but survives in remote areas. Traditional bone setting (hadwaid) by specialist Koli practitioners uses splints of bamboo and plaster of haldi-milk-egg for immobilisation. Annual gathering of medicinal plants from the forest occurs during specific moon phases that community knowledge associates with peak alkaloid concentration. AYUSH mobile dispensaries visiting Mahisagar tribal villages are documenting local plant knowledge alongside providing primary care.