Bhil Herbal Medicine of Sabarkantha's Aravalli Forests

The Bhil and Naikda tribal communities of Sabarkantha's Aravalli hills maintain one of Gujarat's richest systems of forest-based medicine. Traditional healers (bhagat or vaidya) treat common conditions including malaria, skin disease, snakebite, and bone injury using plants, minerals, and animal products. Chirchita (Achyranthes aspera) is used for fever; valundi (Cassia tora) for skin disease; galo (Tinospora cordifolia) as an immunomodulator; and bhuiamla (Phyllanthus niruri) for liver conditions. Snakebite treatment in tribal medicine uses a combination of tourniquets, wound scarification, and plant extracts including the root of satavelo (Withania coagulans) and neem leaf juice. Bone fracture healing uses a plaster of haldi, lime, and egg white applied and bound with bark splints. The Gujarat Forest Department's medicinal plant conservation programme works with tribal healers to establish nurseries of rare plants being overharvested from wild forest populations.