The history of homoeopathy
in India is linked with the French Physician Dr. Honigberger.
He was born at Krostadt, a
town in Transylvania, Rumania. After graduation, he left Transylvania in 1815,
traveled through Levant, Egypt, Arabia, Persia and then to India. Dr.
Honigberger arrived at Lahore in 1829-30. His first patient at Lahore was the
adopted son of General Allard. His fame spread only when he cured some soldiers
who had been bitten by a mad jackal and were beginning to signs of hydrophobia.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was impressed by him when he treated his favorite horse
of its bad ulcers of the leg. He was later invited to treat Maharaja Ranjit
Singh of Punjab who was seriously ill.
Being homesick, Honigberger
returned back in 1834. Next year he went to Paris and met Dr. Hahnemann. In
1836, he went to Vienna and suffered from an infection of cholera and was
treated by Ipecac. He then set up his practice in Constantinople. On learning
that Maharaja Ranjit Singh wanted him back, he reached Lahore in 1839. Later he
stayed on in Lahore even after the death of the Maharaja and wrote a book about
his experiences – ‘Thirty five Years in the East’.
It can be said that Dr.
Honigberger was the first man to introduce the name of Dr. Hahnemann and his
healing art to India.
DR. SUMIT GOEL M.D. (Hom)
www.homeopathyspace.com