Documentation of

Indigenous Practices:
Kathodi Medicinemen
Documented by:
Chitranshu Kumar | Jeevan Jai Raj |
Prabhash Dhama | Sharvari Sonar
PDPG’18

Guide:
Prof. Praveen Nahar | Sucharita Beniwal
Acknowledgments
The compilation of this documentation required a lot of guidance
and assistance from many people and we are extremely privileged
to have got this all along the completion of our project. All that we
have done is only due to such supervision and assistance and we
would not forget to thank them.

We respect and thank Ms. Sucharita Beniwal, for providing us an

opportunity to do this documentation and giving us all the support
and guidance which made us complete it. We are extremely
thankful to her for providing her support and guidance.

We would like to thank Ankur Kalab and his parents, for providing
us the needed guidance and support which helped us in finding the
tribal community. We are extremely thankful to Ankur for taking us
to that place and helping us in the translation of the language and
conversations.

1
Index
Preface 5

Our Journey 7

Introduction
About Sabarkanta 9

Flora and Fauna 10

About Kathodis 11

Neighbour Tribes 14
Overview 15
Medicinal Practices 17
Traditional Medicines and it’s uses 18
Medicine Preparation 20
Tools and Apparatus 21
Sources of Income 22
Challenges and Opportunities 23
References 24
4
Preface
Documenting the indigenous practices carried out in
Saroli village which the village is carrying out till date to
provide their own community, a sustainable ecological
ways of co-existing with its surrounding environment.
These other ways of existing have potentially lasted
longer, and in-balance with the surrounding environment.

The current practices are ethnomedicinal practices,

farming, Pisciculture, Apiculture, sap collection, collection
and drying of natural supplement “Safed musli”
(Medicinal Name - Chlorophytum borivilianum L.).

This ethnomedicinal practice carried out by this tribe is

very self sufficient, does not include stoke and is done
without the intention of gaining profit.

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6
Our journey
The search led us to Bhiloda
where we met the Kalab
and Lohar tribes from there
our journey started towards
Polo forest in Vijay nagar
taluka which led us to Vanaj
dam where pisciculture was
observed, met the sarpanch
of Vanaj village. From there
we reached Saroli village and
met the Kathodi Tribes.

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About Sabarkantha
Sabarkantha, a district 114.6kms away from
the heritage city Ahmedabad. This district
comprises of 7 talukas and is spread across
an area of 7390 sq km. the literacy rate of
Sabarkantha is 76.6 % with the gender ratio of
950 females per 1000 males.

Out of the 640 most backwards districts, the

Ministry of Panchayat Raj named Sabarkantha
as one of the country’s 250 most backward
districts in the year 2006.
Sabarkantha receives funds from the Backward
Regions Grant Funds Programme (BRGF)

Vijaynagar, one of the talukas under district

Sabarkantha, lies at the foothills of the Aravalli
ranges. Vijaynagar is said to be the heaven for
nature and wildlife admirers. It serves as the
escapee for a vast species of flora and fauna, a
sanctuary of rare birds and wild animals, also the
lakes and flowing rivers make this place unique
and picturesque.
Ancient Shiva temple, Jain temple and other
heritage sites are located in nearby areas.

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 Flora and Fauna
The mixed deciduous forests of Vijaynagar is spread across 400 square kms.
The lush green forests comprises of more than 450 species of medicinal
plants, 275 species of birds, 30 species of mammals and 32 species of
reptiles. Bears, panthers, leopards, hyenas, water fowl, raptors, passerines
and flying squirrels all under the canopy of the dense forests. The migratory
birds occupy the deciduous forests during the winter season. In the rainy
season there are wetland birds near Abhapur village situated in Vijaynagar
taluka. Beautiful hills surround Vijaynagar from where the Harnav river is
crossing and spreads across the forest.

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About Kathodis
The meaning of Kathodi is maker of catechu i.e. ‘Kath’, hence the name
‘Kathodi’. The tribe is also known by the name Katkari and Kathodia. The
Kathodis have migrated to Saroli village from Colaba, Thane and especially
from the border villages of the Khandesh area of Maharashtra before
independence. They were brought into Gujarat by some Bohra contractors
and traders to make catechu from Khair trees. In the beginning only males
came into the forests of Dangs. Gandevi, Chhota-Udaipur and Vijaynagar
talukas. They had to work eight months a year, i.e. from October to May.
This seasonal migration proved to be inconvenient for them as they had to
remain separated from their families. The contractors therefore coaxed the
Kathodis to migrate along with their families.

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12
 Neighbour Tribes
Kathodis are associated with the neighboring tribes Koli, Dungri Garasia,
Gamit, Vasava, Bhils, Kanbi etc. whom they serve as agricultural labourers.
They depend upon the Kumbhar and Lohar for earthenware and iron
implements. Chamar tribe which is also a neighboring tribe is responsible
for making boots out of leather(local name: chamda). Bansphudiya another
neighboring tribe make bamboo (local name: Bansa) basket. Dhulkutiya
make tools out of iron tools by beating the metal.

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Overview
The Kathodi tribe has number of indigenous
practices that they perform. They collect minor
forest produce like tree Sap (local name: Gond),
honey, karanjia (Scientific name: Pomagania glabra),
Mahuwa (Scientific name: Bassia latifolia), white musil
(Scientific name: Chlorophytum borivilianum L.), etc.
and sell to the local traders.

They collect timbru leaves which are used for making

bidi. The Kathodi used to do hunting in the forest
and get hare, monkeys, deer, wild pig and a variety
of birds. They also catch fish in the rivers. They do
bamboo-cutting, tree-cutting and charcoal-making
in the forest. The Kathodi are considered expert in
charcoal-making, but this work is available only for
two to three months in a year.

Due to changes in the government regulations on

cutting trees and extracting herbs it has become
difficult for the Kathodi tribe, which has led the newer
generation of the tribe shift from their traditional
practices to conventional employment opportunities.
A few Kathodis have joined as teachers and
government employees in the forest department.

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16
Medicinal Practices
The tribal people residing in and around forest areas
are heavily dependent on locally available medicinal
flora for curing their ailments. In most of the tribal
villages, there are usually two/three local medicine
men of the traditional medicine, locally known as
‘Vaidya’. These practitioners have acquired the
knowledge (mostly oral / non codified) for treating
patients, mostly from the elders of the family. It is
taught to both girl child and boy child in the house.

The Kathodis know the art of preparing catechu by

boiling the chips of khair wood in small earthen pots
with water and going through the whole process to
get small cakes after cutting and drying the subsided
sediment of catechu.

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 Traditional Medicines and it’s uses:

Few of the traditional medicines used by the kathodi tribe

traditional medicine practitioners which are as follows:

Local name: Sanni Dudi

Uses: There women use the Sanni Dudi (traditional
medicine), when they face problem of less lactation.

Local name: Biya

Uses: Biya (traditional medicine) is used for period
cramps. Biya is basically a pain killer can be consumed
by anyone.

Local name: Vahor

Uses: This medicine is consumed when a person suffers
from a snake bite or scorpion bite.

Local name: Bel

Uses: Loose motion or any type of stomach related
disorders can be treated by consuming the fruit of bel.

Local name: Awala

Uses: Stem infusion is given orally as an antidote for
snakebites.

Local name: Beheda

Uses: Stem bark infusion is given to babies for
paediatric vermifuge.

Local name: Hirda

Uses: Hirda seeds are powdered and a pinch of it cures
cough of babies.

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19
 Medicine Preparation
The process of different medicines is different, here
are mentioned two different processes.

Process when the branch or root is extracted

The collection of medicinal plants is done early
in the morning. The plant is worshipped before
extraction of medicine . it is then sun dried to
remove the moisture content so that it can be
powdered and preserved. 50 grams of sugar and
20 grams of fennel seeds (local name: Varyali)
powder is then mixed with the powder of the
medicinal plant. This mixture is worshipped then
put in a glass bottle and given to the patient.

Process when the leaf of plants is extracted

Similar to earlier process, this plant is also
worshipped before the leaves are plucked.
Then the leaves are washed, then grind in pata
varvanta, this paste is given to the patient after
worshipping. If the juice is to be extracted then
after the paste is made, it is squeezed using a
cloth and this juice is given to the patients again
after worshipping.

The vaidyas in Kathodis accept incense sticks from

the patients for worshipping the medicine made for
that particular patient.

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Tools and Apparatus
Wooden Axe (Local name: Kuhari)
For cutting the wood, peeling the skin of tree for
medicine.

Pata Varvanta (local name)

For grinding the dried skin of medicinal trees
and spices. They also prepare mixture for various
jadibuties (traditional medicines) on the same
apparatus.

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 Sources of Income
Farming is the primary source of income of the
Kathodi tribe nowadays. Most of them own the lands
behind their houses and also work as labourers in
someone else’s farm who is higher in caste hierarchy.
They cultivate seasonal crops.

In addition to farming they also collect sap (local

name: Gond) from Dhamv (local name) and Khair
trees (local name), this sap (Gond) is then sold into
the market as secondary income source in some
houses.

Recently some of the families from the tribe have

started wandering in the nearby jungles (including
Polo forest) for collection of honey which is then sold
in the urban market as a secondary source of income.

This tribe used to gather Safed musli (Scientific name:

Chlorophytum borivilianum L.) on a large scale earlier,
this root was then sun dried for a day by spreading it
on a sheet of cloth and then sold in the market which
was sold at high prices. Nowadays this musli is not
found in abundant quantity, but collection of musli is
still in practice in small quantity.

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Challenges and Opportunities
The practice of making kattha is in a threat of extinction
since the government has banned cutting of the
catechu tree. They face social challenges since these
people belong to the lower caste.

Musli which once was found in abundance is now

decreasing, this source of income used to generate
higher profits but is now reduced.

The indigenous practice of ethnomedicine can be taken

forward by promoting the tribe by the government
which will help the Kathodi tribe economically.
Can be aided with tools and safety gears for collection
of Honey and Musli.

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 References
1. Tribal Research and Training Institute
https://trti.gujarat.gov.in/kathodi

2. Sabarkantha District Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabarkantha_district

3. Folk herbal medicines used by the Tribals of Bayad

taluka in Aravalli by Mukesh M. Patel

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