The primary goal of this research was the compilation of a list of medicinal plants in the Sirajganj district, utilized in the treatment of various diseases by folk practitioners. This was done by conducting a survey of the residents of different sandbars and banks along the river Jamuna. Most of the people who live on the sandbar are gipsy in nature and come from different regions of Bangladesh due to having lost their residence. Most of the people are poor and have very limited capacity to bear the expenses of the modern treatment facilities. They are mostly dependent on their traditional knowledge of medicine and use plant resources to combat the diseases. Sometimes people get suggestions from professional medicinal practitioners who are commonly known as kaviraj. Traditionally, it was observed that elderly people who lived on the sandbar or bank of the river had a rich knowledge of medicinal plants. Method: Both structured and open-ended questions were prepared both in English and Bengali. A list of practitioners was prepared and selected most renowned personnel from them for interview. A trained interviewer was asked the question among the selected practitioners and recorded accordingly. From the survey results, 31 plants from 24 families were identified. The local name was compared with the common name of the medicinal plants' database and identified their botanical nomenclature. It was observed that most of the plants were in the family of liliaceae, caesalpiniaceae, anacardiaceae, myrtaceae, and fabaceae. This survey study was a unique contribution to the treasury of the natural medicinal database of Bangladesh.
Keywords: Folk medicinal practitioner, Family names, Medicinal plants, Common Disease, Treatment
28-Feb-2025
