Chakrapani Datta ( bn, চক্রপাণি দত্ত) () was a Bengali scholar and practitioner of

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...

medicine. In his lifetime, Datta was renowned for his significant contributions to the Ayurveda system of medicine, primarily through his academic commentaries on the primary texts on the field. He is considered to have had a notable impact on

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n medicine through his work.

Life

Chakrapani Datta was believed to have been born in the latter half of the 11th century in the village of

Mayureswar Mayureswar is a village and gram panchayat in Mayureswar II CD Block in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Kotasur, the CD Block headquarters, is 10 km away from Mayureswar. ...

, located in what is now

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. He was a Brahmin and belonged to a noble

Vaidya Vaidya (Sanskrit: ), or vaid is a Sanskrit word meaning "traditional practitioner of Ayurveda", an indigenous Indian system of alternative medicine. Senior practitioners or teachers were called ''Vaidyarāja'' ("physician-king") as a mark of respe ...

family, with his father having served as a kitchen superintendent for the

Pala emperor The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

Nayapala Nayapala (ruled 1038–1055) is the name of twelfth ruler of the Pala dynasty of eastern Indian Subcontinent, mainly the Bengal and Bihar regions. Nayapala, the son of Mahipala I, defeated the Kalachuri king Karna after a long struggle. The t ...

. His elder brother Bhanu is described as having been an ''Antaranga'' (learned physician). A Pala courtier, Naradatta, acted as Datta's spiritual teacher. Datta began to gain prominence at a young age through his commentaries on the primary

texts: the ''

Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' (, “Compendium of ''Charaka''”) is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the ''Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancie ...

'' and the ''

Sushruta Samhita The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (सुश्रुतसंहिता, IAST: ''Suśrutasaṃhitā'', literally "Suśruta's Compendium") is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subje ...

''. Among his most celebrated works are ''Chikitsasamgraha'' (Collection of medical practices and procedures), ''Dravyaguna'' (Properties of plants), and ''Sarvasarsamgraha'' (Collection of the essence of things). These discussed therapeutic, surgical and physiological treatments to disease and have led to him being regarded as an authority in Ayurveda medicine. His being the first to incorporate metallic recipes among his creed is also considered notable, with historian Durga Prasad Mazumder arguing that it "introduced a new era in medical science". Datta's accomplishments earned him the exalted titles of ''Charaka Cheturanana'', ''Sushruta Sahasranayana'' and ''

Mahamahopadhyaya Mahamahopadhyaya (Sanskrit: महामहोपाध्याय) is an honorific title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India. Prior to 1947, the title was bestowed by the British Raj, and before them, by the kings of ancient ...

''. His contributions to

Sanskrit grammar The grammar of the Sanskrit language has a complex verbal system, rich nominal declension, and extensive use of compound nouns. It was studied and codified by Sanskrit grammarians from the later Vedic period (roughly 8th century BCE), culminating ...

and

Nyaya ( Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Nyāya Sūtras The ''Nyāya Sūtras'' is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by , and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously esti ...

'' respectively. Through his work, Datta amassed a significant fortune, allowing his descendants to become prominent

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

s, a role they continued in into the 20th century.

References

{{reflist Bengali writers Ayurvedacharyas 11th-century Indian medical doctors