Charaka Samhita
- Date
- c. 100 BCE-200 CE · confidence low
- Place
- Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan
- Credited to
- Charaka (compiled by the school of Atreya; revised by Dridhabala)
- People
- 👤 Cháraka50–
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Treatise on internal medicine that systematises diagnosis by questioning, examination and pulse, dietetics, plant-based pharmacology and a medical ethics with a student's oath. Together with Sushruta's, it is the founding text of Ayurveda.
The text was compiled in layers and its location is associated with the tradition of Taxila without certainty.
What it led to
- classical Ayurvedic medicine
- translations into Persian and Arabic (Baghdad, 8th century)
- plant pharmacopoeia of South Asia
Built on
- Ayurvedic medicine and Sushruta's surgery