Indigenous knowledge on the exploitation and utilization of medicinal plants by the Thengal Kachari tribe of Jorhat district, Assam, North-east India

The Thengal-Kacharis are one of the small ethnic
communities belonging to the Indo-Mongoloid race
with mythical ancestry. They are the present
inhabitants of Jorhat, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, North
Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Karbi Anglong district of
Assam. The people of this community have thriving
knowledge on common diseases as well their
remedial therapies with the traditional use of
different parts of natural herbals like roots, leaves
and shoots etc. With the indigenous knowledge
acquired, the Thengal-Kacharis are confident to
treat patients suffering from different serious
ailments. The present survey attempts to explore the
application of some native medicinal plants
traditionally used by the Thengal Kacharis to cure
different ailments. The data generated in the study
reports the ethno-medicinal properties of fifty nine
different plants belonging to thirty eight different
families the scientific knowledge on which would
further
help
to
lead
phytochemicals and
pharmacological research as well drug designing.