Quick read: Covid tikah is a carryover from small pox language.
Note: Long before the discovery of vaccination in the late 18th century, a practice known as inoculation or variolation offered some protection against the dreaded smallpox. While this technique gained attention in Europe only in the 18th century, it had been widely practiced in India, China, and the Caucasus for centuries earlier.
In India, the method, called "tikah" by the natives, involved introducing pus from a mature smallpox pustule into a healthy individual, typically through a prick on the forehead. This mild exposure triggered a controlled infection, granting partial immunity to future outbreaks.
Historical records like an East India Company report from 1731 confirm this practice's longevity. It states that "inoculation... has been known in the kingdom of Bengal about 150 years," placing its origins in India well before the 18th century. Moreover, another report from 1767 describes specialized Brahmin communities traveling in groups to perform inoculations during outbreaks.
British also condescendingly observed that ignorance and barbarism can also produce valuable improvements. Under British rule, these techniques gradually died out.
Source: “Indian Science & Technology in the Eighteenth Century”, Dharampal.
Picture Credit: The Wikimedia image is of anti cholera inoculation camp at Kolkata in 1894.
Quick read: Covid tikah is a carryover from small pox language.
Note: Long before the discovery of vaccination in the late 18th century, a practice known as inoculation or variolation offered some protection against the dreaded smallpox. While this technique gained attention in Europe only in the 18th century, it had been widely practiced in India, China, and the Caucasus for centuries earlier.
In India, the method, called "tikah" by the natives, involved introducing pus from a mature smallpox pustule into a healthy individual, typically through a prick on the forehead. This mild exposure triggered a controlled infection, granting partial immunity to future outbreaks.
Historical records like an East India Company report from 1731 confirm this practice's longevity. It states that "inoculation... has been known in the kingdom of Bengal about 150 years," placing its origins in India well before the 18th century. Moreover, another report from 1767 describes specialized Brahmin communities traveling in groups to perform inoculations during outbreaks.
British also condescendingly observed that ignorance and barbarism can also produce valuable improvements. Under British rule, these techniques gradually died out.
Source: “Indian Science & Technology in the Eighteenth Century”, Dharampal.
Picture Credit: The Wikimedia image is of anti cholera inoculation camp at Kolkata in 1894.
