GARCIA DE HORTA

Garcia de Orta is one of the most famous doctors and researchers of Medicine of the 16th century. He was a Portuguese of Jewish origin, born in Castelo de Vide circa 1499, son of Spanish Jews, who had fled to Portugal. He was one of the new Christians.

In 1525, having studied in Salamanca, became a doctor of medicine. He became professor of the University of Coimbra, and in 1534, perhaps fearing the Inquisition, he sailed to Goa on the vessel "Rainha".

Garcia, even whilst at University, was quite interested in the study of medicinal plants that were being newly discovered. When he reached Goa, the seat of Portuguese government in India, he encountered myriads of types of people, languages, religions, and cultures. Many enriched themselves and lived opulent lives on the commercial trade in spices. A constant battle against the Moslems to control the spice trade was prevalent at the time.

Garcia started a medical practice in Goa, and came in contact with thehakuma, the Arab doctors, as well as vaidyas, the traditional doctors of India.He identified various illnesses, which had similarities with those he had learntabout in Europe, some with variations; he also identified illnesses that he hadnever seen or experienced before. But then he got attracted to something morethan treating patients: the great variety of medicinal and plants, resins, animasecretions and minerals.

Garcia de Orta started planting and dealing in spices. At the same time, he planted an herbal garden to study medicinal herbs. He travelled to the interior of India, accompanied military expeditions, and went as far a Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He collected information on illnesses and their cures from various sources, and tried to correlate his findings with what he had learnt in Europe.

As a result of his studies, he published a book, in 1563, Colóquios dos Simples e Drogas da Índia (Colloquies on the Simple and Drugs of India), printed in Goa on Asia's first printing press (installed in the1520s). This book was widely acclaimed in Europe, and was

controversial in that it represented old knownideas and new ones resulting fromexperimentation and study of the Indianmethods.

Garcia de Orta was a friend of the renownedPortuguese poet, Luis de Camões, the authorof Os Lusiadas. In 1543, Garcia marriedBrianda de Solis, the lady of Bombay, the onlylady-owner of an island that Camões evercame to know. After the death of Orta’smother, in 1557, the couple left Goa, to goand live in Bombay, at the time, a Portuguesepossession.

 

Garcia died in 1568. Inquisition, however, did not leave him alone, even in death. In 1580, twelve years after his death, the body of the great Garcia de Orta was disinterred by the inquisitors, accused of Judaism, and his bones were burnt to ashes.