Itty Achudan (forename also spelt as Itty Achuden in English, and Itti Achudem in Latin), known to have lived during the second half of the 17th century, was a distinguished herbalist, belonging to an Ezhava family of physicians in Kerala who practised pre-Ayurvedic systems of traditional medicine. The Kollatt family are natives of Kadakkarappally, a coastal village, north-west of Cherthala town, in Kerala, South India. Itty Achudan was the most remarkable Indian figure associated with Hortus Malabaricus, the botanical treatise on the medicinal properties of flora in Malabar (present day Kerala), in the 17th-century. It was compiled by the Dutch Governor of Malabar, Hendrik van Rheede, and Itty Achudan was Van Rheede's key informant who disclosed the pre-Ayurvedic traditional knowledge about the plants of Malabar to him. Hortus Malabaricus was published posthumously in Amsterdam between 1678 and 1693. The preface to Hortus Malabaricus includes a mentioning about Itty Achudan and a testimony revealing his contribution in his own hand writing. Itty Achudan was introduced to Van Rheede by Veera Kerala Varma, the then ruler of the erstwhile state of Kochi.
Contributions to Hortus Malabaricus
In the article 'On the English edition of Van Rheede's Hortus Malabaricus by K. S. Manilal' published in Current Science (November, 2005, Vol. 89, No. 10), H.Y.Mohan Ram states that the ethno-medical information presented in Hortus Malabaricus, was culled from palm leaf manuscripts by Itty Achudan, who dictated the material in Malayalam, which was then scrutinized by three Konkani Brahmanasgymnosophist priest-physicians (referred to in the text as ‘brahmins’) Ranga Bhat, Vinayaka Pandit and Appu Bhat, followed by a process of thorough verification, discussion with other scholars and general agreement.
Volume 1 of the Hortus Malabaricus contains a testimony by Itty Achudan, dated 20 April 1675, which can be translated as follows: "As intended by the hereditary Malayalam physician born in Kollatt house in Codacarappalli village of Carrapurram and residing therein. Having come to Cochin fort on the orders of Commodore Van Rheede and having examined the trees and seed varieties described in this book, the descriptions of and the treatment with each of them known from our books and classified as in the illustrations and notes and explained in detail to Emmanuel Carnerio, the interpreter of the Honourable Company, clearing doubts thus supplied the information as accepted without any doubt by this gentlemen of Malabar".
In the same volume, Emmanuel Carnerio, in his testimony dated 20 April 1675, states that: "As intended by Emmanuel Carneiro, the interpreter of the Honourable Company, born, married and residing at Cochin. According to the Command of Commodore Henrik Van Rheede, the trees, shrubs, twines and herbs and their flowers, fruits, seeds, juices and roots and their powers and properties described in the famed book of the Malayalee physician born at Carrapurram, of the Chekava caste and of the name Colladan, have been dictated separately in Portuguese language and Malayalam language. Thus, for writing this truthfully, without any doubt, my signature".
Richard H. Grove, in his book 'Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins', states that Itty Achudan and his team selected the plants which were to be drawn and included in Hortus Malabaricus, with accurate identification and mentioning of vernacular (local) name of the plants. Itty Achudan also disclosed the medicinal and other uses of the plants which was known to him from his own experience as a herbal physician and from the 'palmleaf scripture' carried by his family as 'wealth of knowledge'. Achudan dictated the material, in his native Malayalam language, which was then translated into Latin. Itty Achudan used the "Kolezhuthu" Malayalam script to write his declaration in the Hortus Malabaricus.
Many of the descriptions that accompany each plant in Hortus Malabaricus thus remains as cultural storehouse of the incidental sociological situation and social affinities carried by the flora of those times. This was one among the true contributions of Itty Achudan to knowledge base created and contained by Hortus Malabaricus. It is also important to note that at University of Leiden, Arnold Syen and Jan Commelin tried to follow the order and classification of the plants as prescribed by Itty Achudan and his fellow physicians, though Europe had its own standard system of classification of plants.