1794 AD The Third Mysore War was fought between Tipu Sultan and the British. After the end of the war Kosaji's nose was cut off and he was released.
Now is the time to read our scriptures written by our sages about plastic surgery.
Mysore soldiers captured a cart that was carrying food for the British army. The driver of this cart was a simple Marathi named Kosaji. Tipu Sultan ordered to cut off his nose. After the end of the war Kosaji's nose was cut off and he was released.
A British doctor came forward to treat him. But Kosaji did not allow that vaidya to treat him and said to take him to a traditional vaidya named Kumar. The British scolded him for choosing local remedies instead of modern medicine.
He said, "Kumar will fix my cut nose again." Everyone started laughing, but they agreed to his request and took him to Kumar.
Kumar, a local doctor, ran a brick kiln business. He removed some skin from Kosaji's forehead and sewed it to his nose. The nose grew back. The forehead skin also grew back.
The British doctor who witnessed this "miracle" made a picture of this miraculous event and sent it to Britain. Seeing the message, an English doctor, Joseph Constantine Carpew, came from London and met Kumar. He stayed for many years and returned after learning this surgery. When he went to London, he performed the world's first "plastic surgery" in 1816. It was then known as the Carpeau operation.
Dr. How did Kumar come to know about plastic surgery?
An ancient Indian physician named Sushruta wrote about plastic surgery about 2500 years ago. The book, Sushruta Samhita still describes the surgery. Although it is called plastic surgery, plastic was not used in this surgery.
For generations, those who practiced this surgery were doing simple brick kiln business.
Photo of Kosaji from the British Museum.
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