Paira Mall

Paira Mall (1874-1957) was an Indian medical doctor, linguist, and collector for Henry Wellcome's Historical Medical Museum, in London.[1]

Paira Mall

Biography

Born in India, Mall served as an army surgeon in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). He was fluent in German, French, Italian, Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic and English.

In 1911, he was recruited to work for the Henry Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, in London, to collect objects from South Asia that showed the art and science of healing, and medicinal plants in Ayurvedic medicine[2] - for use in Wellcome's chemical research labs in the UK. He also acquired local medical knowledge by copying and translating manuscripts.[3] He collected for 15 years.[4]

He was a member of the India Society, founded in London, in 1910.

Legacy

From 16 Nov 2017 to 8 April 2018, the Wellcome Collection featured items collected by Paira Mall, including medical objects, paintings, and manuscripts, in the exhibition "Ayurvedic Man: Encounters with Indian Medicine."[5][2][3][6][7] It also included Paira Mall's written correspondence with Wellcome and his staff while Mall was traveling.[2][3][6][8] According to Apollo magazine, the letters from Mall help trace "the movement of medical and cultural heritage across continents and cultures."[9]

Further reading

The following books are about Paira Mall and his work:

  • Allan, Nigel, Pearls of the Orient: Asian Treasures from the Wellcome Library (London: The Wellcome Trust, 2003)
  • Friedlander, Peter G., The WIHM Hindi Collection
  • Larson, Frances, An Infinity of Things: How Sir Henry Wellcome Collected the World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)
  • Muñoz, Bárbara Rodríguez, Ayurvedic man : encounters with Indian medicine (Wellcome Collection, 2017)

References
  1. "Paira Mall | Making Britain".
  2. Kennedy, Maev (November 9, 2017). "How Wellcome sent a medicine collector to wander Asia for a decade". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. Kumar, Tanuj (January 26, 2018). "Medical encounters between the East and the West". LiveMint. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. Prasad, Aarathi. "Encounters with Indian medicine". The Lancet. 391 (10117): 196–197. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30025-4. ISSN 0140-6736.
  5. "Ayurvedic Man: Encounters with Indian Medicine". Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 14 April 2021. 16 November 2017—8 April 2018
  6. Clove editors (November 29, 2017). "Ayurvedic Man: Ancient understandings of medicine". Clove Magazine. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  7. Moody, Oliver (2023-07-31). "Ayurvedic Man: Vintage Kashmiri circumciser, anyone?". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  8. Leonard, Julia Platt (November 22, 2017). "Ayurveda: The ancient practice that healed with turmeric before it was cool". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  9. Muñoz, Bárbara Rodríguez (30 October 2017). "Who owns the heritage of traditional medicine?". Apollo. Retrieved 15 April 2021.


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