Abstract: Varanasi is considered to be one of the oldest cities of the world. It is a holy place where pilgrims flock for solace and serenity. Apart from being the foremost centre of spiritual regeneration, Varanasi has also been a centre of learning from antiquity.
In the recent times the city has come to occupy a special niche in the minds of the members of the pharmaceutical community, since it was at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi that the great centre of learning for pharmacists was organized from 1932 onwards and the better known pharmaceutical forums of today took shape. In this write-up the story is told of the developments and the roles of the men who made all this possible. The BHU Department of Pharmaceutics is no less than a sacred shrine for pharmacists.
Before starting to delve on the theme of this presentation, I may offer a comment on the general perception in the profession that in India pharmaceutical education first started at the Banaras Hindu University. It is true to the extent that the degree level education in pharmacy made a beginning at the BHU. However, the credit for inauguration of pharmaceutical education in the Indian subcontinent goes to the Madras Medical College. In 1860 a pharmacy class was started at the College, which was meant for instructions to the students qualifying for medical diploma or degree of the Madras University, apothecary and hospital assistants' grades. This class was not for training of professional pharmacists. For the latter there was a ‘chemists and druggists’ class introduced at the College sometimes during 1870s. It has not been possible to ascertain the exact year of its start, though I have tried in vain to do it through my research at the Tamil Nadu Archives at Chennai and the Oriental and India Office Collections at the British Library, London.
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