211 - An illustrated Shalihotra treatise on equine medicine,

An illustrated Shalihotra treatise on equine medicine, Rajasthan, North India, 19th century, Indian manuscript on paper, 77ff., 308 illustrations, with black devanagari text to each folio, every folio with multiple illustrations of horses, their robes, stance, gaits and other descriptions, incomplete Folio 24.5 x 17.4cm. TheShalihotra Samhita is an early Sanskrit treatise on equine medicine likely to have been composed in the third century BC by the physician, Shalihotra. It has since been translated into various languages such as Arabic, Persian, and Hindi as well as several Indian regional languages. It includes a section on the various colours of horses, and further discusses the translation of the terminology of the different colours in Persian and Sanskrit. The treatise provides a rare and interesting insight into the exchange of ideas between Sanskrit and Persian medical literature in the context of equine medicine. Our Shalihotra treatise is lavishly illustrated with 308 depictions of horses. This section is very likely incomplete.