Nadivijnanam and Nadiprakasham

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 88

accompanied by Sri (prosperity or wealth ), was the first Vaidya ( Physcian), the buds of the creeper of whose fame always bore fruits in the pot of the wofld. Sripati was born in his ( Duhisen ) prosperous line as the best in the family, having meritorious fame. His son was Sri Sankara Sen, Dhamaniprakasa was composed by him.
It is clear from this brief account that Sri Sankara Sen belonged to the Vaidya community of united Bengal. His dates of birth and death are not found in this short colophon. It may be presumed on the basis of the publication of Nadiprakasam that he flourished in the period between the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of twentieth century A, D.
As pointed out in the preface that Sri Sankara Sen traced his ethnic relation to the Ambastha republican clan or tribe of ancient Sind ( ambastha Gosthigani ........tadatmaja Sankarasenanama tenaiva tene Dhamaniprakasah ). A study of anthropology as made in the introduction to " Bengali Itihasa ”'l to determine the racial position of the Brahmin, Vaidya and Kayastha castes, etc. reveals that they belonged to Dravida-Mongoloid race. A critical observer should take the samples of the Vaidya community at Kotalipara village in Madaripur sub-division of Faridpur district of United
(1) Nihar Ranjan Roy, Bongalir Itihasa, Introduction.
Introduction