Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: The tea estates of Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh are hot spots for finding many small tribes (100-500 community members),
which tribes are not found elsewhere in the country. It was the objective of the present study to document the tribal medicinal
practices of the Var tribe of Moulvibazar district. The Var tribe can be found as a single community residing in Kamalganj
tea estate in Moulvibazar district. Interviews of the two tribal healers were carried out with the help of a semi-structured
questionnaire, open-ended interviews, and the guided field-walk method. The tribe had less than 200 community members. The
two healers used a total of 25 medicinal plants distributed into 20 families for treatment of various ailments, which included
fever, gastrointestinal disorders, wounds, ear problems, low sperm count, coughs, itches, and menstrual pain. One formulation
was used as a galactagogue. From the number of plants used, it appeared that low sperm count, coughs, and gastrointestinal
disorders were the major ailments faced by the tribal community. Available scientific reports validate the use of several plants by
the traditional healers. Further scientific validation of the various therapeutic uses of medicinal plants by the tribal healers can
be an effective approach to make cheap medicines readily available to the tribal community, who are too poor to afford allopathic
medicines.

Key words: Var, ethnomedicine, medicinal plants, Moulvibazar, Bangladesh