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John Martin Honigberger - Maharajah Ranjit Singh's Doctor


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I know that many misl leaders are guilty of breach of rehit and unfair treatment of the populace including severe taxation etc of the poor ... human nature in power is always bound to be corrupted unless the vikars are reigned strongly by gurmat  rehit and constant working at staying true to Guru ji .

 

The reason why people mention the ancestors of the main players in sikh politics in Punjab is because it shows that the character of the people passing down the generations as Guru Sahiban warned/told us e.g. General Shahbeg SIngh ji is descendent of Bhai Mehtab Singh ji, Sant ji was decendent of the branch of Brar clan who stayed true to Guru Sahib and achieved his blessing and General Brar is from the branch of the clan that chose golak's paise above Guru ji and got his displeasure. Yes Nehru is from Gangu's descendents literally not just a say so ...this is from research into the Hindu birthcharts/records going back through the generations . 

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23 minutes ago, jkvlondon said:

I know that many misl leaders are guilty of breach of rehit and unfair treatment of the populace including severe taxation etc of the poor ... human nature in power is always bound to be corrupted unless the vikars are reigned strongly by gurmat  rehit and constant working at staying true to Guru ji .

 

The reason why people mention the ancestors of the main players in sikh politics in Punjab is because it shows that the character of the people passing down the generations as Guru Sahiban warned/told us e.g. General Shahbeg SIngh ji is descendent of Bhai Mehtab Singh ji, Sant ji was decendent of the branch of Brar clan who stayed true to Guru Sahib and achieved his blessing and General Brar is from the branch of the clan that chose golak's paise above Guru ji and got his displeasure. Yes Nehru is from Gangu's descendents literally not just a say so ...this is from research into the Hindu birthcharts/records going back through the generations . 

So we believe in the sin of the father/ancestors continues to haunt the children? 

Then if one is born into a bad family, why try?

And i thought in kalyug, karma involves only the individual.

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2 minutes ago, Not2Cool2Argue said:

So we believe in the sin of the father/ancestors continues to haunt the children? 

Then if one is born into a bad family, why try?

And i thought in kalyug, karma involves only the individual.

there is a scientific genetic theory which proposes it is not just physical but also behavioural traits pass down , referred to as meme theory , Many cultures have noted that the child of a person who has negative/positive traits is more likely to display the same traits whether it's nuture or nature not sure the proportions . In India people used to shun earnings of dodgy business coming into the home as it would taint those fed with it, especially the kids . 
We try or rather we pray for deliverance from our karmic load through Guru ji's grace , we have no power to change by ourselves 

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there is a scientific genetic theory which proposes it is not just physical but also behavioural traits pass down , referred to as meme theory ,

And there is Sikhi 'theory' which suggests that with karams (action) and nadar (grace) all is possible and even the most degenerate person can be redeemed.

I've seen uncountable apnay and apneean from foundation, respectable (even Amritdhari) families act so lowly and deceptively despite a comfortable and loving upbringing, it's unreal. Conversely, I've see apnay and apneean from the most effed up of families go on to be some of the most decent people around (having learned from their parents kartootaan), so I would vehemently disagree with what you are saying. What I have also noticed is that the deviants from 'respectable' families with all their promiscuity, whoring and drug/alcohol issues get covered up by their families who are obsessed with keeping up appearances. Conversely, someone from the opposite background gets vilified for infinitely less than what the former often does. All in all, it just works to keep some conservative hierarchy stable, nothing else.  

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Provisions for ill prisoners in Lahore jail.

......................................I received an order from the Durbar to establish an hospital in the jail of Lahore also, which was on the same spot whereon, a short time before, I had erected the powder-mill. During the last two years of my office (1848 and 1850) out of 800 prisoners, only twenty-one patients died in the space of twelve months and they, of severe wounds, marasmus, or, dysentery.

The jail, with its hospital, is situated outside the city, in one of the filthiest quarters, where all the wells of the neighbourhood fountain contain briny or bitter water; and notwithstanding all my endeavours and remonstrances, I could not obtain from the government any better nourishment for my patients, than the usual jail diet, so that I was obliged, in several cases, to have recourse to a part of the unemployed funds of the public hospital of the Durbar, in order to provide such comforts as were necessary. Taking these circumstances into consideration, my management was peculiarly fortunate; for, during a period of two years from the foundation of that hospital, not a single patient died of an acute disease — such as inflammation, fever, cholera, serpent bites, &c. of which I had many cases ; some of them so dangerous, that I had to visit the patients three or four times a-day. My successor was less fortunate ; for, during the first six months after the annexation (from May till October 1849) while I was still in the country, he lost upwards of sixty patients out of 1 ,000, not to mention those who were dismissed as incurable. I may state, with regard to the latter, that the experiments I made on similar diseases had often been crowned with success. It was thought that the great mortality during  these six months was caused by the small and unhealthy situation of the hospital, in consequence of which a larger was built, on the opposite side of the jail. The prisoners received better nourishment, were not so oppressed by hard labor, and were permitted to use tobacco, opium, poppy-heads, hemp, churrus, &c. which had been prohibited. I afterwards learned, that these changes had not been of much use ; and I believe the mortality is still greater than that of the first two years.

 

 

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Account of Maharajah Ranjit Singh's death and drug taking. Honigberger believes it was the personality and presence of Ranjit Singh more than any doctrine that held the kingdom together.

The small doses of opium (every afternoon one pill of 3 grms.) which Runjeet Sing took daily, and the strong spirits he used to drink at different hours of the day, transported him into a kind of excitement, which manifested itself in the highest degree in the evening, after the enjoyment of larger portions of spirits. Every one loved and feared him at the same time. He had an army of 100,000 men, inspiring awe and respect, half of whom were regular and the other half irregular troops, with whom he might have enforced his laws on all the Hindoos; nevertheless he entertained the greatest friendship with his neighbours the English, and manifested his favour towards the French, the Italians, and other European nations, by making them governors in his provinces. His disease was brought on by a severe cold, and by indulging somewhat too much in strong spirits. The latter I am told was specifically the case during the winter in which the Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland, came to Lahore to pay him a visit. In the transport of his joy, he drank more than ordinarily. Probably, if an emetic had been given at the commencement of the disease, it would have produced a good effect; but as the native physicians did not know of any good and effective emetic, and are fearful, also, of the effects of vomiting, they prefer using purgatives by which sometimes the disease grows worse, as the case above related sufficiently proves.

It made a very deep impression on my feelings to have been prevented from making myself useful to the maharajah, and restoring to health the man on whose life was depending the happiness, peace and prosperity of that country. Every one whose forethought enabled him to throw a glance on the future must have seen with pain and sorrow that a violent crisis menaced that country, by which a nation scarcely risen from barbarity might sink back into its former condition.

 

 

 

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Suttee at Ranjit Singh's funeral and an explanation of the customs around this practice.

 


The first sad and cruel scene that I witnessed after the death of Runjeet Sing, was the Suttee, or burning of his eleven wives, along with the body of the deceased. There were four ranees (legel wives), and seven female slaves, who, animated with the superstitious hope of entering paradise with their lord and husband were the funeral pile with death defying intrepidity; they cowered round the corpse, and were covered with reed mats on which oil was poured in profusion. This done, fire was set to the funeral pile, so that the poor creatures became suffocated by the smoke and flames before they could utter a cry. In order not to give the reader a false notion of the customs and manners of the Hindoos, it is necessary to observe, that no woman is compelled to be burnt with her husband; they do it by their own free will, and it is a characteristic trait, that only those women devote themselves to that ceremony whose fate had decreed them not to be mothers. Perhaps they follow their husbands to the other world, in the hope of obtaining there what was denied them in this sublunary one. But it is not the custom for men to be burnt, either with their wives or with other men; nevertheless, the minister, Rajah Dyan Sing [Dhian Singh], insisted upon being burnt with his lord and his wives; but the welfare of the country depending at that time solely on him, he was prevented from undergoing this terrific ceremony.

Runjeet Sing, a short time before his death, engaged this minister to assist his son, Khurrek Sing, whom he made heir to the throne, although he must have been persuaded of his incapacity ; and if Khurrek Sing had followed the prudent I advice of his father, and had not yielded to the insinuations of his tutor Sirdar Chet Sing, every thing would have proceeded in a prosperous manner.

 

dhian.jpg

Rajah Dhian Singh*


 

* [My footnote: Dalsingh]: This 'Dyan Sing' [or Dhian Singh] was a Brahmin Dogra and was murdered along with Maharajah Sher Singh at Lahore by Sandhawalia sardars in 1842. His brother Gulab Singh, later played a big role in betraying Singhs to the Brits in the Anglo-Sikh wars. The English rewarded Gulab with Kashmir for this. We should note that three brothers of this family had joined Maharajah Ranjit Singh's army and quickly worked their way through the ranks to be given titles of rajah by Ranjit Singh.

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Found this on Honigberger:

 

The following Latin extract is taken from the introduction of his book, Thirty five years in the East, and is inscribed on a plaque at his grave :

Nulla re homo proprius accredit ad Deum quam salute hominibus danda (“Nothing gets man closer to God than the help offered to his fellow man in the restoration of health”.)

 

The History of Johann Martin Honigberger

 

Dr. Ileana Rindasu traces the history of Johann Martin Honigberger, the man who brought homeopathy to India. She honors him with a memorial plaque.

M. Honigberger, the Transylvanian Saxon who is considered to be the man who brought homeopathy to India, was born on 10th of March, 1795 in Brașov (Krohnstadt), Romania (in Transylvania or Siebenbürgen, as this region is known in German). He travelled to India in 1815, with the desire to become more familiar with the secrets of nature, as he confesses in the introduction of his book, Thirty-Five Years in the East (first ed.,1851, in German; English edition, 1852; Romanian edition, 2004) ; Thus, he began a series of journeys, five to the East (Orient), three others in Europe and one to Africa that lasted altogether more than 50 years . He died in December, 18th, 1869, at the age of 74, in his native town, Brașov and was buried in the Evangelic cemetery.

 

Transylvania-or-Siebenb%C3%BCrgen.jpg

Transylvania or Siebenbürgen

 

Honigberger was mainly an autodidact with a great desire to constantly improve himself. This desire motivated him to research the laws of nature so he could help patients by his skills and knowledge.

The fundamental rule that every doctor should respect, said Dr. Honigberger, is: “One must, as much as possible, avoid all strong doses and administer only those that, if not beneficial, at least cannot do any harm”. This principle, in the vision of the author, can be easily respected if we know the effects of medicines, both in high doses and in small doses.

Also he states : “Only minute doses can produce a real medicinal effect. If we realize that drugs administered in minute doses possess specific qualities, it is our duty to learn the principles of their use and we are obliged to abandon our principles that nurture our prejudice”.

For many years, Dr. Honigberger was the physician of the Court in Lahore (Punjab, in nowadays Pakistan) for the Maharajah Ranjit Singh. Honigberger learned from his own experience as well. He treated himself successfully for cholera, in Vienna soon after he visited Hahnemann (when he took Ipecac and was cured) and for plague, in Pali, Hindustan, when he was on his way to Lahore, for the second time. That time, he took Ignatia, a remedy he had used before in Pera (Constantinopole) during the plague epidemics.

Many of these aspects are well-known to the historians of medicine and of homeopathy, but usually, there is a great confusion concerning the person of Martin Johann Honigberger himself. In the literature, we find some confusion concerning his nationality. Many authors consider him to be a French doctor, while others believe he was a Hungarian. In fact, he was a Transylvanian saxon, which means he was of German origin. The Transylvanian axons (German: Siebenbürger Sachsen) are people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania  from the 12th century onwards). The history of Romania, the country where Dr. Honigberger was born is not well-known abroad. Transylvania, the north-western part of Romania was for many centuries a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so many could indeed believe that Honigberger was a Hungarian. Another aspect that is unclear, is the place where Dr. Honigberger was buried. The documents (below) from the archives of the Black Church of Brasov- Kronstadt, Romania, will clarify the nationality of Dr. Honigberger and show how we discovered his grave, in the Evangelic cemetery of Brasov.

In 2013, I went to Brasov, sent by the Romanian Society of Homeopathy, to see if there were any documents concerning Dr. Honigberger in the archives of the Black Church of Brasov, as we knew that he died in Brasov in 1869.

Below, you can see the documents that I found in the records of the Black Church, where it is stated that Johann Martin Honigberger, doctor of the King of Lahore was buried on 20th of December 1869, at the age of 74 and that he died due to his old age:

Rindasu-aug15-img01.jpg

 

Rindasu-aug15-img02.jpg

 

The grave is placed at position number 9 and it belonged to a member of the Kamner family, Friedrich Kamner. I tried to see what connection could be found between the Kamners and doctor Honigberger. In another register of the archives, I found a person who seemed to be Dr. Honigberger’s sister, Johanna Maria, married to Georgius Traugott Kamner, in 1819; so, we can understand why Honigberger was buried by the Kamner family when he returned to Brasov at the end of his life.

 

After finding all this evidence that Dr. Honigberger was indeed buried in the Evangelic cemetery of the town, I went to see the place and obtained the approval of the authorities to put a memorial plaque on the grave, with an inscription in Latin, taken from the introduction of the book, Thirty five years in the East:

Nulla re homo proprius accredit ad Deum quam salute hominibus danda (“Nothing gets man closer to God than the help offered to his fellow man in the restoration of health”.)

Rindasu-aug15-img04.jpg

Thus, the Romanian Society of Homeopathy – Societatea Romana de Homeopatie- has done its duty and paid its tribute to the Dr Johann Martin Honigberger, this extraordinary man who lived a life of service and brought the good news of homeopathy to India.

We hope that now, people from all over the world and also from India will be able to come and light a candle at his grave, together with a thought of admiration for this brave Transylvanian Saxon who travelled so far away from his native land to spread the light of homeopathy in the world.

May God rest Martin Johann Honigberger in peace and may our gratitude be always with him!

Bibliography

  1. Arion Rosu- Sur les traces du Transylvain Martin Honigberger, médecin et voyageur en Inde.
  2. Eugen Ciurtin – Către Afganistan, din Transilvania prin Johann Martin Honigberger (1795-1869); C. Silv., 2002;
  3. http://www.academia.edu/425432/M emoriile_orientale_ale_lui_Johann_ Martin_Honigberger._Posteritate_istorica_si_actualitate_fictionala_Acta _Mvsei_Porolissensis_XXVII_2005_Liv iu Bordas
  4. Johann Martin HonigbergerTreizeci si cinci de ani in Orient, ed. Polirom, Iasi, 2004
  5. http://fjhp.eu/articole/vol 2 No 1/2014.V2.N1.4.Rindasu - Honigberger 18-22.pdf

http://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/the-history-of-johann-martin-honigberger/

 

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