Plastic Surgery

In 1794 AD, The Third Mysore war took place between Tipu Sultan and the Britishers. 

The Mysore soldiers captured a truck which was carrying food for the British army. A simple Marathi named Kosaji was the one who drove this truck. Tipu Sultan ordered to cut off his nose. Kosaji with his nose cut was released after the end of the war.

A British doctor came forward to treat him. But Kosaji did not allow that doctor to treat him and said to take him to a traditional physician named Kumar. The Britishers scolded him for choosing the local remedy instead of modern medicine. 

He said, "Kumar will fix my cut nose again.” Everyone started laughing. But they agreed to his request and took him to Kumar. The local physician, Kumar, was doing a brick kiln business. He peeled some skin from Kosaji's forehead and stitched it with the nose. The nose grew back. The skin from the forehead also grew back. 

The British doctor, who saw this "miracle", drew a painting of the miraculous incident and sent it to Britain. On seeing the message,Joseph Constantine Carpue , an English doctor, came from London and met Kumar. He stayed for several years and returned back after learning this surgery therapy. When he went to London, he performed the world's first "plastic surgery" in 1816. It was then known as a Carpue operation.

How did Dr. Kumar know plastic surgery?

An ancient Indian physician, named Sushrutha, wrote about plastic surgery around 2500 years ago. The book, Sushruta Samhita, still contains the details of the surgery. Though it is called plastic surgery, no plastic was involved in this surgery.

Those who practiced this surgery for generations were doing simple brick kiln business. 

Picture of Kosaji from British museum