Dharmendra Choudhary, Dinesh Hans
Abstract- Rajasthan is home to a significant tribal population living in the enduring deciduous forests of the Aravalli and Vindhyan ranges. Despite facing various changes over time, many communities still thrive in traditional ways. Among these groups, the Bhils are the largest, followed by the Garasias, Damor and Meena. Living in close harmony with nature, these tribes possess unique knowledge about the properties and uses of wild plants, much of which is unfamiliar to the outside world. Until about two decades ago, the ethnobotanical knowledge of tribes of Rajasthan was largely unknown. Comprehensive fieldwork in tribal villages has revealed fascinating insights into their lives. This research highlights the diverse uses of wild plants by tribes of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan for ethnomedicine. The folk wisdom of these communities, if scientifically examined, could offer significant benefits to humanity. The current study aimed to document the traditional knowledge of tribal herbal medicine practitioners of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan and quantitative analysis to uncover potential insights for future research. Quantitative indices such as use value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF), informant agreement ratio (IAR), relative frequency citation (RFC), and fidelity level (FL) were used to enumerate the benefit, importance and exposure of ethnomedicinal plants.
