Gujarat: 16th C aviary turns into modern veterinary hospital

VADODARA/ANAND: ‘The house of this hospital is small, a little room sufficing for many birds: yet I saw if full of birds of all sorts which need tendance, as cocks, hens, pigeons, peacocks, ducks and small birds, which during their being lame, or sick, or mateless, are kept here, but being recover’d and in good plight, if they be wild they are let go at liberty: if domestick they are given to some pious person who keeps them in his house (sic).’ This is how Italian traveller Pietro dela Valle who had sailed from Venice to India in early 17th century had described the bird hospital at Cambay (present day Khambhat) in Gujarat.
Very few know that Gujarat’s coastal town – Khambhat – had a dedicated veterinary clinic to treat birds as early as 1539. The same premise has now paved way for an ultra-modern veterinary hospital complex.
Gujarat government’s Department of Animal Husbandry has constructed a new veterinary hospital complex at the cost of Rs 1.2 crore equipped with glass-studded transparent air-conditioned operation theatre, laboratory set up , which was inaugurated on Tuesday by MOS Devabhai Malam.
The Italian traveller has even noted that he turned most curious when he saw that “little orphaned mice” were brought to the hospital. “A venerable old man with a white beard and spectacles on his nose kept them in a box padded with cotton and tended them lovingly, giving them milk on the tip of a feather because they were too small to take any other food,” Valle had noted.
“Apart from being an ancient seaport and prominent trade hub, Khambhat was also a pioneer in the field of veterinary medicine. At a time when veterinary education was in the early development era around the world, Khambhat had a veterinary clinic to treat birds in 16th century. It is one of the oldest known veterinary hospitals in the world,” said Dr Snehal Patel, deputy director, animal husbandry department, Anand district panchayat.
With the passage of years, the birds’ hospital turned into a veterinary hospital. Interestingly, nobody has a clear idea about the origins of the birds’ hospital but the Italian traveller has mentioned that it was maintained with “public alms”. The veterinary hospital was functioning from its current premises since 1910. The old building that was constructed in 1926 was later handed over by Nawab of Khambhat to state government.
Patel said that upgradation in the field-level veterinary hospital is important not just from historical perspective. “Khambhat is also home to wetlands where migratory birds come. The migratory birds that get injured are also brought to this hospital,” he said.