Friday, March 6, 2009

BOOK REVIEW Shilajit in Perspective by S Ghosal


"Shilajit in Perspective" is a 200 page book produced by Shibnath Ghosal and appears to be based largely on his own, and co-workers, research at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India. The book purports that Shilajit is a naturally occurring substance with healing/medicinal properties beneficial to humans and is found in sedimentary rocks. To support this the author makes reference to 38 studies with himself as the principal author. Only two publications with the word Shilajit (or its equivalents) are cited where Ghosal is not an author/co-author; they are Kong et al (1987) discussing chemical studies of Nepalese shilajit and Shakir et al (1965) reporting in Silajit in Pakistan. Despite the claim that Shilajit (or its equivalents) has been known for thousands of years (line 3 of the Preface) from at least 5 mountainous ranges in India and twice that number (10 ) other locations outside India there seems to be distinct lack of knowledge of the subject. An inquiry at the British Natural History Museum, Kensington London resulted in no records of salajit, shilajit, shilajeet, shilajatu or momia which is surely strange given the tenacity of British explorers and researchers over the past 500 years. Their records does contains a reference by Hooper, D., 1903, Silajit and ancient eastern medicine Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 72, 98-103 which makes several references to animal urine and faeces

The book bears only one picture of raw shilajit (Photograph 1 on page 2) which shows a dark brown waxy substance ( presumably the Shilajit) on the surface of a rock fragment. No scale is indicated to provide an indication of size/volume. The rock is a granular /crystalline pale creamy khaki colour (likely sialic minerals) with less common, dark, possibly platy, masses ( likely to be mafic minerals) . The rock exhibits a clear platy foliation and is more characteristic of a metamorphic or igneous rock rather than a sedimentary rock. It is suggested that to support the contention that shilajit is derived from sedimentary rocks much more petrology needs to be studied and reported.

The book refers the presence of Shilajit in Pakistan and Peshawar is mentioned on page 1. In the Urdu language Shilajit is known as Salajit and several important MSc theses and publications have been published: several being from Peshawar University. However Peshawar, a lowland city in the River Indus valley, is not the origin of Salajit /Shilajit. Publications describing Pakistan's Salajit and worthy of mention are

Ansari Q.D. and Badrud-Din, 1956, Physico-chemical study of salajit, a mineral pitch of Pakistan, The Journal of the University of Peshawar, 5, 26-3

Faruqi, S.H., 1997, Nature and Origin of Salajit, Hamdard medicus, Vol XL, April-June , pp 21-30

Khan, Sultan Muhammed, 1981, Shilajit its composition and biological actions, MSc Chemistry Thesis, University of Peshawar, Area Study Centre (Central Asia) 102 p

Shafiq, M.I., 2003, Physical, biochemical and trace mineral a
nalysis of some Salajit samples available in Pakistan, MSc thesis, University of Punjab, Lahore.
Zahler, P, and Karim A., 1998, Origin of the floristic components of Salajit, Hamdard Medicus, Vol XLI, no 2, pp 6-8


Ghosal does not refer to these equally important studies. Unfortunately and l
ike Ghosal in his book, none of these authors attempt to describe the habitat or natural setting of Shilajit. Ghosal states, without support, that Shilajit occurs in sedimentary rocks without providing examples supported by the identity of locales, with geographic coordinates, elevations data, and detailed descriptions of the geological setting. Zahler and Karim (1998) suggest Salajit is the faeces of the Wooly Flying Squirrel and ascribe its physio-chemical properties to the dietary habit of the animal. Faruqi (1997) describes salajit samples studied in thin section under a binocular microscope and describes "pallets" which is a mis-use of the word pellets - animal faecal pellets; the size (1-2mm) and geometry (round not oblate) of which is consistent with the Wooly Flying Squirrel fecal pellets. Unfortunately Faruqi (a professional minerals geologist) did not examine his samples at outcrop but instead bought his samples from street vendors along the Karakoram Highway who also gave him reasonably accurate verbal descriptions of their origin ( eg southwest side Raikot Valley 6 km east of Tato village) . Faruqi presents a map of the general locale for each of his 26 samples and an overlay on the regional geological map shows the salajit sites are located predominantly on igneous and metamorphic terranes and certainly not exclusively sedimentary rocks.

Dr George Carman has visited twelve (12) sites in Pakistan where salajit of varying grades is or has been collected. The hunter/gathers describe collections of up to several hundred kilograms and occasionally over a tonne which is believed to be augmented by rock dust since the sales are by weight. These sites are not restricted to sedimentary rocks as suggested by Ghosal.

It is suggested that considerable more documentation is required to confirm the geological setting of shilajit and significantly more research is required to demonstrate it is not an animal fecal product. A starting point for such studies will be to compile an accurate description of locations ( UTM or Latitude/Longitude) and their geological setting.

The Geological map of NWF Pakistan illustrate Faruqi's Salajit sites occur on a variety of geological terranes and certainly not exclusively associated with sedimentary rocks.



THe

Monday, February 16, 2009

Salajit

Introduction

Salajit from the Northern Areas of Pakistan has been extracted, processed and distributed as a ‘wonder cure’ for time immemorial. It is also claimed that Salajit is a powerful aphrodisiac. It is collected by notorious Salajit Hunters who describes its origin as being high in the mountains necessitating long trekking hours, precarious rock climbing and dangerous rope work to reach it. Salajit is described as being exuded or ejected from rock and fissures during hot weather at altitudes of 2500-4000 mamsl and is said to occur as four varieties; gold, silver, copper and iron. Numerous chemical analysis indicate wide ranging compositions including plant waxes, oils and acids, organic matter, minerals (including silica, nitrogen, iron, alumina, potash, and chloride) and vegetable fibres. The substance is resinous in nature, is soluble in water and burns. It has been described as a petroleum hydrocarbon and is also observed to be associated with the habitat of rare mammals ( Woolly Flying Squirrel in NWFP)

The medicinal benefits of Salajit are widely claimed and may be studied at various websites


My Research & Results


I spent several months researching and tracking salajit to get to the source in the mountains in Pakistan 2000-2004. The main problem was that street vendors invariably did not know the source of their product as it had been traded down the Karakoram Highway. After much deliberation I mapped and found source localities in the Nanga Parbat, Passu and Shimshall areas. I have collected approximately 20 kgs of salajit and my examination of the samples and their habitat at 12 locations leads me to conclude that salajit is a biological product, probably faeces, from various nocturnal and timid mammals including the Giant Woolly Flying Squirrel and Afghan Pikkas.


References.

Ahmed N, , 2003 , Rare squirrel discovered in Northern Areas The News3rd December 2003


Ansari Q.D., and Badrud-Din, 1956, Phsico-chemical study of salajit, a mineral pitch of Pakistan, The Journal of the University of Peshawar, 5, 26-30


Al-Ghani, H.N. 1917, Salajit translated from old books material, in Khazana Alwadia, Lucknow India, vol II pp 783-786 (original script Hindi)


Chopra, R.N., 1933 Indigenous drugs , UN Dhu and Sons, Calcutta pp 433-436


Dash, B and Ramaswarmy, S, 2001, Indian Aprodisiacs : Mineral pitch- Silajitu, pp82-83


Faruqi, S.H., 1997, Nature and Origin of Salajit, Hamdard medicus, Vol XL, April-June , pp 21-30


Ghosal, S., 2006, Shilajit in Perspective. 200 p Alpha Science International Ltd. ISBN 1-84265-313-X


Ghosal S., et al 1991, The core structure of Sialjit humus, Soil Biol Biochemistry 23, pp 673-680


Ghosal S., et al, 1976 Organic Composition of Silajit, J of Pharm Sci, 65,77


Ghosal, S., 1988, The facets and facts of Shilajit, in Dadiya and Vohora (eds) Research and Development of Indigenous Drugs, IHMMR, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi, India pp 72-80


Hartman, M, 2001, The trip to Humla, www.drhartman.com/humla.htm


Hartman, M., 2001 Summary of clinical research on Shilajit, www.hi-aloha.com/shilagen/summary.htm


Hartman, M., 1989, Mast Cell protecting effects of Shilajit and its constituents, Phytotherapy Research, vol3, no 6, pp 249-252


Hooper, D., 1930, Silajit and ancient eastern medicine Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 72, 98-103


Khan, Dr M. A., 1995, Salajit: a health treat, The Dawn newspaper, Friday June 16th page 7


Khan (Daur) 1981, Sultan Mhammaed, Silajit its composition nd biological actions MSC (Chemistry) thesis, Area Study Centre, Phawar University


Lipshutz-Robinson, S., 1996, Our Earth our cure: Fulvic acids and Shilajit; http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/fulvic.htm


Nadkarni, K.M., 1976, Ashpaltum, in Indian Materia Medica, reprint 3rd revised edition, vol II, published by Popular Prakashan Pvt Ltd, pp23-32


Phillips, P., 1997, Unearthing the evidence: Shilajit and health http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/1997/phillips.htm


SDR Shilajit, date unknown, Asphaltum alias Shilajit, http://www.sdrshilajit.com/product1.htm


Shafiq, M.I., 2003, Physical, biochemical and trace mineral analysis of some Salajit samples available in Pakistan, MSC thesis, University of Punjab, Lahore.


Tarr, A., 2001, Salajit Northern Pakistan, : The Salajit Collectors, http://google.groups.com/groups?hl=en&selm=........


Tiwari, L and Agrawal, D.P., date not known, Shilajit, the traditional panacea:its properties, http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_agraw_shilajit.htm

www.iras.ucalgary.ca, 2002, Mummy or Mumia


Zahler, P, and Karim A., 1998, Origin of the floristic components of Salajit, Hamdard Medicus, Vol XLI, no 2, pp 6-8


Zahler, P and Woods C. A., 2002, The status of the Woolly Flying Squirrel (Eupetaurus cinereus) in Northern Pakistan, in Mufti ,S.A. et al (eds) Biodiversity of Pakistan, pp495-514



Dr George Carman

Email geodirect@optusnet.com.au