“Elephant Ayurveda” at the 18th-century Russian Court: Medical Pluralism, Technology Transfer, and Avatars of Power

Abstract

The article analyzes Russian documents of the 18th century related to the delivery of elephants to the Russian court, their allowance and treatment. The study focuses on the political and technological aspects of the animals’ life. The relocation of elephants from eastern powers to Moscow and St Petersburg was part of animal diplomacy and was conditioned by the status of animals as avatars of power. In turn, elephantine political charisma encouraged both parties — the donor and recipient of living gifts — to invest considerable effort in maintaining their well-being. For this purpose, the Russian Empire imported elephant keepers (mahouts), oriental food and Ayurvedic medicines. The author proposes to consider people, equipment, food, and medicinal matter as components of a technological system. The relocation of elephants between different states is interpreted as a case of technology transfer, which follows the same logic as the more explored scalable technologies. In this way, the therapeutic landscape of the Russian Empire was enriched with enclaves of Eastern medical knowledge that were conditioned by animal life. The results of the study not only complicate current ideas about historical configurations of medical pluralism, but also provide new insights into the grand narrative about the trajectories of knowledge importation in early modern Russia.