Ask almost any family in Bangladesh and someone will remember a small homeopathic chamber in the local bazaar, a wooden box of tiny bottles, or a grandparent who kept a few remedies on the shelf. Homeopathy has been part of everyday life in Bengal for well over a century. This article explains where it came from, how it is taught and regulated in Bangladesh today, and how you can check that the person treating you is properly qualified.
How homeopathy reached Bengal
Homeopathy began in Germany with the physician Samuel Hahnemann, who set out its central principle in 1796. It travelled to the Indian subcontinent within a few decades. A frequently cited milestone is 1839, when Dr John Martin Honigberger, a European physician, treated Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Punjab. Honigberger later spent time in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and from there the method spread across Bengal.
Calcutta was the right place for a new idea to take root. It was the capital of British India, home to printing presses, colleges and an educated middle class eager to read and argue about science. In November 1851 a Native Homoeopathic Hospital and Free Dispensary was opened in the city. In 1866 Calcutta got its first homeopathic pharmacy.
The Bengali pioneers
Two names stand out from this early period.
Rajendralal Dutta (1818 to 1889) became one of the best known homeopathic practitioners in Calcutta. He supported the founding of the 1851 hospital, and from 1864 he worked with the French homeopath Thiennette Berigny, whose encouragement led to the city's first homeopathic pharmacy.
Mahendralal Sarkar (1833 to 1904) is the more famous figure. He was trained in Western medicine and respected in that world. Influenced in part by Rajendralal Dutta, he studied homeopathy and, on 16 February 1867, publicly declared his conviction in it. The reaction from many of his colleagues was hostile, and his practice suffered for a while. He recovered and became one of the leading homeopaths in India. His patients are said to have included the writer Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay and Sri Ramakrishna.
Sarkar's influence went beyond his clinic. In January 1868 he started the Calcutta Journal of Medicine, described as the first homeopathic journal in Asia. In 1876 he founded the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Calcutta, which became an important centre for scientific research in India. A few years later, in 1881, Pratap Chandra Majumdar and colleagues set up the Calcutta School of Homoeopathy, later known as the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College. Formal teaching had arrived.
After 1947 and after 1971
When Bengal was divided in 1947, the eastern half became East Pakistan, and many institutions stayed on the Calcutta side of the border. Homeopathic practice in the east had to build its own structures. In 1948 the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital was established in Dhaka as a private institution, and it is often described as the first formal homeopathic institution in what is now Bangladesh. It still stands on Toynbee Circular Road.
After independence in 1971, the new state began to organise the field. The Bangladesh Homoeopathic Board was established in 1972. For the next five decades it was the main body for homeopathic education and practitioner registration. Its legal basis came from the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Practitioners Ordinance, 1983, and a Board regulation followed in 1985. In 1989 the government opened the Government Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital at Mirpur in Dhaka, giving the country a publicly run college offering a degree course. A policy on setting up private homeopathic medical colleges followed in 2004.
Who regulates homeopathy today
The biggest recent change came in 2023. In November of that year Parliament passed the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Medical Education Act, 2023. The Act repealed the 1983 Ordinance and replaced the old Board with a new body: the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Medical Education Council (BHMEC). The Council describes itself as an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and it now oversees homeopathic education, the registration of practitioners and professional standards. Its office is in Khilkhet, Dhaka.
The new system is still settling in. In October 2026, for example, the Council invited public comments on draft rules for the registration of homeopathic practitioners. If you see older certificates or signboards that mention the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Board, do not be alarmed: that was simply the earlier name of the regulator.
Studying homeopathy: DHMS and BHMS
There are two main routes into homeopathic practice in Bangladesh.
- DHMS (Diploma in Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery). Students enter after passing the SSC or an equivalent examination. The course runs for four years of study followed by a six month internship. It is taught at non-government colleges recognised by the Council, which also conducts the examinations. The Council currently lists 66 such colleges across the country, eight of them in Khulna division, including the Khulna Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital on Sher-e-Bangla Road and colleges in Jashore, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Kushtia, Narail and Chuadanga.
- BHMS (Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery). Students enter after the HSC in science or an equivalent. The course is five years of study plus a one year internship. The degree is awarded through the University of Dhaka, and it is offered at two colleges: the Government Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital in Mirpur, and the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital on Toynbee Circular Road.
Both routes finish with a period of internship, so the student gains supervised clinical experience before practising. For patients, the point is simple: a DHMS or BHMS is a formal, examined qualification, and it is different from a short course or a certificate bought online.
Homeopathy inside the government health system
Homeopathy is officially recognised in Bangladesh as one of the alternative systems of medicine, alongside Unani and Ayurveda. Within the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), these systems fall under Alternative Medical Care (AMC), which has its own line director responsible for development work in Unani, Ayurvedic and homeopathic care. There is also a Director of Homeo and Traditional Medicine under DGHS who looks after services, and a Director of Alternative Medicine under the Directorate General of Medical Education who supervises teaching.
In practice, this means some district hospitals and upazila health complexes have posts for homeopathic medical officers, so in parts of the country a patient can see a homeopath inside a government facility. The manufacture of homeopathic medicines is supervised separately by the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA).
How to check that a practitioner is registered
Anyone can put up a signboard. Registration is what shows that a person has completed a recognised course and is answerable to a regulator. Before you begin treatment, it is reasonable to:
- Ask about qualifications. A practitioner should be able to tell you whether they hold a DHMS or a BHMS, and from which college.
- Ask for the registration number. Registered practitioners receive a registration certificate. Many display it in the chamber. If it is not on the wall, a polite request is perfectly normal.
- Check with the Council. If you are unsure, you can contact the Bangladesh Homoeopathic Medical Education Council through its official website (bhmec.gov.bd) or its Khilkhet office and ask them to confirm the name and number.
- Be wary of grand promises. A responsible practitioner will not guarantee a cure, will not ask you to stop medicines another doctor has prescribed, and will tell you plainly when you need to go to a hospital.
Students are not registered practitioners. If someone describes themselves as a lecturer or doctor but is still studying, that is a reason to look elsewhere.
Why so many families use it
The reasons people give are practical ones. Consultations are usually affordable, and homeopathic chambers can be found in small towns and villages as well as cities. Many families are used to it from childhood, so it feels familiar. Practitioners often spend time asking about sleep, appetite, mood and daily routine, and many patients value being listened to in that way. The Council itself points to affordability and access, especially in areas with fewer conventional health facilities, as reasons for its wide use.
It is also worth being honest about the limits. Homeopathy is a complementary system, and it does not replace emergency care, surgery, vaccination or the medicines that keep long term conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or epilepsy under control. The safest way to use it is alongside your other medical care, with every doctor you see knowing about every treatment you take.
Choose a registered practitioner, keep your other doctors informed, and never stop a prescribed medicine without speaking to the doctor who prescribed it.
Cover photo: Photo by Shaikhul Imran on Unsplash
