Indian Journal of Traditional Kno wled ge Vo l. 2( 1), Janu ary 2003. pp. 27-39 Traditional uses of plant biodiversity from Aravalli hills of Rajasthan *S S Katewa, B L Chaudhary, Anita Jain and Praveen Galav Laboratory of Ethn obo tany and Agros tology, Departme nt of Botany. College of Science. M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur 313 001, India Recei ved 11 Jc muwy 2002: revised 29 May 2002 A large number of tribals living in remote thick forest areas of the Aravalli hills of Mewa r regio n depe nd on nature for their bas ic necess iti es of lif e. The se peo ple, especially belonging to primitive or aboriginal culture possess a good d ea l of information abo ut properties and uses of plant s. In the pre se nt paper an attempt has been made to document the precious traditional kn ow le d ge about the uses and properties of wi ld plants, which the aboriginals of Aravalli hills of Mewar reg ion possess. Th e paper also discusses the current role of plants in the manufacture of traditional goods, and outlines some of the specialist skill, which is involved in the produc- ti on of such it ems. Keywords: Tribals, Traditional Botanical kn ow ledge. Aravalli hills. Fo lk medicine. Ethn ofood plant s. The primitive man, through a process of trial and error, screened in hi s own way the wild growing plants for edible, me- dicinal and other material purposes. In- di ge nous communities living in biodiver- sity rich areas possess a wealth of knowl- edge on the utilization and conservation of food and medicinal plants. This tradi- tional knowledg e develo ped over years of observation , trial and error, inference and inheritan ce has largely remained with the indi ge nous people. Th e knowledge of tribes on the value of plants has helped th em to have a sense of respon sibility in judi ciously utilizing the plant resources and also to conserve and pass on the wis- *Corresponde nt author dom on plant resource utilization to the posterity. Moreover , the knowle dge of indigenous people is invaluable in th e present day context of biological diversity conservation and its sustainable utiliza- tion. The Mewar hills of Raja sthan har- bour vast diversity of vegetation. It in- cludes subtropical evergreen forests of Boswellia serrata, Dendro ca la111us stric- tus and Tectona grandis. Th ese for es ts are inhabited by the major tribes of th e state, viz. Bhils, Garasia s, Damors, and Kathodias . These tribes are the custodians of local indigenou s knowledge. The sur- rounding plants form an integral part or their culture and the information about plants gets pa ssed on from ge neration to g ener ation only through oral folk-lore although many times kept secret.