India is on the fashion map now, but it put Rhinoplasty on the beauty map centuries ago

India has long been a land of visionaries—whether in fashion, art, or medicine. Today, its designers are placing the country firmly on the global style radar with groundbreaking craftsmanship and embroidery. But long before India became a fashion capital, it was already shaping another industry altogether: beauty. One of the most transformative procedures in modern aesthetics—rhinoplasty—was born here.

The origins trace back to Sushruta, an ancient surgeon in Kashi around 600 BCE, whose work predates Hippocrates and Galen. Often called the father of plastic surgery, he documented sophisticated techniques in the Sushruta Samhita—from reconstructing noses with cheek flaps to repairing earlobes, lips, and even practising skin grafting. Remarkably, he designed and crafted his own instruments, setting a template for surgical innovation that travelled far beyond India.

As noted in research from Columbia University, the Sushruta Samhita also recorded over 1,100 diseases, the use of medicinal plants, and early surgical practices. It provides the first written account of forehead-flap rhinoplasty—a method still in use today—originally developed for those who had lost their noses as punishment for theft or adultery (Plastic Surgery at Columbia).

Centuries later, this knowledge resurfaced in a story that reads almost like folklore. In 1792, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War, a bullock-cart driver named Cowasjee was captured by Tipu Sultan’s forces and punished by the amputation of his nose and arm. Nearly a year later, in Pune, he sought help from local potters who had inherited Sushruta’s surgical wisdom. Using a forehead skin flap, they reconstructed his nose—a procedure both daring and successful.

Two British doctors who witnessed the operation published an account of it in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1794. Their report spanned continents, and a few years later, surgeon J C Carpue performed the first rhinoplasty in England using the Indian method. From there, the technique evolved, influencing pioneers like Harold Gillies and ultimately laying the foundation of modern plastic surgery.

As further noted in a Science Direct paper, the origin of interest in rhinoplasty in India was deeply tied to social realities of the time: nose mutilation was used as a form of punishment for immoral conduct, making reconstruction both a medical necessity and a social reintegration tool.

Fast forward to today, and rhinoplasty is one of the most requested cosmetic procedures worldwide—helping celebrities, models, and influencers alike achieve the so-called “perfect” nose. From red-carpet close-ups to billboards and magazine covers, this ancient Indian innovation is behind many of the sculpted profiles we see and admire in pop culture.

So while India may only now be hailed as a global fashion force, it’s worth remembering that it quietly placed rhinoplasty—and, by extension, plastic surgery itself—on the beauty map centuries ago.

Lead image: AI-generated 

Inside image: Wikimedia Commons

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