ABSTRACT
In ancient era, efforts to control plant diseases were hampered by the lack of information on the causes of diseases and also due to the belief that diseases were manifestations of the wrath of God. Most ancient reports, however, dealt with festivals and sacrifices to thank, please, or appease a God and to keep God from sending away the dreaded rusts, mildews, blasts, or other crop scourges. In many of the early references, plant diseases were considered to be a curse and a punishment to the people by God for wrongs and sins they had committed. Yet Theophrastus and his contemporaries, being unable to explain plant diseases, believed that God controlled the weather that brought about the disease. The plant diseases were initially attributed to various reasons viz; divine power, curse of God, religious belief, occultation, superstition, effect of moon and stars, bad wind, etc. Details of plant diseases along with their management were mentioned in the early/ancient literature.
