Johann Martin Honigberger

Johann Martin Honigberger (10 March 1795 – 18 December 1869) was a Transylvanian Saxon medical doctor and traveller. He travelled through Asia to India and wrote a book on his experiences in the East. A novel based on his life, written by Mircea Eliade in 1940, The Secret of Dr. Honigberger, became popular.

Early life Honigberger was born to a Transylvanian Saxon family in Kronstadt which was then part of the Principality of Transylvania. After training in medicine, Honigberger travelled to Constantinople in 1815 and over the following two years he travelled throughout the Levant, Egypt, Arabia and Persia as a government physician.

Whilst in Baghdad he learnt of the exploits of four European generals, Jean-François Allard, Paolo Avitabile, Claude Auguste Court and Jean-Baptiste Ventura who had thrived in the service of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. On being told of the need for medical personnel in the army Ranjit Singh was preparing, he obtained a reference letter and set out for Punjab. In Lahore, he initially treated East India Company soldiers before he was able to attract the attention of the Ranjit Singh who made him a court physician.

In 1834, he returned to Europe, following the road across the Sulaiman Range from the Indus into Afghanistan. He was robbed at Bamyan, north of Kabul, but eventually made it through Russia to reach Europe once more. Between 1836 and 1838 he practiced medicine in Constantinople, experimenting with homeopathic remedies.

In 1838, he returned to Lahore at the request of Ranjit Singh. Despite winning the favour of Ranjit Singh, Honigberger held an unflattering opinion of the Maharaja, describing him as of very low stature. Ranjit Singh offered him command of an artillery battalion, but Honigberger refused on want of not being a soldier, eventually however he accepted an appointment as superintendent of the royal gunpowder factory. In 1839 Honigberger was present at the funeral of Ranjit Singh, a ceremony he described as abominable, and of which he wrote a detailed account of the burning of four of his widows, and seven concubines.