The Sushruta Samhita Vol. 1 (English translation)

basis of all systems of scientific medicine in the world (1) A. "The great works of Charaka and Sushruta were translated into Arabic under the patronage of Caliph Al-Mansur in the eighth century. The Arabic version of Sushruta is known by the name 'Kelale Shawshoore-al-Hindi.' These translations were, in turn, translated into Latin. The Latin versions formed the basis of European medicine, which remained indebted to Eastern medical science until the seventeenth century." — History of the Aryan Medical Science (Thakor Saheb of Gondal), p. 196. B. Regarding the debt the Arabic school of medicine owes to the works of Indian masters, see Puschmann, p. 162. C. Bedro'e, Book IV, Ch. II, 286–299.. Of these, the Sushruta Samhita is the most representative work of the Hindu system of medicine. It embraces all that can possibly pertain to the science of medicine (2) Dr. Wise (Hindu System of Medicine)..

Sushruta prior to Charaka: The general consensus of expert opinion is to place Charaka before Sushruta in terms of time. However, the Puranas unanimously describe Sushruta as a disciple of Dhanvantari, the first proponent of medical science. The long compound words (samásas) he used, and the prose and metrical portions of the Sushruta—modeled after Jaimini, Patanjali, and other philosophical writers who adopted prose or verse according to the explanatory or rationalistic nature of their subjects—have all been cited to prove that Sushruta was a contemporary of the Darshanas or of Buddha. But these may serve, at least, to fix the date of the revision by Nagarjuna (that is, the Sushruta Samhita as we currently have it), but they can never help determine the chronology of the original Sushruta, the disciple of Dhanvantari "who emerged from the churning of the primordial ocean in the golden age (Satya Yuga)" (3) क्षीरोदमथने वैद्यो देवो धन्वन्तरिस्ततः ।
विभ्रत कमण्डलुं पूर्णममृतेन समुत्थितः ।
आयुर्वेदमथाष्टाङ्गं सुमुताय स उक्तवान्।