Worksheet - Medieval Indian Texts on Medicine · 2019. 9. 26. · Irfan Habib, Medieval India: The...
Transcript of Worksheet - Medieval Indian Texts on Medicine · 2019. 9. 26. · Irfan Habib, Medieval India: The...
Medieval Indian Texts on Medicine
During the late ancient and early medieval period, a number of texts and
commentaries were written on Ayurveda. The 7th century CE witnessed the
compilation of eight topics on medicine – the ‘Ashtangasamgraha’ of Vagabhata. A
very influential work on diagnosis and pathology, the ‘Rugvinishchaya’ was
written in the ninth century by Madhavakara. About the same time, Dridhabala
revised and enlarged the Charaka Samhita. Translations of both, the Sushruta
Samhita and Charaka Samhita, appeared in Arabic by the ninth century and
Ayurveda was partially absorbed into Arabic medicine. However, the core of Arabic
medicine continued to remain Greek.
During the Sultanate period, the Greek school of medicine (that had been
developed in Persian and Arabic) became dominant at the Delhi court. This was
Unani Tibb. Unani Tibb (which literally means ‘Greek Medicine’)
was a system of medicine that originated as a part of the ancient
Greek, Arabic and Persian medicine and it was introduced in
India in the 12th century CE. No one
individual is identified as the founder of
Unani Tibb, and instead many important
physicians contributed to its development. Among the
contributors, Galen is regarded as the most influential.
Contemporary Unani practitioners in India and Pakistan cite the
importance of Hippocrates as well. The main textbook of Unani
medicine is the Canon of Avincenna, which has been written in Persian.
A number of scholars and practitioners called ‘hakims’ and ‘tabibs’
encouraged the spread of Unani medicine in India, and it gradually became one of
the prominent Indian medical systems. In course of time, it embraced Indian ideas,
therapies and pharmacy and adapted itself to the local conditions. In fact, the great
success of Unani medicine in India has often been attributed to the fact that both,
Ayurveda and Unani rely on the medicinal uses of native plants and herbs.
The reverse was also true. During the medieval period, a number of renowned
Indian vaidyas were invited to Baghdad and many Ayurvedic treatises were
translated into Arabic. For example, Sushruta Samhita was translated into Arabic
as ‘Kitab-shawasoon-al-hind’. During the Sultanate
period, there was also an attempt to make use of the
Ayurvedic system. For example, Milhana wrote
‘Chikitsamrita’, a Sanskrit work on Ayurvedic
therapeutics. The traveller Ziauddin Barani mentions
Ayurvedic practitioners in Delhi in the early
fourteenth century, such as the physician Mah
Chandra. When Sultan Mahmud Khalji built a
hospital in Mandu (present-day Malwa) in 1442-43,
he ordered that medicines should be procured as
well as prescribed by ‘Islamic’ and ‘Brahmanical’
physicians. In 1512-13, an Afghan noble Miyan Bhuwah wrote a Persian
compilation of all the major Ayurvedic Sanskrit texts, including the Sushruta
Samhita, the Charaka Samhita and twelve others. It is quite interesting that,
according to him, such translations were necessary because the Greek medicines
did not suit the climate in India and most of the medicinal plants mentioned in the
Greek system were unidentifiable or unobtainable in India.
Even in present-day India, Unani medicine is practiced alongside
Ayurvedic and modern European medicine.
INITIATIVES BY FIROZ TUGHLAQ
The ruler Firoz Tughlaq personally supervised the compilation of a comprehensive work on medicine – the ‘Tibb-i-Firozshahi’. He also established a hospital for the
masses. An interesting initiative undertaken by him was to gather all the mentally ill patients and detain them in the hospital for treatment. The historian Irfan Habib
has regarded this as a modern approach to the problem.
ACTIVITY
Find out about and elaborate upon the key similarities and differences between
Ayurveda and Unani systems of medicines.
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REFERENCES: Irfan Habib, Medieval India: The Study of a Civilization Helen E. Sheehan and S. J. Hussain, “Unani Tibb: History, Theory, and Contemporary Practice in South Asia” R. L. Verma, “The Growth of Greco-Arabian Medicine in Medieval India” Tazimuddin Siddiqi, “Unani Medicine in India during the Delhi Sultanate” http://www.ayushtamilnadu.com/images/unani.jpg http://www.herbalniamaths.com/images/ph2.jpg