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A Concise History of Science in India c8.s9: The Unani Tibb (Greek Medicine) in India

A Concise History of Science in India c8.s9

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English

The Unani Tibb (Greek Medicine) in India

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M. Z. SIDDIQI

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The system of the healing art known in India as the *Unani Tibb* is the same as that called ‘Arabian Medicine’ by the European historians and medical men. They call it ‘Arabian’ because they had received it through the Arabic medical writers. The Indians call it *Unani* because it is mainly based on the Greek system which was founded by Hippocrates and developed by Aristotle, Galen and other Greek writers. The Arabic medical writers, having taken it from the Greeks, developed it further in the light of Persian medical traditions and of the Indian system of medicine, modified and improved it as a result of their own observation and experience, and handed it down to the posterity. Hippocrates has been accepted as the father of Greek medicine. To him is attributed the Greek humoral theory which laid down that the living organism consisted of four humours—blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Each of them consisted of four elements—fire, water, air and earth, each of which possessed some particular quality—heat, coolness, dryness and humidity. The organism and its single parts possess these essential qualities. The essential factor in life is the natural heat, the seat of which is the left heart. It pervades the entire organism. If the humours and their elements are in proper proportions and are properly mingled, the organism enjoys perfect health, and, if it is disturbed due to internal or external causes, disease sets in. The natural heat tries to combat it. It is the duty of the physician to help the natural healing power of the organism by suitable medicine when necessary and not to supersede or impede it. The therapeutics of Hippocrates was not bound by any fixed rules. It was essentially individualistic. According to him the physician should treat the sick and not the sickness.

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From the end of the seventh century, the Muslim Caliphs and their courtiers began to take active interest in Greek philosophy and science in general and in Greek medicine in particular. They collected together the masters of Greek medicine from the various parts of their dominions and Greek medical works from their own dominions as well as from foreign countries. They also invited several Indian medical men to their capital. In less than a century they got translated into Arabic most of the Greek and several of the important Indian medical works. Under their patronage the Arabs, as well as the non-Arabs, the Muslim and the non-Muslims began serious study of these medical works from the ninth century and continued it on a wide scale for many centuries, the main centres of their activities being Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, Cordova and various other capitals of Islamic dominions. During this period they adapted, summarized, commented upon and made certain important additions to the Greek system of medicine as a result of their own observations and experience of medical cases.

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The earliest of the independent Arabic medical writers was Ali b. Rabban, who, in A.D. 850, in his book, *Firdausúl-Ḥikmat* (Paradise of Wisdom), summarized the whole system of Greek medicine as well as the Indian system of medicine on the basis of four important Indian medical works—*Caraka*, *Suśruta*, *Nidāna* and *Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya*. After him, his student, Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Zakariyya ar-Razi (Rhazes of Medieval Europe), who died in the first quarter of the tenth century, made a thorough study of both the systems, had been in charge of many hospitals, introduced in them the system of keeping complete records of each case, and, in his methods of teaching medicine, attached great importance to practical training of its student. This method was adopted by other physicians also.

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But the pride of place among the Arabic medical writers belongs to Abu ‘Ali Husain b. Abdallāh b. Sīnā (Avicenna) (A.D. 980–1036). His *Qānūn* (*Canon*) was accepted as the most authoritative medical work in Europe for five centuries (twelfth-seventeenth century). And it is accepted as the greatest authority on the *Unani Tibb* in India up to the present day. He composed 99 books, some of which occupied more than 20 volumes. Sixteen of his books deal with medical subject. The most important of them is the *Canon* on medicine.

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Both before and after Avicenna, a large number of medical men in the various parts of Muslim dominions produced, in Arabic or Persian, a large number of medical books according to Greek system, adapting or changing or improving its theory or practice in the light of their own experience. They anticipated the so-called modern theory of the circulation of blood as well as the germ theory. They made great strides in symptomatology, in special pathology, epidemiology, opthalmology, dietetics, toxicology and midwifery. They pointed out the connection between exophthalmos and goitre, introduced the process of bleeding for the treatment of cerebral haemorrhage and apoplexy, performed gastric lavage, used opotherapy, and could keep a patient unconscious for seven days. They invented many delicate surgical instruments, performed the amputation of the ovula and the excision of the whole tongue, removed the diseased bone from the skull and replaced it by that of a dog. They made important independent contributions to therapeutics, pharmacy and pharmaceutical techniques, and used many drugs and chemicals which were entirely unknown to the Greeks.a The Greek medicine, thus largely improved, partly modified and better systematized by the Arabic medical writers than by the Greeks, was carried to Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The same system was brought to India by the Muslims in the eleventh century and cultivated and followed throughout the century for 800 years side by side with the Āyurvedic system. Perhaps India is the only country in which the two ancient systems of medicine are still in vogue side by side with the modern allopathic system.

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a Siddiqi, pp. xiv ff.

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The Muslim rulers of India and of its various parts were highly interested and some of them were well versed in medicine. They attracted to their capitals the best Hakims from the various parts of the Islamic dominions and reputed Vaids from different parts of India, paid them high salaries and conferred upon them high titles and also occasionally gave them large monetary grants and landed properties. They founded numerous free hospitals in various parts of the country and collected large libraries and persuaded the Hakims to develop and improve the healing art.

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During the reign of ‘Alauddin Khalji, there were numerous reputed Hakims and Vaids in Delhi whose names are mentioned by Barani. Muhammad b. Tughlaq was well versed in *Unani Tibb* and personally examined and treated the patients, and discussed medical problems with the Hakims. At his persuasion Hakim Diya Muhammad, the son of Muhammad Masud, compiled in a.d. 1320 a book, *Majmuai-Diyaiyya*, on the basis of Arabic, Persian and also some Āyurvedic medical works. In this book there is reference to another book, *Majmuai-Shamaiyya*, which was compiled earlier by Shamsuddin Mustaufi, which is said to be a Persian translation of an Āyurvedic book. Firoz Shah Tughlaq had a in Persian poetry. He compiled these books on the basis of Arabic, Persian and some Āyurvedic works and took help in this connection from some Yogis. He has mentioned in the book the names of certain drugs in Sanskrit as well as in Sindhi. After him Hakim ‘Ali Muhammad, the court physician of Mahmud Shah (A.D. 1458–1510),a translated at his command, with the help of some Pundits, a book of Vāgbhaṭa from Sanskrit into Persian.b

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In the Deccan under the Bahmanid ruler, Mahmud Shah (A.D. 1378–1396), translated certain Āyurvedic works into Persian, in three volumes. It was named *Tibbe-Shifai-Mahmudi*.c Under the ‘Adil-Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, Hakim Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah, generally known as Firishta, wrote in the year A.D. 1590 a book, *Dasturil-Atbba*, which is also called *Ikhtiyarati-Qasimi*. In the introduction to this book, he says that at first he made a deep study of the *Tibbe-Unani* and after that he studied Āyurvedic system of medicine also, and found its theories as well as its practice well founded though at the outset they appeared to be strange. He adds that he was also closely associated with some of the Vaids. To several of them he was referred by name.d Alauddin Ahmad Shah II of Bahmani dynasty founded a large free hospital at Bidar, appointed Hakims as well as Vaids in it to attend to the patients. He also established a medical school which was attached to the hospital. In his court there were numerous Hakims and Vaids, some of whome compiled some important medical books. As a matter of fact, since the advent of the Muslims, the Deccan has ever been one of the important centres of the *Unani Tibb*.

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Like Gujarat and the Deccan, the rulers of each of the local Indian Muslim State had in their courts several Hakims and Vaids, some of whom made their own contributions to the development of the *Unani Tibbi* literature in India.

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The advent of the Mughals added largely to the popularity, progress and glory of *Unani Tibb* in India. They gave the Hakims much higher position and paid them much higher salaries, giving some of them Rs. 50,000 per annum, and occasionally bestowed upon them much higher rewards in cash and in kind that did their predecessors. Thus they attracted to India many more highly qualified Hakims from Iran and other places than their predecessors could, and encouraged them to cultivate and advance the *Tibbi-Unani* in this country. They also established a network of many new free public hospitals in all the large cities of the country.f

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These hospitals must have been organized according to the same principles as those of the other Islamic dominions which, according to Cyril Elgood,g were as models of the European hospitals. But in the medieval Indian hospitals generally the Hakims and the Vaids worked side by side as it is obvious from the description of the hospital which was founded by a Khayr Andish Khan given in his *Khayrut-Tajarib*.h Abul-Fazl has given the names of 39 Hakims of his time in his '*Ain*. But they were only those who were in the service of the court at Delhi. In the whole country the number of the Hakims who either served in the various hospitals or carried on private practice in the various parts of India, during the Mughal rule, must have been several thousands. The main centres of their medical activities were Lahore, Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, Murshidabad, Hyderabad, Madras and other important towns. In many of these centres there were not only well-equipped *Unani* hospitals, but also *Tibb Mādrasas*.

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a *Hamdardi-Ṣiḥḥat*, pp. 4–9.

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b *Ma‘ārif*, pp. 35–42.

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c *Islamic Tibb*, pp. 127–33.

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d Siddiqi, pp. 109 ff.

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e Siddiqi, pp. xxxv–xxxvi.

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f Siddiqi, p. xxxv ff.

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g Elgood, p. 178.

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h Siddiqi, p. xxxvi.

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These Hakims made large contributions to the so-called *Tibbi-Unani*. A large part of this literature consisted of the translation, commentaries or summaries of Arabic medical books, or of the translation or adaptation of Āyurvedic works. And some of them are based on any one or both of them. The *Tibbi-Aurangzebi*, which was dedicated to Aurangzeb, is entirely based on Āyurvedic sources. The *Muʻālajāti-Darshikohi* of Nuruddin Muhammad, which was dedicated to Darasdhikoh, is based mainly on the Greek system, but contains at the end almost the whole of Āyurvedic *materia medica*.

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But it would be a mistake to suppose that the Indian Hakims made no independent contribution to the so-called *Tibbi-Unani*. The author of the *Khulastuʼt-Tajárib*, after summarizing the Greek theories mainly according to Avicenna, described a large number of diseases and their treatment, gave clinical description of many cases and mentioned the medicaments according to the Greek as well as the Āyurvedic system. He laid it down that in the science of medicine experience is the basic principle of treatment. He described several diseases including whooping cough which were not recognized in Europe for centuries after him. He has referred to Greek authors but very seldom to Āyurvedic works. Hakim Sharif Khan (A.D. 1725–1806) in his *Tálifi-Sharifi* collected together the names of such Indian drugs as he had tried and found useful. In his *Tuhfa-ʻAlam Sháhi* he has discussed the properties of various Indian diets and has remarked that a patient may be easily cured by the use of proper diets only.

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As a matter of fact, Hakims of the various parts of India, during the different periods, produced a large number of books on the various branches of medical science on the basis of *Unani* or Āyurvedic system of medicine and on the basis of their own experience of medical cases.

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The last large and more or less exhaustive book, the *Iksiri-Aʻzam*, on the various diseases from head to foot, their causes, their diagnosis and their treatment according to the Greek system, was compiled by Hakim Muhammad Aʻzam Khan, in four big volumes on the basis of most of the important medical works on the *Unani Tibb* in Arabic or Persian, written in or outside India. The book, in spite of its large size, has already undergone four editions.

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The author has never referred to any Āyurvedic work. But he has often mentioned the Indian medicaments after dealing with the treatment of the various diseases. He also compiled another large book, The *Muḥiṭi* *Aʻẓam*, on *materia medica*, on the basis of 68 previous works on the subject. In it, he has mentioned a large number of Indian medicaments belonging to vegetable, mineral and animal kingdoms. These books contain the summary of all the previous works on these subjects.

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The Hakims generally thought that the basic Greek theory of medicine, which was supported by Arabic medical writers also, was unassailable. But a reaction against this attitude began in the nineteenth century, due to the influence of modern scientific discoveries and the allopathic system of medicine. In A.H. 1295 (A.D. 1878), Hakim Afḍal ʻAli of Faydabad wrote a book, *Jami ʻush-Shifaiya*, in which he strongly challenged the theories of the Greek system and remarked that most of it was based on wrong presumptions. After him, Masihu'l-Mulk Hakim Muhammad Ajmal Khan, a man of versatile genius, broad outlook and wide influence, realized the defects of the *Unani* system of medicine, and tried to reform it in every possible way. He founded the Āyurvedic and the Unani Tibbi College in Delhi, reformed its courses of study and established a strong department of research on Indian drugs. He also fought hard against the aggressive attitude of the Medical Council and the British Government against the indigenous systems of medicine. He was helped in his efforts by the transfer of the Education Department to Indian Ministers, who, after making the necessary enquiries about the popularity and the practical utility of these systems, decided to establish official teaching institutions and hospitals for them. Thus were established, in addition to the already existing public Tibbi teaching institutions, official Tibbi colleges also at various places.

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The institution for research in *Unani Tibbi*, founded by Hakim Ajmal Khan, came to an end after his death. But its noble object was taken up by the Hamdard Dawakhana of Hakim Abdu'l-Hamid of Delhi, who established the Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research with a hospital, a herbarium, medical library and a well-staffed department to do research according to modern scientific system, on the history of medicine in general and on the *Unani Tibbi* medicaments in particular, and endowed upon it a very large part of the income of the Hamdard Dawakhana.

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The Indian Hakims, however, made a large contribution to Persian medical literature, discovered new diseases and their treatments, developed the treatment of the veneral diseases and made fresh contribution to epidemiology, toxicology, therapeutics and *Unani Materia Medica*. They served sincerely the ailing Indians, the rich as well as the poor, during the last 800 years. And they are holding high the flag of *Unani Tibb* in India at present also.

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The author of this chapter wishes to thank Dr. M. Z. Siddiqi who has contributed the section on the *Unani Tibb* in India (pp. 268–73), and Shri H. N. Gupta and Kaviraj Bagala Kumar Majumdar who rendered valuable assistance in the preparation of the major part of the other sections.

Cites (4)