A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c18: Chapter 11

A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c18

Language: English

Chapter 11

The *Carakasaṃhitā* was translated into Persian¹ by an Indian physician, usually referred to as Manka,² whose actual name is supposed to have been Maṅkha or Māṇikya.³ This Manka came from India to the ‘Abbāsid court at Baghdad on the request of the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, who was suffering from a disease which his own physicians were unable to cure. After successfully treating his royal patient, Manka apparently stayed in Iran and may have embraced Islam. He was appointed chief physician of the royal hospital in Baghdad and rendered a number of Indian scientific treatises into Persian.⁴ Works he is said to have translated are the *Carakasaṃhitā*, *Suśrutasaṃhitā*, Śānāq’s Book on poisons (*Kitāb al-sumūm*),⁵ and a book on the names of Indian medicinal plants.⁶

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Manka is also mentioned in the *Kitāb al-bayān wa’l-tabyīn* (Book of eloquence and exposition) of al-Jāḥiẓ (ninth century) and the *‘Uyūn al-akhbār* (Choice Histories) of Ibn Qutayba (ninth century).⁷

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Manka’s Persian version of the *Carakasaṃhitā* was translated into Arabic by ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Alī.⁸

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Arabic authors who mention Caraka⁹ or give extracts from his work are: ‘Alī ibn-Sahl al-Ṭabarī in his *Firdaws al-ḥikma*;¹⁰ Ibn al-Nadīm in his *Fihrist al-‘ulūm*;¹¹ Wādiḥ al-Ya‘qūbī;¹² al-Rāzī in his *Kitāb al-ḥāwī fī’l-ṭibb*;¹³ Ibn-Sīnā in his *al-Qānūn fī’l-ṭibb*;¹⁴ al-Bīrūnī in his *Taḥqīq mā li’l-hind*¹⁵ and *Kitāb al-ṣaydana fī’l ṭibb*;¹⁶ Ibn Abī Uṣaybi‘a in his *‘Uyūn al-anbā’ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbā’;*¹⁷ Ibn al-Bayṭār.¹⁸

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Yoḥannān bar Serāpyōn (Yūḥannā ibn Sarābiyūn)¹⁹ was also acquainted with Caraka.²⁰

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Caraka was one of the sources of the *Ma‘din al-Shifā’*.²¹

Linked texts (3)

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit
Carakasaṃhitā — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit
Suśrutasaṃhitā — Suśruta & Nāgārjuna (siddha/alchemist), Sanskrit