Legends and Stalwarts of Unani medicine
Hippocrates بقراط
It was Hippocrates (460 BC-370 BC) who introduced disease and treatment as Science and freed this noble profession from superstitions and disbelieves. Hippocrates disputed the theory of “ill spirits” and proved that there were “Real and Physical causes” behind illnesses. Hippocrates postulated the basic principles of Medicine, and introduced Humoural theory. In Greek literature around 60 treatises often attributed to Hippocrates. “Natural forces within us (طبیعت) are the true healers of disease” –Hippocrates. Hippocrates was the first Epidemiologist, he authored the famous books Epidemics I and III. He also framed ethical responsibilities of medical professionals which is now known as Hippocratic oath. This oath is the earliest expression of medical ethics; this includes Principles of medical ethics, Principles of medical confidentiality and non-maleficence. Even today, this oath is taken by passing Medial graduates.
Herophilus ہیرو فیلس
Herophilus (335–280 BC) was a Physician and Anatomist of Ancient Greek era. Because of extensive contribution in the field of Anatomy, Herophilus is called “Father of Anatomy”. He Performed dissection on Cadaver in Alexandria School, which was the very first school of medicine established in Alexandria City in Egypt.
Erasistratus ایرا سِسترا توس
Erasistratus (304-250 BC) was a Greek Anatomist and Royal Physician. He also served at Alexandria School along with Herophilus.
Dioscorides دیسقوریدوس
Dioscorides (40-90 AD) was a Greek Physician, Pharmacologist and Botanist. He authored the famous De Materia Medica (کتاب الحشائش) in 5 Volumes, which is considered as Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, an illustrated book comprising about 600 herbal drugs.
Galen جالینوس
Galen (129-210 AD) was the Greek Physician, who influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He also dissected the animals (monkey) for the purpose of teaching Anatomy. Glaen also contributed to the therapeutics of various diseases. Many formulations are dedicated to him. Like Jawarish Jalinoos, Majoon Jalinoos Lulwi etc.
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān ابو موسا جابر ابن حیان
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (721- 815 AD) was born in Ṭūs city of Iran, and died in Al-Kūfah of Iraq. A great Muslim scholar known as the father of chemistry, Jābir was a chemist and possibly an Apothecary (Pharmacist) and also a Physician. The chemistry of sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) forms a particular focus for the Jabirian writings.
Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari علی ابن سهل ربن طبری
Rabban al-Tabari (838 – 870 CE; 810–855 CE) was a Persian Muslim Scholar, Physician and Psychologist, belong to a family of Tabaristan Amol (hence al-Tabari). He authored the famous book Firdous al-Hikmah (Paradise of Wisdom), the oldest encyclopedias of medicine. Other notable writings of Tabari include Tuhfat al-Muluk (The King's Present), a work on the proper use of food, drink, and medicines; Hafzh al-Sihhah (The Proper Care of Health), following Greek and Indian authorities; Kitab al-Ruqa (Book of Magic or Amulets); Kitab fi al-hijamah (Treatise on Cupping); Kitab fi Tartib al-'Ardhiyah (Treatise on the Preparation of Food).
Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi علی بن عباس مجوسی
Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi (Died in 994 CE) was a Physician and Psychologist from the Islamic Golden Age. His name was Latinized as Haly Abbas. Majusi was born in Ahvaz, southwestern Persia, studied under Shaikh Abu Maher Musa ibn Sayyār. His ancestors were Zoroastrian (whence the nisba "al-Majusi"), but he was a Muslim. He authored one of the many authoritative books of Unani medicine, viz. Kitāb Kāmil aṣ-Ṣināʿa aṭ-Ṭibbiyya. This great book was also names as The Complete Art of Medicine/ Liber Regalis/ Kitāb al-Malakiyy). Later this book was called The Complete Art of Medicine. He dedicated the work to the Emir, and it became known as the Kitāb al-Malakiyy (كتاب الملكي) Royal Book" or in Latin Liber Regalis.
Abū Bakr Muhammad bin Zakariyyā Rāzī ابوبكر محمّد بن زکرياى رازى
Abū Bakr Muhammad bin Zakariyyā Rāzī (854–925 CE) was born in the city of Rey situated on the Great Silk Road in Iran. His name was Latinized as Rhazes, he was a Persian physician, philosopher and polymath. At the young age, Rāzī moved to Baghdad where he studied and practiced at the local bimaristan (hospital). Later, he was invited back to Rey by Mansur ibn Ishaq (the governor) and became a bimaristan's head.
Rāzī authored one of the authoritative text books of Unani medicine Kitāb al-Ḥāwī fī al-ṭibb کتاب الحاوی فی الطب The Comprehensive Book on Medicine (Liber Continens) in 23 volumes. Another great book Kitab al-Judari wa al-Hasbah (De variolis et morbillis: Latin Translation) was also written by him, that have the very first description on Smallpox and Measles. He dedicated two books on medicine to Mansur ibn Ishaq, the ruler viz. The Spiritual Physic and Al-Mansūrī.
Alī ibn ʿĪsā al-Kahhal علي بن عيسى الكحال
Alī ibn ʿĪsā al-Kahhal (1010 AD) surnamed al-kahhal was the best known and most celebrated Arab Ophthalmologist. He was known in medieval Europe as Jesu Occulist. He was the author of the influential Tad̲h̲kirat al-Kaḥḥālīn (Memorandum of the Oculists). The book encompassed information on treatment and classification of over one hundred different eye diseases. In the book, eye diseases were sorted by their anatomical location.
Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-'Abbās al-Zahrāwī al-Ansari أبو القاسم خلف بن العباس الزهراوي الانصاری
Abū al-Qāsim al-Zahrāwī (936-1013 AD) was an Arab Undalusian physician, surgeon and chemist. Al-Zahrāwī was born in the city of Azahara, 8 kilometers northwest of Qartaba (Cordoba), Andalusia (Spain). Attributive title, Al-Ansari, in his name, suggests origin from the Madina. Popularly known as Al-Zahrawi, Latinised as Abulcasis (from Arabic Abū al-Qāsim). Referred to as the “father of modern surgery”, Al-Zahrawi specialized in curing disease by Cauterization. He invented several devices and surgical instruments used during surgery. Al-Zahrawi also pioneered Neurosurgery. He is known to have performed surgical treatments of Head injuries, Skull fractures, Spinal injuries, Hydrocephalus, Subdural effusions. Kitab al-Tasrif كتاب التصريف لمن عجز عن التأليف authored by Zahrāwī in 30 Volumes is a Medical Encyclopedia comprising of Surgery, Medicine, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Pharmacology, Nutrition, Dentistry, Childbirth, and Pathology. The Kitab al-Tasrif took Al-Zahrawi over 50 years to complete, which is the duration of his teaching, training and practice.
Abū al-Ḥasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tabari ابوالحسن احمد ابن محمد الطبری
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tabari was born in Amol in the 10th-century. He authored Compendium of Medicine and Medical encyclopedia Kitab al-mu'alaja al- buqratiya (Hippocratic treatments). He identified the mite of Scabies for the very first time and also given its picture in his book (might be seen by a magnifying glass) المعالجات بقراطیہ
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)
Ibn Sina ابن سینا, Abu Ali Sina ابوعلی سینا (980 –1037)
In the western world Ibn Sina is known as Avicenna, he is the father of early modern medicine, one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age. Avicenna was born in 980 AD, in Afshana, a village near Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan). Avicenna had memorised the entire Quran by the age of 10, he also studied Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) under the Sunni Hanafi scholar Ismail al-Zahid. Avicenna only at age of 18 achieved full status as a Qualified Physician. The youthful physician's fame spread quickly, and he treated many patients without asking for payment. He died in 1037, at the age of 56 year, in the month of Ramadan, and was buried in Hamadan, Iran. Avicenna authored The Canon of Medicine القانون في الطب Al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb, an encyclopedia of medicine, in five volumes. The Canon of Medicine remained a medical authority for centuries.
Zayn al-Din Sayyed Isma‘il ibn Husayn Jurjani زین الدین سید اسماعیل ابن حسین جرجانی
Also called as al-Jurjani جرجانی (1040–1136) was a Royal Islamic Physician from Jurjan, Iran. In addition to medical and pharmaceutical sciences, he was very good in theology and Philosophy. He died nearly at 100 lunar years of age. Zakhīra-i Khwârazmshâhī (Persian medical encyclopedia) written by Ismail Jurjani in 1110 AD in 10 volumes, this book builds upon works of Avicenna, Akhaveiny and other doctors of traditional medicine written in the fifth century or before.
Ḍiyāʾ Al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdllāh Ibn Aḥmad al-Mālaqī ضیاء الدین ابو محمد عبد اللہ ابن احمد المالقیی
Commonly known as Ibn al-Bayṭār ابن البيطار (1197-1248 AD) was born in the city of Málaga in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). "Ibn al-Baitar" is an Arabic term for "son of the veterinarian", which was his father's profession. He was an Andalusian-Arab Physician, Botanist, Pharmacist and Scientist. His main contribution was to systematically record the additions of medicine made by Islamic physicians in his book Kitāb al-Jāmiʿ li-Mufradāt al-Adwiya wa-l-Aghdhiya. He added between 300 and 400 types of medicine to nearly one thousand previously known medicines since antiquity. In 1219, Ibn al-Bayṭār left Málaga, travelling to the coast of North Africa and as far as Anatolia, to collect plants. The major stations he visited include Marrakech, Bugia, Constantinople, Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa and Antalya. He died in Damascus in 1248 AD.
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Haytham أبو علي الحسن بن الحسن بن الهيثم
Ibn al-Haytham (965 –1040 AD) born in 965 AD to an Arab family in Basra, Iraq was a Muslim Arab mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age. His name was Latinized as Alhazen and he is referred to as "the father of modern optics". He made significant contributions to the principles of optics and visual perception in particular.
Ala-al-Din abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Damashqi علاء الدين أبو الحسن عليّ بن أبي حزم القرشي الدمشقي
Famously known as Ibn al-Nafis ابن النفيس (1223-1288 AD) was an Arab polymath whose have great contribution in medicine, surgery, physiology, anatomy, biology, Islamic studies, jurisprudence, and philosophy. He was born in 1213 to an Arab family near Damascus, Syria. After formal study of theology, philosophy and literature in early life, he started studying Medicine at the age of 16 years at Nuri Hospital in Damascus. Ibn al-Nafis was appointed as the chief physician at al-Naseri, where he taught and practiced medicine for several years. He is known for being the First to describe the pulmonary circulation of the blood. As an early anatomist, Ibn al-Nafis also performed several human dissections during the course of his work and made several important discoveries in the fields of Physiology and anatomy. Ibn al Nafis is also considered as the father of Circulatory physiology.
Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa ابن أبي أصيبعة
Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (1203-1270) was born in Damascus, Syria. He was son of a physician; he studied medicine at Damascus and Cairo. In 1236 AD he was appointed physician to a new hospital in Cairo. He authored famous book on lives of physicians Uyūn ul-Anbāʾ fī Ṭabaqāt al-Aṭibbā عيون الأنباء في طبقات الأطباء, that include description of Greek phsycians, Roman physicians and Indian physicians upto the year 1252 AD.
Dawud Ibn ‘Umar al-Antaki داؤد ابن عمر الانطاکی
Dawud al-Antaki (1543-1599) was a Blind physician and pharmacist of Islamic golden era. He lived most of his life in Antioch before made a pilgrimage to Makkah. He visited Damascus and Cairo, and finally settled in Makkah. He is the author of Kitab Tazkira Al-Ulul Albab کتاب تذکرۃ الاولولالباب
Hakeem Muhammad Najmul Ghani Khan Rampuri حکیم نجم الغنی خاں رامپوری
Hakeem Muhammad Najmul Ghani was born in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India on October 7, 1859. Najmul Ghani’s finished his early education in Udaipur, later he went to Rampur’s Madressah-i-A’aliya from where he passed his Dars-i-Nizami. Najmul Ghani studied hikmat and became a hakim and authored voluminous book Khazain-ul-Advia that describes single drugs of Unani medicine in detail. Raza Ali Khan, the Nawab of Rampur, had made him the in-charge of Rampur’s Raza Library, a post he held till his death. Hakeem Muhammad Najmul Ghani Khan Rampuri died on July 1, 1932.
Hakim Ajmal Khan حکیم اجمل خاں
Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863–1927) was a great visionary and patron of Unani medicine in India. He established Ayurvedic & Unani Tibbia College in a single premise at Qarol Bagh, New Delhi for the promotion of Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicine together. He also established Hindustani Dawakhana and Ayurvedic Rasayanshala, drug manufacturing units for Unani and Ayurvedic drugs respectively. He also emphasized and promoted scientific research in Unani medicine, this considered as Pioneer of Experimental Research in Unani Medicine in India.
Hakeem Abdul Hameed حکیم عبد الحمید
Hakeem Abdul Hameed (1908-1999 AD) was a great hakim and visionary of Unani medicine. He established Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard Laboratories, Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Education Society. He was the elder brother of the Hakeem Muhammad Saeed who established Hamdard in Pakistan. By the efforts of Hakim Abdul Hameed sahab Hamdard became synonym of Unani medicine. Hamdard is the largest Unani drugs manufacturer in India.
