1

SAYAN LODH

UG II (SEMESTER IV)

ROLL NUMBER: 22

REGISTRATION NUMBER: 17106110022

PAPER CODE: HIST 0401

TOPIC: MEDIEVAL INDIAN MEDICAL TRADITIONS

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Abstract

The assignment titled ‘Medieval Indian Medical Traditions’ begins with a brief

background to the medieval Indian medical traditions, with reference to ancient Indian medicine.

The two primary medieval Indian medical traditions – Ayurveda and Unani have been discussed

in detail. The similarities and differences between the two traditions have been displayed. The

similarities between Ayurveda and Chinese medical tradition has been mentioned. Another

medical tradition of medieval times, the Siddha tradition have been talked about. The different

forms of surgeries practised in medieval India have been mentioned. The method of practice of

medical science in medieval India has been discussed. Finally, a description of the medieval

Indian medical system from the perspective of a French physician has been given. The research

concludes with the loss in popularity of traditional medicine systems with the colonisation of

India and introduction of modern medicine.

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Introduction

India has a rich heritage of medical sciences. In ancient India, vast strides were

made in the field of medical science. The earliest treatises of Indian medicine are Charaka

Samhita and Suśruta Samhita. Most of the advances in ancient Indian medicine were in the field

of surgery. In spite of the absence of anaesthesia, complex surgical procedures like plastic

surgery, cataract removal, and tooth extraction were performed, where wine was used as an

anaesthetic and leach was used for controlling blood loss. Ancient Indian physicians Jīvaka and

Suśruta were known for their skills as successful surgeons.

Ayurveda is India’s oldest medical tradition. It traces its origins to Vedic literature

(1500-500 BCE). It relies heavily on herbal medicines, including extracts of several plants, to

cure the patients. It was patronised both during the ancient and medieval periods and flourished.

Siddha, also originated during the ancient times, continued to exist in the medieval age. It was

similar to Ayurveda, but there were a few key differences. It was restricted to the Tamil speaking

areas.

With the establishment of Islamic rule in India in the 13th century, the Graeco-

Arabic form of medicine- Unani, established itself as one of the dominant medical traditions

besides Ayurveda. The Unani tradition, influenced by the ideas of Arabic physicians Ibn Sinha

(Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), was patronised by rulers like Mohammad bin Tughlaq

and Firuz Shah Tughlaq. Under their patronage many hospitals and dispensaries were built. Firuz

Shah Tughlaq built the largest hospital in Delhi called Dar al-Shifa. A compilation of translations

of Sanskrit works on Ayurveda called Tibbe Firuz Shahi was composed during Firuz Shah

Tughlaq’s reign.
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Colonial officials like Colonel Robert Kyd, the founder the Botanical Gardens in

Calcutta, refers to many intricate medical procedures and surgeries being performed in India.

Surgeries aimed at removing ulcers, worst form cutaneous eruptions, and mending broken nose

were performed with utmost precision. A cement called caute was used for fixing broken nose.

The Indian method of immunisation (tikah) against smallpox was also praised by colonial

officials as being superior to the practices in Europe.1

By the 16th century, medicine became well established as a profession mainly due

to royal patronage. The practitioners of medicine were paid well and enjoyed high social status.

In some areas, medical practitioners were allowed to wear hats or turbans and have umbrellas

carried over them, a symbol of high social status and prestige.

Ayurveda

The term Ayurveda means the ‘science of life’. The concepts and principles of

Ayurveda deals with body matrix, health and sickness. According to Ayurvedic beliefs the

universe is made up of five elements (panchabhutas) - water (ap), fire (tejas), air (vayu) earth

(prithvi), and ether or space or vacuum (akash).

Different combinations of these five elements form the human body, where health

is achieved by the perfect balance of the three primary humours or doṣas (Tridoṣa) – wind

(vata), gall (pitta) and mucus (kapha). The body is composed of the three humours, and the

1
Zaheer Baber, ‘The Science of Empire’, State University of New York Press (1996), Pgs.: 79-81
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seven basic tissues (sapta dhatus)- Rasa, Rakta, Mansa, Meda, Asthi, Majja and Shukra, along

with the waste matters like faeces, urine and sweat.

In Ayurveda, patient’s complete body diagnosis is done, by taking note of the

patient’s internal physiological characteristics and mental disposition. The treatment is aimed at

restoring the balance of the disturbed humours through regulation of diet, changing of daily

routine, administering drugs. Preventive non-drug therapies – ‘Panchakarma’ (Five Processes)

and ‘Rasayana’ (rejuvenation) therapy are also suggested to patients. Ayurveda lays great stress

on diet regulation.

There are some similarities between Ayurveda and the Chinese system of

medicine. The Chinese concept of Yin-Yang finds its contemporary in the recognition of male

and female shaktis by Ayurveda. The Mermas or vital points of the body as mentioned in Suśruta

Samhita are very similar to the acupuncture points of Chinese medicine. Moreover, the 107

Mermas are located in close proximity to the 2000 acupuncture points. But they are not as

precise and sharp as the acupuncture points.2

Ayurveda is known as Astanga Ayurveda as it is made up of eight branches or

disciplines, which often varied from time to time and physician to physician. In general, the

disciplines of Ayurveda are internal medicine (Kayachikitsa), paediatrics (Kaumar Bhritya),

psychiatry (Bhootavidya), otorhinolaryngology and ophthalmology (Shalakya), surgery (Shalya),

toxicology (Agada Tantra), geriatrics (Rasayana), aphrodisiacs and eugenics (Vajikarana).

In medieval India, with the coming of Islam, the Unani tradition of medicine was

established. But still Ayurveda continued to flourish. Both Ayurveda and Unani traditions

received state patronage. Ayurveda borrowed a number of drugs like henbane, rhubarb, and
2
A. Rahman, ‘India’s Interaction with China, Central and West Asia’, Oxford University Press (2002), Pg.: 271
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opium from Graeco-Arabic medicine. Many Persian and Arabic treatises were translated into

Sanskrit, and vice versa. There happened a cultural exchange between the two traditions.

Sanskrit Ayurvedic text Astanga Hrdya was translated into Persian as Shifa-i Mahmudi. The

Majmua-i Ziyai written by Ziya Mohammad Mashud during the reign of Mohammad bin

Tughlaq Rashid adopted many concepts from Ayurveda.

Siddha Tradition

The term siddha is derived from the word ‘siddhi’ which means achievement. The

Siddha tradition of medicine is closely related to the Tamil civilization and is popular in South

India and Ceylon. The practitioners of this tradition are called Siddhars. Siddha tradition is

primarily therapeutic in nature.

The Siddha tradition is similar to Ayurveda. According to Siddha beliefs, the

universe is made up of five basic elements - earth, water, fire, air and sky. This system considers

the human body as a conglomeration of three humours, seven basic tissues and waste products. It

considers the human body along with the food and drugs to be a replica of the universe,

irrespective of their origin.

In Siddha philosophy, Siva (matter) and Shakti (energy) are the two dominant

entities, that play a key role in shaping the nature of the universe. Matter and energy cannot exist

independent of each other, i.e. they are inseparable.

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Most of the drugs of this tradition are mineral or metal based, with very few being

of vegetable origin. The three prime areas of Siddha treatment are paediatrics, toxicology and

ophthalmology. This tradition lays great emphasis on meditation, besides medication. The

Siddha system has been effective in treating chronic cases of liver, skin diseases like ‘Psoriasis’,

anaemia, prostate enlargement and piles.

In the medieval era, the Siddha tradition continued to flourish, but was restricted

to the Tamil speaking areas of South India unlike the Ayurveda and Unani traditions which had a

pan-India appeal.

Unani Tradition

   The term Unani literally means ‘Greek’. It is perhaps a corruption of the term

‘Ionian’. It was based on the Hippocratic school of thought, further refined by Galen, Avicenna

and Rhazes. In medieval India, the Unani system represented a creative synthesis of indigenous

Ayurveda, Greek and West Asian medical systems and doctrines.

According to Unani principles, there are four basic elements – earth, air, water

and fire, which have different temperaments – hot, cold, humid and dry. The human body is

made up of seven components that have a direct impact on his health - Arkan (Elements), Mizaj

(Temperament), Akhlat (Humours), Aaza (Organs), Arwah (Spirits), Quwa (Faculties), Afaal

(Functions).3

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http://vikaspedia.in/health/ayush/unani (accessed: March 24, 2019)
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There are four humours (akhlat) which provide nourishment to the body. They are

blood (ḫūn, dam), which is hot and humid; phlegm (balġam), cold and wet; yellow bile (ṣafrā’),

hot and dry; and black bile (sawdā’), cold and dry4.

Unani tradition had a holistic approach, whereby health meant living in harmony

with the environment, besides maintaining a perfect balance of the humours internally. Diagnosis

is mainly dependent on the temperament (mizaj) of the patient, and external observation of signs

and symptoms, examination of the pulse (nubz), stool, urine, etc.

Unani System has shown remarkable results in curing the diseases like Arthritis,

Leukoderma, Jaundice, Liver disorders, Bronchial Asthma. In Unani medicine simple drugs or

their combinations in raw forms are used instead of compound formulations. All the medicines

used in this tradition like reserpine, ajamaloon, ajowan are natural, hence they have virtually no

side effects. This system is also unique due to its special treatment methods like Dieto therapy,

Climatic therapy and Regimental therapy.

Practice of Medicine in Medieval India

Medicine progressed a lot in medieval times. Many books were composed on

medicine both during the Sultanate and Mughal periods. While some books like Tarikh-i Firuz

Shahi by Ziauddin Barani fleetingly referred to medicine and physicians. Others like Ma’dan al-

Shifa-yi by Miyan Bhuwa, Tuhafat al-Mumeni by Mohammad Mumin Hussain. Medical treatises

like Rahat al-insan, Shifa al-Khani, Tibb-i Shahabi and Tibb-i Sikandari were also composed.
4
Fabrizio Speziale, ‘Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques’, (‘The Persian translation of the tridoṣa: Lexical
analogies and conceptual incongruities’), Year:2014, Volume: 68, Number:3, Pg.: 786
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The Tibb-i Dara Shikohi by Nur al-Din Shirazi is the biggest Persian medical

encyclopaedia written in India. Most of the medicine books composed under the Mughals were

composed during the reign of Aurangzeb. Two important medical texts of the period were

Tuhafat-ul Atibba and Riyaz-e Alamgiri. Persian medical texts were also composed by Hindus

like the Rahat al-faras by Anand Ram Mukhlis.

During the reign of Akbar, many hospitals were built. As a result, more people

had access to medicine. Some surgeons were experts in making artificial limbs. Mountstuart

Elphinstone, mentions about one hundred and seventeen forms of surgery that were performed in

medieval times. The most common being nose and limb replacement and fixing of dislocations.

The surgeons were precise at their work in spite of being unaware about human anatomy.

Students of medicine were instructed in private at the house of prominent

practitioners, with a few visits to the nearby hospitals for gaining practical experience. Initially,

the main text book was the Alexandrian Cannon, a collection of sixteen books written by Galen.

But later it was replaced by Indian texts. The student could obtain a license to practice medicine

by giving an examination in front of Court physicians or other government officials. The

students were bound by the ethical rules of the Hippocratic oath. This oath is still taken by

medical students all over the world.

Badauni, in his book, Nijatu’r Rashid, stated that in the Unani physicians were

forbidden to kill or to help in killing somebody by the use of their medical knowledge. They

were also prohibited to perform abortions. They were bound to provide free treatment to the

poor. 5

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http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/59913/6/06_chapter%202.pdf (accessed: March 24, 2019)
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Comparison of Ayurvedic and Unani Traditions

Both Ayurvedic and Unani traditions of medicine are based on a holistic approach

to health and treated the human body with reference to a larger ecological spectrum. Magical and

religious beliefs played a crucial part in both systems. The training of the student was similar in

both traditions, with the student residing in the house of a renowned practitioner and learning

from him.

Both Ayurveda and Unani are humour based systems, but the number of humours

and basic elements differed. In comparison to the four humours of Unani (blood, phlegm, black

bile and yellow bile), Ayurveda has three (wind, gall and mucus). Ayurveda has five (water, fire,

air, earth, and ether) basic elements, whereas Unani system has four (earth, air, water, and fire).

The Arabic Unani texts often contained individual case histories, which were absent from

Sanskrit Ayurvedic texts.

Due to interactions between the two systems, knowledge got exchanged. With the

arrival of the Unani tradition, pulse examination began to play a key role in Ayurveda. The

interactions between the two systems led to cultural synthesis between the two communities, i.e.

Hindus and Muslims. There was no animosity between the Vaids and Hakims, and they often

worked side by side in the same hospital.

Indian Medical System Through the Eyes of Bernier

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Foreign travellers who visited India during the medieval era, left valuable

accounts that grant us an insight into those times. Persian traveller Al-Beruni visited India

between 973 and 1048. His book Kitab al Saidan Phil-Tibb gives descriptions of 4500 plants,

animals and minerals. The book also mentions the common maladies prevailing in India at that

point of time and their probable remedies. Italian doctor Niccolao Manucci used the cinnabar

(called ‘Manoch’s Stone’ by him), to treat patients while he was at Madras in the 17th century.6

Manucci was fluent in several languages including Persian, and wrote about his experiences in

his memoir ‘Storia do Mogor’. The book was published in four volumes.

François Bernier was a French physician, who visited India in the 17th century,

compared the health systems prevailing in the East with that in the West. The treatise Tibb-i

Shahabi was composed in verse and greatly amazed Bernier. He stayed in India for twelve years

from 1656 to 1668. Initially he served as physician to Prince Dara Shikoh and later to

Danishmand Khan, an Armenian noble at the Mughal court.

In his works, Bernier discussed the diseases prevailing in India in great detail

along with their cures which helped both Indians and European travellers. Bernier himself

suffered from dysentery in Lahore, and recovered by drinking lots of water. Bernier also suffered

from a heat stroke once. He suggested lemonade and curd (dahi) as the most refreshing remedy

to the intense heat of the Indian summers. Bernier noted the feeble nature of the venereal

diseases in India. He noted that Indians in general were not fond of alcoholic beverages and

wines. This habit automatically cured Indians from many diseases like kidney stones, gout,

quartan agues, which were almost absent in India.

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https://www.thehindu.com/society/The-Italian-in-Madras/article16706554.ece (accessed: March 24, 2019)
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Bernier stated that the unsanitary conditions prevailing in India made it hard for

Europeans. The inconsumable food and unhealthy water in Delhi made allowed worms like the

Guinea worm to breed and infect people easily.

The Mughal harem was almost inaccessible to Bernier. Bernier was only allowed

to the outer quarters, where the women came for seeking medical aid. But once Bernier was

allowed inside the harem blindfolded, to treat a lady who was so ill that she could not be moved

to the outer quarters of the harem.

Bernier also laments the fact that the superstition of the Indians in touching the

dead body prevented the development of anatomy in India. However, he was amazed at how

accurately the Indian physicians performed surgeries without having any knowledge of anatomy.

He once dissected a goat to show his patron Danishmand Khan, the circulation of blood and the

structure of animal body. 7

Bernier’s scientific and medical training allowed him to critically analyse and

compare the medical system in India with that prevailing in 17th century France. His book

Travels in the Mogul Empire (A.D. 1656-1668), was originally published in French and later

translated into English, Dutch, German and Italian.

Conclusion

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Sakul Kundra, ‘The National Medical Journal of India’, (‘François Bernier’s discourse on the health system in
medieval India’), Year: 2010, Volume:23, Number: 4, Pg.: 236
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After the death of Aurangzeb in 1657, the Mughal Empire started to decline. The

English East India Company virtually established its control over India in 1757, and the British

government directly started to rule India after 1857. These political changes were accompanied

by changes in the field of science and medicine. Modern medicine was introduced and people

started to move towards them. Moreover, traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda and

Unani lost the state patronage.

Gradually the traditional forms of medicine lost their patients to modern medicine

and became less popular among the common people. But still these systems continued to exist

throughout the colonial era. Many new texts were also composed on traditional medicine like Mu

‘alajat-i hindi by Shaykh Haydar Misri written in the 19th century. After independence, the

traditional medical systems again received state patronage and started to flourish. Both

Ayurvedic and Unani traditions were modernised, but they still retained their holistic approach,

in treating a patient.

The medieval Indian medical practitioners adopted and built upon the practices

developed by their predecessors in ancient times. The fact they were able to achieve so much

without modern knowhow is amazing. So, ancient and medieval medical techniques can be

easily used to supplement modern ones.

Bibliography:

Articles:

Fabrizio Speziale, ‘Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques’, (‘The Persian translation of the

tridoṣa: Lexical analogies and conceptual incongruities’), Year:2014, Volume: 68, Number:3
14

Poonam Bala, ‘Bulletin of Indian Institute of History of Medicine’, (‘The Ayurvedic System of

Medicine Its Fate in Medieval India’), Year:1982, Volume:12

R.L. Verma, ‘Indian Journal of History Science’, (‘The Growth of Greco-Arabian Medicine in

Medieval India’), Year: 1970, Volume:5, Number: 2

Sakul Kundra, ‘The National Medical Journal of India’, (‘François Bernier’s discourse on the

health system in medieval India’), Year: 2010, Volume:23, Number: 4

Books:

A. Rahman, ‘India’s Interaction with China, Central and West Asia’, Publishing Place: New

Delhi, Oxford University Press, Year:2002

Zaheer Baber, ‘The Science of Empire: Scientific Knowledge, Civilization, and Colonial Rule in

India’, Publishing Place: New York, State University of New York Press, Year: 1996

Conference Proceeding:

Fabrizio Speziale, ‘THE CIRCULATION OF AYURVEDIC KNOWLEDGE IN INDO-PERSIAN

MEDICAL LITERATURE’, Paper presented at Symposium “Ayurveda in Post-Classical and Pre-

Colonial India”, IIAS, Place: Leiden, Year: 2009

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Websites:

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/59913/6/06_chapter%202.pdf (accessed:

March 24, 2019)

http://vikaspedia.in/health/ayush/unani (accessed: March 24, 2019)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816487/ (accessed: March 24, 2019)

https://www.thehindu.com/society/The-Italian-in-Madras/article16706554.ece (accessed: March

24, 2019)