Abdullah Tabib, also known as Abdullah Yazdi,[a] was a Unani physician and writer from the Golconda Sultanate of present-day southern India. He is best known for writing the medical book Farid, also known as Tibb-i Faridi.
Biography edit
Abdullah Tabib was a famous physician of Golconda.[3][4] He lived during the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (r. 1580–1612), to whom he dedicated his work Farid.[2][5] The author calls himself "Abdullah Tabib" in the book's preface. The end of the book's Bodleian Library manuscript, in which two leaves were added much later, calls him Abdullah Yazdi.[1] Another work, Subh-i Sadiq, dates Abdullah Yazdi to the same period, and describes him as an immigrant to India and a pupil of Khwaja Jamaluddin Mahmud Shirazi.[1]
Works edit
Abdullah Tabib's Farid[b] is a work on medicine that discusses hygiene and treatment of diseases through proper food and simple drugs.[3] For example, the author considers polygonum aviculare (anjabar or knot grass) as the best drug for treating hematuria.[7] The introduction of the book discusses the essentials of health and its preservation. The book has a chapter dealing with common human diseases, and a conclusion divided into three parts.[1] The author quotes from several earlier writers including Hippocrates, Plato, Masawaiyh, Abu Bakr al-Razi, and Ibn Zuhr.[5] The manuscripts of Farid are available at Bodleian Library (possibly from late 17th century), Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library (1763 CE), and the Nizamia Tibbi College Library.[2][3]
The works attributed to Abdullah Yazdi include Hashiyah bar Mukhtasar Talkhis, Hashiyah bar Sharh-i Tajrid, and Hashiyah bar Tahzib.[1]
According to Charles Ambrose Storey, a work titled Tibb i Faridi, attributed to Farid al-Din, may be same as Abdullah Tabib's Farid. It is known from a manuscript at the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library in Chennai, but does not contain any preface or colophon. It contains 368 chapters dealing with a particular disease and its treatment.[2]
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Abdur Rahman (1982). "'Abdu'llāh Ṭabīb". Science and Technology in Medieval India: A Bibliography of Source Materials in Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian. Indian National Science Academy. pp. 3–4. OCLC 9852452.
- ^ a b c d e C.A. Storey (1971). Persian Literature - a Biobibliographical Survey: Volume II Part 2 - Medicine. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 251–252. ISBN 9780700713622.
- ^ a b c d B. V. Subbarayappa, ed. (2001). Medicine and Life Sciences in India. Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture. p. 337.
- ^ Syed Ejaz Hussain (2015). "Rise and Decline of Surgery in Indigenous Medicine with Emphasis on Unani-tibb". In Mohit Saha; Syed Ejaz Hussain (eds.). India's Indigenous Medical Systems: A Cross-disciplinary Approach. Primus. p. 68. ISBN 9789380607627.
- ^ a b c V. Kishan Rao; A. Satyanarayana, eds. (2005). A Thousand Laurels - Dr. Sadiq Naqvi: Studies on Medieval India with Special Reference to Deccan. Vol. 2. Osmania University. p. 699. OCLC 70864651.
- ^ Hakim Abdul Hameed, ed. (1979). Studies in History of Medicine and Science. Vol. 3. Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research. p. 133.
- ^ Asoke K. Bagchi (1997). Medicine in Medieval India: 11th to 18th Centuries. Konark. p. 78. ISBN 9788122004687.