Until the early twentieth century, the whole healthcare system was run by the Unani system of medication with Hakeem’s on the apex of the distinctive pyramid. Kashmir excelled in making a few of the finest healthcare givers from the medieval Sultanate period, MJ Aslam writes

Centuries earlier than the arrival of the European allopathic healthcare system, there was a well-established medieval regime of Unani drugs prevalent in Kashmir. Shiv Bhatta [not Shri Bhatta] was Shah i Tabib (chief doctor) of Sultan Zainulabidin, the Budshah. He lived in Sultan’s Rajdhani at Nawshehra, Srinagar.

The Sultan was immensely impressed by Bhatta’s curing expertise and honoured him with the title of Afsar ul Tib. Bhatta died with out writing something on Tib for posterity. On document, nonetheless, it was through the Mughal period when Ilmi Tib and Unani (Yunani) system of medication appeared in Kashmir and touched the summit of excellence in successive reigns of Mughal Emperors and their Subedars.

In Successive Regimes

The primary Kashmiri Hakeem who rose to prominence was Hakeem Abdullah Gazi within the reign of Emperor Akbar (1586-1606). Gazi was educated and educated in Ilmi Tib in Delhi. His pupil Rashid Baba Majnoon Narwadi was additionally an environment friendly Hakeem of his time. In Shah Jahan’s reign, Majnoon’s three disciples, Mohammad Sharief Ganayi, Abdul Rashid Ashai and  Abdul Qadir Ganayi have been Kashmir’s well-known Hakeem’s. The son of Hakeem Abdul Qadir Ganayi was Hakeem Inyatullah who had such a capability, it’s mentioned, that he identified the illness from a mere look on the affected person’s face. He lived throughout Emperor Aurangzeb’s reign.

Hakeem Mohammad Azam Kashmiri was a widely known doctor in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s courtroom in Lahore.  In Sikh Interval, Hakeem Dindar Shah, Hakeem Maqbool Shah and  Hakeem Mustaffa Shah have been well-known Unani medical doctors residing in Kashmir.  Hakeem Ali Naqvi, Hakeem Noorudddin, Hakeem Ghulam Rasool, Hakeem Baqaullah and  Hakeem Yousuf have been well-known Unani physicians within the eighteenth century.  Hakeem Ghulam Rasool died in Delhi. He was a prodigious scholar and an eloquent orator. He spent his life in luxurious on account of his companionship with Nawab Ghazi al-Din Ferozjang III (1736-1800).

Hakeem Mohammad Jawad was an eminent physician within the Afghan interval. Hakeem Naqi, Hakeem Noor ud Din, Hakeem Namdar Khan and  Hakeem Kandar Khan have been different well-known Hakeems within the Durani period of Kashmir. The final two migrated to Delhi for therapy of the sick. Hakeem Deendar Shah was the non-public doctor of Nazim Sheikh Ghulam Mohiuddin (1842-1846), the final of the  Sikh rule governor’s in Kashmir.

Hakeem Mohammad Baqir was one other well-known Hakeem. In Maharaja Ranbir Singh’s reign (1857-1885), Baqir was conferred the title of Afsar ul Tib by the Maharaja. In the direction of the tip of the nineteenth century and the start of the 20th century, there have been many Hakeems throughout Kashmir. Most outstanding have been: Hakeem Ahmad Ullah alias Ame Hakeem of Zaina Kadal; Hakeem Ghulam Mohi Ud Din of Naidyar Rainawari; Hakeem Daidar of Baghwanpora Lal Bazar; Maqbool Shah of Rainawari; Hakeem Salam ud Din of Hazratbal (all from Srinagar); Hakeem Habibullah of Baramulla; Hakeem Ahsan Sheikh of Nowgam; and Hakeem Abdul Aziz Kozgar of Budgam.

One Hakeem of the early twentieth century wants a particular point out – Hakeem Aziz Ullah of Muslim Pir Sopore. He had earned the identify of probably the most reputed Unani doctor and handled sufferers at his residence from north Kashmir, Muzaffarabad and Srinagar. As soon as he was known as specifically to Srinagar by the members of the family of a wealthy man, Qazi Ghulam Mustaffa of Maharajgunj, for therapy. A God-fearing man, Aziz Ullah constructed Sopore’s Muslim Pir Masjid.  After his dying in 1926, his son, Hakeem Sanaullah (b1902), began treating sufferers without cost.

Hakeem Households

There have been three well-known households of Hakeems in Srinagar within the final century. Hakeem Ali Mohammad alias Ali Hakeem (1906-1988) of Zaina Kadal. Later, he shifted to Gojwara the place he handled sufferers at a brand new clinic cum residence. He was President of the Jammu and Kashmir Tibiyya Convention, a chapter of All India Tibbiya Convention. He died in 1988.

One other household hailed from Naidyar Rainawari. Their home remains to be well-known as Hakeem Manzil. Hakeem Shyam Lal alias  Shyam e Bhatte (1900-1984), a Kashmiri Pandit, was an Unani doctor of nice fame who belonged to a household of Kashmir’s hereditary Hakeems. His residence cum clinic at Shalyar Habba Kadal Srinagar was at all times thronged by sufferers. Even if he modified his residence to Karan Nagar, Srinagar, he continued to see and deal with sufferers at Shalyar. He was additionally President of the Jammu and Kashmir Tibiyya Convention in 1966-67. He was thought of an knowledgeable within the therapy of kidney stones. The sufferers have been prescribed particular sheera by him on day by day foundation for a couple of months until kidney stones would go out with urine.

In the course of the first half of the 20th century, it’s mentioned that fifteen Hakeems of Srinagar have been on the payrolls of Maharaja.  In Srinagar, there’s Unani Sageer, a Mohalla close to Nigeen, which is called Hakeem Mohalla as many of the well-known Hakeems since Emperor Akbar’s time lived on this locality. Their ancestor, it’s claimed, was Hakeem Ali Humayun who had attended and handled Emperor Akbar when he fell unwell throughout one among his Kashmir visits. Hakeem Mehdi, Hakeem Masood and  Hakeem Altaf are mentioned to be the descendants of Hakeem Ali Humayun. All of them belong to this locality. There are another metropolis localities or villages with the prefix Hakeem to their names indicating the areas might need had some reference to this class of physicians of yore.

Unani Drugs

Unani drugs or Hikmat is an Arabic-Persian time period that was launched by the Mughals within the Indian subcontinent within the thirteenth century. The households of eminent Hakeems of Persia and Arabia got here to India and launched the Unani system through the Mughal rule, thought of because the golden age of Greco-Arabic drugs in India.

Hakeems have been principally Muslims who have been realized males, additionally known as tabibs. Many Hindus too have been Hakeems of eminence. Hakeems adopted the Unani (Greek, Grecian college of medication) or the Misri (Egyptian college of medication). Whereas Muslim Hakeems adopted the Unani Faculty, usually many of the Hindu physicians, known as Vaids, adopted the Misri Faculty.

Probably the most reputed Hakeems in India have been in Emperor Akbar’s time. Hakeem Alavi Khan, Hakeem Muhammad Ashraf Kashmiri and Abdul Karim Kashmiri have been well-known Kashmiri Hakeems within the Mughal Court docket. Many Kashmiri households of Hakeem’s moved to Delhi, Deccan, and different locations of Mughal India to follow drugs. In historical past, Kashmiri Hakeems contributed immensely to the event of Unani drugs within the Mughal Period and thereafter in India. Most of the eminent Hakeems of Mughal India had Kashmiri ancestry.

One of the essential physicians of Jahangir’s Period was Hakeem Sadra Zaman whose father was Akbar’s royal doctor. Within the early Mughal Period, the well-known Hakeems got here to Kashmir to deal with individuals. Zaman accompanied Emperor Jahangir in 1620. He handled Emperor Shah Jahan and his daughter, princess Jahan Ara efficiently. After resigning from responsibility, he carried out Hajj and died in Kashmir in 1650 and is buried in Srinagar. He was tremendously revered by Mughal Emperors. His pupils have been amongst Kashmir’s pioneer Hakeems.

Then, Hakeem was thought of a health care provider of philosophy, a health care provider of medication, and a realized man. Although Muslims have been related to Unani Tib, the Brahman Vaid was often “a doctor purist”. Unani system of medical care is predicated on the established information of hundreds of years. Hakeem makes use of natural, mineral and animal-based medicine for curing the sick.

The Eco System

In Kashmir, Hakeem’s used to deal with the sick in Hakeemwan or Hakeemkhana, which have been the sooner avatar of clinics and dispensaries. The retailers promoting natural drugs have been known as Bohir-wan. A Bohur (pharmacist of right this moment) is the “vendor of medication, spices, herbs, groceries; a druggist, spicer, grocer”. There have been and are sure well-known localities of Srinagar like Nowhatta, Jamia Masjid, Saraf Kadal, and Maharaji Bazaar, the place one would nonetheless see flourishing Bohir-wans. Now, they’re known as Unani or Hamdard drugs retailers.

Hakeem’s have been additionally “compounding medicines” themselves for promoting to the sufferers. The follow or career of a Hakeem which was as a rule hereditary in character was known as Hakeemi in frequent parlance. The Hakeem’s are and have been addressed with an added honorific to their identify as Hakeem Saib. This was a follow adopted all through India as right this moment we’ve got Physician Sahab or had Vaid Ji of the previous. Hakeems used solely pure natural crops, their leaves and roots as drugs for the therapy of the sick. It’s mentioned that the shepherds throughout summers collected herbs from mountains and jungles for the Hakeems of Kashmir. The medicinal herbs have been made accessible for sufferers both on the clinic of the Hakeem or on the Bohir-wans.  Some herbs of medicinal worth have been imported from outdoors.

Bone Setters

Aside from Hakeems, there have been non-invasive surgical practitioners akin to bone-setters (watan-gir) and leech-appliers (dirki-gir) in Kashmir.  Watan-gur was one who was setting damaged, dislocated limbs or bones or strained muscle tissue by massaging with oil or turmeric powder and by straightening dislocation by pulls or pushes. Some watan-girs set up their retailers for the therapy of orthopaedic trauma at well-known shrines of Srinagar and Budgam Kashmir on Thursdays and Fridays.

Some well-known bone-setters practised the career at their properties like Sid e Baing, Wali Baing and their disciples of Teilbal, and Ghulam Mohammad Qalinbaf and Ali Mohammad of Fateh Kadal Srinagar. Bone-setters additionally practised at Bandipora. It’s mentioned that bone-setters have been reciting kilmaat (verses) whereas treating a affected person. Dirki (leeches) have been a lot utilized by Dirkigur of outdated Kashmir. Leech appliers have been prescribed by Hakeems for a affected person. They often believed that the reason for pores and skin illnesses together with persistent shuh (frostbites) of toes, palms, ear-helix and phephir [boils with abscess] was the blood an infection. Thus, the contaminated or impure blood was drained away by way of the companies of a Dirkigur who utilized leeches on a physique half to suck the impure blood from the affected person’s physique.

Until the 20th century, leech appliers labored in Kashmir. There have been additionally feminine leech appliers, Dirkigirin, as properly. Typically, it was the Naid or barbers’ households that have been related to the leech-appliers’ career in Kashmir. The leeches would swell up after draining the blood of the affected person and mechanically fall down on the ground. The leech-applier squeezed all blood from his leeches earlier than placing them again in his container, Dirki’weir.

The barbers have been additionally known as in by Hakeems to chop and bleed the affected person from the vein “marked” by Hakeem for draining out impure blood. As this was the “solely information of surgical procedure” Hakeem’s possessed, Maharaja within the epidemic of 1872 needed to subject orders that “the Hakeems have been to not bleed for cholera as they’d been within the behavior of doing”.  The native Hakeems regard a pedilavium of the leaves as very efficacious in cholera.

In 1895, Sir Lawrence recorded there have been “300 Hakeems or medical doctors in Kashmir and as a rule, the career” was “hereditary. …… and I’ve identified circumstances during which a few of my subordinates have derived nice profit from the ability of the Kashmiri Hakeem…….. Hakeem by no means attends midwifery circumstances”. The expert aged ladies midwives, domestically often called Warin, have been known as to help the supply circumstances and carry out the gynaecological operation on the affected person’s residence.

Parhaiz Tradition

Hakeem’s have been very strict in regards to the weight loss plan of their sufferers. They prescribed strict dietary restrictions (Parhaiz) with natural drugs for the affected person. Up to now, Parhaiz Si’un, which meant the strictly prescribed weight loss plan by Hakeems up to now, is a really a lot related phrase being utilized in Kashmir society to convey that somebody is following a health care provider’s dietary recommendation. Hakeem’s generally allowed solely easy rice water and dandelion leaves (hund in Kashmiri) to a affected person struggling fever over weeks.

Such a strict dietary disciplinarian angle of Hakeem’s gave delivery to sure idioms within the spoken Kashmiri language. For instance, Hukm i Hakeem o Hakeem, Chuh Margi Mufajaat (the ruler’s and physician’s orders are like sudden dying as they’re to be adopted); Hakeemas Te Hakeemas, Nishi Bachavtam Khudayo (O, God, shield me in opposition to orders of Ruler and  Physician)  and  Yi Hakeemas Dizhi Ti Koneh Dizhi Bemaras (why can’t that be given to the sick what’s given to the physician), and  Neem Hakeem, Khatri Jan (a half-baked hakeem might be life-threatening).

Therapy Regime

The entire analysis of Hakeem centres across the equilibrium of Akhlat (humours, Mizaj) of the physique, categorized into 4 sorts: sizzling, chilly, dry and moist. Hakeems used medicines to undo imbalance in any of those conditions inside the physique. Some herbs are considered chilly and good for warm humour; some are sizzling and good for chilly humour; some are damp and helpful for a dry state of humour, whereas some dry herbs are mentioned to be helpful for a moist and moist state of humour.

The most typical natural prescriptions included Sheera, Sharbat, liquorice root (shangir in Kashmiri), lasora/lasoda (sebestan), and arnebia benthamii (Kahzaban). One imported herb used as the last word drug or drugs for critical circumstances together with protracted fever was Chob-Cheeni, Smilax China. It grows abundantly in China in wild from the place it was exported to Punjab, Calcutta, Bombay and Kashmir through Leh. A mere prescription of this might point out the affected person was critically unwell. Kashmiri saying, Zan Chus Chob-Cheeni Logmut conveys a sense of seeing an individual in a strong state of well being after having taken any form of weight loss plan or particular meals.

In case of recurring pains, and abdomen illnesses, Hakeems prescribed using powder or malish (therapeutic massage) of Zahar-Mohr on the troubled a part of the physique. It’s a bezoar and is used as an antidote to poison and a ache reliever for the sick.

Although essentially utilizing herbs, in addition they used sure stones, gems and particular issues taken from animals. Zahar-Mohr was obtained from Ladakh and Tibet and imported to Punjab and Kashmir through Leh. In Punjab, it was utilized in snake-bite circumstances. This pricey bezoar was additionally reduce into the making cups, bowls, plates, and so forth of a tea set and it was usually believed that cups, bowls, and many others, would cut up if poison was put in them. Real Zahr Mohr tea units fetch good costs. They’re nonetheless thought of objects of luxurious alternative in family crockery objects.

Hakeem’s believes Zahr Mohr was fashioned by the spittle of the Markhor goat (Capra megaceros) falling on stones. Markhor is the wild goat of Hazara and the NW Himalaya and exists in Kashmir additionally. It’s known as Markhor, owing to the fable that the animal killed snakes by taking a look at them. Yet one more fable was that when Markhor’s foam falls on sure stones it turns them to Zahar-Mohr, valuable stones of serpentine. In contrast to Bohr-wans, Zahr Mohr can be bought by Moharkans who handled valuable stones.

Kashmiris had nice confidence of their Hakeems and so they principally consulted them for extraordinary illnesses. With the emergence of allopathic medical care in the direction of the tip of the nineteenth century in Kashmir, the native Hakeems misplaced a lot of their affect. Unani drugs lacks a treatment for emergency circumstances like cardiac arrest, unintentional trauma and so forth. Regardless of the progress of contemporary medical science, Hakeem’s, bone-setters, and leech appliers nonetheless exist and so they nonetheless have a small clientele.