Persian Manuscript

Hakim Ajmal Khan A Great Unani Physician

Ajmal Khan or Hakim Ajmal Khan 1863–1927 was a Unani physician and Indian muslim nationalist  politician and freedom fighter. He is credited for the revival of Unani medicinee in India in early 20th century, by founding the Tibbia college in Delhi and also spotting Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, a chemist, whose subsequent research in important medicinal plants used in Unani Medicine gave it a new direction.. A close associate of Gandhi, he participated in the Non cooperation movement satyagraha; led Khilafat movement, and also became the president of the Indian National congress, of whose he presided Ahmedabad Session in 1921.. He was one of the founders of theJamia Millia Islamia University, and became its first chancellor in 1920 and remained so till his death in 1927. Besides this Maseeh-ul-Mulk ,as he came to be known, was a versatile genius of his time ,he was an acclaimed physician, a statesman of national stature, a poet of great sentiments, a reformer and an orator , all at the same time. Ajmal Khan’s was an aristocratic style . He was a patron and a host, invariably in the company of poets and literary landlords and government servants. His sporting activities shifted from traditional ‘Akhara’ (wrestling pit) to billards and shikar. It has been mentioned that he went along on the hunt but never actually shot anything, arguing that a Hakim ought not to take but give life.

Ajmal Khan’s most original contribution was almost single handedly making available some of the great benefits of traditional medicine. The respectability which the Hakims and Vaids enjoy today is largely due to his tireless efforts. His efforts were devoted to reversing the tide of cultural decline in medicine his political activities were an inevitable out growth of them .

In an introduction to a catalogue of Arabic and Persian manuscripts he wrote: “Although the sun of Eastern arts and sciences kept rising in its own time and many nations drew benefits from its light, now that sun has declined and the age, as is its habit, has given birth to a new sun that fulfils the needs of the people of the age …The results of this reversal, which previous nations have already endured, will happen to us: We will see our former greatness and glory in the hand of oblivion if we do not take thought to preserve it.”

Hakim Ajmal Khan vigorously advocated the causes of Unani & Ayurvedic systems of medicine .He stressed that two Indian systems which had served the people well should continue and make progress without any hindrance. While speaking at the first Tibbi conference he tried to emphasize the value of Eastern medicine by giving historical evidence .He said : “It is not I who aim at praising the Unani System of medicine but the whole world recognizes that the Greek medicine traveled from Greece to Egypt, then to Spain from where it reached Baghdad. From Baghdad it came to Iran where it made tremendous progress and produced great physicians and scholars who in spite of flux of time still shine and I am confident, they will continue to guide us till knowledge remains in the world. From there it came to India & flourished here”.

He believed that both systems’ the Ayurvedic and the Unani had entered a period of decline. Indeed that of the former was far greater and he ventured that it had seen no development for four to five hundred years. For reforms of content, he turned to western medicine to learn some techniques, primarily to areas like surgery. It was to western medicine that Ajmal Khan wanted a Tibb to answer.

Of the groups whom Ajmal Khan found to support his schemes, the princes more than any other group value medicine intrinsically as well as for its symbolic value. The Nawab of Rampur cherished Ajmal Khan personally and supported the institutions he exposed. The ruler of Bhopal had a state- wide organization of medical care staffed by Unani trained doctors. The rulers of the princely states almost single – handedly provided capital for the college that Ajmal Khan founded for indigenous medicine.

From the very beginning of his career, Ajmal Khan also attempted to gain respect of the British for his endeavors. “It in this, his concerns were like those of the Aligarh modernists and other apologists who required validation of their efforts by the British”.

Ajmal Khan’s relation to the British was based on a quest for respect, for ‘lzzat’ and ‘Wiqar’. He sought this respect for himself, for his family, and for his art. He accepted the family title of ‘Haziqul-Mulk’ from the British in 1908. Hailey the chief commissioner, wrote to the viceroy in 1913.

“He is man whose opinion.. is of great value as he comes across all classes of men and has a very sound judgment in all such matters.’ Hakim Ajmal Khan is remembered as nationalist and a modernist Ajmal Khan’s complete commitment to Hindu- Muslim cooperation was shaped by his long and deep experience of the value of cooperation in the field of medicine.

Ajmal Khan was perhaps the Muslim closest to Gandhi ji. It is difficult to appreciate the achievement of Hakim Ajmal Khan in satisfying the standards of two radically different cultures, the aristocratic and the democratic .As personal physician to a Nawab he was in a word of affluence, of indulgence of scorn for the undistinguished multitude and subservience to the great . He could never let it appear that anything else in the world was important, when the Nawab did not think it to be so. But he did believe many thing to be important . He had his old style Matab, where he examined the rich and the poor patients regardless of caste, creed and religion. Hakim Ajmal Khan took much interest in the expansion and development of the indigenous system of medicine, Tibb-i-Yunani, or Unani. Khan’s family established the Tibbiya school in Delhi, in order to expand the research and practise of Unani. In recognition of his services in this field the Government of India conferred on him, in 1907 the title of ‘Haziq-ul-Mulk’. But in 1910, Dr. Khan was organizing Indian physicians in protest of a Government decision to revoke official recongition for the practioners of Indian systems of medicine, of Unani and Ayurveda. Dr. Khan’s involvement in politics began with writing for the Urdu weekly ‘Akmal-ul-Akhbar’, which was founded in 1865-70 and was run by his family. Dr. Khan was in the deputation of Muslims that met the Viceroy of India in Shimla in 1906, presenting him a memorandum on behalf of the community, and in 1907 was present in Dhaka where the All India Muslim League was created.

Dr. Khan also backed the British during World War I, encouraging Indians to support the government, but the situation changed with the entry of Turkey. Upon the arrest of many Muslim leaders, Dr. Khan came to Mahatma Gandhi for support, who joined Khan and other Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali in the Khilafat movement. Dr. Khan resigned from the AMU when the authorities refused to endorse or participate in the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. He was elected the President of the Congress in 1921, and fiercely condemned the Amritsar Massacre and the British response to the Khilafat. He was imprisoned for many months by police authorities. Dr. Khan had left the AMU owing to its historic resistance to the Indian National Congress. Along with many prominent Muslim nationalists like Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, he laid the foundations of the Jamia Millia Islamia (Islamic National University) in Aligarh in 1920, in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Indians to boycott government institutions. The JMI grew into a prominent and prestigious university, and was moved to Delhi, where it stands today. Dr. Khan served as its first Chancellor, and was a key patron of the institution.

Hakim Ajmal Khan resigned from his position at the AMU when he realized that its management would not endorse the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by the Indian National Congress. He envisaged a place of learning that would be free of government control. He worked towards this aim with the help of other Muslim luminaries. Together, they laid the foundations of the Jamia Millia Islamia (Islamic National University) in Aligarh in 1920, in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Indians to boycott government institutions. The JMI subsequently moved to Delhi and slowly grew to be the prestigious university it is today.

Ajmal Khan served as its first Chancellor until his death. He was a key patron of the university, financially bailing it out of sticky situations throughout the rest of his life.

 

 

About the Author

drizharnium@gmail.com, Bangalore India

Hi Friends, I am Izhar currently pursuing MD in Unani System of Medicine from NIUM Bangalore, love all of you, and  I’d like to write about my interest, and here i am sharing about my opinion, prevention regarding to many diseases, maintaining  views for Health, Beauty & Younger looking Secrets at article base…

 

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