The fathere of modern medicine THE UNANI syatem of medicine originated in greece and the term
UNANI is derived fron "UNAN"in arabic ,hindustani,persian,pashto and urdu means greek .
for greece , The theoritical frame work of unani medicine is basee on the work of hippocrtates
(460-377 bc) by his method of careful study and comparison of symptoms,he laid down the
foundation of clinical medicine based on diet and rest . he advpcated thet the chief function
of physician is to aid the natutral forces of the body in combatinf a diesease.
UNANI system follows the humoural which postulates the presence of four humours in the body
: dam (blood),balgham(phelgm),safra(yellow bile) and sauda (Black bile) ,a parallel to kapha,vata
and pitta,the three doshas in ayurveda . a numberof greek scholars after hippocrates such as galen (131-200AD)
followed by arab physicians like Rhazhes and avicenna (980-1037 AD) ,enriched the system
considerably ,Rhazes and avicenna authored AL-HAWI AND AL-QANUN respectively which were
compilations of their observations .these were translated in to latin and other european
languages and taught in medivean european universities. they are said to have greatly
influenced western medical thought.
Growth in india:
Unani may have diaappeared from the ciuntry of its oriogin ,bit it has found root in india,arab
tradesr ,who entered through the western ghats long before moghuls, introduced unani here
.The khijjis, tughlaks and the mughal emperors provided state patronage to unani scholars and even employed some
as court physicians .unani experienced its heyday between 13th and 17 th centuries with the contributions
of abu bakr bin ali Usman ksahani,sadruddin damashqui,aligeelani, akbal arzani and mohammed
hasim alvi khan . the subjected indian drugs to clinical trials and added numerous native
drugs to their own system ,further enriching its treasurse,
The british period saw the strictest resrtrictions imposed on any system of treatment other
then allophatic. but despite these and the suspension of all aid to UNANI institutions ,
the system survived due to the commitment of hakims like ajmal khan in india.
The unanai attained the phenemonal growth in terms of opening of more educational insti
tuitions,establishment of central council reaseasrch in unani medicine (CCRUM) CENTRAL COUNCIL
OF INDIN MEDICINE (CCIM) COUNCIL OF UNANAI MEDICINE (NIUM).
