The Role of Qazi Ibn Kashef al-Din Mohammad (1622-1696) in the Development of Persian Medicine

Dear Editor,

Qazi Ibn Kashef al-Din Mohammad (1622-1696) was one of the famous physicians of the Safavid court during the period of Shah Abbas (Shamlu, 1996, pp. 59-60). Despite having authored numerous books, his role in the development of medical sciences has mainly gone unnoticed until recently. In this article, we aim to bring attention to his significant contributions by highlighting some of his important works in the field of medicine.

During the Safavid era, some Safavid kings had a proper approach to Persian medicine, which led to the appearance of famous physicians, such as Baha al-Dawlah Razi, Hakim Imad al-Din Mahmud Shirazi, and Seyyed Mohammad Momin Tonkaboni (Khodaie, et al., 2018, pp. 2421-2427)

Qazi was a student of Sheikh Baha'i and Hakim Imad al-Din Mahmud Shirazi (Elgood, 2007, p. 544). Due to his excellent knowledge and skill, Qazi became a court physician and the main religious scholar in the Shah Abbas Empire. He wrote 17 books on medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and religion. His most well-known book is “The Abbasid Planetarium Cup” with the Persian name “Jam-e Jahan-nema-ye Abbasi," which is about the medicinal uses of wine (Falsafi, 1966, p. 257). Regarding the sanctity of drinking wine in Islam, the author points out that he wrote this book on the order of Shah Abbas and only discussed the therapeutic effects of wine. In the final part of the book, the author introduces different oral and inhaled anesthetic formulations (Qāzị ibn Kashif al-Din Muhammad, 2014, p. 170).

One of his manuscripts that has received less attention is about the medicinal properties of Smilax china (Persian name: choob-e-chini), tea, and coffee (Beikbabapur, 2013, pp. 53-70) (Figure 1). One of the reasons for writing this manuscript was the syphilis epidemic during the author's lifetime. Since there was no cure for syphilis, S. china was prescribed by physicians as a useful medicine for this disease. The first book about syphilis in Iran was written by Hakim Imad al-Din Mahmud (Dalfardi, et al., 2013, pp. 169-73). Qazi, who was Hakim Imad al-Din Mahmud's student, explained and criticized the opinions of his teacher and discussed his own experiences in the field of syphilis treatment. In addition, he described the history of patients from the nobility and how he used S. china to treat their various diseases.

Figure 1.The first page of the treatise on Smilax china, tea, and coffee written by Qazi Ibn Kashef al-Din Mohammad (1591-1057)

Another reason for writing this manuscript was the widespread consumption of coffee and tea in Iran for therapeutic purposes at that time. Qazi explained the appearance characteristics, therapeutic effects, method of use, duration of application, adverse effects, and contraindications for the use of S. china, tea, and coffee.

Due to political stability during the Safavid era, medical knowledge advanced in Iran (Dalfardi, et al., 2013, pp. 169-73). Qazi was one of the physicians who made many efforts in treating patients and wrote many books. A more in-depth scientific study of Qazi's manuscripts is suggested to evaluate his experiences in herbal therapy. In addition, his description of patients and the Safavid court will contribute to the greater clarity of Iranian medical history during the Safavid period.

Authors’ Contribution

Nassibe Yousefian-Gilavan, Mohsen Naseri and Mahbubeh Bozorgi partcipatted in preparing the draft, they all read and approved the final version of the work.

Funding

None.

Conflict of Interest

None.

References

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