The Medical Knowledge Network along the Silk Road during the Ilkhanate Era: Examining the Central Role of Iran (Rabʿ-e Rashīdī) and the Anatolian Corridor

Document Type : Conference Paper

Authors

1 Department of History of Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Spiritual Health Research Center, School of Health and Religion, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

4 Department of History of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Religion, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Documentary evidence demonstrates the medical knowledge network along the Silk Road during the Ilkhanate era (13th-14th centuries CE), highlighting Iran’s central role through Rabʿ-e Rashīdī in Tabriz as the critical nexus connecting with the Anatolian Corridor. Through analysis of primary sources including the Mukātabāt-i Rashīdī correspondence, this research highlights how Rashīd al-Dīn Fażl Allāh, himself from a medical lineage, implemented strategies such as recruiting fifty physicians from diverse regions and establishing structured apprenticeship systems at Dār al-Shafā in Muʿālijān. These actions, contrary to prevailing assumptions, fostered unprecedented medical knowledge integration. Documentary evidence confirms how the western branch, enriched by Seljuk hospitals like Ghīyāthiyya, functioned as a specialized medical corridor where architectural similarities between Tabriz and Anatolian medical complexes reveal a shared template for education and practice. It demonstrates how deliberate governance by Iranian ministers of the Ilkhanate transformed these routes into integrated systems for transferring pharmacological materials and medical knowledge, fundamentally reshaping cross-cultural scientific exchange during this period, evidence that challenges the conventional narrative of Mongol-era scientific decline.

Keywords

References

  1. Bayat, A.H., 2006. Turkish medical history of the Seljuk era. Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilization, 61, pp. 1–14.
  2. Faraji Qarabagliu, K. and Ali-Mohammadnejad, B., 2021. The nature of the Silk Road during the Ilkhanate era. Medical History Journal, 13, pp. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.22037/mhj.v13i46.34576
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  4. Hamadānī, R. al-D.F.A., 2001. Vaqf-nāma-ye Rabʿ-e Rashīdī. Tehran: Anjuman-i Āthār va Honar-i Melli.
  5. Hamadānī, R. al-D.F.A., 1945. Mukātabāt-i Rashīdī. Lahore: Punjab Publications Inju National Press Lahore.
Journal of Research on History of Medicine
Volume 14, Suppl. 1
The 2nd History of Medicine Meeting: Entangled Histories: Contribution of Iran and Türkiye to the Development of Medical Sciences; 2025 Oct 7-10; Shiraz, Iran
October 2025
Pages 49-52

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