Hakim Ajmal Khan

Hakim Ajmal Khan
Hakim Ajmal Khan
Born (1868-02-11)11 February 1868[1][2]
Delhi
Died 29 December 1927
Delhi
Cause of death Cardiac Arrest
Resting place Hazrat Rasool Numa compound in Panchkuian Road, Delhi, India
Monuments Delhi Tibbia College and Jamia Millia University
Residence Sharif Manzil
Nationality British India
Other names Masih ul Mulk, Haziq ul Mulk
Occupation Physician, Politician, Spiritual Healer, Sufi Mystic, Herbalist, Poet
Known for Founder of Jamia Millia Islamia and Tibbia College, Delhi, Founding Member and President All-India Muslim League, President Indian Congress
Notable work Haziq
Children Hakim Jameel Khan
Family Khandan e Sharifi
Hakim Ajmal Khan

Mohammad Ajmal Khan better known as Hakim Ajmal Khan was a famous physician in Delhi, India and one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University. He also founded another institution, Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia (medical) College better known as Tibbia College situated in Karol Bagh, Delhi. He became the university's first chancellor in 1920 and remained in office until his death in 1927.[3]

Biography

Born on 11 February 1868 (17 Shawwal 1284), Khan descended from a distinguished line of physicians who had come to India during the reign of Mughal Emperor Babar. His family were all Unani doctors (hakims who had practised this ancient form of medicine since their arrival in the country. They were then known as the Rais of Delhi. His grandfather, Hakim Sharif Khan, was a physician to Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam and had built the Sharif Manzil, a hospital-cum-college teaching Unani medicine.[4][5]

Khan learnt the Quran by heart and as a child studied traditional Islamic knowledge including Arabic and Persian, before turning his energy to the study of medicine under the guidance of his senior relatives, all of whom were well-known physicians. To promote the practice of Tibb-i-unani or Unani medicine, his grandfather had set up the Sharif Manzil hospital-cum-college known throughout the subcontinent as one of the best philanthropic Unani hospitals where treatment for poor patients was free.[6] He completed his Unani studies under Hakeem Abdul Jameel of Siddiqui Dawakhana, Delhi.[6]

On qualifying in 1892, Khan became chief physician to the Nawab of Rampur. Hailed as "Massiha-e-Hind" (Healer of India) and "a king without a crown", Khan, like his father, was reputed to effect miraculous cures and to have possessed a "magical" medicine chest, the secrets of which were known to him alone.[6] Such was his medical acumen that it is said that he could diagnose any illness by just looking at a person's face. Hakim Ajmal Khan charged Rs. 1000 per day for an out-of-town visit but if the patient came to Delhi, he was treated free, regardless of his position in society.

Khan proved to be the most outstanding and multifaceted personality of his era with matchless contributions to the causes of Indian independence, national integration and communal harmony.[6]

He took great interest in the expansion and development of the native system of Unani medicine and to that end built three important institutions, the Central College in Delhi, the Hindustani Dawakhana and the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College better known as Tibbia College, Delhi, which expanded research and practice in the field and saved the Unani System of Medicine from extinction in India. His untiring efforts in this field infused a new force and life into an otherwise decaying Unani medical system under British rule.[7][8] Khan proposed the absorption of Western concepts within the Unani system, a view diametrically opposite to that adopted by physicians of the Lucknow school who wanted to maintain the system's purity.[9]

Khan also recognised the talents of chemist Dr. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, whose subsequent research into important medicinal plants used in the field gave Unani medicine a new direction.[10]

As one of its founders, Khan was elected first chancellor of the Jamia Milia Islamia University on 22 November 1920, holding the position until his death in 1927. During this period he oversaw the University's move to Delhi from Aligarh and helped it to overcome various crises, including financial ones, when he carried out extensive fund raising and often bailed it out using his own money.[11][12]

Nationalism

Khan changed direction from medicine towards politics after he started writing for the Urdu weekly Akmal-ul-Akhbar launched by his family. Khan also headed the Muslim team who met the Viceroy of India in Shimla in 1906 and presented him with a memorandum written by the delegation. The following year, he was present at the Dhaka inauguration of the All India Muslim League on 30 December 1906. At a time when many Muslim leaders faced arrest, Khan approached Mahatma Gandhi for help, thereafter uniting with him and other Muslim leaders such as Maulana Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali in the well-known Khilafat movement. Khan was also the sole person elected to the Presidency of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League and the All India Khilafat Committee.

Legacy

Before he died of heart problems on 29 December 1927, Khan had renounced his government title, and many of his Indian followers awarded him the title of Masih-ul-Mulk (Healer of the Nation). He was succeeded to the position of JMI Chancellor by Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari. Ajmaline, a class Ia antiarrhythmic agent and Ajmalan a parent hydride, are named after him.[13]

Dawakhana Hakim Ajmal Khan Private Ltd

After partition

After the partition of India, Khan's grandson Hakim Muhammad Nabi Khan moved to Pakistan. Hakim Nabi had learnt Tibb (how to practice medicine) from his grandfather and opened 'Dawakhana Hakim Ajmal Khan' in Lahore which has branches throughout Pakistan. The motto of the Ajmal Khan family is Azal-ul-Allah-Khudatulmal, which means that the best way to keep oneself busy is by serving humanity.

Quotes

  • "The spirit of non-cooperation pervades throughout the country and there is no true Indian heart even in the remotest corner of this great country which is not filled with the spirit of cheerful suffering and sacrifice to attain Swaraj and see the Punjab and the Khilafat wrongs redressed." – From the Presidential Address, Indian National Congress, 1921 Session, Ahmedabad.[14]

Further reading

  • Hakim Ajmal Khan, the versatile genius, by Mohammed Abdur Razzack. Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, 1987.
  • Hakim Ajmal Khan by Zafar Ahmed Nizami, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1988.
  • Hakim Ajmal Khan(Indian freedom fighters series), by Shri Ram Bakshi. Anmol Publications, 1996. ISBN 81-7488-264-2.
  • Hakim Ajmal Khan (Hindi, Urdu and English Version) by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, National Book Trust, Government of India, New Delhi, India, 2004.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hameed, A., Institute of History of Medicine, Medical Research (New Delhi, India). Dept. of History of Medicine, Science (1986). Exchanges Between India and Central Asia in the Field of Medicine. Department of History of Medicine and Science, Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research (on GoogleBooks website). Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. ↑ http://www.islamicfinder.org/dateConversion.php?mode=hij-ger&day=17&month=10&year=1284&date_result=1
  3. ↑ Profile of Hakim Ajmal Khan on Jamia Millia Islamia website, Retrieved 18 August 2017
  4. ↑ Sharif Manzil by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Aiwan-i Urdu, Delhi, Jun 1988, p. 29-35
  5. ↑ "Sharif Manzil & Hindustani Dawakhana". the-south-Asian.com website. April 2002. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (1995), Dillī aur t̤ibb-i Yūnānī (Dillī aur t̤ibb-i Yūnānī ed.), Naʾī Dihlī: Urdū Akādmī, Dihlī, retrieved 18 August 2017
  7. ↑ Singh, p. 35
  8. ↑ Masih-al Mulk Hakim Ajmal Khan by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Shaida-89, (Souvenir), Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College Delhi, 1989
  9. ↑ Alavi, Seema (2008). Islam and Healing: Loss and Recovery of an Indo-Muslim Medical Tradition, 1600–1900. Palgrave Macmillan.
  10. ↑ "Hakim Ajmal Khan (Biography in Hindi language)". Publications Division, Government of India. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "History of Jamia". Jamia Milia Islamia website. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Faruqi, p. 108
  13. ↑ KARACHI: Experts for alternative medicine system, Dawn (newspaper), Published 5 October 2003, Retrieved 18 August 2017
  14. ↑ "Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863–1927) President – Ahmedabad, 1921". Congress Sandesh, Indian National Congress publication. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  • Faruqi, Ziaulhasan (1999). Dr. Zakir Hussain, quest for truth. APH Publishing. ISBN 81-7648-056-8.
  • Andrews, C.F. (1922). Hakim Ajmal Khan A sketch of his life and career. Madras: G. A. Natesan.
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