Appraisal of Tipu Sultan’s Contributions Toward Development of Unani Medicine: A Critical Analysis

Unani system of medicine has enjoyed the status of being royal since antiquity, and various rulers and governments have paid special attention toward its growth and development. In India, Tipu Sultan, a highly cultured intellectual, academician, physician, scholar, and a great scientist, was one of those who played an important role in the advancement of Unani medicine. He had an imperial library located at Srirangapatna housing more than 2000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and Hindi, dealing with medicine, military science, music, Hadith, law, Sufism, history, philosophy, grammar, astrology, poetry, and mathematics, of which 62 books were related to medicine. He also possessed vast expertise in treating various diseases, which is inferred from his personal letters and communications. He not only showed interest in preserving Unani manuscripts but also mentioned about 45 books on the subject of medicine in his memoirs. The health system was highly sophisticated in his territory among his contemporary kingdoms. Moreover, physicians and surgeons were regularly inducted to serve the injured and wounded soldiers in every battalion. The present study judiciously inspected the contributions of Tipu Sultan toward the patronage and promotion of Unani medicine, especially in the southern part of India in the 18th century.