Unani Medicine (Herbal )

The Unani System of Medicine originated in Greece (Unan).Hippocrates ( 460 – 377 BC),the “ Father of Medicine” freed medicine from the realm of superstition and magic and gave it the status of science. The teachings of Hippocrates form the basis of the theoretical frame work of Unani Medicine. After Hippocrates, Jalinoos (Galen), Abu Baker Ibn-e- Zakaria Razi (Razer) and Ibn-e- Sina (Avicenna) enriched the Unani System into a complete, systematic form whereby it flourished into a Golden Era. The fundamentals of this system are based on Hippocrates’ Humoral Theory. This presupposes the presence of four humours in the body. According to Unani philosophy the health and illness of a person depends upon the balance of these humours in the body. They are Dam (Blood), Balgham (Phlegm), Safra (Yellow bile), Sauda (Black bile) remain in equilibrium. Every individual at birth is endowed with a unique temperament and this is determined by the presence of all the four humors in different proportions in the body. If the equilibrium of all the four humours is disturbed, disease sets in. Therefore the Hakim adopts different methods to bring back all the four temperaments in equilibrium so as to restore the health of a person. Though, all the different systems of medicine considers “Hippocrates” as the Father of Medicine, the Unani System of Medicine is the only system of medicine still following the principles of medicine laid down by Hippocrates.

Unani medicine, also called Unani tibb, Arabian medicine, or Islamic medicine, a traditional system of healing and health maintenance observed in South Asia. The origins of Unani medicine are found in the doctrines of the ancient Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen. As a field, it was later developed and refined through systematic experiment by the Arabs, most prominently by Muslim scholar-physician Avicenna. During the Caliphate (the political-religious Muslim state that began in 632 ce), the bulk of Greek knowledge was translated into Arabic, part of that knowledge being the principles of medicine. With additional contributions of medical wisdom from other parts of the Middle East and South Asia, Unani medicine came to be known also as Arabian, or Islamic, medicine.