Baburs medicine: Diseases, treatments, and physicians

The Baburs State, established in the 16th century in the Indian region, made significant contributions to medical science and developed local medical understandings by synthesizing them with Islamic medical traditions over time. In this context, the medical development and practices of the Baburs State, as well as the understanding of medicine and its physicians, were discussed; and in order to better understand the subject, the development of medicine in Central Asia before Islam and in India before Baburs was comprehensively examined. This study, written from a historical perspective, can be characterized as not only a periodic examination of the understanding of medicine during the Baburs State, but also as an example of medical history where different cultures met and synthesized. In this context, in the first part of the study, the Turkish medicine in Central Asia before Islam was examined and the diseases, treatments and understanding of medicine of the period were explained. Then, the medical traditions in India before the Baburs State were examined, and detailed information was given about Āyurveda and Unani medical traditions. In the third and fourth sections, which constitute the main subject of the study, the status of Unani medicine during the Baburs period, all medical developments during the Baburs rulers' period, common diseases and treatments, as well as famous Baburs physicians are examined and explained. In the light of this information, it is understood that the Baburss created a unique understanding of medicine that brought together both the Turkish medical traditions in Central Asia and the current practices in India, as well as the Unani medical tradition, which is an Islamic understanding of medicine. The Baburs medical tradition, which was formed by the synthesis of Turkish, Iranian and Indian cultures, holds an important place within the state aristocracy. The main purpose of this study is to explain the medical developments, diseases and methods developed for the treatment of these diseases, and the understanding of medicine experienced during the Baburs State, a Turkish state founded in 1526 and continuing its existence until the British occupation in 1858. The study is a qualitative research that examines and evaluates the diseases, treatment methods and other medical developments experienced in the geography of India during the Baburs State in line with historical sources.