Monday 31 October 2011

History of Ajmal Dawakhana

Masih ul Mulk Hakim Ajmal Khan (1868-1927)
By Muhammad Ayyaz Alam

Hakim Ajmal Khan is considered as one of the 100 great Muslim leaders of the 20th century. He was a visionary and was blessed with some extraordinary qualities which very few people can match. Hakim Ajmal Khan was born in Delhi in I868 in the family of renowned Hakims of Delhi famously known as Khandaan-i-Shareefi. He was the youngest of the three sons of The Great Hakim Ghulam Mahmood Khan, who himself was a legendary figure.

Hakim Ajmal Khan was a living legend, a person of inherent inner beauty, outer grace and dignity; he was a man of exceptional character. His medical works and treatments in different diseases and ailments are so strange that despite being true, at times they seem to be unbelievable.

Hakim Ajmal Khan memorized the Holy Quran (Hafiz) at a very young age and received his education from some of the most highly respected scholars of his time and soon became an authority on Arabic, Persian and Urdu. He later acquired command of the family profession of Tibbe Unani (Herbal Medicines), under expert guidance of his family elders.

History claims of very few multifaceted individuals who were illustrious physicians, theologist, great statesmen, educationists and poets, all woven together. Masih ul Mulk Hakim Ajmal Khan is one of them.

The great poet and philosopher, Allama Sir Mohammed Iqbal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and other renowned personalities used to come to meet Hakim Ajmal Khan when ever they visited Delhi. Historians write that hardly a day passed, without there being one important gathering or another, at house of Hakim Ajmal Khan. His Political importance can be gauged by the fact that he was the only political leader of the sub- content who presided the meetings of both the rival parties – The Indian Congress and Muslim League.

He established Ayurvedic & Unani Tibbia College and Jamia Millia Islamia where he also introduced women education, and he launched a program to modernize Unani Medicine and brought about radical changes for the same. In later days to come, he practically gave away all that he earned either to Tibbia College or to Jamia Millia Islamia which were considered to be his two eyes.

As the president of the Khilafat committee he was in constant touch with all the leaders of the Muslim world. Ibn- e- Saud who later acceded the throne of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stayed in constant touch with Hakim sahib through correspondence concerning the movement.

He left many students in India and Pakistan. Hakim Hafiz Mohammod Saeed of Hamdrad Karachi and Hakim Sheikh Mohammod Ali Tayyebi of Tayyebi Dawakhana Karachi, were the shining memories of Great Hakim Ajmal Khan.

In short, Hakim Ajmal Khan was famous as the “Uncrowned King” of the Subcontinental.

History of Ajmal Dawakhana

Hakeem Mohammed Nabi Khan (1920-1990)
By Muhammad Ayyaz Alam


Hakeem Mohammed Nabi Khan, the grandson of Maseeh-ul-Mulk Hakeem Ajmal Khan, was born in Delhi on 5th of November 1920. He had his basic education in Urdu, Arabic and Persian from his elders and later qualified as a Doctor of Graeco-Arabic (Unani) system of medicine from Tibbia College, Delhi.

His acumen in his profession was recognized by his peers and, at the tender age of 23 years, he was appointed as a member or the Unani Research Committee of India where he worked under the supervision of the renowned scientist Dr Saleemuzzaman Siddiqui who later founded the H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry at the University of Karachi. The ground-breaking achievement of Hakeem Mohammed Nabi Khan was the formulation of "JOSHANDI", an efficient remedy - in the form of tablets - for cough, cold, catarrh, and allied problems.

In the year 1948 he migrated from India to Pakistan and settled in Lahore where a year later he established "AJMAL DAWAKHANA" (Herbal Drug Industry), and opened clinics of this system of medicine in different cities of Pakistan.

He was elected as the President of All-Pakistan Tibbi Conference (Organization of Tibbi Doctors) and was the Pioneer President of Unani Drug Manufacturers Association (PUDMA) – positions that he held till the time of his demise. Hakeem Mohammed Nabi Khan, along with his friends, chiefly:
Hakeem Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Hamdard Dawakhana, Karachi; Hakeem Tayyab Ali Tayyabe of Tayyabe Dawakhana, Karachi; and Hakeem Aftab Ahmad Qarshe of Aftab Qarshe Herbal Industries, Lahore; made untiring efforts for the promotion of Tibb Unani, the Oriental System of Medicine.

In 1988, BBC London selected him as a key figure in the traditional system of medicine and made a documentary on his life, profession and achievements.

Hakeem Mohammed Nabi Khan wrote many articles of public interest on herbs and herbal system of medicines which were published in newspapers and scientific magazines. He was also a well-known poet - the author of two "Diwan" (Collection of Verses).

He left this world on July 2, 1990 and his mortal remains are interred in Lahore:

Rahae haste ka yeh dastoor hay Jamal,
Naqsh reh jata hay, insan guzar jata hay.