Medicine in Iranian Constitutionalist Homour (1906-1911)

Introduction

The Qajar dynasty ruled over Iran from 1785 to 1925. This era is generally deemed as a serious fall from the previous brilliant economic and political era, i.e., the Safavid era, entering an era that was accompanied by a kind of recession and mediocrity. Nonetheless, this simplistic interpretation is challenged upon closer historical investigation: there are reasons to believe that the Qajar era was more dynamic than many tend to accept. First, modern Iranian history began in the second half of the era when the idea of “progress” and modernization became commonplace in Iran through modernist intellectuals, politicians, businessmen, tourists and journalists. This led to a great challenge to the status quo of the society or a confrontation between tradition and modernity. It was during the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah (The Shah of Persia from 1848 to 1896) that Iranians became acquainted with the developments in Western civilization and came to the conclusion that Iran was a backward country.

Traditional medicine during the Qajar era

according to Floor, there were three types of medical practice during the time of Qajar. The first was Greek medicine, used by the elite. The second and the most ancient one was a type of treatment based on magic and supernatural phenomena. The third was the so-called “prophetic medicine,” which aimed to make magical practice religious in appearance as a way to localize the non-native practice. Ebrahimnejad pointed out that Iranian medicine was not a coherent collection in the 19th century. Rather, it was a broad assortment of medical knowledge, which incorporated a mix of different practices; therefore, with the appearance of Western medication in Iran, a Western-Iranian duality was formed, which characterized much of the later developments.

History of modern medicine in Iran

In the early Qajar era, European physicians entered Iran with political delegations. Hence, Western medicine slowly penetrated the trenches of Galenic medicine, and gradually traditional Iranian medical practices gave way to modern Western medicine.

The reformist and modernist Crown Prince of Fath Ali Shah, Prince Abbas Mirza (A Qajar crown prince of Persia and a military commander during the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813), should be mentioned as one of the pioneers of promoting Western medicine in Iran. The war with the Russians made Abbas Mirza familiar with this type of medicine. During the war, he learned that with the help of modern medicine, many of the wounded Russian troops would return to the front line after a few months, but many of the wounded Iranian troops were practically inefficient Apparently, this was the reason why the first Iranian s were sent to Europe to study medicine. This became the theme of James Morier’s (1923) adventures of Haji Baba of Ispahan. The real origin of modern medicine in Iran should be considered since the establishment of the Academy of Arts or Dar al-Fonon. Amir Kabir (Iran’s reformist chancellor of Nasser al-Din Shah) invited instructors from Austria to teach at the Dar al-Fonun School of Medicine in Iran, and it was from then on that medicine, surgery, and pharmacy began to flourish in Iran .

State of health

Personal and public health were described and criticized in many literary and nonliterary works including satire. For example, Zeyn al-Abidin Maraghei (2004) (Zeyn al- Abedin Maraghei was a pioneer Iranian novelist and a social reformer) who, in his book entitled Ibrahim Bye’s Travelogue, considered the traditional baths of this era as one of the causes of diseases:

“When we entered the bathroom, pungent odor made me feel suffocated. There was a pit with stagnant water, and they called it Khazineh. Its water was dark green, the color of the feather of a peacock. With a little reflection, it became clear that the source of any contagious disease was this filthy water, because every person, blind, bald, male and female, would enter this three month-old stale water.”

Hospital facilities

Criticism of the lack of medical facilities and services and the deplorable state of Iranian hospitals and patients were other themes of medical criticism in this era. For example, Zayn al-Abedin Maraghei described Mashhad hospital: “You call it hospital! Every patient who goes there his/her sickness remains unsolved as long as they stay there unless they escape the hospital, being healed by the grace of God.”

Having compared the medical status in Iran and the West, Talibov presented shocking statistics on the medical situation in Iran during the Qajar era; in this regard, Talibov (1967) stated: “In Germany, there is a doctor for every two thousand people. In Russia, there is a doctor for eighteen thousand people. In Iran, there is not a doctor even for five hundred thousand people and seven thousand square kilometers.”

The condition of traditional healers

Another theme of humor in the literary works of the Constitutional era was the description of traditional physicians and their practice of medicine. Traditional physicians practiced medicine without a medical certificate, and there was no special department that could approve their medical expertise and regulate or supervise their practice. Floor reported: “Iranian physicians do not need any diplomas to enter the medical profession. All they need is an unlimited reserve of arrogance and boldness.” This was the subject of much satire during this era. In a humorous tone, Talibov addressed his son, Ahmad: “Everyone who has read the book Tohfeh (Tahfeh al-Mu’minin is a medical book mainly in Persian, written by Mohammad Mohsen Hosseini Tonekaboni, known as Hakim Mo’men, a physician serving Shah Suleiman the Safavid, in the 11th century.) is a physician and if he has also read the Canon of Medicine, then he is a grand physician. They are, in fact, the butchers who are not responsible for what they slaughter”.

Opponents of modern medicine

Traditional healers: The opposition to modern medicine was to a large extent due to economic interests. An important part of the resistance came from those whose economic status was threatened by modern medicine. This was clearly seen in the opposition of traditional healers to modern medicine. In fact, traditional doctors should be mentioned as the first and most serious opponents of modern medicine. According to various sources, medicine was one of the most important and lucrative professions in Iran and healers were respected and had a close association with kings.

Distrust of the West

Distrust of the West led Iranians to oppose modern medicine and Western modernity in general. This distrust and disgust were so great that many even opposed what the Westerners were doing to save lives. It seems that the root of this opposition should be found in the mental background of Iranians and Orientals in general towards the West. In a speech in London, Mirza Malkum Khan (A prominent Iranian modernist (1834 – 1908) called the phenomenon of colonialism and the memory of the Crusades the most important factors in the hatred of the people of the East towards the West and Western modernity. To them, the West was the same as Christianity which started the Crusade. It was Christianity that threatened Islam, but this time the west, instead of the military army, intended use science, politics, trade and financial power to attack Muslims.

References

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