Catalogue: Medical Therapeutics
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Dastūr al-‘ilāj (MS P 6) - (The Rule Book for Therapy)
- دستور العلاج
- by Sulṭān ‘Alī Khurāsānī (fl. 1526-7/933)
- سلطانعلى طبيب خرسانى
The comprehensive Persian-language manual of therapeutics by Sulṭān ‘Alī ṭabīb Khurāsānī was begun in the year 1536/933 and was undertaken at the request of Abu al-Muzaffar Mahmud'Shah Sultan, whom the author had successfully treated in the city of Samarqand. The treatise consists of two sections (maqalahs), the first divided into 25 chapters (babs) concerning diseases specific to particular parts of the body. The second section, in 8 babs, is on diseases affecting the entire body and not specific to a particular part. After completing the treatise, Khurāsānī subsequently added an introductory essay (muqaddimah) composed of 16 chapters (babs) concerned with the preservation of health and hygiene. The introductory essay has a dedication to Abū al-Ghazī Sulṭān Abū Sa‘id Bahadur Khan who ruled Samarqand from 1530 to 1533.
NLM has two copies of this popular therapeutic manual, both made in the early 19th century. The slightly earlier copy (MS P 6) does not have the introductory essay, while the second copy (MS P 7, item 2) has only the introductory essay.
For other copies, see Storey PL II, 2, pp. 233-234; and Keshavarz, "Wellcome", pp. 178-183 entry 56.
Dastūr al-‘ilāj (MS P 6)
Illustrations
The colophon of a copy of Dastūr al-‘ilājj (The Rule Book for Therapy) which was composed in Samarqand over a number of years beginning in 1526/933 by Sulṭān ‘Alī Khurāsānī. This copy was produced in 1816/1232.
Physical Description
Persian. 208 leaves (fols. 1b-208b). Dimensions 21.0 x 12.6 (text area 15.3 x 9.2) cm; 22 lines per page. The title is given near the beginning of the text (fol. 2a line 16). The author is given on fol. 2a lines 13-14 as Sulṭān ‘Alī tabib al-Khurāsānī al-Junabayadi.
The copy is dated in colophon (fol. 208b line 18) where it is said that an unnamed copyist completed it in 1816-7 [1232 H].
This copy lacks the introduction (muqaddimah) added to the treatise later by the author. A break in the text appears to occur between fols. 164 and 165. The text is written in a small nasta‘liq script, in black ink with headings in red and red overlinings. There are catchwords.
The copy has been collated with another copy. There are occasional marginalia.
The beige paper is somewhat burnished. It has visible laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. The paper is waterdamaged at the top. Most leaves have been trimmed from there original size, though fols. 31, 38, 75, 154, 155 and 170 were not trimmed in order to preserve some marginal notes.
The volume consists of 208 leaves. Fol. 1a is blank, except for an owner's note.
Binding
The volume is bound in a modern library binding of brown leather over pasteboards. There are modern endpapers and pastedowns.
Provenance
The volume was in the collection of the Army Medical Library in 1946; no further information is available on provenance.
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., entry P6, p. 331.
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-132 no. 1
Illustrations
The opening of the introductory essay (muqaddimah) to Dastūr al-‘ilāj (The Rule Book for Therapy) which was composed in Samarqand over a number of years beginning in 1526-7/933 by Sulṭān ‘Alī Khurāsānī. This copy was produced in 1816-7/1232.
Physical Description
Persian. 92 leaves (fols. 75b-166b). Dimensions 21.2 x 12.6 (text area 14.5 x 7) cm; 18 lines per page. The title Majmu‘ah-i tibb va Dastūr al-‘ilāj is given in a later hand on the title page to the volume (fol. 13a), and on fol. 75a, which is otherwise blank, a later hand has penciled the title Dastūr al-‘ilāj. The name of the author is not given in this copy. Identification of the treatise has been confirmed by comparison with London, Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, MS Pers. 159.
It is an incomplete copy consisting only of the introductory essay (muqaddimah). Sommer (Schullian/Sommer), Cat. of incun. & MSS., p. 331) mistakenly stated that this copy consists of the treatise without the introduction, when in fact it consists of only the introduction.
The copy is dated in the colophon (fol. 166b (see MS P 7, item 3 for illustration), lines 8-9) where it is said that an unnamed copyist completed the copy on 22 Dhu al-Hijjah 1241 [= 28 July 1826].
The text is written in a small nasta‘liq script. The text area is frame-ruled. Black ink with maroon headings and overlinings. There is a marginal commentary that is written in the same hand as the central text. There are catchwords for the central text.
Two types of paper has been used in the volume: a creamy, glossy paper with neither laid lines nor chain lines, and a lightly-glossed gray-green paper that is watermarked (1824). The papers are mixed throughout the volume. The edges have been trimmed from their original size.
The volume consists of 174 leaves. Fols. 1a-12b, 73b-75a and 174b are are blank. Item 1 (fols. 14a-73a is an anonymous treatise on compound remedies (MS P 7, item 1), and item 2 (fols. 75b-166b) is the treatise here catalogued; and item 3 (fols. 166b-173b) is a medical compendium Zubdat al-bayān fī ‘ilm abdān by al-Asfarā’nī (MS P 7, item 3). All the items are copied by the same copyist. Fol. 13a has many owners' notes, and fol. 13b has miscellaneous notes that continue on fol. 14a. Folio 174a has miscellaneous therapeutic notes written in Persian in two directions on the page.
Binding
The volume is bound in a soft black leather binding. Both covers have blind-tooled frames enclosing rectilinear designs. There are pink paper pastedowns and modern endpapers.
Provenance
On folio 13a there is an owner's stamp dated 1239 with the name Ibn Muhammad ‘Adb Rafi‘ al-Husayni al-Wahab. There are also six undated owners's notes, one for ‘Abd al-Mudhanab al-Isfahani.
The volume was acquired by the Army Medical Library in 1946 from A.S. Yahuda, who acquired it from a dealer in Hyderabad, India (ELS 1686, Med. 42).
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., pp. 331-2 entry P7.
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-132 no. 2
