medicine in azerbaijan medicine in azerbaijan medicine in azerbaijan serves to protect the health and prosperity of citizens of the republic of azerbaijan. reforms in the sphere of medical care and the health care system's direction are parts of a global strategic development program of economic and social infrastructure. this program is based on principles of the establishment of a high-life democratic society with a market economy. early history the history of medicine in azerbaijan has deep roots. its ancient people believed in sorcery as a way to combat various sicknesses. stone age carvings and pictographs in azykh cave show evidence of this belief in sorcery. early people used medicinal plants to treat different sicknesses. their experience developed into what is known as traditional medicine. the division between the oral and written branches of traditional medicine originated with the invention of writing. fruits of common in azerbaijan dogrose, the tea of which is used for treatment of cold. the rich flora of azerbaijan has attracted the attention of doctors and scientists from ancient times. a variety of medicinal plants were used for prophylaxis and treatment. the seeds, roots, flowers and leaves of these plants were all used in treatment. women easily observed the influence of fruits, vegetables and medicinal tea upon the organism and their effects upon the cough, bleeding, ache, diarrhea and other illnesses. from ancient manuscripts, it is known that they used not only plants but were also acquainted with surgery, treatment of tumors and setting of broken bones. for instance, nariman narimanov found a human skull dated from the 4th millennium bc (eneolithic) with traces of trepanning on it in erefli village of agdam rayon. in 1971, archeologist h.kesemenli found a skull dated from the late bronze and early iron ages on which a trepanation was performed in khachbulag village of dashkasan rayon. r.gasimova, who investigated the skull, said that “artificial trepanation was performed near junction of parietal and frontal bones”. in 1958, pitchers dated from the 6th century bc with burned rues used as medicine to treat rheumatism, fever and prophylactics of various illnesses were found in garakepektepe village of mugan plain during archeological excavations. aromatherapy was also broadly spread. it was believed that the smell of a quince strengthens the body's energy. lemon was used for adjusting the nervous system, and apple for stimulation of the brain's work. in ancient times there was an active cultural interchange between azerbaijanis and residents of mesopotamia. sesame oil and crocus were imported from sumer. there is information about medicinal drugs and medicine in avesta, a sacred book of fire-worshippers and the ancient monument of people of azerbaijan and iran. there is also written that “a doctor has three weapons: word, herbs and a knife”. a doctor curing by words and suggestion was considered as the best at that time. medicine of caucasian albania, descendants of which are considered azerbaijanis, was also developing. medicinal plants were planted there from the roman empire. works by hippocrates and claudius galenus were popular there because of the spreading of christianity and the greek language. some knowledge about medicine was taught in religious schools and churches. development of medicine in the middle ages in this period, medicine was quickly developing, which is evidenced by archeological findings. for instance, polished marble vessels for antimony and golden brushes for applying it, used as anti-cough and antiemetic medicine in the middle ages, were found. sick men drunk wine from these made of antimony cups. various glass vessels used for preparation and storage of medicines, which alchemists used in traditional medicine and pharmacology, were found in shamakhi during excavations. these findings confirm that people in azerbaijan were engaged in pharmaceutics in the middle ages. according to farid alakbarli, a historian, turkish traditional medicine called “turkachare” and was similar to shamanism and treatment by wizardry and herbs began to be spread in the 4th century ad with the entering of turkic tribes into azerbaijan. in turkish, doctors were called gam, which meant “shaman”, or otachi which meant “herbalist”. herbals were called ota (ot is herb in translation from turkic). goddess oleng was considered as the patroness of doctors. shirvan, where mainly albanians and iranians lived, was occupied by arabs. sciences and culture developed due to the mutual influence of cultures as a part of a single caliphate. universities, observatories, libraries, mosques and hospitals were built. progress of medicine is observed, namely in the islamic period. at that time, madrasa, where arabic and persian languages, religion, math, calligraphy, history and literature were taught, functioned in azerbaijan. medicine and alchemy were also taught there. “malham” madrasa in shamakhi was one of the most famous madrasas of that time. eminent scientist and doctor kafiyaddin omar ibn osman – uncle of eminent persian poet khagani shirvani – led this educational institution. copy of “the canon of medicine” work written in arabic, in 1030, by doctor ibn sina, famed in europe as “avicenna” and who also was in azerbaijan where he collected information about medicine, was found out in azerbaijan among other manuscripts about medicine. in his work, ibn sina wrote about the saburkhast settlement in azerbaijan. this copy of “the canon” was made in baghdad in 1143 and is considered one of the most ancient manuscripts in the sphere of pharmacology and medicine in the world and the most ancient in azerbaijan. it was broadly used both in the whole muslim world and in christian europe and greatly influenced the development of medicine. there are descriptions of hundreds of medicines in it. copy of “the canon of medicine” work written in arabic, in 1030, by doctor ibn sina, and made in 1143, in baghdad. institute of manuscripts of azerbaijan of azerbaijan national academy of sciences, in baku bahmanyar al azerbaijani (died in 1067), a student of ibn sina, also famed among scientists of the 11th century. bahmanyar touched upon issues in medicine in his philosophic work called “at-tahsil” (“understanding”). manuscript copy of “al-magala as-salasun” (“the thirteenth treatise”) written in the 13th century by abu al-gasim al-zahravi, an eminent scientist from andalusia, who famed in europe as abulgasis (died in 1013) also came from azerbaijan. it is one of the most ancient manuscripts of this book. about 200 surgery instruments had been mentioned in this book. their assignments also had been explained there. the work influenced the development of surgery both in the east and also in europe. professor ziya bunyadov translated it into russian, and after it was published in moscow in 1983. manuscript copy of “al-magala as-salasun” (“the thirteenth treatise”) written in the 13th century by abu al-gasim al-zahravi, an eminent scientist of the 11th century. institute of manuscripts of azerbaijan of azerbaijan national academy of sciences, in baku medieval doctors warned sick people against tiredness. for example, mahmud ibn ilyas, a doctor who lived in the 12th century, advised nervous people to listen to mugham. medicine was strongly developing in the 13th century in the great seljuq empire of azerbaijani atabegs. almost every eastern scientist and philosopher had work in medicine. residents from different oblasts of azerbaijan compiled, rewrote and investigated books in medicine, including monuments of the 14th-18th centuries. there are more than four hundred manuscripts in medicine in azerbaijani, arabic, persian and turkish languages, both written in the territory of modern azerbaijan and brought from different oblasts in the muhammad fuzuli institute of manuscripts of azerbaijan of azerbaijan national academy of sciences in baku. according to kōichirō matsuura, the former director-general of unesco, “this collection shows the role of azerbaijan in the development of world medicine”. “zahirai nizamshahi”, written by rustam jurjani in the 13th century, was also partly investigated in azerbaijan. its manuscript had been copied in the 16th century, is saved in the baku institute of manuscripts. there were descriptions of pharmaceutical herbs, substances of animal origin, minerals and some complex medicines are included in it. the manuscript has not been found in any other storage of the world and exists in only exemplar in azerbaijan. copy of 16th century of “zahirai nizamshahi” written by rustam jurjani in the 13th century. institute of manuscripts of azerbaijan of azerbaijan national academy of sciences, in baku “about treatment science” work by mahmud ibn ilyas (the 14th century) in which fundamental ideas of medicine, symptoms and reasons of specific illnesses are described also famed. the greatest medical centers of medieval azerbaijan and adjacent regions of the east. yusif garabaghi, an azerbaijani doctor of the 16th century, who came from karabakh, wrote many medicine treatises and also “explanations and interpretations of “the canon of medicine” by ibn sina”. he lived in central asia for a long time and taught in samarkand. mir muhammad momin, palatial figure at suleyman the safavid, wrote several instructive works in persian, including “tohfat al mominin” in 1669. descriptions of more than 4000 plants, animals, minerals and other ingredients used in medicine were written in the work. momin described each plant, its specific characteristic, where it can be picked, other oblasts where it is used, and its name in other languages such as chinese and hindi in detail. in 1712, muhammad yusif shirvani wrote “tibbname” in the azerbaijani language. being a palatial doctor, shirvani advised using natural minerals for treatment, for example, rubbing an orange peel for tiredness in the neck. in this work, it's also written that the resting place of sick men should be decorated with flowers in light-blue, green, and white tints. it means that even color had great importance in the works of medieval healers. generally, in the 17th-18th centuries, a number of works had been written in the sphere of medicine and pharmacology by azerbaijani scientists such as murtuzagulu shamlu (sexual pathologist), abdulhasan maraghai, pharmacologists such as hasan rza oglu shirvani, haji suleyman iravani, and others. 724 kinds of medicinal plants were described. development of medicine in the 19th and early 20th century abdulkhalig akhundov, founder of the basis of scientific investigation in the history of medicine in azerbaijan. in the early 19th century when northern khanates of azerbaijan (shirvan, baku, nakhchivan, quba, talysh, karabakh, shaki, derbend and other) were joined to russia and the southern (tabriz, khoy, ardabil and others) ones to iran, azerbaijani community in iran continued to exist under the influence of persian and generally, the whole islamic culture, but azerbaijani community in the russian empire (later the ussr) was developing under the influence of europeanized secular russian culture (mainly in the soviet times). medicine in two regions was developing in two different ways. there was no european-like pharmacy in azerbaijan until 1828. during the reign of the russian such hospitals and pharmacies were established in azerbaijan as in the whole south caucasus, where russian doctors applied their skills. abdulkhalig akhundov founded the basis of scientific investigation in the history of medicine in azerbaijan. abdulkhalig studied and translated the famous pharmaceutics encyclopedia written by abu mansur kharavi in the 9th century from persian into german. after, the book was published in germany. abdulkhalig akhundov also defended a dissertation in the history of medicine at the university of tartu. in 1895, dr.mammad rza vakilov, dr.kerimbey mehmandarov and others established baku union of medicine. hasan bey zardabi hasan bey zardabi and mirza fatali akhundov used knowledge in medicine in their works for expression of philosophical ideas. akhundov was one of the firsts who acted against traditional healers. he was the author of works about hygiene and sanitary. zardabi also had an important role in the development of medicine. he was the first azerbaijani in the sphere of natural history and social darwinism. being the author of “akinchi” – the first azerbaijani newspaper in the russian empire – zardabi, together with akhundov worked upon works about malaria devastated the country at that time. his “hygiene” book is the first scientific research work about medicine in the sphere of hygiene in azerbaijan. it was published in 1914, in azerbaijan. sometimes doctors gave gratuitous help to sick men. during cholera devastation in nakhchivan, in 1847, mirza nasrulla mirza ali oglu gratuitously treated both azerbaijani and armenian sick men, due to which he was respected among people. "holy bukhara". “molla nasraddin”, 1911, no. 20. artist i.rotter alongside all these, pharmacies where herbs imported from iran and india were sold, were also functioning at that time. such pharmacies were in every city of