Akhawayni (?-983 AD): A Persian neuropsychiatrist in the early medieval era (9th-12th Century AD).
Arman Zargaran, Gholamreza Kordafshari, Seyyed Rouhollah Hosseini, Alireza Mehdizadeh
Journal of medical biography May 2016 DOI: 10.1177/0967772014525105 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
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| Keywords | Akhawayni Iran Persia History of medicine |
| Key points | The text argues that Akhawayni was a notable early medieval Persian physician specializing in neuropsychiatry whose surviving textbook, the first medical text in Persian after Islam, compiled existing knowledge and added original contributions. It credits him with the first descriptions of sleep paralysis, pragmatic rather than supernatural treatment, and a fever cure, and states that his accounts of meningitis, mania, psychosis, and dementia are close to current concepts. |
Abstract
The early medieval era is also called the Islamic Golden Age because of the significant rise in sciences, including medicine. Abū Bakr Rabi' ibn Ahmad Akhawayni Bukhāri (better known as Akhawayni) was one of the notable medical practitioners in his lifetime. His fame was in neuroscience and he became known as Pezeshk-e-Divanegan (Physician to the Insane). His only surviving book, Hidāyat al-Muta'allimin fi al-Tibb (The Students' Handbook of Medicine), is the first medical textbook in Persian, after Islam. Akhawayni gathered and categorized available knowledge on neuropsychiatry and added his own. He was the first to describe sleep paralysis and to suggest pragmatic rather than supernatural treatment. He was also the first to present fever cure and his descriptions of meningitis (Lisarghos in Hidāyat), mania, psychosis (Malikhulia), dementia (Ghotrab), etc., are close to current concepts.