Special recruitment of Eastern doctors in the Abbasid era

Abstract

The Arab Islamic state during the Abbasid era paid great attention to physicians and sought to bring them from abroad due to their significant role in treating complex diseases that local physicians were unable to cure. The process of recruitment was based on the physician’s reputation and expertise in the field of medicine. The state provided these physicians with protection and financial support. Moreover, the efforts of the recruited physicians were highly praised by caliphs and governors, especially for their medical and intellectual contributions in curing certain illnesses. This highlights the positive aspects of recruiting physicians from outside the region, particularly from the Islamic East. The importance of this recruitment lies in shedding light on its positive impact on advancing medical services and their development, especially in treating caliphs, governors, and others. It also contributed to the evolution of the Arab Islamic intellect in the field of medicine specifically and science in general, as many physicians were interested in other sciences alongside their practice of medicine. Additionally, recruiting physicians played a significant role in the spread of translation, particularly the translation of non-Arabic books, such as those in Persian, into Arabic for broader dissemination within the courts of the Arab Islamic state. Islam encourages medicine and healing because they are closely linked to human life. Therefore, it was not uncommon for some caliphs and governors, when faced with critical health conditions, to urgently seek consultation and the swift arrival of skilled physicians. For example, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur requested the recruitment of Georgios, and Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned the Indian physician Manka based on the advice of Abu Omar al-Ajami. It can be said that the recruitment of physicians from the Islamic East was of great importance in various aspects, including medical, health, and scientific domains, as well as in the dissemination of books, as mentioned earlier. Moreover, the physicians who were recruited received considerable care and attention from the Arab Islamic state in general and from the caliphs and governors in particular, in appreciation of the valuable services they provided.