Document Type : Research Paper
Author
University shahid bahonar kerman
10.22103/jis.2019.12376.1852
Abstract
1.Introduction
The Safavids, as the first government after Islam, Established a centralized military and formalized Shiite religion in Ira. In the east and west with important and centralized governments like neighboring India and the Ottomans bordering with the governments of these countries, they were in conflict and sometimes at peace. Accordingly, scientists and politicians and even the masses in these lands were commuting and engaged in scientific, cultural and economic exchanges. Accordingly, this article, as one of the most important sections of society in the Safavid era, seeks to study the causes of migration of Iranian physicians to India and its impact on medical knowledge of Indian Gūrkānids and find out about issues like religious prejudice and political crises during the Safavid period, as well as how much social, political, and economical conditions of India have been influential in these migrations.
2. Methodology
the present article seeks to investigate the causes of the Iranian doctors' migration to India and its impact on the medical knowledge of the Gūrkānids of India as one of the important strata of the Safavid era, and find out about Issues such as religious prejudice and political crises during the Safavid era,. Regarding the nature of the subject, a descriptive-analytical method was used to collect information from the library and to examine the documents and texts. This research attempts to answer the following questions: What were the causes of migration of Iranian physicians to India and its impact on medical knowledge of Indian Gūrkānids? and to what extent have social, political, and economical conditions in India influenced these migrations?
3. Discussion
Based on these issues, it is worth mentioning that the Safavid doctors were forced to emigrate for various reasons. There have been some positive and some negative reasons. Negative reasons can stem from the prejudices common in the Safavid era and excessive rigor pointed to Sunnis and the consequences of the succession crisis and the assassination of the former king's physician. Positive reasons, like the motivation to raise money, appropriate treatment of Indian Gurkani kings with Iranian scientists and the religious similarity of the doctors with the Indian Gurkhani court. In explaining each of these topics, it should be noted that coinciding with the rise of the Safavids in Iran, intellectuals and teachers were mainly Sunni, fearful of the enormous violence inflicted on them, most of them fled to neighboring countries, and as a result, the real centers of rational science were completely broken and many Iranian scientists who inherited rational knowledge from the Timurid and Bindari period left Iran from the very beginning and took refuge in the territories of India, Ottoman, Arabia and elsewhere. This migration encompassed all classes, including the physicians who migrated to the Indian Gurkhani court. This migration caused stagnation in medicine in Iran and the boom in science in India. Apart from religious prejudice, one of the major problems encountered by the Safavid era was that of scientists, especially doctors, who were blamed for immediate deaths of kings. In fact, during the Safavid period, and even before them, when a king died, all those around him considered the cause of death to be insufficiency of the king's physician expertise; and, this led to the death of that unfortunate physician after the king's death. Therefore, the skilled doctors were not very keen on working in the Safavid court and preferred the Indian court. Besides important factors such as the dominant atmosphere and the conditions of the original land, target location potentials can be considered as interfering and effective in migrating between two locations. As in the Safavid era in Iran, important reasons including the dogmas and attitudes of religious dogmatic and the impunity of court physicians had caused the migration of doctors, but in India, there were many factors that attracted immigrants, like geographical, religious and facilities that Gurkani's powerful owners had provided to the immigrants; and, although the Safavid court was not keen on keeping elites and scientists in check, Gurkani's court showed a great deal of enthusiasm and interest in scholars, especially scientists and doctors. In fact, sometimes the Gurkani kings and emirs of India invited Iranian physicians and scientists to India, so that they could use their skills and abilities in the field of medical science; and, sometimes to treat diseases that Indian doctors could not cure, Iranian doctors were invited to treat them. In the meantime, unlike the Safavid court, Iranian physicians held such a high position in the Indian court that they could even become governors and officials; so, it would not be strange if Iranian doctors were always afraid of losing their lives and property, choose India as 'the ideal land' for their work and life.
3. Conclusion
According to available evidence, scientists and doctors of the Safavid era preferred India and the Gurkani court over Iran and the Safavid court due to the attractions of India and the deterrent factors that the Safavids possessed. In the meantime, however, material motivations and the quest for governmental position was also an important factor that coul not be easily overlooked. In fact, Gorkani kings had provided immigrants with many opportunities, including medical books, libraries, hospitals, wealth and governmental positions. There are many factors in the migration of people in historical times from one land to another, among which adverse social and political conditions that hinder people in an area from dealing easily and comfortably with religious and non-religious beliefs and using their skills and talents, have the most important role. So, in the Safavid era, with the Shiite religion being recognized as the official religion, because of the misconduct of some of the Safavid kings in dealing with religious minorities as well as rejecting ideas and activities of other religions, and of course some misconducts in dealing with doctors, many of the community's elites, including doctors preferred immigration to neighboring countries, especially India, over staying in Iran. As a result, skilled doctors who were always suspect, brought their knowledge to India and the Gurkani court; and, they were given wealth and status, and sometimes even state and army positions. In this way, Iran became the key to India's success; and, Iranian knowledge, separating from its original position, grew up elsewhere and transferred Iranian heritage to the land of India and to the next generation of Indians.
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