Health and Medicine in the XIVth Century According to Ibn Battuta’s Travel Book

Abstract

The observations of a traveler and the work he wrote in this way are among the important sources that provide detailed information about the life of that period. In this way, it is possible to obtain information about many social, cultural, political and religious areas of societies that lived centuries ago, and to obtain information about many issues that are not included in general or special history books. The travel book of Ibn Battuta, who lived in the XIVth century, in which the knowledge and experiences he gained during his travels, which lasted for nearly thirty years, are conveyed, is also very important in this respect. Considered as the greatest traveler of the Middle Ages, since he traveled a much wider area than Marco Polo and was found in very important cultural centers, Ibn Battuta, who observed their lives and was seen in societies, suffered from diseases such as plague, malaria, leprosy; from the institutions where patients can apply for treatment; people's search for a cure for their diseases with some methods and practices other than medical treatment; from which diseases and how various plants are used; He talks about what the people of the time did to be healthy and clean. According to this, Ibn Battuta mostly talks about the plague, especially the black plague, and also mentions the malaria he was caught several times. The records about the plague are especially the lands of the Mamluk State such as Egypt-Syria, the lands of the Delhi-Turkish Sultanate in India, especially in Delhi, Mutra; and it consists of what happened in Andalusia. He mentions malaria while citing his observations in Algeria, Tuster and Maldives. Among the hospitals that the traveler gave information about, the hospital that was built by the Mamluk Sultan el-Melikü'l-Mansûr Seyfeddin Kalavun in the XIIIth century in Cairo and therefore called Bîmâristân-ı Kalavun or Bîmâristân-ı Mansûr has an important place. This hospital; It was located in a complex consisting of a mosque, a madrasa, a tomb and a bimaristan. In addition, Ibn Battuta, who mentions that there are hospitals in places such as Aleppo, China, Baghdad and Nusaybin, and the sensitivity of the Merini ruler in the construction of hospitals, also introduces some of these buildings from their architectural aspect. He refers to the use of drugs that have a laxative effect to get rid of diseases, the belief that the body will be purified from the disease, and also emphasizes that he finds himself healed in this way. Among the plants he gave information about, beyder, which he used due to stomach ailment while in Mali and used to empty his stomach; nevre leaf chewed together with tenbul and fevfel in order to strengthen the teeth and make the mouth smell pleasant; Tenbul, which is very valuable for Indians and is more preferred to be given as a gift than gold, is preferred because it gives a pleasant odor to the mouth and facilitates digestion, and is frequently consumed by concubines; Coconut, also known as nargil, used in lamps or by women to make their hair thick and shiny; mehva, which causes headaches if consumed too much; there are products such as iron powder, which is preferred in terms of increasing sexual power. Medieval people tried to get rid of diseases with prayers they prayed as a requirement of their beliefs, besides seeking healing through doctors and the drugs they recommended. It is understood that prayers were made collectively, especially in epidemics such as the black plague, which deeply affected the society, and members of different religions came together for this purpose. The subject related to this is explained in terms of the people of Damascus coming together in the mosque after fasting for three days, begging and praying to Allah for hours, while Jews and Christians participate in the prayer ceremony with their holy books and all their members. In this article, it is tried to raise awareness about the contribution of travel books to the field of history and medical history by examining the aforementioned records. On this occasion, it would be appropriate to remember that works written in different fields have a source value in order to reach historical material.