The science of medicine under the Abbasids

Abstract

The advent of the Abbasids marked a new era in the history of the development of Arabian medicine. They came to power and there arose the magnificent building of Arabian medicine with all its parts well developed. The rapid rise of this science, in the short space of less than two hundred years, can be comprehended only in the light of the collective circumstances that led to it, namely, the previous development of Medical science by the Greeks and the Indians, the work done in connection with Arabian medicine and the development of Arabic grammar and scientific prose literature under the Umayyads, the keen interest of the Abbasid Caliphs and their courtiers in literary activities, and the ample means and appliances which they had at their disposal for the promotion of Arabian medicine.