New Delhi

Traditional Islamic medicine collection with 35,000 printed books and 1,500 manuscripts documenting Unani pharmaceutical practices and medieval Islamic drug preparation methods. The Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences is a unique center of Indian medical culture and heritage, established in 2000 and formally inaugurated on April 21, 2001, in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Named after the legendary scholar Abu Ali Ibn Sina (980-1037 AD), known in the West as Avicenna and often called the "father of early modern medicine," this academy houses one of the world's most precious collections dedicated to medieval medicine and Islamic sciences. The institution maintains two specialized museums - the Karam Husain Museum on History of Medicine and Sciences, and the Fazlur Rahman Museum on Arts, Culture and Orientalism - alongside an extensive library containing over 35,000 books, 1,500 manuscripts, and rare medical texts in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sanskrit, and English spanning over 1,200 years of medical heritage. Located in Tijara House amid a bustling marketplace, the four-story academy features remarkable artifacts including hand-written Qurans by Mughal emperors, oriental textiles with gold and silver embroidery, vintage medical instruments, and an unparalleled collection on pharmacology (Ilmul Advia) and Unani medicine. Recognized by the Ministry of AYUSH as a Centre of Excellence in 2008, the academy uniquely combines research facilities with a clinical setup for studying indigenous drugs and serves as the only Indian institution listed in the NIH's Directory of Libraries of History Medicine. Founded by Professor Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, a scholar of traditional Perso-Arabic medicine, the academy represents a living legacy that bridges medieval Islamic medical knowledge with contemporary pharmaceutical research, making it an invaluable resource for understanding the evolution of medical sciences from the Islamic Golden Age to modern times.