Hospitals in Iran and India, 1500-1950s

This collection of seven papers comparatively examines the hospital as social and scientific institution in India and Iran as it was transformed from being guided by the Avicenian tradition of medicine in Mughal India and Safavid Iran to being a vehicle for the spread of modern western medicine in British India and Iran during the Qajar period. Beyond that overarching theme, however, the essays presented by editor Speziale (Iranian studies, U. Sorbonne Nouvelle, France) have varied foci, discussing such specific topics as the number, growth, and importance of hospitals over time in Iran; Catholic hospitals in pluralistic Goa; relations between doctors and rulers in Bhopal; and the conceptualization of the hospital as a center of multipurpose activities from pharmacological research and production to the implementation of Islamic studies. Three of the essays are presented in French. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Fabrizio Speziale, Ph.D. (2002), holds a CNRS Chair in Iranian studies at the University Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3. He has published extensively on the history of medicine in the Indo-Persianate world including Soufisme, religion et medecine en Islam indien (Paris, 2010).