English avatar for rare herbal dictionary

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THENHIPALAM: Scholars in the Arabic Department of Calicut University are translating a unique dictionary of herbal medicines and a..

THENHIPALAM: Scholars in the Arabic Department of Calicut University are translating a unique dictionary of herbal medicines and antidotes, used by Muslim medical practitioners in Malabar. The dictionary, compiled some 150 years ago in Arabic and Arabi-Malayalam language, is being translated into English.
They found the compilation named Makhzanul Mufradatu fi al Thwibbu, from an ancient Muslim house in Pandikkadu while searching for manuscripts in ArabiMalayalam in the Malabar region.The only existing copy of the book, which was found by the researchers, was handwritten by a medic, K T Ibrahim Maulavi in Pandikkadu. It runs into 239 pages of about A4 size, in three volumes. The dictionary has a very systematic description of 1,197 herbs and antidotes, their features and medicinal use.

Interestingly, the dictionary also has their names in English, Urdu, Persian, Malayalam and Tamil.

The language used in the book is more technical than literary in nature, he said. In the four-page introduction to the compilation, the author says that his intention is to encourage medical education in the Malabar region.

However, the department is waiting for some support for the project to progress. It has sought assistance from the National Mission for Manuscripts so that a fulltime research scholar can be appointed for the project.