The academy is primarily involved in preservation of medical manuscripts and other artefacts of historical importance and in propagation of history of medicine. Students and research scholars from all systems of medicine and from other diverse disciplines interested in history of medicine and sciences take the maximum benefit from its rich collection. The library of Ibn Sina Academy houses one of the most precious and valuable collection of thousands medical manuscripts, printed books, rare works of physicians and a large number of classical Unani periodicals. Most of the manuscripts are very rare and some are unique. The Mss Section is also partner member of National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), Government of India, for Conservation and Preservation of rare manuscripts. The manuscript section at present consist of around 13500 manuscripts. To cite an example, one manuscript which extant at the library of Ibn Sina Academy is Kitab ila Aglooqan fi Shifa al Amraz of Galen. This was the first major translation of Galen into Arabic by a Syrian Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq. Hunayn translated (c.830-870) 129 works of Galen into Arabic. Kitab ila Aglooqan fi Shifa al Amraz, is a master piece of all literary works of Galen. It is a part of the Alexandrian compendium of Galen’s work. This manuscript of 10th century comprises of two parts that include details regarding various types of fevers (Humyat) and different inflammatory conditions of the body. More importantly, it includes details of more than 150 single and compound formulations of both herbal and animal origin. The book provides an insight into understanding the traditions and methods of treatment in Greek and Roman era. In addition, this book provides a direct source for the study of more than 150 single and compound drugs used during Greeko-Roman period.
Galen's approach to medicine became and remains influential in the medieval world. The first major translator of Galen into Arabic was Hunayn ibn Ishaq. One of Hunayn's Arabic translations, Kitab ila Aglooqan fi Shifa al Amrad, is extant in the Library of Ibn Sina Academy and is regarded as a masterpiece of Galen's literary work. Other rare manuscripts in the library are Thimar al Kutub Sittata Ashar le Jalinoos by Abul Faraj Abdullah Taiyeb, Tarwihal Arwah by Ibn Sad al Din, Ikhteyar al Ilaj by Abdullah b. Taiyeb, Shifa al Aswam by Khizar b Ali and Tibb al Malook by Mohammad b. Ali.
Abu Ali Ibn Sina is a well-known personality among the physicians of Unani medicine and scientists of physical sciences since medieval times. To commemorate and to institutionalize an academy named after him, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine & Sciences was founded on March 1, 2000. The Academy has been registered under Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and was formally inaugurated on April 20, 2001. Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India gave accreditation to the academy in 2004 and promoted it as ‘Centre of Excellence’ in 2008. The Academy is now a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization with multiple aims and objectives.
