Ali ibn Hosein Ansari (1330–1404): a Persian pharmacist and his pharmacopoeia, Ekhtiyarat i Badi i

Abstract

Ekhtiyarat i Badi i (Badi i Selections) is a drug manual of traditional Persian medicine, well known in Farsi-speaking countries, the Middle East and India. The author was the greatest pharmacist-physician of the 13th-century Mongolian period in Persia. The unique style of writing, with authoritative and critical drug overviews, made his book an invaluable Farsi reference of traditional pharmacy for four centuries. In spite of adverse social and political circumstances in the Mongolian era, the book contributed to the reconstitution of Persian pharmacy and medicine, serving as a basic reference for the compilation of other drug manuals and scientific works for centuries after its introduction.