?Ali ibn Sahl Rabban at-Tabari: The Indian Books

?Ali ibn Sahl Rabban at-Tabari's Indian Books, completed in the year 850 CE as an appendix to his medico-philosophical chef-d' uvre "e;Paradise of Wisdom"e;, belong to the most remarkable texts in Arabic scientific literature. The Indian Books offer a unique, interpretative summary of the main tenets of Ayurvedic medicine, as understood by Arabic-speaking scholars on the basis of now lost translations from Sanskrit. The present book centres around a critical edition and annotated translation of this crucial text, framed by a detailed introduction and extensive glossaries of terms. Tabari's learned expose of Ayurveda also throws a more nuanced light on the allegedly uncontested supremacy of Greek humoralism in 9th-century Arabic medicine.