Presentation of Sultan Ali Tabib al-Khorasani’s Work “The Tradition of Healing”

On September 11, 2025, at the National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, within the framework of the Second Meeting of the Association of Manuscript Scholars of Kazakhstan, the presentation of the book “The Tradition of Healing” by Sultan Ali Tabib al-Khorasani took place. The book was published as a result of research conducted by the Research Center “Written Monuments and Spiritual Heritage” of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

The work in the Chagatai language was translated into Kazakh, transliterated, and supplemented with a glossary by a creative team under the supervision of the director of the center, Professor Z. Shadkam. The team included Ö. Tuyakbayev, Ü. Kydyrbayev, N. Kairanbayeva, and Q. Sultanbek.

The book presents one of the valuable written monuments of medieval Turkic medicine – the treatise of Sultan Ali Tabib al-Khorasani “Dastūr al-‘Ilāj” (“The Tradition of Healing”). The work was composed in the palace of the Shibanid ruler Koshkunji Khan (1432–1530) in 1526–1527. Versions of the manuscript in Persian and Turkic languages have survived to the present day.

As part of the grant-funded research project AR09259326, supported by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Turkic version of the work was studied, translated into Kazakh, and presented to the general readership. Initially intended as a concise manual for folk healers, the work eventually evolved into an extensive treatise, providing a detailed account of the traditions of Turkic healing, widely used remedies, and methods of treatment.

The ceremonial ribbon was cut by Dr. Pakizat Auezbayeva, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Leading Researcher at the M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art and Dr. Akhmet Toktabai Leading Researcher of the Sh.Sh. Ualikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology, Doctor of Technical Sciences, well-known ethnographer . They gave a high evaluation of the work, emphasizing its importance as a key source for historians, ethnographers, cultural scholars, linguists, as well as researchers of the history and culture of the Turkic peoples.

In addition, the Director of the National Library of Kazakhstan, Gaziza Kudaibergenkyzy Nurgaliyeva, and the Head of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Gulshat Masalimkyzy Abikova, also delivered speeches and shared their views. They stressed that this work has been studied in depth for the first time and translated into Kazakh. According to them, the publication opens up new opportunities for scholars and readers to explore the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of the Turkic peoples.

The event was attended by faculty members, students, master’s students, and doctoral candidates from Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

N.N. Kairanbayeva