Islamic Tibb and Soviet Medicine: Trajectories, Resiliency and Appeal of Indigenous Medical Practitioners in Central Asia, 1921–1991

Abstract

This article explores the trajectories of the encounter of Soviet state and its ‘modern,’ ‘scientific’ medicine with Islamic tibb in Central Asia, providing an overview of the different facets and manifestations of these pathways throughout the lifespan of the Soviet Union. The survey elucidates how the initial expansion of Soviet medicine followed by a later erosion of the Soviet healthcare system came into play to underline the complex relationships of Soviet health workers and indigenous medical practitioners as well as their rivalry and negotiations for legitimacy and authority across different settings and contexts. It argues that by virtue of castigating tibb as a remnant of the ‘backward past’ as well as demonising and suppressing tabibs, Soviet medical authorities eventually appropriated the traditional medical knowledge of the region and denigrated Central Asian indigenous medicine to the realm of ‘non-traditional’ by the end of the Soviet era.