Makhzan ul Mufradat , an Arabi-Malayalam title written by Islamic scholar Kidangayam Ibrahim Musliyar in the 1930s, was published recently by the Kondotty-based Mahakavi Moyinkutty Vaidyar Mappila Kala Academy.
According to a press release by Hussain Randathani, chairman of the academy, and K.K.N. Kurup, historian, the book has details about 1,197 medicinal herbs and their uses. The book was written based on texts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Malayalam, and Persian languages. It gives names of the herbs in Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Malayalam, and English with their pictures. Musliyar could not publish it as he was exiled for agitating against the then British government.
The manuscript of the three-volume title was recovered from a house at Pandikkad in Malappuram district. It was found in the course of a workshop conducted by the Arabic Department of the Calicut University in association with the National Manuscript Mission. The book was made into one volume by Mr. Kurup, who was its chief editor, with the help of the mission, and Yousuf Mohammed Nadvi was the editor. The Department of Culture of the Kerala government funded the project.
