Hakim Ajmal Khan: Victor over British Surgeons in the Surgical Duel‬

Dr. Boyd was much impressed and he congratulated Hakim Ajmal Khan Saheb on his correct diagnosis. He arranged a dinner in Hakim Saheb’s honor and introduced him to Mrs. Boyd as “one who had defeated him in the surgical duel.”

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Hakim Ajmal Khan undertook 1911 a tour of Europe where he studied the latest research made in the field of medicine and surgery. He visited all the important medical centers and hospitals in the West and met physicians of repute. It was here that he met Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari for the first time and developed a life-long companionship with him.


History of Sharif Manzil and Khandan -e- Sharifi (1719 – 2019)


Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was the House Surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital under Dr. Stanley Boyd who was one of the most reputed surgeons of England and was also the honorary surgeon to the King. One morning Dr. Mukhtar Ansari introduced Hakim Ajmal Khan to Dr. Boyd who was examining a patient. Dr. Boyd invited Hakim Saheb also to help him in the examination of the patient to which Hakim Saheb diagnosed that he was suffering from an old wound in the upper portion of the intestines.


The first Indian Doctor (from the family of Hakims) to work at the Charing Cross Hospital


The gentleman sitting on the left is Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari and the person sitting beside him is Hakeem Ajmal khan, one of the top most expertise in the field of Unani medicine of his time.
The gentleman sitting on the left is Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari and the person sitting beside him is Hakim Ajmal Khan, one of the top experts in the field of Unani medicine of his time.

The Surgical Duel

Dr. Boyd differed from this diagnosis and invited him the next day to be present at the operation that he was going to perform on the patient. In the words of Dr. Ansari it was, in fact, “a test between the Unani system and the English system of medicine. The operation was going to reveal as to which of the two was in the right.”


Hakeem Mohammad Kabiruddin – A 20th century academician of Unani Medicine


Dr. Ansari remained much concerned about the whole affair as he was certainly afraid that if Dr. Boyd’s findings came out true, the Unani system would receive a setback in the eyes of the British. However, the next day when the patient’s abdomen was opened for operation, it was found that the diagnosis made by Hakim Ajmal Khan was correct.


Hakim Ajmal Khan: The Visionary behind India’s First Female Midwifery School and Hospital


Dr. Boyd was much impressed and he congratulated Hakim Ajmal Khan Saheb on his correct diagnosis. He later arranged a dinner in Hakim Saheb’s honor and introduced him to Mrs. Boyd as “one who had defeated him in the surgical duel.”


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Dr. Zareen Fatima https://instagram.com/dr.zareenfatima

Dr Zareen is an ambitious general dentist working and residing in UAE. She is able to handle multiple tasks on a daily basis. Alongside her busy work schedule, she is a vivid reader, researcher, writer editor and is currently pursuing Masters in Public Health. In her leisure she brings out the forgotten history in the field of medicine and associated disciplines.