History

This Institution was started by Hakim Abdul Majeed Khan in 1883 in Gali Qasim Jan, in the old part of the city and was named as Madarasa e Tibbia. It was formally inaugurated on 23rd, July, 1889 by Mr. R. Clark, the then Deputy Commissioner of Delhi. Study of Modern Medicine and Science was a part of Syllabus. After his death, his younger brother Hakim Wasil Khan took over the institution in 1903. In 1911 youngest of the brothers Hakim Ajmal Khan got the reins of the college. He established Hindustani Dawakhana as a trust in 1911 with Vaid Munshi Man Singh as its first trustee. He took special interest in the development of Indian Systems of Medicine. British Viceroy Lord Harding had intended to ban all indigenous systems of Medicines in favour of the Allopathy. Hakim Ajmal Khan, a great nationalist and freedom fighter rose to oppose this and established Vedic and Tibbi Conference in Delhi in 1910 to unite all practitioners of indigenous systems. Eventually the ban was lifted in 1916.Hakim Sahib had decided to establish a world class institution of Ayurveda and Unani in Delhi. He travelled to various European Countries including England to learn about a modern medical college. He shifted Madarasa e Tibbia at the present site in Karol Bagh, New Delhi on a 33.33 Acre plot of Land purchased by him for this purpose. It was renamed as Ayurvedic & Unani Tibbi College which later came to be known as Tibbia (Medical) College. The same Lord Harding laid the foundation stone of the college on 29th March, 1916. The college was inaugurated on 13th February, 1921 by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. It was run by a managing board established as a trust by Hakim Ajmal Khan. After independence, this college and allied units were managed by a Board established under Tibbia College Act, 1952. This Act has now been replaced by a new Act known as Delhi Tibbia College (Take Over) Act, 1998.Under this Act the College was taken over by the Government of NCT of Delhi w.e.f. 1st May, 1998. The college is affiliated to the University of Delhi since 1973 and is under the faculty of Ayurvedic & Unani Medicine.

Our Founder :

Hakim Ajmal Khan’s (I868-1927) ancestors, a distinguished line of physicians, had come to India during the reign of Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire in India. All members of the family of Hakim Ajmal Khan were Unani doctors. The family had been practicing this ancient form of medicine from the time of the Mughal rulers.
Hakim Ajmal Khan was born on 12th February, 1868.His father Ghulam Mahmud Khan was a renowned Unani Physician of his times. He learnt Quran by heart and studied traditional Islamic knowledge including Arabic and Persian in his childhood, before turning his energy to the study of medicine under the wise guidance of his senior relatives, all of whom were well-known physicians. His grandfather Hakim Sharif Khan had setup his clinic at his residence Sharif Manzil, Ballimaran, in old Delhi which was later handed over to Hakim Ajmal Khan. Once qualified, Hakim Ajmal Khan was appointed chief physician to the Nawab of Rampur. No praise is too high for Hakim Sahib, hailed as "Massiha-e-Hind" (Messiah of India) and "a king without a crown". He could affect miraculous cures, and is said to have possessed "magical" medicine chest, the secrets of which were known to him alone. Such was his medical acumen that it is said that he could diagnose any illness by just looking at a person’s face. Hakim Ajmal Khan charged Rs.1000 for a visit. That was his daily fee if he went out of town, but if the patient came to Delhi he was treated free, even if he was a Maharaja.
Hakim Ajmal Khan took much interest in the expansion and development of the Indian systems of Ayurveda & Unani medicine. Hakim Ajmal Khan built great institutions – the Jamia Millia Islamia College (Now a University), Hindustani Dawakhana & Ayurvedic Rasayanshala, the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College, in Delhi, a research center in herbal medicines and a publication division by the name Dafter ul Masih in Tibbia College Campus in order to expand the research and practice hence saved Indian Systems of Medicine from extinction in India. He also established females only Madarasa e Tibbia zanana in Gali Qasim Jan, Delhi which was inaugurated on 13th January 1909 by Lady Dane, the wife of then Governor of Punjab. His untiring efforts in the field of Indian medicine infused a new force and life into an otherwise decaying Indian medical system under the British regime. He established Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbi Conference in 1910 to unite all Vedas and Hakims of his time against the British rule and their efforts to ban all indigenous Systems of Medicines.
The life history of Hakim Ajmal Khan changed its course from medicine towards politics after he started writing for an Urdu weekly 'Akmal-ul-Akhbar' that was launched by his family in 1886. It was Hakim Ajmal Khan who introduced Mahatma Gandhi to the leaders of Indian National Congress on his return from South Africa. He was one of the founding members of Muslim League but later left it. At a time when many Muslim leaders were arrested, Gandhiji united with him and other Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali in the famous Khilafat movement. Hakim Ajmal Khan is also the sole person who has had the honor to be elected the President of the Indian National Congress (1921), the Muslim League (1919) and the All India Khilafat Committee (1920) as also the Hindu Maha Sabha .He was also the founder and first Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi from 1920 till his death. In fact he sustained Jamia from his own finances and he also established Maktaba Jamia to provide for Jamia.
Hakim Ajmal Khan’s whole life was a portrayal of altruistic service and sacrifice. He was also a poet of Urdu and Persian and wrote under the pen name –Shaida. His book of poetry Diwan- e- Shaida contains very subtle verses and shows a very humane persona. His other book, on Unani treatment-Haziq is a must read for every aspiring Unani Physician. He has also written 12 Treatise on Unani Medicine. In 1920 Hakim Ajmal Khan had renounced his government title, - Haziq ul Mulk (Healer of the Nation) which was given to him in 1908 and Qaiser e Hind given in 1915 by the British Government. His Indian fans awarded him the title - Masih-Ul-Mulk (Messiah of the Nation). Hakim Ajmal Khan died on December 29, 1927 while visiting Rampur.

Hakim Mohammed Ajmal Khan proved to be the most outstanding and multifaceted personality of his era. His contribution to the cause of India’s freedom, National integration and communal harmony is matchless. He was a sound and far sighted statesman and an educationist of highest caliber. Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College & Hospital, in Delhi is a living and thriving memory of this great man.