Background
Hakim ‘Alavi Khan was born in Shiraz, in Persia, in 1670.
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Alavi Shirazi
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In 1699 he went to South Asia and presented himself at the Mughal court of Afghans, where he was appointed physician to Prince Muhammad A‘zam (who was later to rule for only three months in 1707). The Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah (reg 1707-1712) gave him the title ‘Alavi Khan. Muhammad Shah (reg1719-1748), the Mughal ruler in Delhi, raised him to the rank of Shash-hazari and gave him the title of Mu‘tamad al-Muluk.
When the Persian ruler Nadir Shah defeated Muhammad Shah and sacked Delhi, ‘Alavi Khan accompanied Nadir Shah when he left India and ‘Alavi Khan accepted the position of Hakim-bashi ("chief physician") to Nadir Shah.
After making a pilgrimage to Mecca, ‘Alavi Khan returned to Delhi in 1743 and died there about four years later. He wrote four medical treatises in Arabic and four in Persian.
