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The first record of sleeping sickness
295
CORRESPONDENCE. T H E F I R S T R E C O R D OF S L E E P I N G SICKNESS.
To the Editor of the TRANSACTIONS of the Royal Society of Tropical dVIedicine and ttygiene. SIR, Dr. H. HAROLD ScoTT (1939) in his History of Tropical Medicine states that attention has recently been directed by H.R.H. PRINCE OMAR TUSSIM (1931) to a description of sleeping sickness by AL-QUALQUASANDI, an Arab writer of the fourteenth century. The case referred to is that of Marl Jaza, a Sultan of the Malli kingdom, whose condition is described as follows : - " His end was to be overtaken by the sleeping sickness ('illat an-nawm) which is a disease that frequently befalls the inhabitants of those countries especially their chieftains. Sleep overtakes one of them in such a manner that it is hardly possible to awake him. He (the King) remained in this condition during two years, until he died in the year 775 A.H. (A.D. 1373-1374)." Attention has been directed to this record also by KRENKOW (1928). The record is of considerable interest not only because it antedates by over 300 years ATKINS'S (1734) description of sleeping sickness, but also because another record apparently referring to the same case has found its way into medical literature from an entirely different source. According to CHALMERS and O'FARRELL (1914), " The earliest recorded case of sleeping sickness is the death from lethargy of King Mansa Djata in 1373-74 ; at the time, it is stated, the disease was very common in his country which is situated in the bend of the Niger." These writers cite as their authority SLANE'S translation of IsN KHALDOUN'S History of the Berbers. The passage in the French original (translated from the Arabic) is given in the Bulletin of the Sleeping Sickness Bureau (1910) as follows : - " I1 rut enfin atteint de 16thargie, maladie tr6s commune dans ce pays et qui attaque surtout les gens haut plac6s. Cette indisposition commence par des acc6s periodiques et r6duit, enfin, le malade ~ u n tel 6tat qu'~ peine peut-on le tenir un instant 6veill6. Alors, elle se d6clare d'une mani6re permanente, et fair mourir sa victime. Pendant deux ann6es Djata eut ~ en subir les attaques, et il y succomba Fan 775 (1373-4)."
296
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Malli Empire (or Mellestine) arose in the thirteenth century, and was the first of the great black Mohammedan kingdoms of the western Sudan. The names Mari and Mansa may be regarded as synonymous, both being titles having the significance of " King." There can be ]ittle doubt that the two records refer to the same individual, and indicate that sleeping sickness was probably recognized in the region of the Niger as early as the fourteenth century. Unfortunately our knowledge of the Malli Empire is at present very scanty, being practically limited to fragments scattered through the works of a few medieval Arab writers, of whom IBN BATUTA (1303-1377) was the only one to visit the Sudan. He does not mention sleeping sickness. IBN KHALDOUN(Abu Zeid ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Khaldoun) the great historian of the Berbers, and one of the most illustrious Arab scholars of the fourteenth century, did not personally visit the Sudan ; his information about Marl Jata was derived from a native of Sijilmasa who had lived in Malli. IBN KHALDOUNdied in Cairo in 1406 A.D. AL-QUALQUASANDIdied 12 years later, in 1418, and it is possible that his description of the disease was taken from that of IBN KHALDOUN. REFERENCES. ATKINS, J. (1734). The Navy Surgeon. London. CHALMERS,A. J. • O'FARRELL,W.R. (1914). Sleeping sickness in the lado of the AngloEgyptian Sudan. J. trop. Med. Hyg., 17, 273. IBN KHALDOUN.Histoire des Berb~res et des Dynasties Musulmanes de l'Afrique Septcntrionale. Traduite de l'Al'abe par M. le Baron de Stane. (1852-1856). 2, 155. Alger : Imprimerie du Gouvernement. [Quoted in Bull. Sleep. Sickn. Bur. (1910), 2, 112.] KRENKOW, F. (1928). Cited by NIEILI, A. (1939). La Science Arabe, p. 287. Leiden. SCOTT, H . H . (1939). History of Tropical Medicine. Vol. 1, p. 454. London : Arnold. TUSSlM, H.R.H. PRINCE OMAR. (1931). Egyptian Gazette. December, 1931. (Correspondence.) Khartoum, Sudan.
I am, etc., R. KIRK.
Printed in Great Britain by H. R. GItUBB, LTD., Croydon.
CORRESPONDENCE. T H E F I R S T R E C O R D OF S L E E P I N G SICKNESS.
To the Editor of the TRANSACTIONS of the Royal Society of Tropical dVIedicine and ttygiene. SIR, Dr. H. HAROLD ScoTT (1939) in his History of Tropical Medicine states that attention has recently been directed by H.R.H. PRINCE OMAR TUSSIM (1931) to a description of sleeping sickness by AL-QUALQUASANDI, an Arab writer of the fourteenth century. The case referred to is that of Marl Jaza, a Sultan of the Malli kingdom, whose condition is described as follows : - " His end was to be overtaken by the sleeping sickness ('illat an-nawm) which is a disease that frequently befalls the inhabitants of those countries especially their chieftains. Sleep overtakes one of them in such a manner that it is hardly possible to awake him. He (the King) remained in this condition during two years, until he died in the year 775 A.H. (A.D. 1373-1374)." Attention has been directed to this record also by KRENKOW (1928). The record is of considerable interest not only because it antedates by over 300 years ATKINS'S (1734) description of sleeping sickness, but also because another record apparently referring to the same case has found its way into medical literature from an entirely different source. According to CHALMERS and O'FARRELL (1914), " The earliest recorded case of sleeping sickness is the death from lethargy of King Mansa Djata in 1373-74 ; at the time, it is stated, the disease was very common in his country which is situated in the bend of the Niger." These writers cite as their authority SLANE'S translation of IsN KHALDOUN'S History of the Berbers. The passage in the French original (translated from the Arabic) is given in the Bulletin of the Sleeping Sickness Bureau (1910) as follows : - " I1 rut enfin atteint de 16thargie, maladie tr6s commune dans ce pays et qui attaque surtout les gens haut plac6s. Cette indisposition commence par des acc6s periodiques et r6duit, enfin, le malade ~ u n tel 6tat qu'~ peine peut-on le tenir un instant 6veill6. Alors, elle se d6clare d'une mani6re permanente, et fair mourir sa victime. Pendant deux ann6es Djata eut ~ en subir les attaques, et il y succomba Fan 775 (1373-4)."
296
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Malli Empire (or Mellestine) arose in the thirteenth century, and was the first of the great black Mohammedan kingdoms of the western Sudan. The names Mari and Mansa may be regarded as synonymous, both being titles having the significance of " King." There can be ]ittle doubt that the two records refer to the same individual, and indicate that sleeping sickness was probably recognized in the region of the Niger as early as the fourteenth century. Unfortunately our knowledge of the Malli Empire is at present very scanty, being practically limited to fragments scattered through the works of a few medieval Arab writers, of whom IBN BATUTA (1303-1377) was the only one to visit the Sudan. He does not mention sleeping sickness. IBN KHALDOUN(Abu Zeid ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Khaldoun) the great historian of the Berbers, and one of the most illustrious Arab scholars of the fourteenth century, did not personally visit the Sudan ; his information about Marl Jata was derived from a native of Sijilmasa who had lived in Malli. IBN KHALDOUNdied in Cairo in 1406 A.D. AL-QUALQUASANDIdied 12 years later, in 1418, and it is possible that his description of the disease was taken from that of IBN KHALDOUN. REFERENCES. ATKINS, J. (1734). The Navy Surgeon. London. CHALMERS,A. J. • O'FARRELL,W.R. (1914). Sleeping sickness in the lado of the AngloEgyptian Sudan. J. trop. Med. Hyg., 17, 273. IBN KHALDOUN.Histoire des Berb~res et des Dynasties Musulmanes de l'Afrique Septcntrionale. Traduite de l'Al'abe par M. le Baron de Stane. (1852-1856). 2, 155. Alger : Imprimerie du Gouvernement. [Quoted in Bull. Sleep. Sickn. Bur. (1910), 2, 112.] KRENKOW, F. (1928). Cited by NIEILI, A. (1939). La Science Arabe, p. 287. Leiden. SCOTT, H . H . (1939). History of Tropical Medicine. Vol. 1, p. 454. London : Arnold. TUSSlM, H.R.H. PRINCE OMAR. (1931). Egyptian Gazette. December, 1931. (Correspondence.) Khartoum, Sudan.
I am, etc., R. KIRK.
Printed in Great Britain by H. R. GItUBB, LTD., Croydon.