Hakeem Noor-ud-Din - Royal Physician

Royal Physician

In 1876 he was employed as the royal physician to Maharaja Ranbir Singh the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. There are detailed accounts of his tenure as the court physician. All the schools hospitals of the state were placed under him. Initially he worked under the chief physician but was later made the chief physician himself. During his time as physician he is said to have given a lot of time to the service of Islam; and would often engage in religious and intellectual discussion with the Maharaja himself. During these discussions he was known for his fearlessness and frankness. The Maharaja and his son Raja Amar singh are said to have learnt the Quran from Noor-ud-Din.

The Maharajah is said to have stated once to his courtiers, "each one of you is here on some purpose or to seek some favour from me and keep flattering me, but this man (Hakeem Sahib) is the only person who has no axe to grind and is here because he is needed by the state. This is the reason why whatever is stated by Hakeem Sahib is listened to carefully as he has no ulterior motive."

Being a scholar of Hebrew also, Nooruddin was selected by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the co-ordinator of the team of scholars in writing a commentary of the Torah from the Muslim viewpoint. During this time he was also actively involved with the Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam.

Nooruddin had been the royal physician from 1876. when Maharajah Partab Singh took over, Noor-ud-Din was made to leave the service of the state of Jammu in 1892 due to various political reasons. He was later offered the position in 1895 but declined the offer.