The Endowment Letter of Namazi Behbudistan and its Social Function

Namazi Behbudistan is the oldest alive clinic in Shiraz. It was stablished as a clinic in 1925. Namazi is the name of the person who has donated this beautiful historical building to be used for medical purposes. The word Behbudistan contains two parts: “Behbud” which means healing and wellness and “istan” denoting to a place. The clinic was, first, managed by the municipally and has decades- long history of serving patients. Nowadays, this medical center belongs to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The research office for the history of Persian medicine is located in this beautiful historical building. In this paper, the history of foundation of this medical center is reviewed by examining some historical documents, such as the endowment letter related to this building.