The role of waqf in the development of scientific and medical centers in the Buyid era

By the establishment of the Buyid government in the western half of Iran in the fourth century AH, social and urban institutions were supported. These institutions were mainly established based on waqf in the form of scientific centers (Dar al-Ilms –academies- and libraries) and hospitals to provide remedial and educational services. The present paper attempts to investigate the role of the waqf in the establishment and constancy of these institutions by exploring the historical factors affecting the rise and fall of the Buyids.  The results depict that the dependence of the Buyid institutions on waqf provided Buyids with a fixed financial source and caused prosperity. However, after the Buyid domination, due to the Shiite tendencies in the formation of academies and libraries, their waqfi properties were also damaged in the course of historical upheavals and their activities declined. But the waqfi properties related to hospitals survived even until the late Ilkhanid era. The existence of semi-independent and local governments such as the Atabeks of Fars contributed to the survival of the Buyid medical waqfi instutitions in some cities.