Baillie, John, of Leys, 1772-1833 (Member of Parliament, and East India Company Official)
Dates
- Existence: 1772 - 1833
Biography
Hailing from Inverness, John Baillie of Leys entered the Bengal army of the East India Company in 1790 C.E., reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1814. His competence as a linguist led to his appointment as Professor of Arabic and Persian and of “Mohammedan Law” at Fort William College, Calcutta, from 1801-1807, during which time he published a Course of Lectures on Arabic Grammar (1801), and An Entire and Correct Edition of the Five Books upon Arabic Grammar (1802-1805). He also fought during the second Anglo-Maratha War 1803-1805, and held teh position of Political Officer at Bundelkhand 1804-1806. In 1807 he was appointed British Resident (Political Agent) at the court of the Sa‘adat ‘Alī Khān, Nawwāb of Awadh (reigned 1798 – 1814), at Lucknow. He held this position for eight years.
On his retirement and return to Britain in 1816 he became a Member of Parliament, first for Heddon in England 1820-1830, and then for Inverness, Scotland, 1830-1833. He was also a Director of the East India Company at various times between 1823 and 1833. When Baillie died in London in 1833 his substantial manuscript collecion was overlooked. It was rediscovered there six years later by Duncan Forbes, Professor of Oriental Languages at King's College London, and subsequently returned to Baillie’s family in Scotland.
His grandson John B. Baillie of Leys bequeathed his grandfather's collection of 166 mainly Arabic and Persian manuscripts to the University Library in 1876. They are also listed in M. Hukk’s A descriptive catalogue of the Arabic and Persian manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library (1925).
Found in 167 Collections and/or Records:
![Illuminated excerpt of the Mahābhārata scroll [Please click twice to see the full scroll]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha~4~4/492/0148505c.jpg)
Mahābhārata, illustrated manuscript scroll, 1795 C.E.
آئینه حق نماء Ā'īnah-i ḥaqnamā', undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)
أنوار التنزیل وأسرار التأویل Anwār al-tanzīl wa-asrār al-ta'wīl, undated
A well-known commentary on the Qur'ān. The name of the author does not appear, but the commentary is known to have been compiled by Nāṣir al-Dīn 'Abd-allāh b. 'Umar al-Bayḍawī whose death date is commonly given as c. 1286 C.E. However, accordīng to the notice of his life in Kitāb al-Aqālīm, written at Tabriz 716 A.H. (1316 C.E.), Hamd-allāh Mustawfī, a contemporary, says he died in 710 A.H. (1310 C.E.).
The text of the Qur'ān is written in red ink.
االجامع الصحیح al-Jāmi' al-ṣaḥīḥ, 1109 A.H., 1697 C.E.
Collection of traditions of the Prophet Muḥammad by 'Abd-allāh Muḥammad b. Ismā'īl al-Bukhārī (d. 256 A.H., 869 C.E.). The work is preceded by a complete index.
احوال اولادو جائداد سید احمد ساندوی Aḥwāl-i Aulād-u Ja'idād-i Sayyid Aḥmad Sāndwī, 1230 A.H., 1814 C.E.
This work was compiled by 'Alī Naqī Khān, under instructions from the Governor-General of India, to clear up certain complications which had arisen in regard to the disposal of the estate in Oudh in the possession of the descendants of Sayyid Aḥmad Sāndwī.
احیاء علوم الدیّن Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn, 781 A.H., 1379 C.E.
اخلاق محسنی Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī, 1216 A.H., 1801 C.E.
This is a well-known work on ethics, by Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī, born ca. 840 A.H. (1436-37 C.E.) died. 910 A.H. (1504-5 C.E.).
اخلاق ناصری Akhlāq-i Nāṣirī, 1146 A.H., 1735 C.E.
A famous treatise on ethics, by Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī, known as Naṣīr-i Ṭūsī, who was born, 597 A.H. (1201 C.E.) and died, 672 A.H. (1274 C.E.).
اخوان الصفا Ikhwān al-ṣafā, 1227 A.H., 1812 C.E.
The first twenty of the philosophical treatises of the Ikhwan al-ṣafa (Brethren of Purity) on the dispute between the animals and man. Printed volume.