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:
Or Ms 1: 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.
Or Ms 2: الاسعاف في شرح شواهد القاضي والکشّاف al-Is'āf fī sharḥ shawāhid al-qāḍī wa-al-kashshāf vol. 2, 1192 A.H., 1778 C.E.
Or Ms 3: الاسعاف في شرح شواهد القاضي والکشّاف al-Is'āf fī sharḥ shawāhid al-qāḍī wa-al-kashshāf vol. 1, 1192 A.H., 1778 C.E.
Or Ms 4: 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.
Or Ms 5: الدر النشیر (ملخص کتاب النهایة في غریب الحدیث) al-Durr al-nashīr (mulkhkhaṣ Kitāb al-nihāyah fī gharīb al-ḥadīth), 907 A.H., 1501 C.E.
Or Ms 6: نهج البلاغة Nahj al-balāghah, undated copy (original text composed 10th or 11th cent. C.E.)
A collection of the speeches, mandates, educational works, wise sayings, and sermons of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭalib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, and First Imām of Shi'i Islam. It was compiled by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Mūsá (d.406 A.H., 1015 C.E.).
Or Ms 7: شرح نهج البلاغة Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
An elaborate commentry on Nahj al-balāghah (a collection of the speeches, mandates, educational works, wise sayings, and sermons of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭalib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, and First Imām of Shi'i Islam). This commentary is by the celebrated 'Abd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat-allāh, b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Abī al-Ḥadīd (d. 655 A.H., 1257 C.E.).
Or Ms 8: غرر الحکم ودررالکلم Ghurar al-ḥikam wa-durar al-kalim, 1023 A.H., 1614 C.E.
A collection of the numerous wise sayings of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭalib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, and First Imām of Shi'i Islam). The apothegms were gathered and arranged by 'Abd al-Waḥīd b. Muḥammad b. 'Abd al-Waḥīd Amīdī Tamīmī in the sixth century A.H..
Or Ms 9: کنز الدقائق Kanz al-daqā'iq, undated copy (original text composed 13th or 14th cent. C.E.)
A work on Ḥanafī Law, by Abū al-Barakāt 'Abd-allāh b. Aḥmad b. Maḥmūd al-Nasafī (d. 710 A.H., 1310 C.E.). It is an abridgement of his al-Wāfī. This manuscript has been annotated in places in English. The annotations appear to be a reader's notes, translations and interpretations of the meanings of certain sections of the Arabic text. The hand appears to be that of John Baillie.
Or Ms 10: الاشباه والنظائر الفقهیه علی مذهب الحنفیه al-Ashbāh wa-al-naḍā'ir al-fiqhiyyah 'alá madhhab al-Ḥanafiyyah, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
A work on the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence (includīng tenets and practice). The author is described as Zayn b. Najīm al-Ḥanafī, whose full name, as mentioned in other works, is Zain al-'Ābidīn b. Ibrāhīm b. Najīm al-Miṣrī (d. 969 or 970 A.H., 1561 or 1562 C.E.).