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 396: تحریر المجستي Taḥrīr al-Mijistī, 1011 A.H., 1602 C.E.
A slightly defective copy of Nasīr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī's (died 672 A.H., 1274 C.E.) edition of the Arabic version of Almagest by Claudius Ptolemy (c.100–170 C.E.), a 2nd-century Greek-language treatise on mathematics and astronomy concerning the planetary paths and motions of the stars.
The present copy contains many astronomical tables and diagrams; headings in red; an innumerable amount of glosses on the margin.
Or Ms 397: تحریر المجستي Taḥrīr al-Mijistī, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Or Ms 399: شرح الالفیّة Sharḥ al-alfiyyah, 735 A.H., 1334 C.E.
A very old and venerable copy of the Arabic commentary of Badr al-Dīn (Abū 'Abdallāh) Muḥammad bin Muḥammad bin 'Abdallāh Ibn Malik al-Ṭūsī (died 686 A.H., 1287 C.E.) on his father, Abū 'Abdallāh Muḥammad bin 'Abdallah, commonly called Ibn Malik's (died 672 A.H., 1273-1274 C.E.) famous grammatical poem Khulaṣat fī al-naḥū.
Or Ms 400: شرح الشّافیّة Sharḥ al-Shāfiyyah, undated copy
Or Ms 401: الصّحاح في الّلغة al-Ṣahah fī al-lughah, 667 A.H., 1269 C.E.
A splendid old copy of the famous Arabic Lexicon of Abū Naṣr al-Fārābī, Muslim philosopher and polymath of the 4th century A.H./ 10th century C.E.
Or Ms 402: شمس العلوم و دواء کلام العرب من الکلوم Shams al-'ulūm wa dawā' kalām al-Arab min al-kulūm, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)
Or Ms 403: شرح الحماسة Sharḥ al-Ḥamāsah, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
A very defective copy of Imām Abū 'Alī Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin al-Ḥasan al-Marzūqī's (died 421 A.H., 1030 C.E.) commentary on the famous al-Ḥamāsah of Abū Tammām Ḥabīb bin Aws Ṭā'ī (died 231 A.H., 845-846 C.E.).
Or Ms 404: سقط الزّند Saqṭ al-Zand, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
The first diwān of the free-thinker and pessimist, Abū al-'Alā Aḥmad bin 'Abdallāh bin Sulaymān al-Tanūkhī al-Ma'arrī (363-449 A.H / 973-1057 C.E.), in which he collected the lyrics of his youth.
The present copy has innumerable glosses, both marginal and interlinear; it is somewhat worm-eaten throughout.