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Baillie, John, of Leys, 1772-1833 (Member of Parliament, and East India Company Official)

 Person

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 412: نظام التّواریخ Niẓam al-tāwārīkh, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 412
Scope and Contents This is a valuable short history of Persia from the earliest times to 674 A.H. (1275-1276 C.E.), by Naṣir al-Dīn 'Abd-allāh b. 'Umar al-Bayḍāwī who purportedly died at Tabriz in 1319 C.E., although his death date is disputed, and who is also celebrated for his commentary upon the Qur'ān. The current work was composed in 674 A.H. (1275 C.E.).The present copy has 57 folios, is written in good Nasta'līq, and is gold-lined round the columns with headings in red. It appears to be by...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

Or Ms 413: حالات آصف خانان Ḥālāt-i Āṣaf-Khānān, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 413
Scope and Contents This is a short anonymous biography chiefly of Abū al-Ḥasan, entitled "Yamīn al-Dawlah Āṣaf-Khān", son of the vizier I'timād al-Dawlah. He was the father of Mumtaz al-Zamānī Arjumand-Bānū Bīgam, the favourite wife of Mughal Emperor Shāhjahān. Āṣaf-Khān died at the age of 72, in 1051 A.H. (1641 C.E.). The current copy has 9 folios is written in clear nasta'līq, is badly stained by damp and injured. It appears to have been written by the same hand and in the same year as OR MS 411,...
Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia
Illuminated excerpt of the Mahābhārata scroll [Please click twice to see the full scroll]
Illuminated excerpt of the Mahābhārata scr...

Or Ms 510: Mahābhārata, illustrated manuscript scroll, 1795 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 510
Scope and Contents A monumental epic (or perhaps more correctly a ‘chronicle’) dated as a text to about 400 BCE – 400 CE, the Mahābhārata consists of dramatic narrative and sermonising didactic on ethics and moral law (dharma) as played out in the lives of two groups of dynastic cousins who fought over control of Bhāratavarṣa, present day central north India. It is one of the two major epics of ancient India, the...
Dates: 1795 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

آئینه حق نماء Ā'īnah-i ḥaqnamā', undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 68
Scope and Contents A work on the doctrines and ethics of the Christian religion, differences between its tenets and those of Islam, containing evidence aiming to prove its superiority over other religions. It was written and completed in 1018 A.H. (1609 C.E.) and dedicated to the Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr, by Geronimo, or, as some write it, Hieronymo Xavier, a native of Navarre, and a Jesuit, who came from Goa, where he was attached to the Catholic mission from 1571 C.E. till his death at the same place in...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

احوال اولادو جائداد سید احمد ساندوی Aḥwāl-i Aulād-u Ja'idād-i Sayyid Aḥmad Sāndwī, 1230 A.H., 1814 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 89
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1230 A.H.; 1814 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

اخلاق محسنی Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī, 1216 A.H., 1801 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 97
Scope and Contents

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.).

Dates: 1216 A.H.; 1801 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

اخلاق ناصری Akhlāq-i Nāṣirī, 1146 A.H., 1735 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 95
Scope and Contents

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.).

Dates: 1146 A.H.; 1735 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

اخوان الصفا Ikhwān al-ṣafā, 1227 A.H., 1812 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 29
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1227 A.H.; 1812 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

اسکندر نامهٔ برّی Iskandar-nāmah-i barrī, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 101
Scope and Contents A complete manuscript, in good preservation, of the first part of a much celebrated romance. It contains an account of the exploits of Alexander the Great as a conqueror, and was written in admirable verse by the famous Shaykh Jamal al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyas b. Mu'ayyad Niẓām al-Dīn, "Niẓāmī" of Ganjah, who was born at Qum (Iran), 535 A.H. (1140 C.E.), and probably died 599 A.H. (1203 C.E.), though the dates of his death are variously described, 576-607 A.H. (1180-1210 C.E.). ...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

اسماء الله الحسنی Asmā' Allāh al-ḥusná, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 66
Scope and Contents

These are the 99 names of God in Arabic, written in bold naskh, with their meaning in Persian in nasta'līq, in red ink.

Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

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