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:
اشعار مختلف Ash'ār-i mukhtalif, undated
Contains short selections from miscellaneous poems. A few of the ghazals, etc., are in Urdū. The most favoured poet seems to be "Walī", who was the first to attempt to write a dīvān in the Urdu language.
اقبال نامهٔ جهانگیری Iqbāl-nāmah-i Jahāngīrī, 1189 A.H., 1775 C.E.
A history of the life and reign of Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr (1569-1627).
اکبرنامه Akbar-nāmah, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
The well-known history of the Emperor Akbar the Great, by his favourite Prime Minister and Secretary, Shaykh Abū al-Faz̤l " 'Allāmī " b. Shaykh Mubārak Nāgūrī. The author was in his time the most learned and elegant writer in the East.
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.).
الجامع لقوی الادویه والاغذیه al-Jāmi' liquwá al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
A dictionary of simple medicaments, originally compiled by Ḍiyā al-Dīn Abī Muḥammad b. 'Abd-allāh b. Aḥmad al-Mālikī al-Ashshāb, known as Ibn al-Bayṭār (d. 646 A.H., 1248 C.E.).
الصراح من الصحاح al-Ṣurah min al-ṣaḥah (volume 1), 1227-1230 A.H., 1812-1815 C.E.
A dictionary of Arabic words explained in Persian, being a translation (completed, 681 A.H., 1282 C.E.) of the famous Arabic dictionary entitled al-Ṣaḥah, of Abū Naṣr Ismā'il b. Ḥammād Jawharī, d. 398 A.H., 1007 C.E.), by Abū al-Faz̤l Muḥammad b. 'Umar b. Khālid, commonly called "Jamāl al-Qurashī." The work is across two volumes, Or Ms 139 and 140.
الصراح من الصحاح al-Ṣurah min al-ṣaḥah (volume 2), 1227-1230 A.H., 1812-1815 C.E.
A dictionary of Arabic words explained in Persian, being a translation (completed, 681 A.H., 1282 C.E.) of the famous Arabic dictionary entitled al-Ṣaḥah, of Abū Naṣr Ismā'il b. Ḥammād Jawharī, d. 398 A.H., 1007 C.E.), by Abū al-Faz̤l Muḥammad b. 'Umar b. Khālid, commonly called "Jamāl al-Qurashī." The work is across two volumes, OR MS 139 and 140.
العجب العجاب فیما یفید الکتّاب al-'Ajab al-'ujāb fīmā yufīd al-kuttāb, 1229 A.H., 1813 C.E.
A complete introduction to the art of letter-writing, being a collection of letters upon various subjects, compiled by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Anṣarī al-Yamanī al-Shirwānī, who died Calcutta in 1227 A.H. (1812 C.E.).
الف لیله (قصّهٔ هزار و یک شب) Alf laylah (qiṣṣah-i Hizar u yik shab), undated
The Alf laylah, on the flyleaf labelled Qiṣṣah-i hizār-u yik shab or the "One Thousand and One Nights" in Persian, translated from the original Arabic, with the omission of the verses by Abū al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad 'Alī Simnānī Sāsānī.
الف لیله و لیله Alf laylah wa-laylah vol. 2, 1229-1233 A.H., 1814 -1818 C.E.
The "Arabian Nights " in the original Arabic; the two volumes (OR MS 58 and 59) contain the stories of 200 nights. The work has been edited by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Anṣarī al-Yamanī al-Shirwānī, who died Calcutta in 1227 A.H. (1812 C.E.). See Or Ms 55 and 56 for more of his work.