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:
الف لیله و لیله Alf laylah wa-laylah vol.1, 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.
الکشکول al-Kashkūl, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
The well-known Kashkūl, a collection of a variety of poetry and elegant prose, by Shaykh Bahā, al-Dīn Muḥammad 'Āmilī b. Shaykh Ḥusayn, who flourished during the reign of Shāh 'Abbās the Great, and died at Isfahan 1030 or 1031 A.H. (1621 or 1622 C.E.). He wrote under the name Bahā'ī.
الکفایه al-Kifāyah, 1223 A.H., 1808 C.E.
An anonymous treatise in Persian on nouns in the Arabic grammar.
المستطرف من کل فن مستظرف al-Mustaṭaraf min kulli fannin mustaẓraf, 1093 A.H., 1681 C.E.
The famous anthology in prose and verse of Muḥammad al-Khaṭib al-Abshīhī (c. 800 A.H., 1397 C.E.).
المفصّل في صنعة الاعراب al-Mufaṣṣal fī ṣan'at al-i'rāb, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)
A treatise on grammar, dealing chiefly and extensively with etymology and syntax, by the celebrated Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmud b. 'Umar al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538 A.H., 1143 C.E.).
المنهل الصافي والمستوفي بعد الوافي al-Manhal al-ṣāfī-wa al-mustawfī ba'd al-wāfī, undated copy (original text composed 15th cent. C.E.)
This is vol. i of the biographical dictionary of famous persons by Yusuf b. Taghrībirdī al-Mālikī al-Naṣīrī (d. 874 A.H., 1469 C.E.). In all other descriptions he is called al-Ẓahīrī. It begins with an account of the life and reign of al-Malik Mu'izz al-Dīn Aibak al-Turkmānī (fol. 2). The volume ends with the notes on Ṭalhah al-Maghribī. This work is a continuation of the al-Wāfī of al-Ṣafadī up to the time of the author.
الوافیه في شرح الکافیه al-Wāfiyah fī sharḥ al-Kāfiyah, undated copy (original text composed 13th-14th cent. C.E.)
A commentary upon al-Kāfiyah, a well-known grammar treatise of Ibn Ḥājib (d. 646 A.H., 1248 C.E.). A few pages at the end are missing. The author was Sayyid Rukn al-Dīn Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Astarābādī (d. 715 or 717 A.H., 1315 or 1317 C.E.).
انجیل مقدّس Injīl-i muqaddas, undated
A Persian translation of the New Testament.
انوار سهیلی Anvār-i Suhaylī, 1244 A.H., 1828 C.E.
A fine complete copy of the rendition, in Persian, of Kalīlah and Dimnah, by Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī, born ca. 840 A.H. (1436-37 C.E.) died. 910 A.H. (1504-5 C.E.).
بهار دانش Bahār-i dānish (volume.2), 1203 A.H., 1788 C.E.
The work is a romance of Jahāndār-Sulṭan and Bahrawar-Bānū, told by means of a number of amusing tales. It was compiled by Shaykh 'Ināyat-allāh of Dehli (d. 1082 A.H., 1671 C.E.). The work is in two volumes, OR MS 121 and 122. Though the two volumes are not uniform in size, etc., the second is a continuation of the first and contains an index to it.