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:
بهار دانش (volume.1) Bahār-i dānish, undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. 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.
بیاض" خود بدولت" Bayāz̤-i khud-badawlat, undated
A MS. containing miscellaneous selections made for Colonel John Baillie from numerous Arabic and Persian books, the latter predominating. For a complete list of contents see: Hukk et al. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Arabic and Persian Manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library (Hertford: Stephen Austin & Sons Ltd., 1925) 125-128.
تأریخ الامم والملوک Tā'rīkh al-umam wa-al-mulūk, 876 A.H., 1471 C.E.
An abridgement of a work of world history (from the earliest times) by Abū Ja' far Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (839 -923 C.E), a famous imam of Baghdad, great author, and one of the most eminent Iranian scholars of the early Abbasid era.
تاج المصادر وتاج الاسامي Tāj al-maṣādir wa-tāj al-asāmī, 842 A.H., 1438 C.E.
A dictionary of Arabic nouns and infinitives, including their derivations and equivalents in Persian by Abū Ja'far Aḥmad b. 'Alī Maqrī Bayḥaqī (nicknamed Ja'farak), d. 544 A.H. (1159 C.E.). It is stated by the author that this work refers in the first place to the Qur'ān, next to the traditions, and finally to ancient poetry.
تحریر اقلیدس Taḥrīr Uqlīdus, 882 A.H. and 982 A.H., 1477 C.E. and 1573 C.E.
تحفة العالم Tuḥfat al-'Ālam, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.
تحفة الملوک Tuḥfat al-Mulūk, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
The work is a short treatise intended for the instruction of princes and rulers, and consists of forty chapters, each containing four different pieces of advice. The author, whose name in this instance is not mentioned, was 'Abd-allāh Muḥammad al-Anṣarī of Herat (d. 481 A.H., 1088 C.E.). From the preface it would appear that the work is a compilation of the wise sayings of old philosophers and statesmen.
تحفهٔ بیلویه Tuḥfah-i Bailawiyyah, undated copy (original text composed between late 18th and early 19th cent. C.E.)
A selection from the poets, compiled by Tārī-Chand, at the request of, and named after, Colonel John Baillie. The author states in the introduction that this work is based on that of Sulṭan Muḥammad Shāh Ṣafavī (see OR MS 86), and, referring to his patron, he adds that Colonel Baillie composed poems under the nom de plume "John." The present copy is most probably is the original.
تذکرهٔ طاهر نصیر آبادی Taẕkirah-i Ṭāhir-i Naṣīrābādī, 1118 A.H., 1706 C.E.
Notices on the Persian poets, who flourished in the eleventh century A.H.. It was compiled in 1083 A.H. (1672 C.E.), and enlarged six years to nine years later by Muḥammad Ṭāhir Naṣīrābādī, who dedicated it to Shāh Sulaymān Ṣafavī of Persia.
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تصویرات راگ مالا Taṣvīrāt-i Rāg-mālā, undated
Music: An album illuminated by thirty-four groups of figures in gouache painting in a variety of colours, attitudes, and surroundings, representing conventional symbols of Rāgs and Rāginīs (the well-known personifications of Indian pitches).