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 the 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 10 Collections and/or Records:
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.
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.
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.).
شرح مقامات الحریري Sharḥ Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī, undated
An anonymous commentary upon the Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, transcribed at Lucknow.
مجنون لیلی العامریه Majnūn Laylá al-'Āmiriyyah, undated
A much celebrated love story, it is in prose, probably written by Ḥabīb b. Rabboh; the numerous verses with which the composition is interspersed are attributed to Majnūn himself (as the story's eponymous hero is named after having fallen in love with Laylá).
مقامات البدیعي Maqāmāt al-Badī'ī, undated copy (original text composed 10th-11th cent. C.E.)
A collection of forty maqāmahs (discourses) and three additional novelettes, compiled by Badī' al-Zamān b. Ḥusayn, better known as "al-Hamadānī" d. 398 A.H. 1008 C.E.
مقامات الحریري Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī, undated copy (original text composed 11th-12th cent. C.E.)
These are the ever popular stories of Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim b. 'Alī al-Harīrī (d. 516 A.H., 1122 C.E.), who was the most famous prose-writer of his time.
مقامات الحریري Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī, 1225 A.H., 1809 C.E.
This is vol. 1 of Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī. These are the ever popular stories of Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim b. 'Alī al-Harīrī (d. 516 A.H., 1122 C.E.), who was the most famous prose-writer of his time. This is a printed volume.
نفحة الیمن Nafḥat al-Yaman, 1226 A.H., 1811 C.E.
An Arabic miscellany of compositions in prose and verse, selected or original, by Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Anṣarī al-Yamani al-Shirwānī, who compiled it in Calcutta at the desire of Matthew M. Lumsden, and died there, 1227 A.H. (1812 C.E.).