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 12 Collections and/or Records:
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.).
دیوان المتنبي Dīwān al-Mutanabbī, 1261 A.H., 1843 C.E.
A complete collection of the poems in alphabetical order of the celebrated Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad b. Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī (d. 354 A.H., 965 C.E.).
دیوان شهاب الدین الموسی Dīwān Shihāb al-Dīn al-Mūsá, 1139 A.H., 1726 C.E.
The collected poetry of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Mūsá (d.1087 A.H, 1676 C.E.), arranged by his son after his death.
سقط الزّند Saqṭ al-Zand, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
The first diwān of the free-thinker and pessimist, Abū al-'Alā Aḥmad bin 'Abdallāh bin Sulaymān al-Tanūkhī al-Ma'arrī (363-449 A.H / 973-1057 C.E.), in which he collected the lyrics of his youth.
The present copy has innumerable glosses, both marginal and interlinear; it is somewhat worm-eaten throughout.
![f. 278r [Please click twice to see more pictures]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha~4~4/2506/0183088c.jpg)
سلافة العصر في محاسن اعیان العصر Sulāfat al-'aṣr fī maḥāsin a'yān al-'aṣr, 1082 A.H., 1671 C.E.
A collection of verses. The author is 'Alī Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Madanī b. Aḥmad Niẓām al-Dīn al-Ḥusaynī al-Ḥasanī, (also known as ʻAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Maʻṣūm), who accompanied his father to Hyderabad, and died at Shiraz in 1117 A.H., 1705 C.E..
شرح قصیده برده Sharḥ-i qaṣīdah-i Burdah, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
A commentary upon the Persian version of the Qaṣīdah-i Burdah of Muḥammad b. Sa'īd al Būṣīrī (d. 694, 696, or 697 A.H., 1294, 1296, or 1297 C.E.), for which see Or Ms 45 (with which this commentary is bound). It is by Faz̤l-allāh b. Rūzbahān, better known as Khwājah Mawlānā, Isfahānī. It was compiled in 921 A.H. (1515 C.E.).
The last folio is missing, but the commentary otherwise is complete.
شرح لامیة العجم Sharḥ lāmiyat al-'ajam, 979 A.H., 1571 C.E.
This is an elaborate commentary by Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Aybak Ṣafadī, upon the Lāmiyat al-'Ajam of the celebrated poet Abū Ismā'il al-Ḥusain b. 'Alī b. Muḥammad b. 'Abd al-Ṣamad al-Iṣfahānī al-Madanī, commonly known as "al-Tughrā'ī " (d. 515 A.H., 1121 C.E.).
قصیدة البردة مترجمة Qaṣīdat al-Burdah mutarjamah, 962 A.H., 1564 C.E,
This qaṣīdah, written in praise of the Prophet Muḥammad after the battle fought at Badr, consists of 176 couplets. The Persian translation under each line, inscribed in red ink, is also in verse and rhymes with the Arabic verse. The author of the Arabic original was Muḥammad b. Sa'īd al Būṣīrī (d. 694, 696, or 697 A.H., 1294, 1296, or 1297 C.E.).
قصیدة دعبل خزاعي Qaṣīdat Di'bil Khuzā'ī, undated copy (original text featured in a composition from the 10th cent. C.E.)
This qaṣīdah, which consists of 133 lines in praise of the descendants of the Prophet, was copied from the history of al-Ṭabarī. It is stated that Abū al-Salṭ al-Harawī was probably the author of the qaṣīdah, who had dictated it to al-Ṭabarī.