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Baillie, John, of Leys, 1772-1833 (Member of Parliament, and East India Company Official)

 Person

Staff Only

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 3 Collections and/or Records:

تحریر المجستي Taḥrīr al-Mijistī, 1011 A.H., 1602 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 396
Scope and Contents

A slightly defective copy of Nasīr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī's (died 672 A.H., 1274 C.E.) edition of the Arabic version of Almagest by Claudius Ptolemy (c.100–170 C.E.), a 2nd-century Greek-language treatise on mathematics and astronomy concerning the planetary paths and motions of the stars.


The present copy contains many astronomical tables and diagrams; headings in red; an innumerable amount of glosses on the margin.

Dates: 1011 A.H.; 1602 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تحریر المجستي Taḥrīr al-Mijistī, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 397
Scope and Contents A defective copy of Nasīr al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī's (died 672 A.H., 1274 C.E.) edition of the Arabic version of Almagest by Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100 – 170 C.E.), a 2nd-century Greek-language treatise on mathematics and astronomy concerning the planetary paths and motions of the stars.In the present copy the tables are left blank. Of the 13 articles, or sections of the work, only six are marked here. This may be due to a lacuna. The first eight...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

معراج التوحید Mi'rāj al-Tawḥīd, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 93
Scope and Contents A treatise in verse on the knowledge of the stars with a commentary upon the same in prose, by Mīrzā Abū Ṭalib Khān b. Ḥājjī Muḥammad Beg Khān Hindī Isfahānī (d. 1220 or 1221 A.H., 1805-1806 C.E.) The author in the introduction states that he was requested on his return from Europe by a friend to write his latest observations in the science of astronomy; the present treatise was accordingly compiled after a labour of two months in 1219 A.H. (1804 C.E.), and dedicated to Abū al-Fatḥ Sulṭān...
Dates: 1222 A.H.; 1807 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia