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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 11 Collections and/or Records:

اسکندر نامهٔ برّی Iskandar-nāmah-i barrī, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 101
Scope and Contents A complete manuscript, in good preservation, of the first part of a much celebrated romance. It contains an account of the exploits of Alexander the Great as a conqueror, and was written in admirable verse by the famous Shaykh Jamal al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyas b. Mu'ayyad Niẓām al-Dīn, "Niẓāmī" of Ganjah, who was born at Qum (Iran), 535 A.H. (1140 C.E.), and probably died 599 A.H. (1203 C.E.), though the dates of his death are variously described, 576-607 A.H. (1180-1210 C.E.). ...
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

خسرو و شیرین Khusraw va Shīrīn, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 103
Scope and Contents A celebrated poem on the love of Khusraw and Shīrīn, by the famous Shaykh Jamal al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyas b. Mu'ayyad Niẓām al-Dīn, "Niẓāmī" of Ganjah, who was born at Qum, 535 A.H. (1140 C.E.), and probably died 599 A.H. (1203 C.E.), though the dates of his death are variously described, 576-607 A.H. (1180-1210 C.E.). This work contains eulogies to Sulṭan Sa'īd Tughrul b. Arslān, who ascended the throne in 573 A.H. (1177-1178 C.E.), Atābak Abū Ja'far Muḥammad, and his brother and successor...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

رسالهٔ ارثماطیقی (یعنی خواص اعداد) Risālah-i irs̲māṭīqī (ya'nī khavāṣ-i a'dād), undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 92
Scope and Contents

This is only the third fann, or part, of apparently a large work on arithmetic. The author's name is not given. In its present form it treats with that branch of the Theory of Numbers which is called Zawju al-Zawj), it is illustrated by numerous tables.

Dates: undated
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

شرح قصیده برده Sharḥ-i qaṣīdah-i Burdah, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 105
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ظهوریهٔ صفویه Ẓuhuriyya-i Ṣafaviyyah, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 87
Scope and Contents A treatise on the rise and rule of the Wahābīs in Najaf Ashraf, containing a few prophecies connected with their expulsion from that region and the restoration of the holy places to the descendants of the martyrs. The author probably is Abū al-Fatḥ Sulṭān Muḥammad Ṣafavī (see Or Ms 86). At the end there is given a copy of a letter complaining that the practice of grave-worship among the people was not in accordance with the laws of Islam. The letter, which is addressed to Sulṭān Fatḥ-'Alī...
Dates: 1222 A.H.; 1807 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

قصیدة البردة مترجمة Qaṣīdat al-Burdah mutarjamah, 962 A.H., 1564 C.E,

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 45
Scope and Contents

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.).

Dates: 962 A.H.; 1564 C.E,
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

مثنوی نعمت خان عالی Mas̲navī Ni'mat Khān-i 'Alī, undated copy (original text composed 17th-18th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 109
Scope and Contents A collection of short stories of a mystical and didactic character, written in verse in the mas̲navī form by the same Ni'mat Khān-i 'Alī. Also known as Mīrzā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad, the poet was descended from a Persian family of physicians in Dehli. He was Comptroller of the Royal Kitchen, and received the title of Ni'mat Khān from the same Emperor 'Alamgīr and near the end of the reign, on account of his constant attendance upon that monarch, he received the...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 17th-18th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

مخزن الاسرار Makhzan al-Asrār, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 102
Scope and Contents An allegorical Sufī mas̲navī by the famous Shaykh Jamal al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyas b. Mu'ayyad Niẓām al-Dīn, "Niẓāmī" of Ganjah, who was born at Qum, 535 A.H. (1140 C.E.), and probably died 599 A.H. (1203 C.E.), though the dates of his death are variously described, 576-607 A.H. (1180-1210 C.E.). It is divided into twenty maqalahs (chapters), and illustrated by means of short instructive anecdotes. Various manuscripts of this poem bear different...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 12th 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

نادر البیان في علم النحو Nādir al-bayān fī 'ilm al-naḥw, 1150 A.H., 1737 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 37
Scope and Contents

A treatise on grammar by Aḥmad b. al-Mas'ūd al-Ḥusaynī al-Harkāmī.

Dates: 1150 A.H.; 1737 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia