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 16 Collections and/or Records:
Mahābhārata, illustrated manuscript scroll, 1795 C.E.
احوال اولادو جائداد سید احمد ساندوی Aḥwāl-i Aulād-u Ja'idād-i Sayyid Aḥmad Sāndwī, 1230 A.H., 1814 C.E.
This work was compiled by 'Alī Naqī Khān, under instructions from the Governor-General of India, to clear up certain complications which had arisen in regard to the disposal of the estate in Oudh in the possession of the descendants of Sayyid Aḥmad Sāndwī.
اقبال نامهٔ جهانگیری Iqbāl-nāmah-i Jahāngīrī, 1189 A.H., 1775 C.E.
A history of the life and reign of Mughal Emperor Jahāngīr (1569-1627).
اکبرنامه Akbar-nāmah, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
The well-known history of the Emperor Akbar the Great, by his favourite Prime Minister and Secretary, Shaykh Abū al-Faz̤l " 'Allāmī " b. Shaykh Mubārak Nāgūrī. The author was in his time the most learned and elegant writer in the East.
انوار سهیلی Anvār-i Suhaylī, 1244 A.H., 1828 C.E.
A fine complete copy of the rendition, in Persian, of Kalīlah and Dimnah, by Kamāl al-Dīn Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī, born ca. 840 A.H. (1436-37 C.E.) died. 910 A.H. (1504-5 C.E.).
بهار دانش Bahār-i dānish (volume.2), 1203 A.H., 1788 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.
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.
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).
دستور العمل سررشتجات Dastūr al-'amal-i-sarrishtajāt, undated copy (original text composed 17th-18th cent. C.E.)
A collection of useful instructions and tables for the education of those who work in the revenue offices. It gives a fair insight into the sort of departmental work carried on during the times of the Mughal sovereignty. Copies of a few farmāns (decrees) and dispatches of the Premiers have also been added. The author is Uday-Chand of Salīmābād (Bengal), who compiled it during the reign of the Emperor Awrangzīb.