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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 7 Collections and/or Records:

تحریر اقلیدس Taḥrīr Uqlīdus, 882 A.H. and 982 A.H., 1477 C.E. and 1573 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 27
Scope and Contents This is a much more complete work of Euclid than the Greek text that has come down to us. It was translated from the Greek by the famous philosopher and astronomer Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 672 A.H., 1274 C.E.) b. Imām Fakhr al-Dīn, and was brought to Spain by the Arabs, thence a knowledge of its contents was diffused throughout Europe long before the Greek original was discovered. In this work Naṣīr al-Dīn proves most of the propositions, sometimes in two, three, and four ways,...
Dates: 882 A.H. and 982 A.H.; 1477 C.E. and 1573 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تحریر اقلیدس Taḥrīr Uqlīdus, 902 A.H., 1496 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 392
Scope and Contents This is a much more complete work of Euclid than the Greek text that has come down to us. It was translated into Arabic (from Greek) by the famous philosopher and astronomer Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 672 A.H., 1274 C.E.) b. Imām Fakhr al-Dīn, and was brought to Spain by the Arabs, thence a knowledge of its contents was diffused throughout Europe long before the Greek original was discovered. In this work Naṣīr al-Dīn proves most of the propositions, sometimes in two, three, and four...
Dates: 902 A.H.; 1496 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

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

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

مخروطاط ابلونیوس Makhrūṭāṭ Iblawniyūs, early 12th cent. A.H. at latest, early 18th cent. C.E. at latest

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 28
Scope and Contents The treatise on conic sections by Apollonius of Perga, who was born in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, and died during that of Ptolemy Philopater, who ruled 222-205 B.C. It is stated on fol. 52b that Apollonius dedicated the first three books of his conic sections to Eudemus. The treatise was originally in eight books, of which only the first four were known in Europe. About the middle of the seventeenth century the next three books were translated from an Arabic MS. dated 1250 C.E. The...
Dates: early 12th cent. A.H. at latest; early 18th cent. C.E. at latest
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

مفتاح الحساب Miftāḥ al-ḥussāb, 1092 A.H., 1681 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 26
Scope and Contents A treatise on general arithmetic by the celebrated astronomer Ghiyās al-Dīn Jamshīd b. Mas'ūd b. Maḥmūd al-Ṭayyib al-Kāshī, commonly known as Al-Ghayyās, (d. ca. 1436 C.E.) who dedicated the work to Mīrzā Ulugh Beg, grandson of Tīmūr (see fol. 4b). The author, who is reputed to have possessed rough manners, with little or no knowledge of the etiquette of the Court, was nevertheless a favourite with Ulugh Beg, who had appointed him one of the four keepers of his observatory, which had been...
Dates: 1092 A.H.; 1681 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia