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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 167 Collections and/or Records:

شرح مفاتیح الشرائع Sharḥ Mafātīḥ al-sharā'i', 1175 A.H., 1761 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 11
Scope and Contents

An extensive commentary upon Mafātīḥ al-sharā'i', a treatise on Islamic law by Mawlānā Muḥammad Muḥsin Kashānī (still alive in 1105 A.H.). The present work, compiled in 1090 A.H.(1679 C.E.), is by the author's nephew, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Murtaḍá, known as al-Raḍī.


This commentary is in two volumes, OR MS 11 and 12.

Dates: 1175 A.H.; 1761 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

شرح مفاتیح الشرائع Sharḥ Mafātīḥ al-sharā'i', 1175 A.H., 1761 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 12
Scope and Contents

An extensive commentary upon Mafātīḥ al-sharā'i', a treatise on Islamic law, by Mawlānā Muḥammad Muḥsin Kashānī (still alive in 1105 A.H.). The present work, compiled in 1090 A.H. (1679 C.E.), is by the author's nephew, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Murtaḍá, known as al-Raḍī.


This commentary is in two volumes, OR MS 11 and 12.

Dates: 1175 A.H.; 1761 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

شرح مقامات الحریري Sharḥ Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 52
Scope and Contents

An anonymous commentary upon the Maqāmāt of al-Ḥarīrī, transcribed at Lucknow.

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

شرح نهج البلاغة Sharḥ Nahj al-balāghah, undated copy (original text composed 13th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 7
Scope and Contents

An elaborate commentry on Nahj al-balāghah (a collection of the speeches, mandates, educational works, wise sayings, and sermons of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭalib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, and First Imām of Shi'i Islam). This commentary is by the celebrated 'Abd al-Ḥamīd b. Hibat-allāh, b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Abī al-Ḥadīd (d. 655 A.H., 1257 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

شمس العلوم و دواء کلام العرب من الکلوم Shams al-'ulūm wa dawā' kalām al-Arab min al-kulūm, undated copy (original text composed 12th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 402
Scope and Contents The comprehensive Arabic dictionary by Nashwān bin Sa'īd al-Ḥimyarī, who completed this work in Egypt in Ramadan, 570 A.H./ March-April 1175 C.E. (see fol. 185).The present copy (610 folios) is written in six different hands. The name of the sixth transcriber is given on fol. 465a as 'Abd al-Ghanī bin 'Abdallāh bin 'Uthman bin Shihāb al-Dīn al-Lāhūrī. It is slightly worm-eaten; a few pages of the original text are cancelled either partly or entirely, see for instance fols. 85,...
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

طبقات اکبرشاهی Ṭabaqāt-i Akbar-Shāhī, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 77
Scope and Contents A most celebrated general history of India from the time of the Muslim conquest (367 A.H., 977 C.E.) to the 38th year of Mughal Emperor Akbar's reign (1002 A.H., 1593 A.D.). The work, which is the earliest pertaining exclusively to India, is also known under the titles of Ṭabaqāt-i Akbarī, Ta'rīkh-i Niẓamī, and Ta' rīkh-i Sulṭān-i Niẓamī. It was compiled by Niẓam al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Muqīm...
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

ظفرنامه Ẓafar-nāmah, undated copy (original text composed 15th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 73
Scope and Contents An authentic history of the great conqueror Tīmūr (Tamerlane) from his birth, 736 A.H. (1336 C.E.), to his death, 807 A.H. (1405 C.E.), collected from official records, by Mawlānā Sharaf al-Dīn 'Alī Yazdī (d. 858 A.H., 1454 C.E.), who was attached to the court of Sulṭān Shāhrukh Mīrzā, and subsequently of his son, Sulṭān Ibrāhīm Mīrzā, at whose desire the present work was compiled at Shiraz in four years and dedicated to Shāhrukh in 828 A.H. (1425 C.E.). The ...
Dates: undated copy (original text composed 15th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

ظفرنامه Ẓafar-nāmah, 1090 A.H., 1679 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 74
Scope and Contents An authentic history of the great conqueror Tīmūr (Tamerlane) from his birth, 736 A.H. (1336 C.E.), to his death, 807 A.H. (1405 C.E.), collected from official records, by Mawlānā Sharaf al-Dīn 'Alī Yazdī (d. 858 A.H., 1454 C.E.), who was attached to the court of Sulṭān Shāhrukh Mīrzā, and subsequently of his son, Sulṭān Ibrahim Mīrzā, at whose desire the present work was compiled at Shiraz in four years and dedicated to Shāhrukh in 828 A.H. (1425 C.E.). The ...
Dates: 1090 A.H.; 1679 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

عالم آرای عبّاسی 'Alam-ārā-yi 'Abbāsī, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 84
Scope and Contents

A complete copy of the history of the life and reign of the Safavid Shāh 'Abbās I, "'Abbās the Great" (1571-1629 C.E.).

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