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 167 Collections and/or Records:
عباب اللباب في توضیح دقائق للاعراب 'Ubāb al-lubāb fī tawḍīḥ daqā'iq al-i'rāb, 843 A.H., 1434 C.E.
A commentary upon the Lubāb al-I'rāb of Tāj al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. al-Sayf Isfarā'īnī Faḍl, who flourished about the end of the seventh century A.H. The author is not mentioned.
علامات نجوم الفرقان 'Alāmāt-i-nujūm al-furqān, 1226 A.H., 1811 C.E.
This work on the correct reading and recitation of the Qur'ān, was originally compiled in the 34th year of the reign of 'Ālamgīr (1093 A.H., 1682 C.E.) by Ibn Muḥammad Sa'īd Muṣṭafá. Printed volume.
عمل صالح ʻAmal-i Ṣāliḥ, 1224 A.H., 1809 C.E.
A history of the Mughal Emperor Shāhjahān's life and reign, and containing a short history of his predecessors, beginning with Tīmūr. On the flyleaf the work is entitled "lkhtiṣar-i Shāh Jahān-nāmah."
غرر الحکم ودررالکلم Ghurar al-ḥikam wa-durar al-kalim, 1023 A.H., 1614 C.E.
A collection of the numerous wise sayings of 'Alī b. Abī Ṭalib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad, and First Imām of Shi'i Islam). The apothegms were gathered and arranged by 'Abd al-Waḥīd b. Muḥammad b. 'Abd al-Waḥīd Amīdī Tamīmī in the sixth century A.H..
فرمان Farmān, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.
فرمان Farmān, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.
فقه الامامیّة Fiqh al-Imāmiyyat, undated copy
A digest of Twelver Shi'ite Islamic Law by Sirāj al-Ḥaqq. There appear to be substantial lacunae in the present copy.
فقه الامامیّة (القسم الثانی) Fiqh al-Imāmiyyat (second part), undated
A digest of Twelver Shi'ite Islamic Law. This labelled as al-qism al-thānī (the second section) of the work, and is itself divided into ten kitābs (books).
فقه الامامیه Fiqh al-Imāmiyyah, 1205 A.H., 1790 C.E.
A digest of Twelver Shi'ite Islamic Law by Sirāj al-Ḥaqq. The work (or this copy) was written at the request of Sir William Jones (so states a note at the beginning, and another at the end, in the hand of Col. John Baillie).
فقه السراجیه Fiqh al-Sirājiyyah, undated copy (original text composed 12th or 13th cent. C.E.)
The well-known treatise on the Islamic Inheritance law by Muhammad b. Muḥammad Sirāj al-Dīn al-Sajāwandī (about 600 A.H., 1203 C.E.), whose name, however, does not appear in the present copy. OR MS 17 is a further volume of this work.