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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:

بهار دانش Bahār-i dānish (volume.2), 1203 A.H., 1788 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 122
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1203 A.H.; 1788 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

بهار دانش (volume.1) Bahār-i dānish, undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 121
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 17th cent. C.E.)
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

بیاض" خود بدولت" Bayāz̤-i khud-badawlat, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 146
Scope and Contents

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.

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

تأریخ الامم والملوک Tā'rīkh al-umam wa-al-mulūk, 876 A.H., 1471 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 19
Scope and Contents

An abridgement of a work of world history (from the earliest times) by Abū Ja' far Muḥammad b. Jarīr b. Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (839 -923 C.E), a famous imam of Baghdad, great author, and one of the most eminent Iranian scholars of the early Abbasid era.

Dates: 876 A.H.; 1471 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

تاج المصادر وتاج الاسامي Tāj al-maṣādir wa-tāj al-asāmī, 842 A.H., 1438 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 61
Scope and Contents

A dictionary of Arabic nouns and infinitives, including their derivations and equivalents in Persian by Abū Ja'far Aḥmad b. 'Alī Maqrī Bayḥaqī (nicknamed Ja'farak), d. 544 A.H. (1159 C.E.). It is stated by the author that this work refers in the first place to the Qur'ān, next to the traditions, and finally to ancient poetry.

Dates: 842 A.H.; 1438 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia

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

تحفة العالم Tuḥfat al-'Ālam, 1222 A.H., 1807 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 85
Scope and Contents A descriptive account of the city of Shustar, to which is appended a story of the life and travels of the author, 'Abd al-Laṭīf b. Abī Ṭālib b. Nūr al-Dīn b. Ni'mat-allāh al-Ḥusayn al-Mūsavī al-Shūstarī. The author compiled this work in India, dedicated to, and named it after, the Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim b. Sayyid Raz̤ī-al-Dīn, entitled Mīr 'Alam Khān (d.1223 A.H., 1808 C.E.), the Prime Minister of Hyderabad (see fol. 1a). The historical part of this work is based upon the work of Sayyid...
Dates: 1222 A.H.; 1807 C.E.
Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections / Manuscripts of the Islamicate World and South Asia