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:
تحفة الملوک Tuḥfat al-Mulūk, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)
The work is a short treatise intended for the instruction of princes and rulers, and consists of forty chapters, each containing four different pieces of advice. The author, whose name in this instance is not mentioned, was 'Abd-allāh Muḥammad al-Anṣarī of Herat (d. 481 A.H., 1088 C.E.). From the preface it would appear that the work is a compilation of the wise sayings of old philosophers and statesmen.
تحفهٔ بیلویه Tuḥfah-i Bailawiyyah, undated copy (original text composed between late 18th and early 19th cent. C.E.)
A selection from the poets, compiled by Tārī-Chand, at the request of, and named after, Colonel John Baillie. The author states in the introduction that this work is based on that of Sulṭan Muḥammad Shāh Ṣafavī (see OR MS 86), and, referring to his patron, he adds that Colonel Baillie composed poems under the nom de plume "John." The present copy is most probably is the original.
تذکرهٔ طاهر نصیر آبادی Taẕkirah-i Ṭāhir-i Naṣīrābādī, 1118 A.H., 1706 C.E.
Notices on the Persian poets, who flourished in the eleventh century A.H.. It was compiled in 1083 A.H. (1672 C.E.), and enlarged six years to nine years later by Muḥammad Ṭāhir Naṣīrābādī, who dedicated it to Shāh Sulaymān Ṣafavī of Persia.
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).
تیمورنامه Tīmūr-nāmah, 1191 A.H., 1776 C.E.
A Persian version of the autobiographical institutes, political and military, of Tīmūr. It is to be noted that these memoirs are usually named Malfūẓāt-i Tīmūrī and were first translated and presented to the Mughal Emperor Shāh-Jahān about 1047 A.H. (1637 C.E.) by Abū Ṭalib al-Ḥusaynī Khurāsānī, from a copy in Turkī in the library of the Pasha, of Yemen.
جامع التمثیل Jāmi' al-tams̲īl, 1226 A.H., 1810 C.E.
A collection of proverbs arranged in alphabetical order according to the first letter of each proverb; thus there are as many chapters as there are letters in the alphabet. Their origin and use are also explained, and illustrated by means of short historical anecdotes.Texts from the Qur'ān and poet quotations are also introduced towards the end. This is one of the most celebrated works of the author, Muḥammad 'Alī Jabalwardī, sometimes called Jabalrūdī.
![Detail of page from the Compendium of Chronicles by Rashid al-Din. Shows text with central miniature depicting the Sultan Luhrasp seated on a throne, surrounded by attendants. [Please click twice to see the full manuscript]](https://images.is.ed.ac.uk/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/UoEsha-4-NA/1009/0003552c.jpg)
جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)
جوامع الحکایات و لوامع الروایات Jawāmi' al-ḥikāyāt va lavāmi' al-rivāyāt, 842-843 A.H., 1439-1440 C.E.
A celebrated collection of historical tales and anecdotes, by Mawlānā Nūr al-Dīn Muḥammad 'Aufī, also known as Sadr al-Dīn, or Jamāl al-Dīn 'Aufī, who also compiled one of the earliest biographies of poets, called Lubāb al-Albāb. The present work was composed in 625 A.H. (1227 C.E.).
حالات آصف خانان Ḥālāt-i Āṣaf-Khānān, undated
حبیب السیر في اخبار افراد البشر Ḥabīb al-siyar fī akhbār afrād al-bashar, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)
This MS comprises the first two juz', or parts, of the third volume of the well-known general history, which was originally written in 927-930 A.H. (1521-1524 C.E.), by the grandson of Mīrkhānd who had completed Rawz̤at al-ṣafāʼ (see Or Ms 71), Ghiyās al-Dīn, known as Khānd-Amīr.