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Baillie, John Baillie, of Leys, 1835-1890 (donor of the Oriental Manuscripts Collection)

 Person

Biography

John B. Baillie of Leys bequeathed 165 Arabic and Persian manuscripts - the collection of John Baillie, his grandfather - to the University Library in 1876.

Found in 167 Collections and/or Records:

تحفة الملوک Tuḥfat al-Mulūk, undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 94
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 11th cent. C.E.)

تحفهٔ بیلویه Tuḥfah-i Bailawiyyah, undated copy (original text composed between late 18th and early 19th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 112
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed between late 18th and early 19th cent. C.E.)

تذکرهٔ طاهر نصیر آبادی Taẕkirah-i Ṭāhir-i Naṣīrābādī, 1118 A.H., 1706 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 88
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1118 A.H.; 1706 C.E.

تصویرات راگ مالا Taṣvīrāt-i Rāg-mālā, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 114
Scope and Contents

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).

Dates: undated

تیمورنامه Tīmūr-nāmah, 1191 A.H., 1776 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 75
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1191 A.H.; 1776 C.E.

جامع التمثیل Jāmi' al-tams̲īl, 1226 A.H., 1810 C.E.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 116
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: 1226 A.H.; 1810 C.E.
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]
Detail of page from the Compendium of Chro...

جامع التواریخ Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh (Compendium of Chronicles), 714 A.H. (1314 C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 20
Scope and Contents This manuscript, among the most iconic items held by Edinburgh University Library, is one of the supreme masterpieces of Persian book painting and one of the most important medieval manuscripts from either West or East. Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh was written by the historian and vizier to the Ilkhanid court, Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍl-allāh Ṭabīb Hamadānī (ca. 1247-1318 C.E.), and copied in Tabriz by the author's own scribes and illustrators. This fragment of the manuscript...
Dates: 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.

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 119
Scope and Contents

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.).

Dates: 842-843 A.H.; 1439-1440 C.E.

حالات آصف خانان Ḥālāt-i Āṣaf-Khānān, undated

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 413
Scope and Contents This is a short anonymous biography chiefly of Abū al-Ḥasan, entitled "Yamīn al-Dawlah Āṣaf-Khān", son of the vizier I'timād al-Dawlah. He was the father of Mumtaz al-Zamānī Arjumand-Bānū Bīgam, the favourite wife of Mughal Emperor Shāhjahān. Āṣaf-Khān died at the age of 72, in 1051 A.H. (1641 C.E.). The current copy has 9 folios is written in clear nasta'līq, is badly stained by damp and injured. It appears to have been written by the same hand and in the same year as OR MS 411,...
Dates: undated

حبیب السیر في اخبار افراد البشر Ḥabīb al-siyar fī akhbār afrād al-bashar, undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)

 Item
Identifier: Or Ms 72
Scope and Contents

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.

Dates: undated copy (original text composed 16th cent. C.E.)