James Anderson (1757-1833) was a soldier and Persian interpreter for the East India Company. He and his brother, David Anderson (1750-1828), were close associates of Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first British Governor-General of Bengal, Hasting’s inner circle being known for their interest in South Asian and Muslim culture and heritage. Born in Edinburgh, he studied at the University of Edinburgh matriculating in 1768 and graduating in 1774, taking courses in Greek, Rational, Moral, and Natural Philosophy, Rhetoric and Belles Letters. He also studied with James Robertson (Chair of Hebrew 1751-1792), participating in Robertson’s "Hebrew Language" classes that included the tuition of Arabic and Persian. In 1775 Anderson joined the East India Company Army, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1778. He acted as translator for an important peace treaty between the Marāthās and the EIC, negotiated between David Anderson and Madho Rao Pundit Purdhan at Scindia in 1782.
James Anderson worked together with Charles Hamilton (c.1752-92) on the translation of the Hedāyah, an important work of Hanafī jurisprudence by Burhān al-Dīn Marghīnānī (1135-1197 C.E.) that became central to the legal system operated by the British in South Asia. East India Company records show that by 1789 Anderson was on furlough in Europe, and that by 1791 he had been “Struck Off”. He later purchased Wilton Lodge near Hawick. In November of 1844 Adam Anderson, James’ nephew donated his late uncle’s manuscripts to the University Library. This included 57 items, the vast majority in Persian (several in Arabic). Poetry and historiography feature prominently among these works with medicine, Islamic Law, the Persian epics, and other topics also treated.
Scope and Contents
This is a detached portion taken from the geographical work of the same name, which was written after the death of Mughal Emperor ‘Ālamgīr (d. 1118 A.H., 1707 C.E), by Sayyid Amīn al-Dīn Khān b. Abū al-Makārim Amīr-Khān al-Ḥusaynī al-Harawī. It contains brief accounts of the titulature of the Emperor, the Princes, the Princesses, and the nobles of the Court of Dehli. Brief references to the Ṣūbahs (provinces), areas, revenues, distances between various...
Dates:
undated (original text compiled 18th cent. C.E.)
A collection of letters, etc., written by the celebrated Shaykh Abū al-Faz̤l "Allāmī". These were collected soon after the author's death, 1011 A.H., 1602 C.E., by his sister's son, ‘Abd al-Ṣamad b. Afz̤al Muḥammad, and completed, according to the title, which is its chronogram, in 1015 A.H., 1606-1607 C.E.
Copied by Shīw-Bakhsh in the Faṣlī year 1178 (see dating for A.H. and C.E. equivalents).
Scope and Contents
A letter stated to have been sent by Shāh-‘Abbās II of Persia, after his conquest of Kandahar in 1058 A.H. (1648 C.E.), to Jahāngīr, emperor of India, with the reply of the letter included.A Descriptive Catalogue of the Arabic and Persian Manuscripts in Edinburgh University Library by Mohammad Hukk et al. (1925) states: "This is evidently wrong, for ‘Abbās II, who ascended the throne, A.H. 1052 (A.D. 1642), was a contemporary of...
Scope and Contents
A copy of the fourth and last volume of the Hidāya, a celebrated treatise on Islamic Jurisprudence according to the doctrine of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150 A.H., 767 C.E.) and his disciples Abū Yūsuf and Imām Muḥammad, the original work being in Arabic.It is a commentary on the Badāyat al-Mubtadā' by Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn 'Alī b. Abū Bakr al-Marghīnānī, who was born in Transoxania, and died at the age of 64, 593 A.H.,...
Dates:
undated (Persian translation of a work originally composed in Arabic, 12th cent. C.E.)
Scope and Contents
A partial copy of the fourth and last volume of the Hidāya, a celebrated treatise on Islamic Jurisprudence according to the doctrine of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150 A.H., 767 C.E.) and his disciples Abū Yūsuf and Imām Muḥammad, the original work being in Arabic.It is a commentary on the Badāyat al-Mubtadā' by Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn 'Alī b. Abū Bakr al-Marghīnānī, who was born in Transoxania, and died at the age of 64, 593 A.H., 1197 C.E.The...
Dates:
undated (Persian translation of a work originally composed in Arabic, 12th cent. C.E.)
Scope and Contents
A copy of the second volume of the Hidāya, a celebrated treatise on Islamic Jurisprudence according to the doctrine of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150 A.H., 767 C.E.) and his disciples Abū Yūsuf and Imām Muḥammad, the original work being in Arabic.It is a commentary on the Badāyat al-Mubtadā' by Shaykh Burhān al-Dīn 'Alī b. Abū Bakr al-Marghīnānī, who was born in Transoxania, and died at the age of 64, 593 A.H., 1197...
