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	==Family==		==Family==

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Brompton Cemetery, London 27.JPG|thumb|[[Brompton Cemetery]] monument]]
[[File:Brompton Cemetery, London 28.JPG|thumb|Detail]]

'''William Nassau Lees''' (1825–1889) was a British Army officer in India, known as an orientalist.

==Life==
The fourth son of [[Sir Harcourt Lees]], [[Baronet|Bart.]], he was born on 26 February 1825, and educated at Nut Grove and at [[Trinity College, Dublin]], but took no degree. He was appointed to a Bengal cadetship in 1846, and was posted to the [[42nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry]] as ensign in March 1846. He became lieutenant in July 1853, captain in September 1858, major in June 1865, lieutenant-colonel in 1868, colonel in 1876, and major-general in 1885, having been placed on the supernumerary list in 1884.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Lees, William Nassau|volume=32}}</ref>

Lees was for some years principal of the [[Calcutta Madrasa]], where he was also professor of law, logic, literature, and mathematics. He was secretary to [[Fort William College]], Persian translator to the government, and government examiner in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu for all branches of the service; and for some years part proprietor of the ''[[Times of India]]''. In 1857 Trinity College, Dublin conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D., and he was also a Ph.D. of Berlin. He became a member of the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] in 1872.<ref name="DNB"/>

A conservative in politics, Lees twice sought to enter parliament, but without success. He died at his residence in Grosvenor Street, London, on 9 March 1889, aged 64.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Works<ref name="DNB"/>==
*''Fatúh'sh-Shám'', attributed to [[al-Waqidi]], Arabic edition (1853); an account of the Muslim conquest of Syria;
*''[[Al-Kashshaaf]]'', a [[tafsir]] ([[Koran|Qur'anic]] exegesis) commentary by [[al-Zamakhshari]];<ref>{{cite book|last=Zamakhsharī (al-)|author-link=al-Zamakhshari|first= Maḥmūd ibn ʼUmar|title= Al-Qur'an ma'a tafsir al-kashshaf 'an haqa'iq al-tanzil|editor-last=Lees|editor-first=William Nassau|place= [[Kolkata]]|publisher=Matb' al-Lisi|year=1856|language=ar, en |url=https://archive.org/details/alquranmaatafsir01zamauoft/page/n4/mode/2up}}</ref>
*''Nafahatu l'Uns'' of [[Jámí]] (an account of saints and Sufis, modernised from an older chronicle), a foundational Persian work for the Western study of [[Sufism]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Youssef M. Choueiri|title=A Companion to the History of the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ioTXW3316AC&pg=PA592|date=15 April 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-5204-4|page=592}}</ref> and the ''Vis u Rámin'', based on a [[Páhlévi]] romance of [[Vis and Rāmin]], were well known.<ref name="DNB"/><ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/vis-o-ramin iranicaonline.org, ''Vis o Rāmin, an 11th-century verse romance by Faḵr al-Din Asʿad Gorgāni''.]</ref>
*''Instruction in Oriental Languages, especially as regards Candidates for the East India Company's Service, and as a National Question'', London and Edinburgh, 1857.
*''A Biographical Sketch of the Mystic Philosopher and Poet, Jámí'', London, 1859.
*''Guide to the Examinations at Fort William'', Calcutta, 1862.
*''Resolutions, Regulations, Despatches, and Laws relating to the Sale of Waste Lands and Immigration to India'', Calcutta, 1863.
*''The Drain of Silver to the East, and the Currency of India'', London, 1864 (1865).
*''Memoranda written after a Visit to the Tea Districts of E. Bengal'', Calcutta, 1866.
*''Land and Labour in India'', a review, London, 1867.

While still an ensign, Lees also edited, or co-edited, various Indian works. He assisted in the production by Indian writers of the ''A'aris i Buzurgan'' (1855), consisting of obituary notices of Muslim physicians (edited by Lees and the Maulavi Kaberu 'd din Ahmad); a ''History of the Caliphs'' (1856); a ''Book of Anecdotes, Wonders, Pleasantries, Rarities, and Useful Extracts'' (1856); and the ''Alamgirmáneh'' (1868). He contributed to the Royal Asiatic Society's ''Journal'' and the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal''. He supervised the printing of [[William Hook Morley]]'s edition of the ''Tárikh-i-Baihaki'', and in part superintended that of the Maulávi Sáiyid, Ahmad Khan's edition (1868) of the ''Tárikh-i-Firuz Sháhi by Ziyáu 'd-Din Barani''. He was joint editor (1863) of the ''Tabakát i Nasiri'', by Minháju 'd-Din al Jurjáni, and (1864) of the ''Muntakh-abu't Tawárikh'' of Abd'ul Kádir Badáuni. The publication of the ''Ikbál Námeh-i-Jahángíri'' of M'Ulamád Khan, and the ''Badsháh Námeh'' of Abd'ul-Hámed Lahauri was also under his care.<ref name="DNB"/>

Lees was also a prolific journalist on Indian topics, political, military, and economic. ''Indian Mussulmans'' comprised three letters reprinted from the ''Times'', four articles from the ''Calcutta Englishman'', an article on the Prince Consort, and an appendix, London, 1871.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Family==

{{Empty section|date=March 2022}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Lees, William Nassau|volume=32}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, William Nassau}}
[[Category:1825 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]
[[Category:English orientalists]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:Burials at Brompton Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century British journalists]]
[[Category:19th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]

William Nassau Lees - Revision history

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