James Baillie Fraser

James Baillie Fraser (11 June 1783 – 23 January 1856) was a Scottish travel writer, and artist who illustrated and wrote about Asia Minor, Iran, India and Kurdistan. Some of his watercolours made in the picturesque style represent early views of India and Iran. He was a brother of William Fraser.

During his travel to Mashhad, he converted to Islam at the Imam Reza Shrine in 1822.

Early life James was born at Reelig in the county of Inverness. He was the eldest of five sons

India

James' father had mortgaged the family estate to buy the sugar plantation in the West Indies. When sugar prices collapsed due to overproduction, they mortgaged the plantation and soon ran into debts.

In early 1813 James set sail for India, hoping to set up a trade business in Calcutta to help pay off the family debts. ) who was posted in Delhi. His brother was a Writer to the East India Company. His work in Delhi dealt with land survey and settlement and involved being out in the field and meeting people.

William had demonstrated his excellence in Indian languages and customs and he maintained local artists to draw portraits in what is now called the "Company school" style.

In 1816 James returned to Calcutta and joined a partner in shipping business. He also took more interest in art and worked with professional artists William Havell (1782–1857) and George Chinnery (1744–1852). In 1826 he published Views of Calcutta and its Environs. He travelled west to Bombay, and then accompanied the East India Company officer Andrew Jukes to Persia, sailing to Bushehr and then on to Tehran, and finally reached London in 1823.

Jukes died on the way at Esfahan in 1821. During this journey Fraser sketched and kept a diary, published as Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the Years 1821 and 1822 (1825) and Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces of the Southern Banks of the Caspian Sea (1826).

In 1823 he married Jane, daughter of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, a sister of the historian Patrick Fraser Tytler. In Qom, disguised in different clothing, he visited the Fatima Masumeh Shrine. In Mashhad, with the help of a clerical friend, he converted to Islam and was able to enter the Imam Reza shrine and sketch freely without being disturbed. He entered and sketch Persian mosques which no European had entered before. After six weeks in Mashhad, Fraser headed west, traveling through Gorgan, and then along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to Ardabil, Tabriz, and Urmia.

Russian moves in Turkey caused fears in Britain and Lord Glenelg appointed James to investigate in Iran. Fraser was appointed escort officer to the three Qajar princes, Rezaqholi Mirza, Teymur Mirza, and Najafqholi Mirza, who had come to London to seek help and protection from the British government. He also accompanied them on their return until Constantinople. During this period, he travelled extensively on horseback but his health was impaired by the exposure. He wrote several historic novels and romances.

Fraser's earliest writings are: Journal of a Tour through Part of the Himala Mountains and to the Sources of the Jumna and the Ganges (1820); A Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in the Years 1821 and 1822, including some Account of the Countries to the North-East of Persia (1825); and Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces on the Southern Banks of the Caspian Sea (1826). His romances include The Kuzzilbash, a Tale of Khorasan (1828), and its sequel The Persian Adventurer (1830); Allee Neemroo (1842); and The Dark Falcon (1844). He also wrote An Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia (1834); A Winter's Journey (Tâtar,) from Constantinople to Teheran (1838); Travels in Koordistan, Mesopotamia, etc. (1840) Mesopotamia and Assyria (1842); and Military Memoirs of Col. James Skinner (1851).