Formation | 15 March 1823 |
---|---|
Founder | Henry Thomas Colebrooke |
Type | UK registered charity |
Headquarters | 14 Stephenson Way, London, NW1 2HD, England, United Kingdom |
Location |
|
Patron | King Charles III [1] |
President | Norbert Peabody |
Website | royalasiaticsociety |
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the society has been a forum, through lectures, its journal, and other publications, for scholarship relating to Asian culture and society of the highest level. It is the United Kingdom's senior learned society in the field of Asian studies. Fellows of the society are elected regularly and include highly accomplished and notable scholars of Asian studies; they use the post-nominal letters FRAS. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The society was founded in London in 1823, with the first general meeting being held on 15 March at the Thatched House on St James's Street, London, chaired by Henry Thomas Colebrooke. This meeting elected the officers (including Charles Williams-Wynn as the first president) and council, defined that the name of the society was the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and that members should be designated Members of the Asiatic Society (MAS). It also empowered the council to frame regulations (these were approved at the next general meeting on 19 April), to look for a suitable site for the society's meetings, and to seek a charter of incorporation. Later that year, at a general meeting held on 7 June, Williams-Wynn announced that King George IV, who had already agreed to be patron of the society, had granted the title of "Royal" to the society, giving it the name of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and its members the designation Members of the Royal Asiatic Society (MRAS). The society received its charter under that name on 11 August 1824. [6]
The Royal Asiatic Society was established by a group primarily composed of notable scholars and colonial administrators. It was intended to be the British counterpart to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, which had been founded in 1784 by the noted Sanskrit scholar and jurist Sir William Jones. A leading figure in the foundation of the Royal Asiatic Society was Henry Thomas Colebrooke, who was himself an important Sanskrit scholar, and one time President of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. [7] Another was Sir George Staunton, 2nd Baronet, a Chinese-speaking diplomat who had worked in China.
When the Oriental Club of London was formed in 1824, membership of the Royal Asiatic Society was stated as one of the four qualifications for membership of the new club. [8]
Due to the nature of the society's close connection with the British Empire in the east, much of the work originating with the society has been focused on topics concerning the Indian subcontinent. However, the purview of the Society extends far beyond India: all of Asia and into Islamic North Africa, and Ethiopia are included. The Society does have a few limitations on its field on interest, such as recent political history and current affairs. This particular moratorium led to the founding of the Central Asian Society, which later became the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. After World War II, with the gradual end of British political hegemony 'east of Suez', the Society maintained its disinterested academic focus on Asia.[ citation needed ]
Lectures [9] are regularly held at the offices of the Society. There is no charge for regular lectures. Many past lectures are available to listen to [10] or watch [11] online.
Originally, members of the Society were styled Members (MRAS), Honorary Members (Hon. MRAS), Corresponding Members (CMRAS) and Foreign Members (FMRAS). [12] By the 1870s, the post-nominal letters FRAS, indicating fellowship of the Society, were being used by some members, including the physician and writer on India John Forbes Watson, [13] and the writer on India and co-founder of the India Reform Society John Dickinson. [14] This usage continued through the twentieth century, [15] [16] advertisements in the Society's Journal also reflecting the use of the letters FRAS by some members, [17] [18] although all members of the Society were referred to as "members" in the 1908 constitution, [19] and it was not until 1967 that reports of the Anniversary Meeting referred to "fellows" rather than "members". [20] As of 2019 [update] , members are designated "fellows" or "student fellows"; no post-nominals are assigned by the Society to these grades in its regulations, but the use of the post-nominal letters FRAS is recognized in numerous reference works. [2] [3] [4] [5] [21] The post-nominal letters are used by some academics working in Asia-related fields, [22] [23] and have been used in the Society's Journal in reference to the Indologist Michael D. Willis, [24] to the poet and translator of Bengali William Radice and to the Islamic scholar Leonard Lewisohn. [25]
Notable members and fellows of the Society have included Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Aurel Stein, Sir Wilfred Thesiger, and George V. Tsereteli.
The society is affiliated with associate societies in India (Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore, Madras and Bihar), the former branch in Mumbai now being known as the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
It is also affiliated with the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong (established in 1847), the Asiatic Society of Japan (established in 1875), the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (established in 1877), Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (established in 1900) and the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (established in 1952 as Asiatic Society of Pakistan, and since 1972 renamed as Asiatic Society of Bangladesh). [26]
In China, the former South China Branch is now known as the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong. The North China branch has been re-established in 2006 in Shanghai as the Royal Asiatic Society China, the original branch having been founded in 1857 and dissolved in 1952. It has chapters in Suzhou and Beijing. [27]
The Library has material from the 12th century to the present. All Society collections can be accessed in its dedicated Reading Room in the Society's offices in London during advertised opening hours. [28] The Society also maintains a Digital Library. [29]
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society is published by Cambridge University Press four times a year, each issue containing a number of scholarly essays, and several book reviews. It has been published under its current name since 1991, having previously been the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1834–1991) and Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1824–1834). [30] The present editor of the Journal is Daud Ali of the University of Pennsylvania. The Journal is double-peer-refereed. [31]
This fund was initially established in 1828. [32] The results of its initial funding projects were soon forthcoming. [33] The Fund became one of a large number of Victorian subscription printing clubs which published translations, re-issued historical works or commissioned original books which were too specialized for commercial publication; but unlike most of those now defunct organizations, the work of the Royal Asiatic Society Oriental Translation Fund is on-going into the 21st century with a "new series" and "old series" microform catalog available for scholarly research. [34]
For full details and recipients, see the Royal Asiatic Society's website. [35]
Currently (2024–), [37] the President of the Society is Norbert Peabody [38] and the Vice-President is Gordon Johnson. [39]
Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE FLS was an English orientalist and botanist. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe".
Sir George Thomas Staunton, 2nd Baronet,, FRAS was an English traveller and Orientalist.
Sultan Sir Ibrahim Al-Masyhur ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah was a Malaysian sultan and the 2nd modern Sultan of Johor and 22nd Sultan of Johor overall. He was considered "fabulously wealthy."
Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah ibni Almarhum Maharaja Tun Daeng Ibrahim was the Temenggong of Johor. He was the 1st sultan of modern Johor, the 21st Sultan of Johor and the first Maharaja of Johor from the House of Temenggong. He was also informally known as "The Father of Modern Johor", as many historians accredited Johor's development in the 19th century to Abu Bakar's leadership. He initiated policies and provided aids to ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs to stimulate the development of the state's agricultural economy which was founded by Chinese migrants from southern China in the 1840s. He also took charge of the development of Johor's infrastructure, administrative system, military and civil service, all of which were modelled closely along Western lines.
The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a large sandstone slab which originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River. The large slab, which is believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as early as the 10th or 11th century, bore an undeciphered inscription. Recent theories suggest that the inscription is either in Old Javanese or in Sanskrit, which suggested a possibility that the island was an extension of the Majapahit civilization in the past.
Beshbalik is an ancient Turkic archaeological site, now located in Jimsar County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The ancient city was initially called Beiting or Ting Prefecture, and was the headquarters of the Beiting Protectorate during the 8th century. It was later known as Beshbalik and became one of the capitals of the Uyghur Khaganate and then the Kingdom of Qocho.
Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping in Perak, Malaysia. Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877, he was a millionaire philanthropist and known as an innovator in the mining of tin. He was involved in many other industries including farming, pawnbroking and logging. He was respected by both Chinese and European communities in the early colonial settlement. His survival in the chaotic era owes much to his standing as leader of the Hai San, a Chinese secret society in British Malaya during the time of the Larut Wars (1862–73). a position he is said to have held till early 1884 although in all probability he continued to remain a leading member. The old fort at Teluk Batu was built by him to safeguard the mine that he opened there. He was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut and sat as one of six members of the Advisory Perak State Council appointed by the British. Commenting on the role of the Perak Council, Richard James Wilkinson wrote,
"It is for the reader, in the light of subsequent events, to judge how far the Councillors were right or wrong, and to see for himself who really did the pioneer work of building up the prosperity of Perak. In the published accounts of British rule in Malaya, sufficient prominence has not always been given to the efforts of these early pioneers; the reaper, intent on his own work, is apt to forget the man who sowed. These Council Minutes are the record of the work of the sowers. A study of that record will show how much the State owes to Sir Hugh Low and to his fellow-Councillors, especially Raja Dris, Sir William Maxwell, and the Chinese towkays, Ah Kwi [Chung Keng Quee] and Ah Yam."
Jimsar County is a county in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It contains an area of 8,149 km2 (3,146 sq mi). According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 130,000.
Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have been elected by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science literature and the arts in relation to Asia".
Sir Richard Olaf Winstedt, or more commonly R. O. Winstedt, was an English Orientalist and colonial administrator with expertise in British Malaya.
Charles John Irving,, was a British civil servant in the Malay Peninsula.
Dato' Bendahara Seri Maharaja Tun Habib Abdul Majid was the 19th Bendahara of the Johor Sultanate during the late 17th century. The Johor Sultanate under Sultan Mahmud Shah II saw a gradual decline of royal authority during Tun Habib's tenure as the Bendahara of Johor. Internal challenges within the Sultanate faced by Tun Habib consolidated his power as the Bendahara, in which case the Bendahara monopolised legitimate authority over the Johor Sultanate by the 1690s. After his death, Tun Habib's descendants spanned throughout the Johor Sultanate and established ruling houses in Riau-Lingga, Johor, Pahang and Terengganu.
Richard James Wilkinson was a British colonial administrator, scholar of Malay, and historian. The son of a British consul, Richard James Wilkinson was born in 1867 in Salonika (Thessaloniki) in the Ottoman Empire. He studied at Felsted School and was an undergraduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was multilingual and had a command of French, German, Greek, Italian and Spanish, and later, Malay and Hokkien which he qualified in, in 1889, while a cadet after joining the Straits Settlements Civil Service. He was an important contributor to the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS). On 7 November 1900 Wilkinson presented a collection of Malay manuscripts and printed books to the University of Cambridge Library. He was appointed CMG in 1912.
Javanese Kshatriya were a Hindu Kshatriya community which originally existed in the island of Java in Indonesia. According to the ancient Hindu law, the Kshatriyas have the exclusive right to bear arms in order to defend the country. Indigenous Kshatriya communities currently exist in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam as well as in the island of Bali in Indonesia.
Balinese Kshatriya is a Hindu Kshatriya community that exists on the island of Bali in Indonesia. During the second half of the sixth century, Bali had a strong Kshatriya ruling dynasty. The rulers were mostly indigenous Balinese with some Indian blood. These clans mostly belonged to the Nāgavanshi dynasty. However, in due time, these indigenous Kshatriyas became extinct and were replaced by the Javanese Kshatriyas who immigrated to Bali. Most of the Kshatriyas now living in Bali are claimed to be the descendants of King Dewa Agung, who immigrated to Bali from Java. However, there are also a few other Kshatriya clans who were elevated to the Kshatriya status from the Vaishya varna. Altogether, Kshatriyas constitute around 4% of the total Balinese Hindu population.
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society is an academic journal which publishes articles on the history, archaeology, literature, language, religion and art of South Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia and South-East Asia. It has been published by the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland since 1834. The current editor is Daud Ali.
Warren Delabere Barnes was a British colonial administrator.
Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch is an organisation to encourage interest in Asia broadly, with an emphasis on Hong Kong. The society was founded in 1847 and folded 1859. It was revived on December 28, 1959. Its parent association is the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Charles Otto Blagden was an English Orientalist and linguist who specialised in the Malay, Mon and Pyu languages. He is particularly known for his studies of Burmese epigraphic inscriptions in the Mon and Pyu scripts.
The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS) is a learned society based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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