The
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (RAS) was, according to its
Royal CharterIn medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities . The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be...
of 11 August 1824, established 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.
The
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (RAS) was, according to its
Royal CharterIn medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities . The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be...
of 11 August 1824, established 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 KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's senior
learned societyA learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline or group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies, such as the Polish...
in the field of Asian studies. Fellows include highly accomplished and notable scholars of Asian Studies, and are entitled to use post-nominal letters
FRASFellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are the "great and good" people 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".The...
.
History
The Society was founded in London in 1823, and received its Royal Charter from
George IVGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
the following year. The RAS 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
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
scholar and jurist
Sir William JonesSir William Jones was an English philologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages...
. The leading figure in the foundation of the RAS was
Henry Thomas ColebrookeHenry Thomas Colebrooke was an English orientalist.-Biography:Henry Thomas Colebrooke, third son of Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet, was born in London. He was educated at home; and when only fifteen he had made considerable attainments in classics and mathematics...
, who was himself an important
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
scholar, and one time President of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta.
When the
Oriental ClubThe Oriental Club in London is a traditional gentlemen's club near Oxford Street, London W1, established in 1824.-Foundation:The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany reported in its April, 1824, issue -...
of London was formed in 1824, membership of the RAS was stated as one of the four qualifications for membership of the new club.
Due to the nature of the Society's close connection with the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
in the east, much of the work originating with the society has been focused on topics concerning the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
. However, the purview of the Society extends far beyond India: all of
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
and into
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
, and
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
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 AffairsThe Royal Society for Asian Affairs is a learned society based in the United Kingdom, founded in 1901 to "promote greater knowledge and understanding of Central Asia and surrounding countries". The geographical extent of the Society's interest has since expanded to include the whole of Asia...
. After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with the gradual end of British political hegemony 'east of
SuezSuez is a seaport town in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has two harbors, Port Ibrahim and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
', the Society maintained its disinterested academic focus on Asia.
Throughout its history the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland has, while only maintaining a very modestly sized membership, always contained a great deal of very distinguished individuals, from both the academic and political world. A list of the most accomplished would include such notables as
Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath. As a poet, novelist, musician, and playwright, he reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
,
Sir Aurel SteinSir Marc Aurel Stein KCIE, FBA was a Hungarian archaeologist. He was also a professor at various Indian universities. Stein was inspired by Sven Hedin's 1898 work, Through Asia.-Early life:...
, and
Sir Wilfred ThesigerSir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, was a British explorer and travel writer born in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.-Family:...
. This membership hails from all over the globe, but primarily the United Kingdom and Asia. Fellows of the Society are elected regularly, and can use the post-nominal letters
FRASThe post-nominal letters FRAS may refer to:* Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland* Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society...
.
Branches
The Society is affiliated to associate societies in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
(Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore, Madras, and Bihar),
Sri LankaThe Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. One of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. Established on the 7th February, 1845, based on lines similar to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland to further oriental...
,
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
(established in 1847),
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Malaysia (established in 1877), and Seoul,
KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
(established in 1900). The former branch in Bombay is now known as
The Asiatic Society of BombayThe Asiatic Society of Bombay is based in Mumbai, India. It can trace its origin to the Literary Society of Bombay which first met in Mumbai on November 26, 1804, and was founded by Sir James Mackintosh. It was formed with the intention of "promoting useful knowledge, particularly such as is now...
. In 2008 the Shanghai branch (1857 - 1949) was re-established. It is known as the Royal Asiatic Society, North Asia Branch.
Journal
The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JRAS), is published by
Cambridge University PressCambridge University Press is a printer and publisher granted a Royal Letters Patent by Henry VIII in 1534. It is the world's oldest continually operating book publisher...
four times a year, each issue contains a number of scholarly essays, and several book reviews. The present editor of the JRAS is Dr Sarah Ansari of
Royal Holloway, University of LondonRoyal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has around 7,345 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 120 different countries...
. The Executive Editor is Charlotte de Blois. In addition to the journal the society also regularly publishes historical manuscripts, and monographs of highest academic quality on numerous topics.
Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
This fund was initially established in 1828
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=257471; and the results of its initial funding projects were soon forthcoming.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/ibnbatuta/00introlee.html 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.
President
Currently, the President of the Society is Professor
Anthony StockwellAnthony John "Tony" Stockwell is a British academic. He is considered to be one of the UK's leading researchers into the history of British imperialism and decolonisation in Southeast Asia....
, and the Patron is
His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1952, he has been heir apparent to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms. After earning a bachelor of arts from Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles served a tour of duty with Royal Navy...
.
See also
- Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society
Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are the "great and good" people 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".The...
- Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
The Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society is a scholarly journal published by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society or MBRAS. The journal covers topics of historical interest concerning peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Singapore...
- Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. One of the oldest learned societies in Sri Lanka with a history of over 160 years. Established on the 7th February, 1845, based on lines similar to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland to further oriental...
Some Society Publications
- "Charter of Incorporation of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. pp 25-27, 1957.
- Beckingham, C.F. Centenary Volume of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1823-1923. Pargiter, F.E. (ed.) Published by the Society, 1923, London.
- Mashita, Hiroyuki. Theology, Ethics and Metaphysics: Royal Asiatic Society Classics of Islam. Routledge Publishing, 2003.
- Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. B. W. Robinson. Persian Paintings in the Collection of the Royal Asiatic Society Routledge, 1998.
- Rost, Reinhold. "Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Indo-China and the Indian Archipelago" Reprinted for the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, from the "Journals" of the Royal Asiatic, Bengal Asiatic, and Royal Geographical Societies; the "Transactions" and "Journal" of the Asiatic Society of Batavia ... Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malayan Branch Published by Trübner & co., 1887.
- Tritton, Arthur Stanley. Muslim Theology... Royal Asiatic Society by Luzac, 1947.
- Winternitz, Moriz (compiled), Frederick William Thomas (appendix). A Catalogue of South Indian Sanskrit Manuscripts: Especially Those of the Whish Collection Belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Library. Whish Collection, 1902.
External links