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Identity area
Reference code
GB 891 RAS LEC4-RAS LEC4/1-RAS LEC4/1/1
Publication status
Published
Level of description
Subseries
Extent and medium
10 items handwritten and printed
Date(s)
- 1823 - 1899 (Creation)
Context area
Name of creator
(1823-present)
Biographical history
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.
(1786-1860)
Biographical history
Horace Hayman Wilson (1786-1860) was an English orientalist who studied medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, London, before travelling to India in 1808 to become an assistant surgeon for the East India Company in Bengal. Whilst in Calcutta he devoted his attention to the study of Indian languages, especially Sanskrit, and in 1811 became the Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, upon the recommendation of Henry Colebrooke. In 1832, Wilson left India as he was appointed the first Professorship in Sanskrit at Oxford University. Four years later he became Librarian at East India House and he fulfilled both positions for many years. Wilson wrote extensively on the subjects of Sanskrit literature, Hindu religion, and Indian history. He became Director of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1837 following Colebrooke's death, and remained in position until his own death in 1860.
Repository
Royal Asiatic Society Archives
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Drafts of papers delivered at General Meetings of the Society. These are:
* 'Translation of a Chinese Inscription found on a Rock at Kulangsu (Gulangyu)' by George Tradescant Lay, read at the General Meeting, 15 November 1845, 14 pages + paper wrapper.
* Paper on the cultivation of cotton and sugar by William McClelland, read 7 November 1846, with accompanying letter from W. Corgill, dated 18 May 1846, 17 pages.
* Notes on the progress of the native printing press in India, with reference to a list of periodicals and other works printed at the presses of Delhi and Bareilly with the list and translation by John Dowson. Read By H.H. Wilson, 2 December 1848, 23 pages.
* Notes on the Ruins at Gwalior by Lieutenant Thomas Briggs, read 20 November 1852 when Briggs showed a volume of drawings of the architecture of the temples visited by him at Gwalior and Badami, 8 pages + paper wrapper.
* Paper relating to the use by the Chinese government of the Chinese word for barbarian, read by Edwin Norris from documents communicated by the Foreign Office, 4 December 1852, 13 pieces + paper wrapper.
* Notes on the low caste Mangs of Kolhapoor (Kolhapur); an extract of a report by Lieutenant C. Barr, dated 1 January 1852. This was communicated by Colonel Sykes and read 4th June 1853, printed 10 pages.
* Extracts from letters received from Colonel Henry Rawlinson concerning the kings cited in an inscription. Two pieces, undated but probably dating to 1852-4 when the Assistant Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society read several such extracts at the General Meetings.
* Description of the Drawings of Buddha and a Pagoda, presented to the Society by the First King of Siam (Thailand) on 23 July 1857. The original description is dated 26 May 1854. The paper was read by the President, H.H. Wilson, at the meeting of 2 January 1858, 8 pages.
* Paper entitled 'A Sketch of Buddhist mythology as represented in Chinese sheet-tract' read by Joseph Edkins, 22 January 1859, 7 pages.
* Papers relating to the inscriptions on two swords given to the Queen by the widow of Major Hodson, but displayed at the Royal Asiatic Society on 6 April 1861, 5 pieces.
Conditions of access and use area
Language of material
- Chinese
- English
- Persian
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