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.

Repository

Royal Asiatic Society Archives

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Correspondence, newspaper cuttings and auction catalogues concerned with the sale of The Jami'al-Tawarikh Manuscript and Mughal illustrations from the Razmnama manuscript of 1598. Due to the financial needs of the Society in this period it was decided to sell these items. The correspondence follows the debate around whether to undertake the sale, the negotiations with Sotheby's the auctioneers, the outcome of the sale and following difficulties as to whether the purchaser was going to pay for the manuscript. Only two of the Mughal illustrations reached their reserve price at the sale. The press cuttings also follow the debate and that the manuscript was leaving the country. There is a Sotheby's Preview Calendar of Sales catalogue for June-July 1980 which features the The Jami'al-Tawarikh Manuscript (also called Rashid al-Din's World History" and a further individual catalogue for the manuscript. There are 83 items within the correspondence, 19 press cuttings and 2 catalogues.

Conditions of access and use area

Language of material

English

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