Founding of the Society
Colebrooke previously had served as President of the Asiatick Society of Bengal, a learned society founded in 1784 by the philologist and jurist Sir William Jones (1746–94). Upon his return to London, Colebrooke wished to create a similar society that not only focused on India but the whole of Asia. The Society’s iconic seal was designed by the artists Thomas Daniell (1749–1840) and William Daniell (1769–1837), known for their picturesque views of India, both of whom were founding members of the Society. The original drawing of the seal depicts a richly caparisoned elephant carrying a howdah symbolising our enduring connection with Asia.
Foster a deeper understanding of Asia
Throughout its early history, the Society encouraged the study of the history, scientific knowledge, languages, and religions of Asia through lectures and publications. The Society published its first volume of Transactions in 1827, a journal that included articles on all aspects of Asia. This was superseded by the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1834 which continues to be published today in conjunction with Cambridge University Press. The establishment of special funds such as the Oriental Translation Fund permitted the Society to publish translations of valuable works on Asian history and literature. Notable publications include Autobiographical Memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Timur (1830) translated by Charles Stewart, Ram Raz’s Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus (1834) and History of the Afghans (1836) by Ni‘mat Allah and translated by Bernhard Dorn.
Our membership and wider community
Many distinguished scholars have been members of the Society or have received recognition for their work from the Society, including Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833), the distinguished Indian reformer and writer; Edward Hincks (1792–1866) and Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (1810–95), Assyriologists who contributed to the decipherment of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script; Sir Richard Burton (1821–90), the noted explorer and translator of One Thousand and One Nights and the Kama Sutra; Sir Aurel Stein (1862–1943), the renowned archaeologist of the ‘Silk Roads’; B. C. Law (1892–1968), the eminent Indologist; Gertrude Caton-Thompson (1888–1985), archaeologist; Dame Freya Stark (1893–1993), traveller and author; and Professor Dame Caroline Humphrey (1943-), anthropologist.
A unique resource for discovering Asia
Thanks to generous donations and bequests from its members and benefactors, the Society has become home to an extraordinary collection of manuscripts, paintings, photographs and archives, forming a unique resource for the study of the history, languages, cultures, and religions of Asia. Our treasures include finely illustrated Persian manuscripts, Indian paintings and architectural studies, early photographs of ancient Javanese sites, the personal papers of influential Orientalists and much more. Since 2018, the Society’s Digital Library has been making its historic collections accessible to a worldwide audience.
2023 Bicentenary
The Society celebrated its bicentenary in 2023 with a series of special events and research initiatives, including an exhibition held at Brunei Gallery, SOAS and the publication of a limited-edition reissue of Lieutenant Colonel James Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han, with a new Companion Volume by Dr Norbert Peabody. Mr Peter Collin, a long-standing member of the Society, also compiled a prosopography of over 500 early members, now available on our website here.
Details of the re-issue of James Tod’s book can be found here.
Donors & Grants
The Society is grateful to the following bodies and individuals for their support:
- National Heritage Memorial Fund
- Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grants Fund
- Friends of the National Libraries
- National Manuscripts Conservation Trust
- Sino-British Fellowship Trust
- The Islamic Manuscript Association
- The Mercers’ Company
- Jiv Daya Foundation
- Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
- ULEMHAS
- Pakistan High Commission
- Barclays Bank plc
- HSBC
- British American Tobacco
- The Don Baker Memorial Fund
- Symington W. Smith
- Anton Lutter
- Brady Brim-DeForest of Balvaird Castle
- Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation
- Dr Sriya Chakravart
- Mr Gabriel McGovern
- The Barakat Trust
- Ralph Issacs and Ruth Issacs
Associate Societies
The Society is associated with other learned societies promoting Asian Studies across Asia. These include:
The Asiatic Society, 1 Park Street, Calcutta (1784)
The Asiatic Society of Mumbai (1804)
The Sri Lanka Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1845)
The Korean Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1900)
The Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai (2007)
The Royal Asiatic Society China, Beijing (2013)
The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1877)
The Asiatic Society of Japan (1872)
The Bihar Research Society (1915)
The Burma Research Society (1910-1980)
The Madras Literary Society (1830)
The Mythic Society, Bangalore (1909)
The Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1847)
The Royal Asiatic Society of Georgia (2023)
The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1952)