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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260509T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260509T180000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
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SUMMARY:Coinage of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan Book Launch
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] \nAbout the Book\nThe coinage of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan represents a unique confluence of political assertion\, military ambition\, and monetary innovation. These coins are more than metal; they are chronicles of a transitional moment in South Indian history when the Mysore Kingdom rose to resist colonial expansion and asserted its sovereignty not just through battlefields\, but through mints\, symbols\, and script. For over a century\, the most referenced guide to this numismatic legacy was J R Henderson’s The Coins of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan\, published in 1921. Henderson’s work was pioneering for its time\, and its clarity and structure have served as a foundation for collectors and scholars alike. However\, much has changed in the field since then. \nIn the last few decades\, new discoveries\, enhanced access to archival material\, digitized museum records\, and an increasingly active collector community have brought to light a wide array of coins not documented in Henderson’s catalogue. Additional mints\, both official and vassal\, have been identified. New typologies have surfaced. Inscriptions once dismissed as blundered have been re-read\, weights re-verified\, and dates realigned using both Hijri and Mauludi calendrical systems. The understanding of the political context in which these coins were struck\, across regions like Cuddapah\, Dindigul\, Chitradurga\, and Gooty\, has deepened significantly. It was with this backdrop that the need for a new\, comprehensive\, and updated catalogue became clear. This book aims to be that modern reference. It presents an expansive catalogue of the coinage issued during the reigns of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. \nAbout the Authors\nPurnanand B. Sanket\, born in Mysore\, India\, developed a deep interest in numismatics early in life\, particularly focusing on the coinage of Ancient Karnataka and Mysore. He pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and later completed a Master’s in Numismatics and Archaeology from Mumbai University in 2015. His passion for historical research led him to earn a Post Graduate Diploma in Manuscriptology and Palaeography from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in 2020. In recognition of his dedication to Mysore coinage\, Sanket was awarded the prestigious Nicholas Lowick Fellowship by the Royal Numismatic Society (UK) in 2014\, which enabled him to study important collections across British and European museums. He continues to contribute to the numismatic field as a cofounder of the Centre of Indian Numismatic Studies (COINS) and holds life memberships in the Numismatic Society of India\, the Mumbai Coin Society\, and the Karnataka Numismatics Society. His articles and research papers have been published in leading numismatic journals\, including the Numismatic Digest\, the Oriental Numismatic Society\, and the South Indian Numismatic Society. Sanket’s meticulous scholarship and passion for Mysore coinage bring academic depth and precision to this volume on the coinage of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan. \n  \nHeinz Bons\, from Kevelaer\, Germany\, is an IT consultant with a distinguished career in software quality assurance and systems consulting. Alongside his professional pursuits\, Heinz nurtured a lifelong fascination with coins\, which began with his first acquisition as a young man. Over the years\, his numismatic interests steadily deepened\, particularly in the coinage of Southeast Asia and India. From the beginning Mysore was one of his favourite coins areas for collection. A long-standing member of the Oriental Numismatic Society\, Heinz has actively shared his expertise with the global numismatic community\, including delivering a lecture on Mysore coinage at the 1992 ONS meeting in Leiden. His approach combines technical precision with a passion for historical detail\, and through his work on this book\, he brings a structured\, analytical lens to the study and cataloguing of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan’s coinage. \n  \nMohit Kapoor\, born and raised in Mumbai\, India\, was introduced to the world of numismatics at a young age by his father\, Shri Rameet Kapoor\, an avid collector. Captivated by the history and artistry of coins\, Mohit soon developed a collection of his own\, which has grown to include coins from the Vijayanagar Empire\, Mughal rulers\, princely states\, British India\, and global coinages. He holds a Master’s degree in Numismatics and Archaeology from Mumbai University and has made significant contributions to the field as a researcher\, auctioneer\, and author. He co-authored the well-regarded book The Nawabs and Kings of Awadh and their Coinage in 2018\, a richly illustrated volume that has been widely referenced. In Coinage of Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan\, Mohit provided valuable inputs throughout the research and cataloguing process\, contributing to the structure and clarity of the work. His keen eye for detail and practical understanding of coinage have helped refine the catalogue and enhance the overall presentation. As the Director of Imperial Auctions\, he has played a key role in shaping the numismatic auction landscape in India. Mohit is also the Regional Secretary for South Asia of the Oriental Numismatic Society and the founder of the Centre of Indian Numismatic Studies (COINS)\, an NGO dedicated to promoting numismatic knowledge across India. His active involvement in numismatic exhibitions\, lectures\, and collaborative research continues to enrich the numismatic community. \n  \nTo join over Zoom\, please register here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/coinage-of-haidar-ali-and-tipu-sultan-book-launch/
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260512T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260512T203000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T164236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T104652Z
UID:24092-1778610600-1778617800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Theodore Mould - In Search of Phillipo: An Armenian Merchant Between Two Empires
DESCRIPTION:This is a joint event co-hosted with the Levantine Heritage Foundation. \n— \nAbout the Lecture\nPhilip John Nigohrus\, known as Phillipo\, was an Armenian merchant from the Ottoman Empire whose contributions to Anglo-Ottoman exchange in the eighteenth century have only recently been rediscovered. Long misidentified as an anonymous groom in George Stubbs’s portrait of the Duke of Ancaster’s Eastern horse\, Phillipo was in fact a successful merchant whose trade extended across the Ottoman Empire and Europe. \nPhillipo was born in Arapgir\, in modern-day Türkiye\, in a region known as the Armenian Highlands. His early life included service as a horse soldier in the Persian army\, before he established himself in Aleppo\, a city that stood at the centre of Levantine trade. \nIn 1767 Phillipo travelled to London\, where he demonstrated Turkish leather dyeing techniques before the Society of Arts\, earning the Society’s Gold Medal. Phillipo also imported Eastern horses into England\, which he sold to the great horse breeders of the day. Aleppo was then a vital hub for this trade and Phillipo’s trade via the Levant Company placed him at its centre. On one of his journeys to London\, Phillipo also had his portrait painted by Richard Cosway\, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in the summer of 1771. \nPhillipo’s presence was part of wider Armenian activity in London\, which included figures such as the adventurer Joseph Emin\, a friend of Edmund Burke\, and the merchant Johannes Padre Rafael\, who brought a case against East India Company officials in the London courts. Through their connections with the Levant and India\, these individuals formed part of a diasporic network that connected the intellectual and commercial life of Enlightenment Britain to the wider world. \n  \nAbout the Speaker\nTheodore Mould read History at the University of Edinburgh and Art History at the Courtauld Institute. His work has been published in The Burlington Magazine and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He has worked at Artclear\, a technology company digitising the transaction of physical works of art and Anthony Mould Ltd\, a London art dealership specialising in British art. He is currently training to become a barrister. \nTo join online\, register here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/theodore-mould-in-search-of-phillipo-an-armenian-merchant-between-two-empires/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260514T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260514T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T165110Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T084028Z
UID:24095-1778783400-1778788800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:(AGM + Japan Series Closing Lecture) Prof Simon Kaner - Towards 150 years of Japanese archaeology and its broader Asian connections
DESCRIPTION:About the Lecture\nIn 1877 the American zoologist Edward Sylvester Morse undertook investigations at the Omori shell mounds in Tokyo\, a site today passed by millions of travellers as they make their way to and from Haneda Airport. The report Morse published in 1879\, in both English and Japanese\, was the first formal Japanese archaeological report. Ten years previously\, the Keeper of the British Museum\, Augustus Woolaston Franks\, gave a paper at the Third International Congress of Prehistory which met in Norwich and London\, on the topic of the Stone Age of Japan. These events represent what can be considered the start of Japanese archaeology. In these two presentations\, both designed as stand-alone lectures or to be heard consecutively\, I will outline some of the major achievements of Japanese archaeology\, the history of connections between Japanese and European archaeology\, and the role played by the Asiatic Societies in the dissemination of this new knowledge. The talks represent the start of a new three-year project at the Sainsbury Institute to mark the 150th anniversary of Japanese archaeology (2027-2029). Both lectures will touch on the networks of archaeologists and mention some current major research collaborations with which the speaker is involved. The talks (and the new project) will also attempt to place the history of Japanese archaeology and its European engagements in the broader context of the history of world archaeology. The talks draw on research undertaken as part of the Sainsbury Institute’s Digital Futures project funded by the Ishibashi Foundation. \nIn this lecture we focus on the role played by four Europeans in the early stages of Japanese archaeology: William Gowland (British English)\, Eduardo Chiossone (Italian)\, Neil Gordon Munro (British Scottish) and Gerard Groot (Dutch). Gowland and Chiossone were foreign specialists (oyatoi gaikokujin) employed by the Japanese Meiji government who developed an interest in the ancient past of Japan through their work. Munro\, a doctor\, and Groot\, a Catholic priest\, both undertook excavations in Japan and reported their work in major publications: Munro published Prehistoric Japan in 1908\, the first synthesis of Japanese archaeology\, and Groot obtained the first known PhD in Japanese archaeology\, in 1952. \nAbout the Speaker\nProfessor Simon Kaner is Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures\, where he is also Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage. He is concurrently Professor of Japanese Archaeology and Heritage at the University of East Anglia\, Norwich. He studied Japanese archaeology at the Universities of Cambridge and Kyoto. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Asiatic Society\, member of the Japanese Archaeological Association (日本考古学協会) and the Japanese Association for Archaeological Research (考古学研究会)\, and served on the Council of the Society of East Asian Archaeology. He has taught\, published\, curated exhibitions and undertaken archaeological fieldwork widely in Japan and Europe\, and is co-editor of the Japanese Journal of Archaeology. Many of his projects are comparative in nature (see e.g. www.global-britisharchaeology.org). His recent publications and exhibitions include An Illustrated Companion to Japanese Archaeology (2nd ed. 2021) and Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan (at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre\, 2022-23). He is currently directing two major research projects: Japan and the Maritime Silk Roads (see www.naratonorwich.org) and the Chikuma-Shinano River Project which will commence a new international field school in Japanese archaeology in Niigata prefecture in 2027. In 2021 he took part in the ‘relay’ talks on Japanese Archaeology seen from Overseas organised by the Nara National Institute for Cultural Properties published as https://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/ja/138613 \n  \nTo join this talk online\, register here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/agm-japan-series-closing-lecture-prof-simon-kaner-towards-150-years-of-japanese-archaeology-and-its-broader-asian-connections/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260521T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260521T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T165240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T113205Z
UID:24816-1779388200-1779393600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Jonathan Orr - Imperial Rule in India: Paternal Governance and Conquest under the Lawrences and Montgomery
DESCRIPTION:About the Book\nThis book explores the remarkable careers of George\, Henry and John Lawrence and Robert Montgomery (Field Marshal Montgomery of Alamein’s grandfather) who served in the East India Company during the first half of the nineteenth century. From modest backgrounds in the north of Ireland\, all four men would assume leading roles in the colonial administration of India. After initial training in England and in Calcutta\, they served their apprenticeships in the Delhi Territory and in the North-Western Provinces (modern day Uttar Pradesh) as military officers (George and Henry) and Collectors (of revenue) and District Magistrates (John and Robert). Henry would later make the move from military to civilian employment when he became a land revenue surveyor. As this book reveals\, these years were incredibly important in the formation of their administrative style. Ruling large swathes of northern India in paternal fashion\, John and Robert became highly knowledgeable on local agrarian affairs. Likewise\, Henry’s role as a revenue surveyor gave him a worm’s eye view of village life that was far removed from the cloistered environment of the military cantonment. Such experiences would cultivate an ethos of respecting local culture and institutions while exercising a high standard of public service and personal devotion to duty. The book assesses the Lawrences and Montgomery’s efforts in the challenging fields of land revenue surveying and assessment\, as well as their campaigns against female infanticide\, thuggee and other forms of criminality. Beyond India\, the part played by George and Henry in the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War is followed in detail\, while the latter’s time as British Resident at the Court of Nepal explores his passion for writing on important Anglo-Indian topics. This study will argue that the knowledge and skills developed by this talented quartet of Irishmen provided the crucial foundations for their later careers in the Punjab and beyond. \n  \nAbout the Author\nJonathan Orr was educated at Foyle College\, Londonderry\, and Trinity College Dublin where he read modern history. Over the years\, he has travelled extensively in both India and Pakistan. After a career in data analytics\, working in both the UK and in India\, he moved into property development. More recently\, he has been able to devote time to his passion for Anglo-Indian history. His aim\, based on an in-depth examination of archival sources\, is to provide an accessible but absorbing reassessment of the Lawrences and Montgomery’s Indian careers for both the specialist and the general reader. He lives in south-east London with his wife Shruti and son Jude. \n  \nFree and open to all. In person and online via Zoom. \nTo attend online\, register here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/imperial-rule-in-india-paternal-governance-and-conquest-under-the-lawrences-and-montgomery/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260602T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260602T203000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T165740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T111752Z
UID:24099-1780425000-1780432200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Daniel Lowe and Lucia Noor Melita- A new fragment of the Blue Qur’an in the British Library’s collection?
DESCRIPTION:About the Talk\nIn this talk\, Lucia Noor Melita and Daniel Lowe examine a manuscript fragment recently discovered at the British Library. This previously unidentified fragment of blue parchment bearing Qur’anic text in gold Kufic script was found in the Library’s storage in spring 2024. At first glance\, it appears to belong to the famed 9th or 10th-century Blue Qur’an\, whose folios and bifolios are dispersed among institutions and private collections across the globe\, and which continue to surface periodically at auction. \nDespite the extensive documentation and scholarship on the Blue Qur’an\, the British Library is not known to hold any of its folios or bifolios\, and this fragment appears to be unrecorded in the Library’s catalogues. The talk compares the fragment with documented examples of the Blue Qur’an through an examination of its textual\, palaeographic\, and material features\, as well as its page layout\, condition\, provenance\, and custodial history. It will also present the results of a recent first phase of scientific analysis undertaken on the fragment\, comparing its material features with those observed in the Blue Qur’an. In doing so\, the speakers aim to offer new insights into the fragment’s possible origins and significance\, introduce it to the scholarly community\, and reflect on the circumstances under which it appears to have eluded both curatorial and academic attention. \n  \nAbout the Speakers\nLucia Noor Melita is the Lead Conservation Scientist at the British Library\, where she manages the analytical and imaging labs\, guiding the technical examination of the Collection and supporting the scientific and conservation research programme. She completed her PhD in Materials Science at UCL. She has expertise in the analysis of a wide range of materials\, both traditional and modern\, and of museum and library objects\, including books and manuscripts\, paintings\, works on paper\, photographs\, plastics and decorative art. Prior to joining the British Library\, Lucia worked as a scientist on modern materials at the V&A and held post-doctoral positions at the British Museum and in the Material Studies Laboratory at UCL. \nDaniel Lowe is Curator of Arabic Collections at the British Library\, where he works across manuscript and printed materials. His curatorial practice and research engage both historical and contemporary collections\, with a particular focus on the visual culture of the Middle East and North Africa. In 2022\, his work was recognised with the Art Fund’s New Collecting Award. He has curated exhibitions including Comics and Cartoon Art from the Arab World (2017)\, Passports and Documents in the Hands of Artists (2024–25)\, and Fighting to Be Heard (2025)\, part of Bradford UK City of Culture. Prior to joining the British Library in 2012\, he worked on museum\, library\, and cultural heritage projects across the Middle East. \n  \nTo join online\, register here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/daniel-lowe-title-tba/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260609T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260609T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T170025Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260507T115423Z
UID:24101-1781029800-1781035200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Reception Room\, Wing D Film Screening
DESCRIPTION:Synopsis\nInside the small waiting room of a large government office in New Delhi\, India\, the film follows the receptionists receiving the arriving public as they navigate the labyrinthian bureaucracy beyond. As files\, food\, chai\, sweets\, and gossip circulate between people\, an intimate portrait of the state emerges. It raises a deeper moral question: What is the state’s duty of care? \nAbout the Film Makers\nDr Ikuno Naka is a  postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Economic Experimentation and  the Constructing Urban Futures in Asia (CUFA) research group at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. \nDr Garima Jaju is a Lecturer at the Department of International Development at King’s College London. \n  \nFree and open to all. Note\, this will not be accessible online.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/dr-garima-jaju-title-tba/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260611T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260611T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251111T170237Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T144603Z
UID:24103-1781202600-1781208000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr Megnaa Mehtta - Rules of the Jungle: Human and Nonhuman Sovereigns in the Bengal Delta
DESCRIPTION:About the Talk\nThe Sundarbans mangrove forests\, located in the Bengal Delta\, are internationally famous as a habitat to conserve the Bengal tiger. Conservationists and forest department bureaucrats try to protect the tiger\, while forest rights activists’ have attempted to campaign against exclusionary conservation practices using the vocabulary of rights. Taking coastal residents’ ways of relating to the forest as a starting point\, the talk reveals how several animated\, nonhuman agents of the region guide both resource use and social relationships through a set of rules known as the “rules of the jungle” (jongoler niyam).  The source of these rules are deities\, demons\, and spirits—that is\, “cosmic polities”—that\, alongside bureaucratic laws and secular activism\, also govern life in the Sundarbans. Nonhuman sovereigns act as a source of care and provide the basis of an ecological consciousness but are also capable of exclusion and discrimination. By exploring a set of questions such as what kind of a property is a forest? What are the different means of relating to such a property—as a natural resource to be extracted\, a state-owned property to be protected\, a commons to subsist on\, or a territory governed by sylvan deities and demons\, this talk explores the diverse and complementary forces that govern life in a forest. \n  \nAbout the Speaker\nMegnaa received her PhD in Anthropology from the London School of Economics in 2020. Her writings have appeared in journals such as Current Anthropology (CA)\, the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)\, and Comparative Studies of South Asia\, Africa and the Middle East (CSSAME). She has two ongoing research projects supported by the AXA-IOC UNESCO Research Fellowship. The first project Centring a Household in a Climate Emergency explores migration\, health\, marriage\, social reproduction and broader ideas of well-being as these themes intersect with climate adaptation policies\, land dispossession and long-standing vulnerabilities in the Bengal Delta. Her second research project The Banglascapes of Venice makes legible the lives of the Bangladeshi community in Venice. As racialized imaginaries create panic about impoverished brown and black bodies from the Global South washing up at the shores of Europe (and the United Kingdom)\, through the microcosm of Venice\, the book reveals the ways in which Italy depends on these very bodies for labour. It makes visible a population that is seen yet unseen\, known yet unknown—a part of the daily life of Venice that produces and reproduces it\, yet remains entirely segregated and often unacknowledged. \n  \nTo join online\, please register here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/dr-megnaa-mehtta-title-tba/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251112T124428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T111742Z
UID:24995-1781721000-1781726400@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Lydia Walker - Beyond States-in-Waiting: Rights\, Recognition\, and Sovereignty in South Asia and the World
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] \nAbout the Lecture\nWhat does it mean to claim rights without recognition? And what happens to sovereignty when statehood remains perpetually deferred? States in Waiting traced how political movements in South Asia and beyond navigated a twentieth‑century international order in which external recognition\, rather than territorial control alone\, determined access to statehood. Highlighting Northeast India—a region characterized by porous borders\, insurgent movements\, and overlapping claims to authority—the book showed how nationalist movements collaborated with advocacy networks to articulate claims to rights\, autonomy\, and self‑determination. In doing so\, these struggles reveal a persistent tension between aspirations towards universal rights and an international system that privileges recognized sovereignty. \nThis lecture moves beyond that framework by returning to the unresolved questions at the heart of the book’s conclusion. If recognition remains uneven\, delayed\, or denied\, what alternative forms of political belonging emerge? If sovereignty can be suspended\, fragmented\, or deferred\, how should we understand the temporalities of the international order itself? By foregrounding these open questions\, this lecture argues that states‑in‑waiting are not anomalies of a colonial past\, but enduring features of a global present in which rights\, recognition\, and sovereignty continue to be contested\, renegotiated\, and reimagined. \nAbout the Speaker\nLydia Walker is the Seth Andre Myers Chair in Global Military History and a Provost Scholar Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University. She is a historian of twentieth‑century global decolonization whose work spans South Asia\, Southern Africa\, military intervention\, and insurgent resistance. She is the author of States‑in‑Waiting: A Counternarrative of Global Decolonization (Cambridge University Press\, 2024)\, which received the 2025 Busuttil Prize and Medal from the Royal Asiatic Society\, and has published in the American Historical Review\, Past & Present\, and elsewhere. She holds a PhD and AM from Harvard and a BA from Columbia\, and has held visiting or research fellowships at Dartmouth College\, the Institute of Historical Research\, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (New Delhi)\, Leiden University\, and Magdalene College\, Cambridge. \n  \nTo join online\, register here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/lydia-walker-beyond-states-in-waiting-rights-recognition-and-sovereignty-in-south-asia-and-the-world/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260618T203000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20260428T092035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T131842Z
UID:24950-1781807400-1781814600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Michael Dillon Book Launch: A comprehensive new history of Shanghai\, revealing its vital place in Chinese history and politics across the centuries
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Michael Dillon in-conversation with Professor Kerry Brown \nAbout the Book\nHome to 25 million people\, Shanghai is the most populous and wealthiest city in China. A meeting point between China and the wider world\, the city has become the beating heart of Chinese capitalism\, a place of initiative\, confidence\, and forward thinking. It is a city of stark contradictions\, suffused with both extreme wealth and poverty\, luxury living\, and a highly organised criminal underworld. \nMichael Dillon explores the full history of Shanghai\, from its origins as a small fishing village to the bustling financial hub of today. The city has been central to some of the most turbulent events in China’s modern history\, from the British and French colonial concessions of the nineteenth century\, to the birth of the Chinese Communist Party and its vital role in Chinese economics and politics today. Shanghai is a fascinating portrait of China’s most dynamic city—and explores its future role in the country’s development. \nAbout the Author\nMichael Dillon is professor of history and an affiliate of King’s College London’s Lau China Institute. An expert on modern Chinese history\, politics\, and society\, he is the author of numerous books\, including We Need to Talk About Xi\, a history of modern China\, and biographies of Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. \nKerry Brown is professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. He is the author of over twenty books on modern Chinese politics\, history\, and society. \nTo join online\, please register here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/michael-dillon-book-launch-a-comprehensive-new-history-of-shanghai-revealing-its-vital-place-in-chinese-history-and-politics-across-the-centuries/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,RAS Lectures & Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260625T200000
DTSTAMP:20260508T201531
CREATED:20251206T151423Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T111834Z
UID:24982-1782412200-1782417600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr Avishek Ray - Epistemology of Roma Origins: India and the Question of Academic Authority
DESCRIPTION:[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]This talk critically examines the widely circulated claim that European Roma populations originate from India—a thesis often treated as settled within academic discourse\, yet not unequivocally endorsed by Roma communities themselves. It asks what is at stake epistemologically when such origin narratives become institutionalized: how they shape knowledge production\, authority\, and the politics of representation\, and how they may contribute to the social reproduction of dominant academic voices within academia. \nAbout the Author\nDr Avishek Ray teaches at the National Institute of Technology Silchar. His research examines mobility\, marginality\, and cultural historiography. He is author of The Vagabond in the South Asian Imagination (2022). He co-authored Digital Expressions of the Selfie (2024) and Temporal Spaces in Calcutta (2026). He edited Decolonial Travel (2025). His work appears in journals including South Asia\, Contemporary South Asia\, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies\, Mobilities\, and Race & Class. He has held fellowships at University of Edinburgh\,  University of Minnesota\, Mahidol University\, Pavia University\, IFK Vienna and Purdue University\, and received the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship (2021). \n  \nTo join online\, register here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/event/dr-avishek-ray-epistemology-of-roma-origins-india-and-the-question-of-academic-authority/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:RAS Lectures & Events
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