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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190518T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190518T170000
DTSTAMP:20190204T121827Z
CREATED:20190204T121827Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190204T121827Z
UID:10146-1558189800-1558198800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:RASHKB Friends lectures Spring 2019 - Barbara Anslow
DESCRIPTION:The Friends AGM will be held on 18th May\, followed by an not-to-be-missed lecture given by Barbara Anslow\, age 100\, based on her diaries that she kept during her internment in Stanley Prisoner of War Camp in Hong Kong with her mother in WWII.  I have heard her speak and she is the most delightful lady.  She gave the talk herself\, with her daughter by her side\, with just a few notes – she talked eloquently about their life in the camp and her memory is so clear and focused strongly on how they ‘made do’ with the little that they had.  Definitely not to be missed.  The publicity around the discovery of her diaries led to a book called ‘Tin Hats & Rice’\, published in 2018. \n  \nTo book for this lecture please email Paul Bolding at paul@paulbolding.org.uk.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/rashkb-friends-lectures-spring-2019-barbara-anslow/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Related Organisation's Event
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190513T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190513T210000
DTSTAMP:20190417T160238Z
CREATED:20190417T160238Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190417T160238Z
UID:11591-1557770400-1557781200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Special Event (ticketed): Nawal Nasrallah: Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table: A Fourteenth-Century Egyptian Cookbook
DESCRIPTION:Doors at 6.00 for a 6.30pm start. \n  \nAward-winning researcher and food writer Nawal Nasrallah will give an exclusive talk at the Royal Asiatic Society on the subject of her translation of Kanz al-fawāʾid fī tanwīʿ al-mawāʾid\, a fourteenth-century Egyptian cookbook\, entitled Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table. \n \nIt is the only surviving cookbook from a period when Cairo was a flourishing metropolis and a cultural haven for people of diverse ethnicities and nationalities. Now available for the first time in English\, it has been meticulously translated and supplemented with a comprehensive introduction\, glossary\, and 117 color illustrations to initiate readers into the world of the Kanz al-fawāʾid. \nThis event will provide valuable insights for scholars of medieval material culture\, and for all lovers of good food and cookbooks. \nThe event will be introduced by Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif. \nFollowing the event there will be a food and drinks reception\, where attendees can sample dishes made using recipes from the book \n  \n \n  \nTICKETS PURCHASE: \nTickets are £15 for members and £20 for non-members. \nYou may send a cheque to our address or pay via PayPal: \n[wp_paypal_payment_box email=”info@royalasiaticsociety.org” options=”Members:15.00|Non – Members:20.00″ reference =”Your Email Address” return=”the-return-url-page” currency=”GBP”]
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/special-event-ticketed-nawal-nasrallah-treasure-trove-of-benefits-and-variety-at-the-table-a-fourteenth-century-egyptian-cookbook/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Special Event
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190509T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190509T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T162943Z
CREATED:20180917T162943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T162943Z
UID:6102-1557426600-1557433800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Professor Jonathan Phillips (Royal Holloway) - 'Saladin\, we have returned!': The Myriad Memories of the Crusades in the Near East during the Modern Era
DESCRIPTION:Jonathan Phillips was educated at the University of Keele (BA\, 1987) and Royal Holloway\, University of London (Ph.D\, 1992). He worked at the Universities of Southampton and York before returning to Royal Holloway in 1994. He became Professor of Crusading History in 2005. \nHe is the author of numerous books on the crusades\, most recently (2014) a second\, extended\, edition of The Crusades\, 1095-1204\, published by Routledge (formerly\, The Crusades\, 1095-1197\, Longman 2002). \nIn 2013\, with Martin Hall\, he produced Caffaro\, Genoa and the Twelfth Century Crusades\, Crusade Texts in Translation no. 24 (Ashgate\, Farnham\, 2013)\, a translation and commentary on the writings of Caffaro of Genoa. Caffaro was the first layman to produce a narrative of the First Crusade\, he was also responsible for the first urban history of the medieval age with his ‘Annals’ of Genoa.  A selection of charters\, mainly in the form of commercial privileges\, supplements these texts to give a rich insight into Genoese involvement in the Eastern Mediterranean during the twelfth century. \nIn 2009 Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades was published by Bodley Head to very positive reviews. It was selected as one of the ‘History Books of 2009’ by The Sunday Telegraph and by BBC History Magazine. Professor William Chester Jordan\, Chairman\, Department of History\, Princeton University\, wrote: ‘Jonathan Phillips’ Holy Warriors is a superb book\, one written with an elegant blend of clarity and zest. Its author demonstrates his mastery of all the relevant scholarship\, from the oldest to the most recent\, but he may be the most successful in his ability to capture the spirit of the various crusades through word portraits of some of their most memorable human characters. Readers will find it difficult to put this gripping book down’. Holy Warriors has also been translated into Dutch as In naam van God and published by Nieuw Amsterdam in 2009\, into French as Une histoire modern des croisades by Flammarion in 2010; into German as Heliger Kreig: Eine neue Geschichte der Kreuzzüge by DVA\, 2009 (with a student-price edition by Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung\, 2012)\, and into Italian as Sacri Guerrieri by Laterza 2012. \nPhillips’ previous monograph The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom\, (Yale University Press\, 2007)\, was strongly praised by reviewers in\, for example\, Times Literary Supplement (Professor R.I.Moore\, 25/4/08)\, plus The Guardian\, The Sunday Telegraph. It was translated into Polish in 2013. His earlier The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (Jonathan Cape\, 2004) was also translated into Greek\, Spanish and Japanese and was shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Literary Prize 2005. \nHis current research interests centre upon: 1. The life and legacy of the Sultan Saladin. 2. On a major history of the Third Crusade. 3. The Memory of the Crusades in western Europe and the Near East from the C18th to the present day. \nHe is also the General Editor of the forthcoming 2 volume Cambridge History of the Crusades.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/professor-jonathan-phillips-royal-holloway-saladin-we-have-returned-the-myriad-memories-of-the-crusades-in-the-near-east-during-the-modern-era/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190502T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190502T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T162549Z
CREATED:20180917T162549Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T162549Z
UID:6099-1556821800-1556829000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Philip Davies (Author) - Lost Warriors- Seagrim and Pagani of Burma - The Last Great Untold Story of WWII
DESCRIPTION:Published on 15th August to commemorate Victory Over Japan day\, Lost Warriors: Seagrim and Pagani of Burma uncovers one of the last great unknown stories of World War II. The book has received a wonderful publication week\, with a serialisation in the Daily Mail and interviews with the author and members of the Pagani family on Radio 4\, Today programme and ITV News. \n \nRespected historian Philip Davies researched the incredible story of these two forgotten war heroes\, culminating in this hugely enlightening read. Lost Warriors uncovers the remarkable story of two extraordinary British soldiers who remained behind enemy lines to fight in one of the most brutal and significant campaigns of WWII. Long overlooked in comparison with the war in Europe\, the Allied campaign against the Japanese in the jungles of Burma was the scene of some of the most important events to shape the outcome of the war in the Far East. \nUncovered in full for the first time\, this is the last great untold story of the Second World War\, an epic tale of two forgotten Englishmen\, who deserve to be remembered as among the most courageous heroes of the most savage conflict in human history.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/phillip-davies-author-lost-warriors-seagrim-and-pagani-of-burma-the-last-great-untold-story-of-wwii/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190425T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190425T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T152305Z
CREATED:20180917T152305Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T152305Z
UID:6096-1556217000-1556224200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Simon Wolfgang Fuchs (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) - When Tehran was the Brightest Star: A Global History of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Simon Wolfgang Fuchs is a Lecturer in Islamic and Middle East Studies at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg\, Germany. He is interested in how the Islamic scholarly tradition is debated and negotiated in modern and contemporary Muslim societies. Hisresearch revolves around the travel of ideas between West\, Central\, and South Asia\, with a focus on religious authority\, sectarianism\, the Islamic schools of law\, Islamic political thought\, and the relationship of Islam and science. Fieldwork over the last couple of years has led him to Egypt\, Pakistan\, India\, Iran\, Iraq\, Syria\, and Lebanon. His work draws on materials in Arabic\, Persian\, and Urdu. \nBefore coming to Freiburg in October 2017\, Wolfgang Fuchs was a Research Fellow in Islamic Studies at Gonville & Caius College\, University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD in September 2015 at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies. His dissertation “Relocating the Centers of Shīʿī Islam: Religious Authority\, Reform\, and the Limits of the Transnational in Colonial India and Pakistan” was advised by Prof. Muhammad Qasim Zaman. \nHe is currently working on two new projects. The first is a global history of the Iranian Revolution and its intellectual impact. The second is a comparative study of the diverging fate of the Sunni Islamic schools of law during the 19th and 20th century in South Asia and the Middle East. Through the prism of internal discussions which involved religious scholars\, intellectuals\, and politicians\, he seeks to answer further-reaching questions of religion-state relations\, global Islam\, and Muslim modernities.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-simon-wolfgang-fuchs-albert-ludwigs-universitat-freiburg-when-tehran-was-the-brightest-star-a-global-history-of-the-1979-iranian-revolution/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190423T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190423T210000
DTSTAMP:20190326T121508Z
CREATED:20190326T121508Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190326T121508Z
UID:11534-1556044200-1556053200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Talat Ahmed in conversation with Professor David Arnold - Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience (Book Launch)
DESCRIPTION:The Royal Asiatic Society will host a book launch of Talat Ahmed’s new critical biography Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience\, which highlights the contradictions in Gandhi’s non-violent philosophy. Dr Ahmed will discuss the book with Professor David Arnold followed by a question and answer session\, with copies of the book available for purchase after the lecture. \n  \nMohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience\n\n\n\n\nMohandas Gandhi\, icon of Indian liberation\, remains an inspiration for anti-capitalists and peace activists globally. His campaigns for national liberation based on non-violence and mass civil disobedience were critical to defeating the power of the British Empire. \nThis biography examines his campaigns from South Africa to India to evaluate the successes and failures of non-violent resistance. Seventy years after his death\, his legacy remains contested: was he a saint\, revolutionary\, class conciliator\, or self-obsessed spiritual zealot? \nThe contradictions of Gandhi’s politics are unpicked through an analysis of the social forces at play in the mass movement around him. Entrusted to liberate the oppressed of India\, his key support base were industrialists\, landlords and the rich peasantry. Gandhi’s moral imperatives often clashed with these vested material interests\, as well as with more radical currents to his left. \nToday\, our world is scarred by permanent wars\, racism and violence\, environmental destruction and economic crisis. Can non-violent resistance win against state and corporate power? This book explores Gandhi’s experiments in civil disobedience to assess their relevance for struggles today. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEndorsements\n\n\n\n\n\n‘Cuts through the extensive literature on Gandhi to produce a vibrant portrait of a world historical figure … avoiding a simplistic judgement on this vastly important man for India’s national struggle’ – Vijay Prashad\, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research \n‘Considering all the biographies that glorify Gandhi\, this concise book adopts a refreshing and consistently critical approach’ – Dr Yasmin Khan\, author of ‘The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War’ \n‘This is an outstanding book on Gandhi’s life. Ahmed relates Gandhi to the struggles of anti-imperialist forces and illuminates his innovations in tactics of political resistance’ – Meghnad Desai\, author of ‘The Rediscovery of India’ \n  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAuthor Biography\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTalat Ahmed is Lecturer in South Asian History at the University of Edinburgh. She is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the author of Mohandas Gandhi: Experiments in Civil Disobedience (Pluto\, 2018) and of a study of the All-India Progressive Writers’ Association entitled Literature and Politics in the Age of Nationalism: The Progressive Episode in South Asia\, 1932-56 (Routledge\, 2009). \n  \n\n\nProfessor David Arnold\n\n\n\nSince his early research\, on nationalist politics in south India in the 1920s and 1930s\, his work has ranged widely over the history of modern South Asia\, and beyond\, and has included social and environmental history and the history of science\, technology and medicine. Along with David Hardiman he was a founder member of the Subaltern Studies group of historians of South Asia. \nHe is currently writing a history of South Asia and developing research on food and ‘everyday technology’ in South and Southeast Asia. \nDavid Arnold’s work has been translated into several languages (including Portugese\, Spanish\, Russian\, Chinese\, Japanese and Korean). \nHis publications include: \n\nColonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteenth-Century India (1993)\nThe Problem of Nature (1996)\nScience\, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India (2000)\nGandhi (2001)\nThe Tropics and the Traveling Gaze (2006)
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-talat-ahmed-mohandas-gandhi-experiments-in-civil-disobedience/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Book Launch
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190411T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190411T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T151658Z
CREATED:20180917T151658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T151658Z
UID:6092-1555007400-1555014600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Rayna Denison (University of East Anglia) - The Hidden History of Studio Ghibli: Short Films\, Advertising and the Industrial Reality of Japanese Animation
DESCRIPTION:The Hidden History of Studio Ghibli: Short Films\, Advertising and the Industrial Reality of Japanese Animation \nWhile Studio Ghibli’s films have become famous around the world\, their animation production in other areas remains obscure. Ghibli\, like most animation studios in Japan\, has long supplemented its feature film production by doing animation-for-hire. These ancillary productions take some unusual and varied forms at Ghibli. On the one hand\, they have produced high profile advertisements for clients\, and even animated music videos for Japanese bands\, while on the other they have produced animation shorts\, exclusively shown at the Studio Ghibli Art Museum in Mitaka\, Tokyo. This chapter examines the different economic\, aesthetic and corporate influences that can be traced across these shorts in order to think about how Studio Ghibli’s famous house style of animation is impacted by the industrial realities of Japanese animation production. \n 
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-rayna-denison-university-of-east-anglia-the-hidden-history-of-studio-ghibli-short-films-advertising-and-the-industrial-reality-of-japanese-animation/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190330T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190330T170000
DTSTAMP:20190204T121534Z
CREATED:20190204T121534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190204T121534Z
UID:10116-1553956200-1553965200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:RASHKB Friends lectures Spring 2019 - David Bellis: Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell: Volume 2
DESCRIPTION:Our friend David Bellis has kindly offered to come and talk to us again on his collection of photographs of old Hong Kong.  David will share some more of his favourite photos and stories from his growing archive of historic Hong Kong images. The talk follows recent publication of his latest book “Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell: Volume 2”. It will be his fourth talk to the friends. \nThe photos for this talk are grouped around four themes:- \n  \n\nThe ubiquitous shoulder pole\nA selection of Hong Kong views from 1902\nOff the beaten track – less commonly seen parts of Hong Kong\nPhotos of Kowloon\n\n  \nDavid runs the popular local-history website\, Gwulo.com. It hosts over 30\,000 pages about old Hong Kong\, including over 15\,000 photos. In 2014 David won the SCMP’s Heritage Preservation Award\, one of their “The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards”\, for his work on Gwulo.com.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/rashkb-friends-lectures-spring-2019-david-bellis-old-hong-kong-photos-and-the-tales-they-tell-volume-2/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Related Organisation's Event
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190326T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190326T210000
DTSTAMP:20190128T183233Z
CREATED:20190128T183233Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190128T183233Z
UID:9257-1553625000-1553634000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:The Royal Asiatic Society Collections Open Evening
DESCRIPTION:On Tuesday 26 March 2019\, at 6.30pm\, the Royal Asiatic Society will host a Collections Open Evening. As with similar occasions in the past\, the evening will feature a series of short talks about items from the collection\, and should provide a great opportunity to get “up close and personal” with rarely seen books\, manuscripts\, archives\, art works\, and photographs. \nWe are delighted to welcome three speakers to discuss their experiences working with the Society’s collections: \n  \n• Mathilde Renauld will give a cultural overview of a nineteenth-century Shia Islamic pilgrimage scroll and describe its condition and conservation \n• Laurent Cruveillier will discuss what was involved in conserving Sir Alexander Cunningham’s 1850s ink rubbing and inked squeeze of a stone inscription from Visvanatha temple in Khajuraho\, India \n• Amy Matthewson will share reflections on her time volunteering at the Society and researching its glass lantern slides of China\, discussing their brief history and the value of these fascinating objects \n  \nAs well as enjoying a presentation from each of our speakers\, attendees will have the opportunity to view the objects featured in the talks\, in addition to some other rarely-seen treasures from the collections. As usual\, we will also welcome attendees with a reception featuring wine and light refreshments. We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a very enjoyable and stimulating occasion. The event is free and open to all\, but we would be grateful if attendees could RSVP to Matty Bradley at mb@royalasiaticsociety.org.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/the-royal-asiatic-society-collections-open-evening/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Open Evening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190319T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190319T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T150850Z
CREATED:20180917T150850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T150850Z
UID:6090-1553020200-1553027400@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Ursula Sims-Williams (British Library) - Tipu Sultan's Library: Building a Collection
DESCRIPTION:Tipu Sultan of Mysore is one of the most colourful characters in the history of South Asia. On the one hand he is often castigated as a fanatic Muslim and brutal ruler\, but at the same time he is regarded by many as a martyr whose wars against the British foreshadowed the historic uprising of 1857 by around 50 years. \nMy current research focuses on Tipu Sultan’s Library collection\, which was estimated at the fall of Seringapatam in 1799 to consist of about 2000 volumes. Of these the British Library holds some 500 manuscripts while others are in the Asiatic Society\, Calcutta and scattered around the world. \nConflicting views as to the origins of the collection vary. Charles Stewart\, in his Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Library of the late Tippoo Sultan of Mysore (1809) – up to now the only published study of the collection – described it as largely comprising “plunder brought from Sanoor\, Cuddapah\, and the Carnatic.” By contrast Maya Jasanoff\, Edge of Empire (2006) writes “a study of the owners’ seals and price markings in Tipu’s manuscripts suggests that their provenances were varied\, and that Tipu was an active buyer on the book market.” \nBy examining the collection as it exists today in the British Library and with the discovery of additional sources in the India Office Records and elsewhere\, I attempt to give a more measured account of the collection and address the evidence as to whether Tipu Sultan was in fact a bibliophile and collector or not.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/ursula-sims-williams-british-library-tipu-sultans-library-building-a-collection/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190314T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190314T210000
DTSTAMP:20190221T142440Z
CREATED:20190221T142440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190221T142440Z
UID:11433-1552588200-1552597200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Yossef Rapoport (Queen Mary\, UoL) - Lost Maps of the Caliphs: Drawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo - Lecture and Book Launch
DESCRIPTION:LOST MAPS OF THE CALIPHS \nDrawing the World in Eleventh-Century Cairo \nby Yossef Rapoport and Emilie Savage-Smith \nAbout a millennium ago\, an unknown author in Cairo completed a large and richly illustrated book. In the course of thirty-five chapters\, this book guided the reader on a journey from the outermost cosmos and planets to Earth and its lands\, islands\, features and inhabitants. This treatise\, known as The Book of Curiosities\, was unknown to modern scholars until a remarkable manuscript copy was discovered in 2000. \nLOST MAPS OF THE CALIPHS opens with an account of the extraordinary discovery of the manuscript and its purchase by the Bodleian Library. The authors then use The Book of Curiosities to re-evaluate the development of astrology\, geography and cartography in the first four centuries of Islam. Their account assesses the transmission of Late Antique geography to the Islamic world\, unearths the logic behind abstract maritime diagrams\, and considers the palaces and walls that dominate medieval Islamic plans of towns and ports. Early astronomical maps and drawings demonstrate the medieval understanding of the structure of the cosmos and illustrate the pervasive assumption that almost any visible celestial event had an effect upon life on Earth. LOST MAPS OF THE CALIPHS also reconsiders the history of global communication networks at the turn of the previous millennium. It shows the Fatimid Empire\, and its capital Cairo\, as a global maritime power\, with tentacles spanning the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus Valley and the East African coast. \nAs LOST MAPS OF THE CALIPHS makes clear\, not only is The Book of Curiosities one of the greatest achievements of medieval mapmaking\, it is also a remarkable contribution to the story of Islamic civilization that opens an unexpected window to the medieval Islamic view of the world. \n“With its focus on eleventh-century Fatimid Cairo\, Lost Maps of the Caliphs reinterprets early Islamic apprehensions of the earth and the heavens\, while reorienting our modern understanding of medieval Arabic map-making and its part in the transmission of Late Antique cartographic knowledge. A remarkable and important book of dazzling scholarship.”  —Jerry Brotton\, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps \n“The two authors\, Savage-Smith on the heavens and Rapoport on the earth\, explain The Book of Curiosities with exemplary scholarship and lucidity. Like the manuscript itself\, this companion volume vastly enhances our understanding of the classical Arabic worldview in all its rich complexity.” —Hugh N. Kennedy\, SOAS\, University of London \n“Lost Maps of the Caliphs is organized along the lines of the original manuscript\, and exceptionally well documented\, using a dazzling range of sources in an equally dazzling range of languages.  The result is totally fascinating\, with untold potential to illuminate any treatment of the medieval world on any continent in the Eastern Hemisphere.”—Ingrid Rowland\, University of Notre Dame \nYossef Rapoport is a Reader in Islamic History\, Queen Mary University of London \nEmilie Savage-Smith\, Fellow of the British Academy is recently retired as Professor the History of Islamic Science at the Oriental Institute\, University of Oxford.  She continues as Fellow Archivist of St Cross College. \nAbout Bodleian Library Publishing \nBodleian Publishing has a diverse list of gift\, general interest and scholarly books on a wide range of subjects drawn from or related to the Library’s rich collections of manuscripts\, rare books\, maps\, postcards and other printed ephemera. Details at www.bodleianshop.co.uk.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-yossef-rapoport-queen-mary-uol-lost-maps-of-the-caliphs-drawing-the-world-in-eleventh-century-cairo-lecture-and-book-launch/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190307T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190307T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T150452Z
CREATED:20180917T150452Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T150452Z
UID:6088-1551983400-1551990600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Jharna Gourlay (University of Lucknow) - Forceps\, Stethoscopes and Sisterhood: British Female Doctors in 19th Century India
DESCRIPTION:At the end of the nineteenth century a very special group of British women went to India. They were the doctors and nurses. Most of them were missionaries\, but a significant number was secular\, not associated with any specific denominations. They wanted to provide medical care to the respectable Indian women who lived in seclusion and were reluctant to see a male doctor\, European or Indian. There was a lot of unnecessary physical suffering among them\, particularly at child birth. The British women doctors wanted to alleviate their suffering by offering modern medicine and surgery to them and train them in medical skills so that they could look after themselves. They looked at Indian women as their ‘sisters’ and felt that it was their duty to help them. In history\, these women doctors were commonly referred to as ‘medical women.’ \n  \nThe scholarly explanation so far was that the British women doctors were looking for lucrative employment in India and the missionaries among them were sent to proselytize among indigenous women. They used the idea of suffering Indian women for their own advantage. \n  \nThis assumption I question and suggest an alternative explanation of why these medical women went to India. It can be argued that these medical women were a product of the first wave of feminism that emerged in Britain and America around 1850s. Their feminism had a global outlook. As they fought for their own civil rights\, they also looked at other women around the world who were in similar situations of control and exploitation. The medical women who went to India grew up in this climate of an awareness of social inequality. Some of them were active agitators for equal rights in the medical profession in Britain\, some fought for equal rights within the church\, others breathed the same air. \n  \nThe medical women’s achievement in establishing hospitals and training centres\, and in creating employment opportunities for Indian women from various strata of the society\, tells us a different story of a cross-cultural relationship between two groups of women\, who\, though poles apart\, empowered each other in a significant way.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-jharna-gourlay-university-of-lucknow-forceps-stethoscopes-and-sisterhood-british-female-doctors-in-19th-century-india/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190302T100000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190302T170000
DTSTAMP:20181129T142531Z
CREATED:20181129T142531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181129T142531Z
UID:6379-1551520800-1551546000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Studying Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia at University: A Conference for Sixth-Formers
DESCRIPTION:  \nhttp://tinyurl.com/EgMesConf
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/studying-ancient-egypt-and-mesopotamia-at-university-a-conference-for-sixth-formers-2/
CATEGORIES:Courses
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190226T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190226T210000
DTSTAMP:20181213T122619Z
CREATED:20181213T122619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181213T122619Z
UID:6424-1551205800-1551214800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Deborah Freeman Fahid (Independent Scholar) - The Àger Rock Crystal Chessmen: Some Early Medieval Imports from the Iranian World?
DESCRIPTION:*Please Note: This event was previously listed as taking place on the 22nd of January but had to be postponed at the request of the speaker.* \n  \nThe talk will focus on a group of Islamic rock crystal chessmen from the early medieval period in The al-Sabah Collection\, Kuwait. These fifteen chess pieces have long been recognised as masterpieces of early Islamic lapidary work. Like other Islamic objects made of rock crystal and ivory\, they were discovered in a European church and have generally been regarded as the products of an Egyptian workshop. This talk will outline their extraordinary history and suggest an origin further east in the Iranian world. \nDeborah Freeman Fahid is an Independent Scholar and former Assistant Curator at The al-Sabah Collection\, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah\, Kuwait. \nShe is the editor of the following publications: ‘Splendors of the Ancient East: Antiquities from The al-Sabah Collection’ (Thames & Hudson 2013); co-editor ‘Persian Painting: The Arts of the Book and Portraiture’ (A. Adamova and M. Bayani\, Thames & Hudson 2015); ‘Arts of the Hellenized East: Precious Metalwork and Gems of the Pre-Islamic Era’ (M. L. Carter and P. Harper\, Thames & Hudson 2015).
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/deborah-freeman-fahid-independent-scholar-the-ager-rock-crystal-chessmen-some-early-medieval-imports-from-the-iranian-world-2/
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190219T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190219T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T145806Z
CREATED:20180917T145806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T145806Z
UID:6086-1550601000-1550608200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Oliver Crawford (University of Cambridge) - The Languages of Indonesian Socialism
DESCRIPTION:The Languages of Indonesian Socialism\n\n\nIn the interwar years\, Marxism exercised a powerful influence on Indonesian intellectual and political life. The most conspicuous proof of the spread of Marxism was the formation of the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI)\, which was founded in 1920 and openly acknowledged its fidelity to Marx’s principles. Even non-Communist nationalists\, such as Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta\, who would go on to become the first President and Vice-President of the Indonesian Republic respectively\, engaged extensively with Marx’s ideas in the 1920s and 1930s. This article is concerned less with why Marxism was appealing to Western-educated Indonesian nationalists than with how Marxist ideas were communicated to the Indonesian public. Specifically\, it is focused on how Marxist texts and concepts were translated into Malay\, the lingua franca of the Indonesian archipelago\, and expressed through an Islamic moral vocabulary.\n\n\nI argue that this process entailed a push and pull between international and local political registers\, between Dutch and Malay\, between transliteration and translation. Through the transliteration of Marxist terms such as proletariat (proletar)\, capitalism (kapitalisme) and Communism (Kommunisme)\, Indonesian Communists invited their readers to move away from indigenous categories and imagine themselves as part of the larger\, global groups and processes that Marxist terminology evoked. It was because Marxism was not considered to be essentially local that Communists believed it could be used to modernise Indonesian political thought. Members of the PKI presented Marxism as a universal science (ilmu or wetenschap)\, superior to older Indonesian and Islamic prophetic forms of political forecasting.\n\n\nAt the same time\, there was a process of ‘localization’\, whereby foreign Marxist materials were restated to bring them closer to local cultural norms. Feudalism\, for example\, was translated as kerajaan (‘the rule of the raja’)\, while the proletariat was equated with the Kromo (‘common people’). Arabic terms associated with Islam\, such as nafsu (‘greed’) and djahat (‘sin’)\, were woven into Communist writings to add a moral dimension to the Marxist critique of capitalism that would resonate with Indonesian Muslims. The style of Indonesian Marxism that emerged\, therefore\, was multilingual\, with different terms serving different purposes.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-oliver-crawford-university-of-cambridge-the-languages-of-indonesian-socialism/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190207T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190207T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T145457Z
CREATED:20180917T145457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T145457Z
UID:6084-1549564200-1549571400@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. John Clarke (V&A Museum) - Collecting Tibet at the South Kensington Museum: the legacy of the 1904 expedition and beyond
DESCRIPTION:Dr. John Clarke is curator of Himalayan and South East Asian Art at the V&A Museum in London. He specialises in the arts of Tibet and of South East Asia\, in particular of Burma and Thailand. He is the Lead Curator for the Robert H .N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhist Art Galleries at the V&A.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-john-clarke-va-museum-collecting-tibet-at-the-south-kensington-museum-the-legacy-of-the-1904-expedition-and-beyond/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190122T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190122T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T144420Z
CREATED:20180917T144420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T144420Z
UID:6082-1548181800-1548189000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:***POSTPONED TO 26th FEBRUARY AT REQUEST OF SPEAKER***Deborah Freeman Fahid (Independent Scholar) - The Àger Rock Crystal Chessmen: Some Early Medieval Imports from the Iranian World?
DESCRIPTION:*** N.B. This event has been postponed at the request of the speaker. It will now take place on the 26th of February*** \n  \n  \nThe talk will focus on a group of Islamic rock crystal chessmen from the early medieval period in The al-Sabah Collection\, Kuwait. These fifteen chess pieces have long been recognised as masterpieces of early Islamic lapidary work. Like other Islamic objects made of rock crystal and ivory\, they were discovered in a European church and have generally been regarded as the products of an Egyptian workshop. This talk will outline their extraordinary history and suggest an origin further east in the Iranian world. \nDeborah Freeman Fahid is an Independent Scholar and former Assistant Curator at The al-Sabah Collection\, Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah\, Kuwait. \nShe is the editor of the following publications: ‘Splendors of the Ancient East: Antiquities from The al-Sabah Collection’ (Thames & Hudson 2013); co-editor ‘Persian Painting: The Arts of the Book and Portraiture’ (A. Adamova and M. Bayani\, Thames & Hudson 2015); ‘Arts of the Hellenized East: Precious Metalwork and Gems of the Pre-Islamic Era’ (M. L. Carter and P. Harper\, Thames & Hudson 2015).
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/deborah-freeman-fahid-independent-scholar-the-ager-rock-crystal-chessmen-some-early-medieval-imports-from-the-iranian-world/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20190110T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20190110T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T143755Z
CREATED:20180917T143755Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T143755Z
UID:6080-1547145000-1547152200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Cailah Jackson (Oxford University) - The Arts of the Book in a Time of Conflict: Manuscripts of Late Medieval Konya
DESCRIPTION:This presentation will discuss several illuminated manuscripts produced in Konya between 1278 and 1332. Consisting mainly of works by Jalal al-Din Rumi and Sultan Walad\, most of this material has not been published in detail or studied within a broader cultural framework. The talk will outline the diverse decorative features of these manuscripts and demonstrate that Konya – despite frequent outbreaks of violence\, and the absence of an effective centralised governing structure in the region – possessed an active artistic scene that was populated by Seljuk bureaucrats\, Mevlevi dervishes\, converts from Christianity\, and Turkmen beys. \n 
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-cailah-jackson-oxford-university-the-arts-of-the-book-in-a-time-of-conflict-manuscripts-of-late-medieval-konya/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181213T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181213T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T143321Z
CREATED:20180917T143321Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T143321Z
UID:6078-1544725800-1544733000@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Alexandra Green (British Museum) - Sir Stamford Raffles: Civilised Views of Java
DESCRIPTION:Alexandra Green is Henry Ginsburg Curator for Southeast Asia at the British Museum. She has a PhD on the subject of 18th century Burmese wall paintings from the School of Oriental and African Studies\, University of London. She recently curated an exhibition entitled Pilgrims\, Healers\, and Wizards: Buddhism and Religious Practices in Burma and Thailand (2014) at the British Museum.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-alexandra-green-british-museum-sir-stamford-raffles-civilised-views-of-java/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181211T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181211T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T142412Z
CREATED:20180917T142412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T142412Z
UID:6074-1544553000-1544560200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Professor Ian Gow (University of Edinburgh) - The Scottish Sinologist Alexander Wylie 1815-1887: Missionary\, Man of Letters\, Mathemetician
DESCRIPTION:The Scottish Sinologist Alexander Wylie 1815-1887\,  \n: Missionary\, Man of Letters\, Mathematician \n\nAlexander Wylie was one of the leading members of a unique concentration of Missionary Scholars and who lived and worked in Shanghai in the second half of the 19th Century. He was one of the founders of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (NCBRAS)\, later a Vice President and finally an Honorary Member. An avid bibliophile and bibliographer Wylie’s donations of books to the NCBRAS was the basis for one of the finest libraries  in Asia. In addition Wylie also provided a large number of books that doubled the Bodleian Library’s China Collection at Oxford. \nOriginally hired in 1847 as a Superintendent of Printing for the London Missionary Society Press in Shanghai\, Wylie developed into a major Missionary-scholar and one of the founding fathers of British sinology. He is still extensively cited today especially his major annotated bibliographic works on the history of Protestant Missionaries in China and on Chinese Literature. His seminal work Jottings ON Chinese arithmetic    He also\, by a series of remarkable articles\, showed\, that the conventional wisdom that China had no significant achievement in mathematics until after the Jesuits\, was wrong and that pre-modern Chinese mathematics was on a par and even developed certain mathematical techniques which preceded Europe by hundreds of years. These works qualify him as a Sinologist who made a major contribution to knowledge transfer from China  to the West. \nWylie also a major contribution to knowledge transfer to China from the West. He translated the first textbooks on symbolic algebra and calculus into Chinese as well as the first textbook on modern astronomy. He was also the first translator of the last nine volumes of Euclid’s Elements that had been left luntranslated by the Jesuits. He was also the first to translate parts of Newton’s Principia Mathematica into Chinese. \nDespite his considerable achievements Gow’s paper for the RAS China journal was the first academic study essay of Wylie in English of this pioneer british sinologist.There is however\, a significant and growing literature in Chinese where he is rightly regarded as one of the fathers of modern Chinese mathematics and the history of indigenous Chinese mathematics. \n  \nSONY DSC\nProfessor Ian Gow\, OBE MA PhD DUniv FRAS studied Politics History at the University of Edinburgh. He is an Emeritus Professor of East Asian Studies and is now an Honorary Professor (East Asian Studies) at the University of Edinburgh.  He was Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Glasgow 2014-15.He is the former Executive President (2009-2014) of the Sino-British University College in Shanghai – a major joint venture between nine UK universities and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. He was the Founding Provost (2003-2007) of China’s first independent foreign university campus since the reopening of China\, the multi-award winning University of Nottingham\, Ningbo. Professor Gow is an internationally recognised Japan specialist. He was also  responsible for the establishment of centres for Chinese studies at the Universities of Sheffield and Nottingham.  He has held numerous senior executive positions in UK higher education and has served as a Deputy Principal/pro-Vice Chancellor) of four UK universities (Stirling\, Sheffield\, Nottingham and the West of England). He was awarded the OBE for his services to UK Higher Education in China and also holds awards from Ningbo City\, Zhejiang Provincial Government and the Shanghai Municipal for his contributions in education. He is now working on a book length study of Alexander Wylie. \n  \n“The Scottish Shanghailander Alexander Wylie (1815-1887): Missionary\, Man of Letters\, Mathematician” \nJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society China Vol 72 no 2 April 2013 pg77-102
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/professor-ian-gow-university-of-edinburgh-the-scottish-sinologist-alexander-wylie-1815-1887-missionary-man-of-letters-mathemetician/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181127T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181127T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T141704Z
CREATED:20180917T141704Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T141704Z
UID:6070-1543341600-1543350600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Professor Elguja Khintibidze (Tbilisi State University) and Dr. Henry Sanford - Britain-Georgia Connection through Personalities & Arts; Rustaveli and Shakespeare
DESCRIPTION:This event will explore the Britain-Georgia Connection through two talks. The first\, on the theme of Personalities & Arts\, will consist of a talk on the British-Georgian actress Gayane Mickeladze by Dr. Henry Sanford (her nephew). The talk will include her family history in Georgia\, including stories of their friendship with Sir Oliver Wardrop (British Commissioner in Georgia)\, her childhood in Crimea\, escape from the communists to England via Constantinople\, and her life as an actress in London. \nThe second talk will be by Prof Elguja Khintibidze\, who will present his book on the links between Rustaveli and Shakespeare. \nTo download a pdf of the programme please click here.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/professor-elguja-khintibidze-tbilisi-state-university-and-dr-henry-sanford-britain-georgia-connection-through-personalities-rustaveli-and-shakespeare/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181120T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181120T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T140541Z
CREATED:20180917T140541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T140541Z
UID:6068-1542738600-1542745800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Jacob Ghazarian (Oxford University) - The Ancient Silk Road: Its enduring impact on China and renewed objectives
DESCRIPTION:This lecture will deal with the arrival of Buddhism\, Christianity and Islam in China\, and more specifically the recent revival of interest in Buddhist traditions\, the vanishing of Christianity and the defiant survival of Islam.  On the renewed objectives\, the talk will offer how the new Chinese administration’s flag-initiative called ‘Belt and Road’ will widen China’s political sphere of influence both from economic and religious perspectives. \nJacob comes from an Armenian stock and in his formative years in Baghdad he was educated by Franciscan friars and then by the Jesuits of the Society of Jesus. In the late 1950s his family immigrated to the United States where Jacob completed his formal education then his advanced studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In 1975 he joined the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin where in 1988 he achieved the rank of a full professor. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on the subject of vitamin D metabolism. \nBut with a new independent career objective in mind Jacob came to Oxford in 1993. His initial focus of studies included Classical Armenian\, Biblical Hebrew and Greek and was mentored by the late Professor Charles Dowsett at Oxford’s Oriental Institute. Jacob then turned his attention to socio-religious aspects of Christianity in the Near East and its legacy in the West. In 2000 he was elected a member of Wolfson College and in 2013 a fellow of the RAS. \nJacob’s interest in China began with the role of the Silk Road in introducing three major religions to China; his latest book on China was published in July of this year. A number of his publications are on display here. \n 
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-jacob-ghazarian-oxford-university-the-ancient-silk-road-its-enduring-impact-on-china-and-renewed-objectives/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181115T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181115T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T120548Z
CREATED:20180917T120548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T120548Z
UID:6062-1542306600-1542313800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Book Launch and Signing - Moin Mir (Author) in conversation with Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones MBE - The Prince Who Beat the Empire: How an Indian Ruler took on the might of the East India Company
DESCRIPTION:“THE PRINCE WHO BEAT THE EMPIRE. How an Indian ruler took on the might of the East India Company” published by Amberely Publishing June 2018. \nAn acclaimed history of Empire and resistance. An incredible story of the fall of Surat\, Mughal India’s greatest port to the English East India Company and the moving story of the rebel prince of Surat who beat the world’s most powerful colonising corporation. The ships of the English East India Company first docked at India’s shores in Surat in the early 17th century. In time\, through astute politics and military power\, the Company became masters of this great port. But the Company came not with the intention of building Indian maritime trade\, but with the single-minded goal of destroying its trading prowess. By 1800 the port was completely annexed\, through a treaty that gave protection to the future generations of the local Nawab rulers. By then the English East India Company was at the forefront of Empire Expansion. It was the Empire’s most dreaded canon of annexation and growth. But\, as elsewhere in India\, the Company violated its promises. It stopped the Nawab family’s income\, usurping its palaces\, estates\, jewellery and possessions. This left the infant granddaughters of the last Nawab on the brink of destitution. \nBut in an unprecedented counterattack\, the father of the two girls stood to defy the Empire and expose its corruption overseas to the British at home. Travelling to London\, and backed by Victoria and Albert he would shatter the East India Company’s reputation. His campaign for justice would call for the end of British rule in Hindustan. In a riveting legal battle\, the end game of this incredible saga was played out in a nail biting finish in the House of Commons where England rose  for the first time in favour of an Indian and against the machinations of it’s own Empire. Not only did the Prince win back the family’s possessions for his infant daughters but also found true love in Victorian England. \n  \nPraise for “THE PRINCE WHO BEAT THE EMPIRE”: \nShashi Tharoor\, India’s former Foreign Minister and current Member of Parliament from Kerela\, India: “Moin Mir weaves a fascinating story of triumph and fortitude\, reanimating in delightful prose a forgotten chapter of history. Painstakingly crafted and richly researched. This is the remarkable story of of a quest for justice against the might of Empire and the travails of an Indian Prince who stood up for which was his by right” \nJessica Douglas-Home: “A gripping untold history which Moin Mir has written with great knowledge and flair. Meer Jafar Ali Khan achieved what no other Indian Prince was able to-The political defeat of the East India Company in the House of Commons. The British political establishment convinced by his passionate fight for justice rose for the first time in favour of an Indian and against its own Empire’s colonising corporation. This is a stirring historical book” \nDominic West\, Actor: “A moving story and a deeply sympathetic hero: courageous\, gentle and magnificently stylish who took on and defeated a monolithic tyrant. A story of an Indian Prince who won over Victorian England with charm and decency and went onto find love in 19th century England. This is a wonderful book” \nAbout the Author: \nMoin Mir was born in India and lives in London. He has worked on several projects translating India’s finest 19th century Urdu and Persian poets works in English. He has researched the history of Sufism and cultural revivalism in India extensively. He is a member of the Nawab family of Surat\, a direct male descendant of Meer Jafar Ali Khan and next in line to succeed as the Darbar of Kamandiyah in Gujarat\, India. His interest also includes the restoration of the family’s manor house in India. He is currently working on his next book set in 18th century India\, Turkey and Transylvania.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/moin-mir-author-in-conversation-with-dr-rosie-llewellyn-jones-mbe-the-prince-who-beat-the-empire-how-an-indian-ruler-took-on-the-might-of-the-east-india-company/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181108T190000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181108T210000
DTSTAMP:20180917T115312Z
CREATED:20180917T115312Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T115312Z
UID:6056-1541703600-1541710800@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. Christoph Baumer (Author) - The History of Central Asia: The Age of Decline and Revival
DESCRIPTION:*** N.B. This is a joint event with the RSAA and will take place at the Brunei Gallery at SOAS *** \nJoin us for the launch of Dr. Christoph Baumer’s The History of Central Asia: The Age of Decline and Revival. \nFor more than a hundred years\, Central Asia was the heartland of the mightiest military power on the planet. But after the fragmentation of the all-conquering Mongol polity\, the region began a steep decline which rendered this former domain of horse lords peripheral to world affairs. The process of deterioration reached its nadir in the second half of the nineteenth century\, when the former territories and sweeping steppes of the great khans were overrun by Tsarist Russia. In the concluding volume of his acclaimed Central Asia quartet\, Christoph Baumer shows how China in the east\, and Russia in the northwest\, succeeded in throwing off the Mongol yoke to become the masters of their own previous rulers. He suggests that\, as traditional transcontinental trade routes declined in importance\, it was the `Great Game’ – or cold war between Imperial Russia and Great Britain – which finally brought Central Asia back into play as a region of strategic importance. This epic history concludes with an assessment of the transition to modern independence of the Central Asian states and their struggle to contain radical Islamism.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-christoph-baumer-author-the-history-of-central-asia-the-age-of-decline-and-revival/
LOCATION:Brunei Gallery\, SOAS\, Thornhaugh Street\, Russell Square\, London\, England\, WC1H 0XG\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Lecture Series 2018-2019
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181107T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181107T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T114526Z
CREATED:20180917T114526Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T114526Z
UID:6053-1541615400-1541622600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Omar Khan (Author) - Book Launch: Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj
DESCRIPTION:Paper Jewels Postcards from the Raj by Omar Khan\, a 518 Vintage Postcard Tour of India\, Pakistan and Sri Lanka\, is co-published by Mapin Publishing and the Alkazi Collection of Photography (August 2018). \nPostcards were to people in 1900 what the Internet was to the world in 2000. Postcards were the world’s first mass transfusion of color images. We went from thousands to billions of postcards in a handful of years. The finest painters and graphic artists from India\, Austria\, Britain\, France\, Italy and the US became involved. \nPaper Jewels is the story of postcards during the Raj and the first book on the subject. It uncovers such gems as the early postcards of the great Indian painter M. V. Dhurandhar and the Ravi Varma Press in Mumbai\, the exceptional work of an early Austrian lithographer in Kolkata\, a British photographer in Peshawar\, and Indian studios in Jaipur\, Kashmir\, Delhi\, Lahore\, Madras\, Karachi and elsewhere. \nIt is organized by place into a dozen chapters. The essays cover the key themes important to postcard publishing—religion\, dancers\, teas and soaps\, famines\, fakirs\, humour\, warfare and the role of postcards in the Independence movement. It tells the stories of the first postcard publishers of the subcontinent between 1892 and 1947\, most of whose images have not been seen since they were published a century ago. \nPaper Jewels relies almost entirely on new primary research in archives and private collections in India\, Pakistan\, Europe and the US\, and explores the many artistic\, business\, fashion\, political and technical developments that contributed to the rise of a medium – the postcard – that is still very much with us today. \nThe book is available on Amazon in India\, the US and is available for pre-order in the UK (release Oct. 1). \n 
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/omar-khan-author-book-launch-paper-jewels-postcards-from-the-raj/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Book Launch,Lecture Series 2018-2019
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181106T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181106T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T113956Z
CREATED:20180917T113956Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T113956Z
UID:6051-1541527200-1541536200@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:***NB DATE CHANGE*** Unlocking the Door: Writing from Georgia - With talks by Professor Donald Rayfield (Queen Mary)\, Dr. Gillian Evison (Bodleian Library) and Ms. Lia Chokoshvili (Oxford University)
DESCRIPTION:*** NB – the date of this event has been moved and will take place on Tuesday the 6th of November; \nNOT the 5th of November as previously advertised and printed in the Lecture Programme *** \n  \nWardrop Inheritance: a Journey through translation from Georgian \nThe Embassy of Georgia to the United Kingdom and the Royal Asiatic Society present a book launch:\, ‘Unlocking the Door: Writing from Georgia’. \nThe book is a pioneering new work that contains pieces of translation from Georgian by students of the University of Oxford\, supervised and edited by Ms. Lia Chokoshvili\, with editorial assistance by Professor Donald Rayfield and generous support from Marjory Wardrop Fund. \n‘Unlocking the Door’ brings together short stories\, fairy tales\, and plays by Aka Morchiladze (including two works that have never appeared in print before)\, Guram Rcheulishvili\, Lasha Tabukashvili\, Erlom Akhvlediani\, and Goderdzi Chokheli\, in a bilingual\, facing-page format. It has been published by Cezanne Printing House. \n  \nProgramme: \n18.00 Welcome remarks: Dr Alison Ohta\, Director of the Royal Asiatic Society \n18.05 Welcome and introduction: Ambassador of Georgia to the United Kingdom HE Tamar Beruchashvili; \n18.10 Georgian Literature: Professor Donald Rayfield\, Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London; \n18.25 Wardrop Collection: Dr Gilian Evison\, Head of Bodleian libraries’ Oriental Section &Indian Institute Librarian and Chair of the Marjory Wardrop Fund; \n18.40 Journey through translation: Translators – students of the University of Oxford and Ms. Lia Chokoshvili\, Georgian language tutor at the Oxford University Language Centre). \nGeorgian wine reception \nBook sale
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/unlocking-the-door-writing-from-georgia-with-talks-by-professor-donald-rayfield-queen-mary-dr-gillian-evison-bodleian-library-and-ms-lia-chokoshvili-oxford-university/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181102T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181102T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T110900Z
CREATED:20180917T110900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T110900Z
UID:6049-1541183400-1541190600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Dr. George Michell (Independent Architectural Historian) and Dr. Helen Philon (Deccan Heritage Foundation) in conversation: The Islamic Architecture of the Deccan
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Michell and Dr. Philon will give a joint presentation in the form of a dialogue on their newly published “Islamic Architecture of Deccan India”\, illustrated with a selection of photos from the book.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/dr-george-michell-independent-architectural-historian-and-dr-helen-philon-deccan-heritage-foundation-in-conversation-the-islamic-architecture-of-the-deccan/
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181027T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181027T170000
DTSTAMP:20180918T143349Z
CREATED:20180918T143349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180918T143349Z
UID:6117-1540650600-1540659600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:(Related Organisation's Event) FRASHKB Lecture and Lunch\, Betty Yao MBE: China and Siam through the lens of John Thomson
DESCRIPTION:Lecture and lunch                                                                                           \nSaturday\, 27th October  \nChina and Siam through the lens of John Thomson \n  \nSpeaker:                     Betty Yao MBE  \nTime:                          2:30 p.m. \nVenue:                        Royal Asiatic Society\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London NW1 2HD \nCost:                           £8 per member or guest\, to include refreshments \nLunch:                        An optional self-paying lunch will be arranged at 12:45 p.m. at Chutneys\, 124 Drummond Street\, London NW1 2PA (corner of North Gower Street.)  Tel: 020 7388 0604. \nBooking:                     Please email Paul Bolding at paul@paulbolding.org.uk or tel: 020 7684 5811. \n  \nThe first London exhibition devoted to the Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921) and his photography in Asia was shown from 12 April-22 June 2018 at the Brunei Gallery\, SOAS. Thomson’s photography of China\, Siam (Thailand) and Cambodia was widely praised by his peers and continues to enthuse new audiences today. The images are from newly discovered negatives held at the Wellcome Library\, London. \nJohn Thomson (1837–1921) was a Scottish photographer and writer who set off for Asia in 1862. Over the next ten years he undertook numerous journeys photographing countries including Siam\, Cambodia and various provinces of China.  Photographs from these journeys form one of the most extensive records of any region taken in the nineteenth century.  The range\, depth and aesthetic quality of John Thomson’s vision mark him out as one of the most important travel photographers. \nThomson travelled East as a professional photographer only two decades after the invention of photography.  Working with the wet collodion process he travelled with cumbersome crates\, glass negatives\, a portable dark room\, as well as highly flammable and poisonous chemicals.  It took sheer perseverance and energy\, through difficult terrain\, to document regions where previously unseen by westerners.  It is particularly remarkable that Thomson was able to make photographs of such beauty and sensitivity. \nThomson developed a method to photograph in tropical conditions which he subsequently taught to generations of young travel photographers at the Royal Geographical Society.  During an era when his contemporaries were taking portraits in which their subjects looked stilted and wooden\, Thomson captured the individuality and humanity of the diverse people of Asia\, whether royalty or street vendor. \nIn Siam\, Thomson was able to photograph King Mongkut Rama IV\, his royal family and entourage\, together with royal ceremonies such as the tonsurate ceremony and the presentation of the Lenten robes.   Thomson’s panoramic views of the Chao Phraya River\, temples and monks\, dancers and musicians\, are a unique historical treasure.  In Cambodia\, Thomson was the first photographer to visit Angkor Wat to record\, what is now\, one of the most important sites of ancient architecture in the world. \nBetween 1868 and 1872\, Thomson made extensive trips to Beijing\, Fujian and Guangdong travelling down both the Yangtse and the Min Rivers.  In China\, Thomson captured a wide variety of subjects from landscapes to people\, architecture\, domestic and street scenes.  As a foreigner\, Thomson’s ability to gain access to photograph women was particularly remarkable.  Whether photographing the rich and famous or people in the streets going about their business\, Thomson’s desire was to present a faithful account of the people of Asia.  This body of work established him as a pioneer of photojournalism and one of the most influential photographers of his time. \nHis collection of 700 glass plates travelled back with Thomson to Britain in 1872 and since 1921 has been housed and expertly preserved at the Wellcome Library\, London.  These 150 year old glass negatives are in excellent condition allowing this exhibition to showcase very large\, in some cases life-size\, prints.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/frashkb-lecture-and-lunch-betty-yao-mbe-china-and-siam-through-the-lens-of-john-thomson/
LOCATION:Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre\, 14 Stephenson Way\, London\, NW1 2HD\, United Kingdom
CATEGORIES:Related Organisation's Event
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181025T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181025T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T101513Z
CREATED:20180917T101513Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T101513Z
UID:6047-1540490400-1540499400@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Professor Anna Contadini (SOAS) - The Pisa Griffin and the Mari-Cha Lion: Metalwork\, Art\, and Technology in the Medieval Islamicate Mediterranean
DESCRIPTION:Anna Contadini is Professor of the History of Islamic Art and Head of the School of Arts at SOAS\, University of London. She is also the Director of the “Griffin and Lion Project”. Her areas of interest are Arabic and Persian illustrated manuscripts\, material culture of the Islamic world\, and the artistic and cultural connections between the Middle East and Europe\, especially Italy. \nIn this lecture\, Professor Contadini will discuss subjects from her latest publication The Pisa Griffin and the Mari-Cha Lion; an interdisciplinary study focusing on two unique bronze sculptures produced between the late eleventh and the early twelfth century. Through scientific\, historical and art historical analyses this lecture will explore the many issues that surround them\, including fundamental questions of location and period\, purpose and patronage\, their transcultural meanings\, and their agency as the function of each has mutated.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/professor-anna-contadini-soas-the-pisa-griffin-and-the-mari-cha-lion-metalwork-art-and-technology-in-the-medieval-islamicate-mediterranean/
CATEGORIES:Lecture Series 2018-2019
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20181023T183000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20181023T203000
DTSTAMP:20180917T101114Z
CREATED:20180917T101114Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180917T101114Z
UID:6045-1540319400-1540326600@royalasiaticsociety.org
SUMMARY:Peter Hibbard MBE (RAS\, Shanghai) - More than a Stuffed Bird Show: The RAS Legacy in Shanghai
DESCRIPTION:PETER HIBBARD MBE \nMore Than a Stuffed Bird Show \n– The RAS Legacy in Shanghai – \n  \nIn 1857 the founding fathers of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (NCBRAS) in Shanghai foretold that the city was destined to be the greatest and most influential city in the Far East. With some essential civic amenities in place\, including a church\, a hospital\, a racecourse and a park\, they judged that the time was ripe for ‘social cultivation’ and ‘intellectual improvement’. Those pioneers embarked on their investigations into China in an age of huge profiteering when Shanghai’s unique cultural milieu was being melded as an outcome of the ravages of the Taiping Rebellion. \nThe Society opened its first building in 1874. A second building embracing a vision of the future in the mesh of the past opened in 1933. The building and all that it embodied was in many ways a projection of one man’s dreams and determination. That man was Arthur de Carle Sowerby\, renowned naturalist\, explorer\, author\, activist\, curator of the museum and later RAS President\, who decried accusations that the the Society was dull and its museum no more than a ‘stuffed bird show.’ The Society closed its premises in 1952 and Sowerby’s long held dream for the city to have its own modern art gallery was not realised for over 50 years when the Rockbund Art Museum occupied the former NCBRAS building in 2010. \nMeanwhile the NCBRAS was re-convened as the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai in 2007 with the ambition of pursuing and enhancing the Society’s original objectives in staging lectures\, producing a journal and establishing a library. Whilst an archive has been established\, the prospect of re-establishing a museum has yet to be realised. \nPeter Hibbard will examine and illustrate the history\, the vicissitudes and the revival of the RAS in Shanghai in its pursuit of promoting cultural life in the city and beyond\, and explore the fate of its historical collections. \nPeter Hibbard\, historian and author\, began studying the development of the Chinese tourism industry in 1983 and was a Visiting Scholar at Hong Kong University’s Centre of Asian Studies in 1985 before embarking on a lifetime of adventure in China. He has devoted much of his life to researching the historical development of Shanghai and of tourism in China. Peter is very much concerned with promoting links with the past and with fostering awareness\, understanding and appreciation of Shanghai’s unique historical inheritance. He was founding president of re-convened RAS China. Peter is currently the Heritage and Archive Ambassador of The Peninsula\, Hong Kong and has a wider ambition to establish a heritage centre for hospitality and tourism in China and Asia in the city.
URL:https://royalasiaticsociety.org/lectures-event/peter-hibbard-mbe-ras-shanghai-more-than-a-stuffed-bird-show-the-ras-legacy-in-shanghai/
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