sarf.120109

Description

The Journal of the Asiatic Society has been published under various guises, namely Asiatic Researches (1788–1849), Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1832–1904), Proceedings of the Asiatic Society (1865–1904), Journal and the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society (1905–1934), Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1935–1952) and Journal of the Asiatic Society (since 1953). In 1829 Captain J.D. Herbert, Deputy Surveyor General at the time, started a monthly publication entitled Gleanings in Science. In a few years time James Princep proposed to change the title to The Journal of the Asiatic Society, which was permitted in March 1832. The proceedings were first published in 1865. Most of the Asiatic Society publications were printed at the Baptist Mission Press in Calcutta.

While the proceedings were mostly dedicated to documenting the workings of the society, its meetings, financials and the list of the office bearers, the journal operated with a much wider scope and more often than not published articles and essays on countries other than India. Commonly dealt with lands were Malaya, Burma and other parts of East and South East Asia. Subjects of the essays and articles varied, but the commonly published subjects included Oriental philology, natural history, science, flora and fauna, literature, linguistics and astronomy. These articles varied in length, and on occasion essays stretched to occupying a full issue of the journal.

The proceedings occasionally covered lengthy deliberations on contemporary discoveries such as coins, inscriptions and seals by the members of the society. Generally, the President apprised the members of these discoveries and provided them with the relevant details of the discovery, which included its year, month, region and other details. Discussions were also conducted on how these discoveries could further aid an understanding of the past.

The Society often undertook detailed studies of particular villages, areas or localities, and estimates of the villages’ population, number of houses and vocations of the villagers were published in the proceedings.

Documents available for this title