Centenary Review of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1784–1883)
Part I – History of the Society
Introduction
A HUNDRED years have elapsed—a century of arduous and unremitting labour, and the time has now arrived for a review of the progress made and of the services rendered to the cause of literature and science by the Asiatic Society of Bengal since its foundation. Such a review will be as useful in showing what has been accomplished as in suggesting what has to be done in the vast field which remains yet unexplored. It will be to the Society what periodical stock-taking is to mercantile firms. It will also prove a source of profound satisfaction to those who now represent the Society for the eminent success with which they and their predecessors have worked for the advancement of knowledge.
For convenience of treatment, this Review will be divided into three parts:
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A succinct history of the Society
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A résumé of the papers published on science generally
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A précis of all researches into archaeology, history, literature, &c.
Foundation of the Society
The idea of forming the Society was conceived by Sir William Jones, who came out to Calcutta in October 1783 as a Puisne Judge of the late Supreme Court at Fort William in Bengal. A distinguished scholar and linguist, who had already acquired considerable familiarity with some of the classics of India, and enthusiastically devoted to oriental researches, he soon noticed the lack of an organized association in Calcutta as a serious drawback to progress.
He felt, to quote his own language, that:
“in the fluctuating, imperfect, and limited erudition of life, such enquiries and improvements could only be made by the united efforts of many, who are not easily brought, without some pressing inducement or strong impulse, to converge in a common point.”
Accordingly, while he engaged himself in the study of the Sanskrit language, which he had not yet acquired, he invited the co-operation of the leading men in Calcutta to form an institution where united action could promote the study of oriental literature and science. In such a place, the talents and abstract studies of the few would prove most effectual and derive the stimulus which emulation, publicity, and common interest never fail to excite.
Founding Members
The men who participated in this meeting—and thus became the founding members—were primarily high-ranking officials of the East India Company. They later became the principal contributors to the Society’s publications.
The founder’s inaugural address did not suggest any rule for the selection of members, but at the second meeting of the Society (January 22, 1784) members were proposed, who were balloted for and elected at the next meeting. At the third meeting such propositions were seconded, and ordered for ballot at the following meeting; and this plan has ever since been uniformly followed.
At first it was not expected that the Natives of this country would join the Society, and Sir William Jones said, “whether you will enrol as members any number of learned Natives you will hereafter decide;” and the question was not mooted for many years afterwards. On January 7, 1829, Dr. H. H. Wilson proposed some native names, and they were elected; similar propositions were subsequently made from time to time, and duly adopted. In the Code of Rules now in force, it is laid down, that “persons of all nations shall be eligible as members of the Society.”
As the Society met at the Grand Jury Rooms of the Supreme Court, and no expense of any kind had to be incurred, the Members were not called upon to make any pecuniary contribution to the Society. In 1796, when the idea of providing a suitable house was first mooted, funds had to be raised by subscription, and it was ruled that Ordinary Members should pay a quarterly contribution of one gold mohur each for the support of the Society, old Members being required to make up for their previous membership by a payment of two gold mohurs each, in lieu of the entrance-fee which all new Members were called upon to contribute.
The rule regarding the quarterly subscriptions was altered in 1859, when the amount was reduced to Rs. 12 a quarter for resident members, and Rs. 6 for non-residents. Looking to the numerical weakness of European society in India, and to the arduous character of the various occupations in which its members are engaged, it would be unreasonable to expect that many men would be found to devote their time to literary and scientific pursuits. Such pursuits require leisure and ease of circumstance, early literary training, and an affluent retired life. Europeans coming to India have to fight the battle of existence, or to discharge onerous official duties, and when they have earned a competence and run through their allotted…
Here are some notable names among the founders:
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Sir Robert Chambers (Chief Justice)
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Mr. Justice Hyde
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Sir William Jones
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General John Carnac
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Henry Vansittart
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Charles Wilkins (later knighted)
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Jonathan Duncan
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John Shore (later Lord Teignmouth)
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Francis Gladwin
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Nathaniel Middleton
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Charles Hamilton
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T. Reuben Burrow
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George Hillarow Barlow (later a Baronet)
Altogether, the founders were a blend of military officers, civil servants, orientalists, and legal scholars—indicating a strong institutional and colonial backing.
…course of official career, they return to Europe to enjoy a life of ease. Natives, on the other hand, have, generally speaking, a defective education in early life, and cannot engage in researches, the fruits of which have to be recorded in a foreign language. The Asiatic Society has thus always laboured under a double disadvantage. But as Milton truly remarks, “no man who hath tasted learning but will confess the many ways of profiting by those who, not contented with stale receipts, are able to manage and set forth new positions to the world,” and the highly educated gentlemen, who came out in the civil, the medical, and the military services of the East India Company, fully bore out the truth of the observation. Notwithstanding the heavy duties they had to discharge in their respective spheres, many of them contributed largely to the efficiency, the stability, and the advancement of the Society by their literary labours and scientific researches.
It is worthy of note, and not a little singular, that the members of the Civil Service took a much more prominent position in this respect than those of the more learned professions. As was to be expected, merchants, tradesmen, and other non-official Europeans took but a slender share in the work of the Society. The steady growth of the Society is best shewn in the statement given in Appendix A. It shows that, commencing with a total of 30 names, the number of members rose, at the close of 1788, to 89, and in 1876, when the subscription of resident members was brought down to Rs. 9 per quarter, to 285. It should be added, however, that the various lists from which the statement has been compiled are misleading, as they do not discriminate under one uniform rule the efficient from non-efficient and absent members.
There is no record, in the first volume of the Proceedings, of any resolution having been adopted laying down a principle for the election of Honorary Members. The first person elected as an Honorary Member was M. Carpentier de Cossigny. He was proposed by an Ordinary Member, seconded by another, and balloted for and elected in due course. Other elections followed from time to time, but without any definite rule. Exception was, however, taken to this course in 1828; and, in January 1829, it was resolved “that Honorary Members be in future proposed only by the Committee of Papers, members of the Society not in the Committee communicating their recommendation of an individual as an Honorary Member to the Committee, either directly or through the Secretary. The Committee not to be expected to assign any reasons, should they not see cause to make the nomination.” When the resolutions and rules of the Society were codified in 1851, the qualifications for an Honorary Member were laid down to be “eminence for his knowledge of, or encouragement given to, science or literature, or for services rendered to the Society.”
Naming Evolution
Initially called “The Asiatick Society”, the name remained unchanged until around 1829. That year, after the formation of the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in London and the affiliation of the Literary Society of Bombay with it, a letter proposed that the Calcutta-based Society adopt the designation “Asiatic Society of Bengal.”
The Calcutta Society, however, declined to accept the change, preferring to retain its original title, emphasizing its primacy as the parent of all Asiatic Societies.
Later, in 1832, when James Prinsep proposed starting a Journal under the Society’s name, the official resolution still used “Asiatic Society.” However, Prinsep independently chose to add a local designation (“of Bengal”) for clarity. By the time the Journal became a property of the Society in 1843, the “Asiatic Society of Bengal” had become familiar and was formally included in the Bye-laws of 1851.
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