Série RAS BMM/22 - 2022 - Dr Peter and Mrs Mügül Andrews, Pepita Seth and Professor Tim Williams

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

Tim Williams gained his BA at the University of Leicester in 1980. He was a seasonal site supervisor at Phil Barker’s excavations at Wroxeter between 1976-1982, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust 1976-7 & 1980, Colchester Archaeological Trust 1980, and then the Department of Urban Archaeology (Museum of London) between 1981-1991. Between 1991-2002 he was Head of Archaeology Commissions at English Heritage, before joining University College, London in 2002.

His early focus on urban archaeology, initially in Roman Britain, and then during rescue excavations in the souks of Beirut developed into an interest in the Late Antique transition to the early Islamic city, which led to research on the Silk Roads to Central Asia. In 2001 he became the Director the UCL/Turkmen research project at the Silk Road city of Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan which subsequently led to establishing the Central Asian Archaeological Landscape (CAAL) project in 2018.

He is a member of the International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) and has participated on ICOMOS advisory missions and panels, especially with regard to the Silk Roads, developing the strategy for Silk Roads World Heritage nomination through a thematic study, and assisting with nomination dossiers. He also established the UCL/Northwest University (Xi'an) International Centre for Silk Roads Archaeology & Heritage in 2018.

Pepita Seth was born in Suffolk in 1942. She studied film editing and gained opportunities to work under film directors like Ted Kotcheff and Stanley Donen. On finding the diary of her grandfather, she decided to trace his life with the British Army in India. She landed in Kolkata in 1970. She travelled from Kolkata to Guruvayur where she became fascinated by the temple arts and rituals of Kerala. For the next nine years, she visited Kerala several times and, in 1979, she settled in Guruvayur. Eventually the Guruvayur Devaswom Board allowed her access to the temple. She has published many books and articles on the temple arts and rituals. In recognition of her services to the fields of art and culture, the Government of India, in 2012, bestowed on her the civilian award of Padma Shri.

Peter Alford Andrews was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset in 1936. He trained as an architect before undertaking his PhD study at the Department of the Near and Middle East, Faculty of Arts, SOAS, University of London, under Mary Boyce (also a Richard Burton Medal winner RAS BMM/14) researching The Felt tent in Middle Asia: The Nomadic Tradition and its Interpenetration with Princely Tentage. Since his initial research Peter Andrews has continued to undertake further research on nomadic tents while continuing to lecture and hold academic research posts.

He was married to Mügül (Ataç) Andrews from 1967 until her death in 2016.