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The International Congress of Orientalists, initiated in Paris in 1873, was an international conference of Orientalists. It was later renamed as the International Congress of Human Sciences in Asia and North Africa and then as the International Congress of Asian and North African Studies. This material covers the interaction of the Royal Asiatic Society with the Congress in the time period 1889 to 1993.

The International Union of Orientalists was founded in September 1951 in Istanbul at the International Congress of Orientalists. It was renamed in 1973 as the International Union for Oriental and Asian Studies. This material covers the interaction of the Royal Asiatic Society with the Union in the time period 1951-1977.

The Royal Asiatic Society has produced a Journal from the early years of its formation and continues to do so. This material covers the records made in the production, administration and distribution of the Journal.

From 1904-1929 the Royal Asiatic Society awarded a Gold Medal to a schoolboy writing on a chosen essay title. However, as entrants dwindled and few schools seemed interested in teaching Indian history, it was decided that the competition should be changed to one for undergraduate students. The change was finalised on 15th December 1931. Regulations for the University Prize Essay Fund were drawn up in 1932 and the first prize was awarded in 1933. In 1939, Professor Perceval Yetts designed a certificate to be presented with the prize (an example of this can be found in these papers). The prize was initially awarded annually but then became biennial. The prize money also increased at various intervals.
The records of the Universities Prize Essay cover the conversion from the Public School Medal to the Universities Prize Essay Fund, governance of the award and the conferment of the Honour in subsequent years. They include Rules, correspondence, and winning essays. However there are not records for all instances of the presentation of the award. Researchers are advised to also examine the Council Minutes and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (both held in the RAS Collections) when researching concerning the Universities Prize Essay and its recipients.

Two articles and accompanying material sent by Thomas Hervey Baber to the Royal Asiatic Society. These are:

• 'Facsimiles of three Muhammedan Gold Coins, found on the Coast of Malabar' with associated material.
• 'Copy of a Translation in the Malayalam Arayam Character with an English translation.'

There is a single item in these Papers. This is the "Abstracts of Meteorological Diary for the Years 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819. Taken Eight Miles North-East of Fort William Calcutta". This a handwritten journal of daily weather conditions divided into monthly pages giving a general monthly summary, variations of the winds, thermometer, barometer and hygrometer readings, prevailing wind directions and remarks concerning the days' weather patterns. The manuscript is on foolscap sheets bound into a hardcover journal. The book is in fragile conditions, its boards have become separated and some of the pages are only loosely attached into the whole. Within the book is a loose sheet of paper on which wind calculations have been written.

These papers consist of two items presented to the Society by Thomas Pell Platt. They are:

• Fasti Sacri Ecclesiae AEthiopicae
• Computus Temporum Ecclesiae Aethiopicae

The papers contain correspondence with Michael Willis, article written by Phelps and others; and other correspondence. These are all concerning excavations in Northern India particularly around relics concerned with the origins of Buddha.

The papers consist of a letter from Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange to Captain Henry Harkness, Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society, to send an extract from a letter that he had received from his son, Thomas Lumisden Strange in Tellicherry, (Thalassery) India. Strange asks that the extract be brought before the Council of the Society, if Harkness deems it of sufficient importance. This letter is dated 9 February, 1837. The extract, dated 4 September 1836, is written in a different hand. It concerns the attempt by Francis Rawdon Chesney to find an overland route to India via the Euphrates. Thomas Lumisden Strange recommends that the route should continue to be explored despite the loss of life on the expedition, and believed that the Persian Sultan 'might be induced to farm to us this division of his dominions'.

These papers consist of a memoir of William Augustus Collins, as well as a number of his publications, research papers and reports relating to his work in Southeast Asia. The majority of the material relates to Cambodia, where Collins was involved in various social, educational and legal support programmes and projects. A small part of the digital material concerns a project aiming at improving access to justice in East Timor.