A series of six letters concerning the information provided by Major Cunningham.
Arberry Arthur John 1905-1969A photocopy of a letter from Sarah Nelson, Freelance Journalist, to "Raj" to send a couple of copies of her father's book and asking if the recipient could find an outlet for them. She gives some details of her father's life, in particular that all his writing was undertaken after he had retired. Photocopy of handwritten letter, dated 18 August [2003]. Accompanying this letter is a photocopy of William Nelson's Obituary from the Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine, written by Sarah Nelson's aunt. Printed material, 1 sheet.
Nelson Sarah Freelance JournalistDouble sided single page, printed material from the book 'Alfiya' Rhymed book of Arabic Grammar , written by Ibn Malik in the 13th Century.
Goldsmid Sir Frederic John 1818-1908 Major GeneralCorrespondence with Alden Press Ltd. regarding the production and sale of offprints of the Society's Journals. There are seven items of correspondence including two estimates from Alden Press.
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and IrelandThe Akbar Nameh of Abul Fazl Allami translated by Robert Chalmers.
The Akbar Nameh 'History of Akbar' or 'Book of Akbar' was the official history of Akbar's reign and was commissioned by Akbar. It was written by his court historian and biographer Abul Fazl in Persian. Chalmer's translation is an abridged version of the original text. The Oriental Translation Committe decided that, given the importance of the Akbar Nameh, the abridged translation was not suitable for publication and they recommended that Lieutenant Chalmers undertake a complete translation of the text.
The text consists of two hardbound volumes of handwritten text.
Volume I contains a letter dated 1923 from Henry Beveridge to Miss Latimer, Assistant Librarian at the Royal Asiatic Society, concerning Chalmer's translation. There are notes from Gore Ouseley and borrowing slips pasted in. Also a note saying 'see 'Noer's Kaisar Nameh' is handwritten is on the title page.
Volume II contains a letter dated 30th May 1833 from J.C. Morris to the Secretary of the Oriental Translation Committee concerning a letter from Lieutenant Chalmers and asking them to recognise the work undertaken by Chalmers in translating the Akbar Nameh. The letter goes on to state although the translation is not accompanied by the original as required by the rules of the committee, Mr Lushington (English Tory Politician and Governor of Madras from 1827-1832) will on application provide the loan of the original work in his possession from which Lieutenant Chalmers' translation was prepared. On f.157 there is a pressed fern. Annotations have been made in a different hand.
A further small slip of paper concerning the volume 2 (unidentified author) was found in the Society's Institutional records in 2024. This was therefore inserted into the volume.
Chalmers RobertA folder containing drawings and sketches of the Ajanta Caves.
West Arthur AndersonA folder containing descriptions and diagrams of the Ajanta caves.
West Edward William 1824-1905Notes on Barbara Ingham's visits to the Ajanta caves.
The 'Aja'ib al Tabaqat' (Wonders of the Universe) is a Persian text that was purchased by Sir Alexander Burnes in the Bazar of Bukhara 1832. This translation lists the author of the 'Aja'ib al Tabaqat' as 'Muhammad Tahir, son of Abul Qasim.' The 'Aja'ib al Tabaqat' is part of the 'aja'ib' genre in medieval Islamic literature, 'aja'ib' meaning 'marvelous, strange or unusual.' The 'aja'ib' genre consists of discussions on the marvels of the world and often contain cosmographical content. The 'Aja'ib al Tabaqat' includes a creation story, accounts of Islamic prophets and descriptions of various countries and cities. Sir Legrand's translation states the original text by Muhammad Tahir son of Abul Qasim, was written in 1819.
The text consists of one hardbound volume of handwritten text. It is an incomplete manuscript in that Sir Legrand Jacob has omitted various sections in his translation, indicating where he has done so. The pastedowns include text in another language.
The volume contains a pencil drawing of a temple titled 'A temple near […]' At the beginning of the text is a handwritten letter from Sir Legrand Jacob, dated 'Kutch, June 20 1853' which states that in his opinion, the text was not worth translating but he reluctantly complied to the request from the Oriental Translation Committee and translated it. This letter mentions Sir Gore Ouseley.
News report of Chinese food aid to Mongolia to help after recent natural disasters from The Times, 18 March 1964.