Fonds JD - Papers of John Dowson

Zone d'identification

Cote

GB 891 JD

Titre

Papers of John Dowson

Date(s)

  • 1850 - 1881 (Création/Production)

Niveau de description

Fonds

Étendue matérielle et support

1 archival folder Hand-written

Zone du contexte

Nom du producteur

(1820-1881)

Notice biographique

John Dowson M.R.A.S. was a British indologist notable for his work on Hindu texts. Widely considered to be a preeminent authority of Hinduism in his time, Dowson taught in both India and Britain, eventually being made Professor at University College London (1855) as well as teaching at the East India Company College and the Staff College, Sandhurst.

Dowson contributed to the publications of the Royal Asiatic Society throughout his career, having been introduced to the Society by his uncle Edwin Norris, himself a notable Assyriologist.

Histoire archivistique

These papers are all associated with John Dowson.

Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert

Source of Acquisition is unknown.

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

  • Copy of inscriptions from the East, West and South Walls of a "large cave" in Nanaghat. This document is dated as being in Edinburgh in 1877.
  • Collection of Urdu letters which have been identified as dating to around 1866 and being addressed from Punjab. They appear to be petitions from soldiers addressed to the British authorities. There are 8 letters.
  • Collection of John Dowson's notebooks. They include three of Dowson's personal English-language notebooks dated to 1844, which tell the story of Drona from the first book of the Mahabharata (possibly copied from another source). There is also a fourth notebook in Urdu which seems to be a diary, journal or copies of more letters, and includes a 1 page Urdu-English dictionary.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d’accès

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Language of material

  • anglais
  • ourdou
  • sanskrit

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques

    Finding aids

    Zone des sources complémentaires

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    The society holds in it's collection several books by John Dowson looking at Indian history and languages.

    Descriptions associées

    Zone des notes

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Sujets

    Mots-clés - Lieux

    Mots-clés - Noms

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone du contrôle de la description

    Identifiant de la description

    gb891-jd

    Identifiant du service d'archives

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Statut

    Niveau de détail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Langue(s)

      Écriture(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        This material was cataloged by Jake Todd, RAS Volunteer, under the supervision of Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2023.

        Accession area