Fonds RAS BP - Royal Asiatic Society: The Bayly Prize

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 RAS BP

Title

Royal Asiatic Society: The Bayly Prize

Date(s)

  • 2017 - present (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

1 archival folder + digital photographs

Context area

Name of creator

(1823-)

Administrative history

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.

Archival history

These form part of the institutional records of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

As part of the institutional records, they have always been part of the Society's possessions.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The Bayly Prize was established by friends and colleagues to mark the outstanding contribution of Professor Sir Christopher Bayly FBA to the study of world history and that of Asia in particular. It is an £2500 award for a distinguished thesis in an Asian subject falling within the scope of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society or of Modern Asian Studies. The thesis must have been examined and approved for the PhD degree at a British University in the year preceding entry to the competition. It was first awarded in 2018 and has been awarded annually since.

The winners have been:

  • 2018 - Johannes Lotze (University of Manchester) for the thesis, Translation of Empire: Mongol Legacy, Language Policy, and the Early Ming World Order, 1368-1453.
  • 2019 - Lexi (Alexandra) Stadlen (London School of Economics) for the thesis, Weaving lives from Violence: Possibility and Change for Muslim Women in West Bengal.
  • 2020 - Liana Chase (School of Oriental and African Studies) for the thesis, Healing ‘Heart-Minds’: Disaster, Care, and Global Mental Health in Nepal’s Himalayan Foothills.
  • 2021 - Mallika Leuzinger (University College, London) for the thesis, Dwelling in Photography: Intimacy, Amateurism and the Camera in South Asia.
  • 2022 - Sonia Wigh (University of Exeter) for the thesis, The Body of Words: A social history of sex and the body in early modern South Asia.
  • 2023 - Thomas Barrett (University of Oxford) for the thesis, Foreigners and the Making of the Chinese Diplomat.

There are administrative documents, invitations, publicity and photographs from the award events.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

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Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Material may be closed for confidentiality reasons. Please contact the archivist for further information. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/index.php/. 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.

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    Script of material

      Language and script notes

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      Finding aids

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

      Related units of description

      The website of the Society provides details of the Bayly Prize Winners and short-listed candidates, and conditions of entry at https://royalasiaticsociety.org/the-bayly-prize-appeal/bayly-prize-winners/ and https://royalasiaticsociety.org/the-bayly-prize-applications-and-nominations/.

      Notes area

      Alternative identifier(s)

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      Description control area

      Description identifier

      gb 891 ras bp

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      This catalogue was created by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2024. All digital records were converted to archival documents in 2024.

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          Accession area