Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1887 - 1991 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 archival box
Context area
Name of creator
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.
The idea of a Gold Medal to honour eminent British Orientalists was first suggested in 1887, but the matter was postponed until 1897 when a decision was made to institute a Gold medal to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria. A committee, formed under the direction of Mr (later Sir) A.N. Wollaston, chose a design for the medal based on the banyan tree. In 1898 the Society launched an appeal for funds to finance the cost of the new medal. By the end of 1899 nearly £300 had been subscribed. The first medal was presented on 25 May, 1898, by Lord Reay, president of the RAS, to Professor E.B. Cowell, an eminent Sanskrit scholar.
Repository
Archival history
These records are part of the Royal Asiatic Society's Institutional Records and therefore part of the historical records of the Society.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
These are part of the institutional records of the Royal Asiatic Society which have been accumulated throughout its history.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The records of the Gold Medal cover the institution of the medal and the conferment of the Honour in subsequent years. They include examples of the medal, the original Declaration of Trust, and subsequent printed version of the declaration, correspondence and newspaper cuttings. However there are not records for all instances of the presentation of the Medal. 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 Gold Medal and its recipients.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The archive has been arranged into series representing the conferment of each medal. Thus:
- RAS TGM/1 - Inauguration of the Triennial Gold Medal
- RAS TGM/2 - 1897 – Professor E.B. Cowell
- RAS TGM/3 - 1900 – Sir E.W. West
- RAS TGM/4 - 1903 – Sir William Muir
- RAS TGM/5 - 1906 – Rev. G. U. Pope
- RAS TGM/6 - 1909 – Sir G.A. Grierson
- RAS TGM/7 - 1912 – J.F. Fleet
- RAS TGM/8 - 1915 - Mrs A. S. Lewis and Mrs M. D. Gibson
- RAS TGM/9 - 1918 – V.A. Smith
- RAS TGM/10 - 1922 – Professor H.A. Giles
- RAS TGM/11 - 1925 – Rev. A.H. Sayce
- RAS TGM/12 - 1928 – Professor D.S. Margoliouth
- RAS TGM/13 - 1932 – Sir Aurel Stein
- RAS TGM/14 - 1935 – Sir Denison Ross
- RAS TGM/15 - 1938 – Professor R.A. Nicholson
- RAS TGM/16 - 1941 – Professor F.W. Thomas
- RAS TGM/17 - 1944 – Sir John Marshall
- RAS TGM/18 - 1947 – Sir Richard Winstedt
- RAS TGM/19 - 1950 – Dr L.D. Barnett
- RAS TGM/20 - 1953 – Sir Ralph Turner
- RAS TGM/21 - 1956 – Professor W. Perceval Yetts
- RAS TGM/22 - 1959 – Sir Archibald Creswell
- RAS TGM/23 - 1962 – Professor Valdimir Minorsky
- RAS TGM/24 - 1965 – Professor G.H. Luce
- RAS TGM/25 - 1968 – Sir Hamilton Gibb
- RAS TGM/26 - 1971 – Sir Harold Bailey
- RAS TGM/27 - 1973 – Sir Gerard L.M. Clauson
- RAS TGM/28 - 1974 - (Professor David Hawkes)
- RAS TGM/29 - 1977 – Professor W. Simon
- RAS TGM/30 - 1980
- RAS TGM/31 - 1984 – Professor Sukamar Sen
- RAS TGM/32 - 1990 – Professor Ann K.S. Lambton
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open. Some access may be restricted due to Data Protection Issues. Please contact the archivist. nc@royalasiaticsociety.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 and proof of address
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
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
There has not been a systematic keeping of records throughout the history of the Royal Asiatic Society and therefore some of the series have few items and, in some cases, no records remain.
The Council Minutes Books of the Royal Asiatic Society have decisions minuted regarding the institution of the Medal and conferment of each Medal. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society also contains information in its "Proceedings of the Royal Asiatic Society" sections. Refer to each individual series for details of where to find this supplementary material.
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1823- London Learned Society (Subject)
- John Pinches 1841- London, England Medallist (Subject)
- Royal Mint Glamorgan, Wales (Subject)
- Hansman John (Subject)
- MacKay Lord Donald James 1839-1921 11th Lord Reay Under Secretary of State for India (Subject)
- Davids T.W. Rhys 1843-1922 Orientalist (Subject)
- Wollaston Arthur N. 1842-1922 Orientalist (Subject)
- Cribb Joe Numismatist (Subject)
- Cowell Edward Byles 1826-1903 Professor of Sanskrit, University of Cambridge (Subject)
- Muir Sir William 1819-1905 India administrator, orientalist (Subject)
- Pope George Uglow 1820-1908 Missionary, Tamil scholar (Subject)
- Grierson Sir George Abraham 1851-1941 Indian civil servant, author (Subject)
- Fleet John Faithfull 1847-1917 Historian, epigraphist and linguist (Subject)
- Lewis Agnes Smith 1843-1926 Syriac scholar (Subject)
- Gibson Margaret Dunlop 1843-1920 Syriac scholar (Subject)
- Smith Vincent Arthur 1848-1920 Indologist, archaeologist, numismatist (Subject)
- Giles Herbert Allen 1845-1935 Diplomat, Sinologist (Subject)
- Sayce Archibald Henry 1845-1933 Assyriologist, linguist (Subject)
- Margoliouth David Samuel 1858-1940 Professor of Arabic, University of Oxford (Subject)
- Dundas Lord Lawrence 1766-1839 Earl of Zetland (Subject)
- Hoysted Desmond Murree Fitzgerald 1874-1945 Royal Engineer, Secretary of RAS (Subject)
- Stein Sir Marcus Aurel 1862-1943 Archaeologist, explorer (Subject)
- Maclagan Sir Edward 1864-1952 Acting President Royal Asiatic Society (Subject)
- Ross Edward Denison 1871-1940 Orientalist, linguist (Subject)
- Thomas Frederick William 1867-1956 Indologist, Tibetologist (Subject)
- Nicholson Reynold Alleyne 1868-1945 Arabic scholar (Subject)
- Marshall Sir John Hubert 1876-1958 Archaeologist (Subject)
- Winstedt Richard Olaf 1878-1966 Orientalist (Subject)
- Barnett Lionel David 1871-1960 Orientalist (Subject)
- Turner Ralph Lilley 1888-1983 Indian languages philologist (Subject)
- Yetts Walter Perceval 1878-1957 Surgeon, sinologist (Subject)
- Creswell Sir Keppel Archibald Cameron 1879-1974 Architectural historian (Subject)
- Minorsky Vladimir 1877-1966 Orientalist (Subject)
- Luce Gordon Hannington 1889-1979 Orientalist (Subject)
- Gibb Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen 1895-1971 Orientalist (Subject)
- Bailey Harold Walter 1899-1996 Oriental linguist (Subject)
- Clauson Gerard 1891-1974 Orientalist (Subject)
- Hawkes David 1923-1929 Sinologist (Subject)
- Simon Ernest Julius Walter 1893-1981 Sinologist (Subject)
- Lambton Ann K. S. 1912-2008 Persian historian (Subject)
- Sukumar Sen 1900-1992 Bengali linguist (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
The Archive was catalogued in 2018 by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist. Though not all occasions in which the Medal was awarded have archival material, a series was created for each instance in case material comes to light at a later date and to inform researchers where information concerning each conferment of the Medal can be found.