Topics Covered:
- Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
Asiatic Society of Mumbai
What to study?
For Prelims and mains: About the Society, it’s functions and objectives.
Context: Asiatic Society of Mumbai has elected the first woman president in the 215 years of its existence.
Prof Vispi Balaporia will now head the institution.
About Asiatic Society, Mumbai:
- It is a learned society whose activities include conducting historical research, awarding historians, and running an institute of post-graduate studies.
- Its library, home to over 1 lakh books, consists of rare manuscripts contributed to it by the East India Company, as well as generous donations.
- The Society offers Junior Fellowships for research and recommends scholars for the Tagore National Fellowship of the Ministry of Culture.
- The Governor of Maharashtra is the Society’s Chief Patron.
It’s evolution:
- It began journey in 1804 as the Literary Society of Bombay.
- Founded by Sir James Mackintosh, a Scottish colonial administrator who had a keen interest in Oriental studies.
- In 1826, it became the Mumbai arm of the London-based Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and came to be called the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (BBRAS).
- In 1954, the institution was severed from its London parent and became the Asiatic Society of Bombay. In 2002, it acquired its present name.
Sources: Indian Express.