Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have been elected by the Council of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science literature and the arts in relation to Asia". The Society has around 700 fellows, half of whom reside outside Britain. It is administered by a council of twenty fellows. The Society was established in 1823 and became "the main centre in Britain for scholarly work on Asia" with "many distinguished Fellows". Fellows are entitled to use the honorific

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

FRAS. Past and current fellows include leading scholars, writers, and former politicians and governors who have made significant contributions to Asia and their respective fields. Previous Fellows have included British explorers

Sir Richard Francis Burton Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...

, and

Laurence Waddell Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Austine Waddell, Order of the Bath, CB, Order of the Indian Empire, CIE, Linnean Society of London, F.L.S., Doctor of Laws, L.L.D, Master of Surgery, M.Ch., Indian Medical Service, I.M.S. Royal Anthropological Instit ...

, Officers of the British East India Company such as

Sir Henry Rawlinson Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army officer, politician and Orientalist, sometimes described as the Father of Assyriology. His son, also Henry, was to beco ...

, Chief Justice of Ceylon Alexander Johnston, first Asian Nobel laureate

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, and many more.

Eligibility

Fellows can be nominated by an existing Fellow, or they can submit an application for fellowship; applications are open to "anyone with a serious interest in Asian Studies", considered regularly, and processed within two months. Students are also eligible to become Student Fellows if they are enrolled in an established course of education. The Society also awards a maximum of five Life Fellowships each year worldwide. These are distinct from regular fellowships, but do not affect honorific post-nominal letters of the fellow.

Notable fellows

* Sir Jehangir Hormasji Kothari *

Henry Thomas Colebrooke Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE (15 June 1765 – 10 March 1837) was an English orientalist and mathematician. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe". Biography Henry Thomas Colebrooke was born on 15 June ...

Edward Byles Cowell Edward Byles Cowell, (23 January 1826 – 9 February 1903) was a noted translator of Persian poetry and the first professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University. Cowell was born in Ipswich, the son of Charles Cowell and Marianne Byles. Elizabeth ...

Sir Alexander Johnston ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

* Thomas Manning * Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson *

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Himala ...

* Col.

* Sir Gore Ouseley * Sir George T Staunton * Sir William Wilson Hunter *

Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is b ...

Raja Ram Mohan Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform m ...

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Order of the Star of India, KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian people, Indian Muslim Islamic modernist, reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British ...

* Sir

Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 1st Baronet Jejeebhoy of Bombay CMG (15 July 1783 – 14 April 1859), also spelt Jeejeebhoy or Jeejebhoy, was an Indian-Parsi merchant and philanthropist. He made a huge fortune in cotton and the opium trade with Ch ...

Sir William Jones Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, and a scholar of ancient India. He is particularly known for his proposition of th ...

Sir Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...

Sir Wilfred Thesiger Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer. Thesiger's trav ...

* Sir

Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Academic career Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar ...

* Diwan Bahadur S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar *

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Richard O. Winstedt *

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Ahmad Hasan Dani Ahmad Hassan Dani (Urdu: احمد حسن دانی) FRAS, SI, HI (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009) was a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology ...

Arthur John Arberry Arthur John Arberry (12 May 1905, in Portsmouth – 2 October 1969, in Cambridge) FBA was a British scholar of Arabic literature, Persian studies, and Islamic studies. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge ...

Ahmad Zaki Pasha Ahmad Zaki Pasha (, ; 26 May 1867 – 5 July 1934) was an Egyptians, Egyptian Philology, philologist, sometimes called the '' "Dean of Arabism" '' () or "''Shaikh al-Orouba "'', and longtime secretary of the Cabinet of Egypt, Egyptian Cabinet. ...

Prof. Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Johann

Georg Bühler Professor Johann Georg Bühler (July 19, 1837 – April 8, 1898) was a scholar of ancient Indian languages and law. Early life and education Bühler was born to Rev. Johann G. Bühler in Borstel, Hanover, attended grammar school in Hanover, whe ...

David Marshall Lang David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991), was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and an ...

Anthony Stockwell * Elizabeth Anne McCaul Finn *

George V. Tsereteli *

Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri (1935–2016) was an Indian political scientist, political historian and international relations expert. He was a senior research fellow in international relations at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Universi ...

Francis Robinson Francis Christopher Rowland Robinson CBE, DL, FRAS (born 23 November 1944 in Barnet) is a British historian and academic who specialises in the history of South Asia and Islam. Since 1990, he has been Professor of History of South Asia at the Un ...

Clinton Bennett Clinton Bennett (born 7 October 1955) is a British-American scholar of religions and participant in interfaith dialogue specialising in the study of Islam and Muslim-non-Muslim encounter. An ordained Baptist minister, he was a missionary in Ban ...

* William LancasterRoyal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland List of Fellows, Library Associates and Subscribing Libraries, 1994, pg 19 * Ustad Aashish Khan Debsharma *

Albert Étienne Jean Baptiste Terrien de Lacouperie Albert Étienne Jean-Baptiste Terrien de Lacouperie (23 November 1844 – 11 October 1894) was a French oriental studies, orientalist, specialising in comparative philology. He published a number of books on early Asian and Middle-Eastern l ...

(d. 1894) * Sushil Kumar De *

Eric Newby George Eric Newby (6 December 1919 – 20 October 2006) was an English travel writer. His works include '' A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush'', '' The Last Grain Race'' and ''A Small Place in Italy''. Early life Newby was born in Barnes, London, ...

Jean Berlie Jean Berlie (also named Jean A. Berlie, Johan Berlie, Komlan in African Ewe, or 韓林, Hanlin in Chinese) is a French socio-anthropologist specialising in Asia and China. Background Berlie was born in Misahohé, near Kpalimé, Togo in 1936, f ...

Daphne Park Daphne Margaret Sybil Désirée Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Royal Society of Arts, FRSA (1 September 1921 – 24 March 2010) was a British intelligence officer, dipl ...

Mary Boyce Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920 – 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism. She was Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the Un ...

William Dalrymple William Dalrymple may refer to: * William Dalrymple (1678–1744), Scottish Member of Parliament * William Dalrymple (moderator) (1723–1814), Scottish minister and religious writer * William Dalrymple (British Army officer) (1736–1807), Scott ...

* Prof.

Jamal Malik Jamal Malik (born 1956) is a Pakistani-born German professor of Islamic Studies and the chair of Religious Studies — Islamic Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany. Malik was born in 1956 in Peshawar, Pakistan. After finishing his MA in ...

K M Baharul Islam K M Baharul Islam is presently the Chairperson of Centre of Excellence in Public Policy and Government at Indian Institute of Management Kashipur. He served as the Dean (Academics) during 2019-2021 at the same institute. He was elected as a Fel ...

* Prof. Dr

Tariq Rahman Tariq Rahman (born 4 February 1949) is a Pakistani academic scholar, newspaper columnist, researcher, and a writer. Currently based in Lahore, he is author of many books and other publications, mainly in the field of linguistics. He has been ...

* Professor Dr

William Sweet William Sweet (born 1955) is a Canadians, Canadian philosopher, and a past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association and of the Canadian Theological Society. Biography Sweet was born in St. Albert, Alberta, St. Albert near Edmonton, ...

* Professor Dr

Rahul Peter Das Rahul Peter Das (born 7 July 1954 in Haan, North Rhine-Westphalia) was professor of South Asian studies (''Südasienkunde'') at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, where he is also the Dean of Studies of thFaculty of Philosophy I He ...

* Prof.

Haroon Khan Sherwani Prof Haroon Khan Sherwani (1891–1980) was an Indian historian, scholar, and author. Maulana Azad National Urdu University had created Centre for Deccan Studies in his honor. Education Haroon Khan Sherwani was educated in Aligarh Muslim Uni ...

* Ronald E. Asher * Edward Jarvis * Michael Ridley *Dr. Rosie Llewellyn-Jones * Dr. Anna Suvorova *

Michael Axworthy Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000. Personal life and fam ...

Deepak Tripathi Deepak Tripathi, PhD, FRHistS, FRAS (born 1951) is a British historian with particular reference to South Asia, the Middle East, the Cold War and the United States in the post-Soviet world. Life and career Tripathi's grandfather, Pandit Vishwa ...

B. N. Mukherjee Bratindra Nath Mukherjee (1 January 1932 – 4 April 2013) was an Indian historian, numismatist, epigraphist and iconographist, known for his scholarship in central Asian languages such as Sogdian. He was a Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indi ...

* J. M. Gullick *

Mark Trollope Mark Napier Trollope (20 March 1862 – 1930) was the third Anglican Bishop in Korea from 1911 until his death. Born on 28 March 1862 and educated at Lancing College and New College, Oxford, he was ordained in 1888. After a curacy at Great Yarmou ...

, third Bishop of Korea *

Bijan Omrani Bijan Omrani is a British historian, journalist, teacher, barrister and author of Persian descent. His work ranges from Classical scholarship to current affairs across Asia. Early life and education Omrani was born in York, England, in 1979. H ...

Souhardya De Souhardya De (born 2004) is an Indian writer, columnist, and podcaster, from Midnapore, West Bengal. He is a columnist for the ''Sunday Guardian'' and a recipient of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, a civilian award for Indian citizens ...

Gordon Corrigan John Gordon Harvey Corrigan MBE, FRAS (born 1942) is a former British soldier and historical writer and broadcaster. Corrigan was educated at the Royal School, Armagh, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He served in the British Army's Ro ...

* Terra Han

References

{{reflist

External links

Royal Asiatic Society

*

Helen Wang Helen Kay Wang (; ; born 1965) is an English sinologist and translator. She works as curator of East Asian Money at the British Museum in London. She has also published a number of literary translations from Chinese, including an award-winning tr ...

"Famous and not-so-famous people associated with the Royal Asiatic Society"
in Shailendra Bhandare and Sanjay Garg (eds), ''Felicitas. Essays in Numismatics, Epigraphy and History in Honour of

Joe Cribb Joe Cribb is a numismatist, specialising in Asian coinages, and in particular on coins of the Kushan Empire. His catalogues of Chinese silver currency ingots, and of ritual coins of Southeast Asia were the first detailed works on these subjects i ...

'', Reesha Books International (Mumbai, 2011) 413–489.

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...