THE ASIATIC SOCIETY

THE ASIATIC SOCIETY

When The Asiatic Society was established on January 15, 1784, its founder Sir William Jones (1746-1794) began his work with a dream, that visualised a centre for Asian studies including almost everything concerning man and nature within the geographical limits of the continent. In 1805 the Government gifted to the Society a plot of land at the corner of Park Street and Chowringhee, the present site of the Asiatic Society, to which was added later, in 1849, a small portion on the western side. The name of the Society went through a number of changes like Asiatic Society (1784-1825), The Asiatic Society (1825-1832), The Asiatic Society of Bengal (1832-1935), The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (1936-1951) and The Asiatic Society again since July 1951. Its emblem in sepia has an engraving of a profile bust of a its founder in a rectangular enclosure with his name and his birth and death years (1746-1794) in Roman numerals inscribed at the bottom.