SAALG Blog

Rajasthani Folk Heroes, Grants and Scholarships

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Julla with laquered wood. Rajasthan, Northwest India. (Ref: IN306)

A new exhibition, likely to interest readers of the SAALG blog, entitled: Rajasthani Folk Heroes & Recent Acquisitions, has just opened in Norwich at The South Asian Decorative Arts & Crafts Collection (SADACC).

SAALG members are warmly invited to view new acquisitions in the gallery, and the Rajasthani exhibition at:

The Old Skating Rink Gallery
34-36 Bethel Street
Norwich, NR2 1NR

01603 663890
info@sadacc.co.uk
www.sadacc.co.uk

Samples of Rajasthani art and crafts and recent acquisitions in the collection include:

Tribal Dolls From Banswara or Dunghaphur, Rajasthan. (Ref: IN247)

Bullock-Cart Driver - Patna School c.1820

Admission is free and the opening times are 9.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 5.30pm on Saturdays. The gallery is closed on Bank Holidays and Sundays.

Travel Grants and Scholarships
In addition, student readers of this blog will be interested in the travel and educational scholarships and grants SADACC funds each year for postgraduate study of the decorative arts, crafts and culture of South Asia. Preference is usually given to students from the Eastern region of the UK. For further details, contact info@sadacc.co.uk, supplying information on your interests and experience.

The SADACC Trust is a registered charity (RCN: 1137415) funded primarily by Country and Eastern Ltd.

War Horse, Army Donkey, Military Mule

noreply@blogger.com (Francine Millard) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:38:00 +0000

I was pleased to be alerted to this blog entry which features a National Library of Scotland photograph.

The photograph, taken during World War I, shows a man with his arm around a mule . On the back he has written about his animal companion: "She is very stupid but I am very fond of her."

Michael Morpurgo's 2007 moving book War Horse is due out as a Steven Spielberg film this month. It tells the story of farm horse Joey's journey through the battlefields of the First World War.

Morpurgo was inspired to write the book after reading that millions of horses perished on the Western Front. Used in the thick of battle in cavalry charges and for pulling artillery, horses, mules and donkeys were seen as more reliable than
mechanised means.

Horses were very important in British India for the same reasons. The National Library's Medical History of British India website contains many digitised reports dedicated to the procurement of suitable breeding horses for serving the army. Horses imported from England often sickened and died en route. Those which survived were found to be unable to stand hard work in a tropical climate. In 1892 it was recorded that Indian-bred horses were hardier, with greater powers of endurance. Arab and Persian breeds had the same sought-after traits.

Horses, donkeys and mules who served in India, like their human counterparts perished from a variety of ailments and afflictions as this page shows.

Perhaps Michael Morpurgo would consider writing a book about one of these animals?

(Photograph is from the National Library of Scotland's Digital Gallery, First World War Official Photographs collection, image number 74549584)

Indian Veterinary medicine reports now online

noreply@blogger.com (Francine Millard) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:43:00 +0000

I'm delighted to announce that 146 volumes of Veterinary medicine reports are now available on the National Library of Scotland's Medical History of British India website. Click here to browse and search 40,000 pages for free.

The Veterinary collection covers 1864-1959, focusing on veterinary diseases, colleges and laboratories and Civil Veterinary Departments. This free to access, important material provides extensive research on animal diseases such as surra and rinderpest. Detailed reports show how veterinary medicine was used by the British colonists to control disease, maintain livestock and alleviate famine and its effect on military and local communities.

Illustrated with many photographs, maps and charts, this material will be useful to those interested in veterinary science, military medicine, animal husbandry and agriculture.

A new viewing function enables up to 30 pdf pages to be selected and then 'stitched' together for easier reading.

The material, from the National Library's India Papers collection, was microfilmed and digitised using a grant from the Wellcome Trust.

(Picture is from the Indian Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, volume 10, 1940, part I. Image number: http://digital.nls.uk/75248387)

Public Health in India

noreply@blogger.com (Francine Millard) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:20:00 +0000

New to the National Library of Scotland is Public Health in India, which analyses the current health scenario of the population of India. The book introduces the history of public health in India from the 1860's Sanitary Commissions through Acts and censuses to the twenty-first century scope of public health.

India's government has taken steps to improve and develop the health of its citizens, yet obstacles still exist, such as ignorance and lack of health services particularly in rural areas. This book examines the impact of socio-economical background, gender and lifestyle on the health of India's population today.

While the Medical History of British India website gives users the chance to examine these issues in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries under British rule, this book enables readers to assess the current public health situation in India.

Public Health in India is at NLS shelfmark OP1.211.40

(Picture of book's front cover from www.vedamsbooks.com)

SAALG 86th Conference - Buddhism: Texts and Tales. Friday 27th January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Porter, Royal Asiatic Society) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:22:00 +0000

We are delighted to announce that the next SAALG conference will take place at the Institute of Oriental Philosophy at Taplow Court on Friday 27th January 2012. The theme for the day will be Buddhism and our speakers will present papers looking at different types of Buddhist texts from different parts of Asia and recent cataloguing projects. During the day there will also be the opportunity to learn more about the Institute of Oriental Philosophy and its Library and a tour of Taplow Court, a mid-19th century mansion, which is home to the Institute.

The programme includes the following speakers and talks:

'Establishing the IOP-UK and its library' - Sarah Norman (Librarian - Institute of Oriental Philosophy, UK)

'The Cambridge Sanskrit Manuscripts Project' - Craig Jamieson (Keeper of Sanskrit Manuscripts, University of Cambridge)

'The Last Ten Jatakās and the Ten Perfections' - Dr Sarah Shaw (Honorary Fellow, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies)

'Hidden Gems: Traditional Tai/Sinhala Theravada Meditation manuscripts in Thai and British collections' - Dr Kate Crosby (SOAS)/Phibul Choompolpaisal/Dr Andrew Skilton (Bodleian)

Image of RAS MS Hodgson 1 Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita.
Buddhist Sanskrit manuscript, Nepal, 12th century AD.

The price of the conference will be £20 payable on the day and this will include lunch and refreshments. If you are interested in coming please contact Helen Porter for the full programme or to book a place (by Friday 20th January). The nearest train station is Taplow and free shuttle buses run to and from the Institute to coincide with train arrivals and departures. There is also plenty of space for car parking.

Helen Porter, SAALG Secretary, Assistant Librarian, Royal Asiatic Society.

Email: hp@royalasiaticsociety.org Tel: 020 7391 9424

A dedicated Medical History of British India blog

noreply@blogger.com (Francine Millard) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:10:00 +0000

The National Library of Scotland is now hosting a blog solely dedicated to the Medical History of British India Online project.
The blog will cover topics such as digitisation issues, updates of the project's progress in microfilming, digitisation and OCR, medical history and modern health issues and India.
The Wordpress blog appears here on the Medical History of British India website and is listed here on the NLS blogs page.
The blog also features pages about the current specifications for the project which may be useful to those involved in digitisation projects.

Comments about the project and blog are most welcome!

Mission Accomplished!

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Pass) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:12:00 +0000

The author, Andrea Pass, in the archives of St Stephen's Community in Delhi.

Two weeks after my viva voce examination, I am emerging from a world of missionary adventure. My doctoral thesis on ‘British women missionaries in India, c.1917-1950’ explores the experiences of single women of the two leading Anglican societies – the high-Church Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) and the evangelical Church Missionary Society (CMS) from recruitment to retirement. From hobnobbing with Vicereines and rescuing a kidnapped British girl from Afridi tribal territory, to performing life-saving operations on the floor of a village mud-hut and serving in Delhi refugee camps in the midst of post-Partition violence, the lives of women missionaries were never dull. During three years of research in missionary archives, their annual reports, letters, minute books, memoirs, and photograph albums have told me tales of joys and successes, frustrations and disappointments. I have begun to understand these strange, corseted figures in pith helmets preaching under palm trees in the foreign mission field.

Missionary archives are bursting with material, yet it is often difficult to access the unqualified opinions or feelings of women missionaries. High-Anglican women were particularly reticent in writing about their spiritual motivations. Most of the available letters and reports were written by women to officials of SPG and CMS at mission headquarters in London. It is likely that grievances and scandals were sometimes left unreported for fear of censure. Success may have been exaggerated and failures overlooked in the hopes of encouraging increases in financial support. An annual progress report, part of which could be used for publication in a missionary journal, was not the ideal medium for discussion of the innermost matters of one’s heart. Deep in the archives, however, I have discovered three sets of sources which are uncommonly frank and revelatory...

The first is located in the archives of SPG at Rhodes House Library in Oxford. Amidst the papers of the Committee for Women’s Work, there exists a fascinating collection of letters sent by women missionaries during the 1920s to the Society’s Foreign Secretary, Miss Hilda Saunders. Alongside details of their daily work, missionaries told Miss Saunders of their views, squabbles and sadnesses with a candidness unseen in more formulaic annual reports. Some were struggling with crises of vocation, feeling God was calling them away from missionary service to other careers, familial duties, the Religious Life, or marriage. ‘P.M.F.’s attitude took my entirely by surprise,’ Maud Tidmarsh confided about her fiancé’s proposal in February 1927. ‘It all seems to have happened so suddenly, and yet I have known my side of it since last June.’[1] Others were frustrated with the shackles of SPG and trying valiantly to live on a level with Indians. 'Committees of big societies are the most baffling things there are, I think! I offer my whole life to Delhi, and all I get is snub!’ Nora Karn complained during one such attempt in 1928.[2] Relationships in the mission field were also discussed. I uncovered generational clashes between young recruits and old timers on remote outstations. In 1926, one superior even sought to control her colleague’s choice of hairstyle: ‘It may have sounded playful to you, but before she left
India she was much against my having it cut...’[3] ‘Exclusive friendships’ also caused problems. Such comment was made about a particularly controversial relationship between a probationer of St Hilda’s Society in Lahore and the eccentric, Roman Catholic wife of the Governor of the Punjab.[4] In these letters, the physical and psychological realities of life in the mission field were displayed.

The small collection of missionary Personnel Files at the CMS archives at the University of Birmingham was also invaluable.[5] The thirty-four open files contained the completed application forms of CMS candidates who eventually sailed to India. Sixteen files also included letters, references, and interview reports, charting candidates’ progress from their original offers to the Society to their departure for India. Form B of the CMS application focused upon candidates’ missionary motives, Biblical and doctrinal knowledge, and personal beliefs. They were asked to give reasons why they felt called to missionary service and their opinions of a missionary’s chief aim, as well as details of their own efforts, hitherto, to advance the missionary cause. They were also requested to give their reasons for membership of the Church of England, their assessments of ‘the fundamental doctrines’ of the Christian faith, the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, and details of their beliefs concerning the Trinity, Sin, the Atonement, and Personal Salvation. These sources gave me important and unusual clues as to what made women missionaries tick, what motivated them to make the radical decision to offer themselves for overseas service. They also revealed that CMS recruitment practices were far more flexible in reality than one might expect from their recruitment propaganda. Despite being ‘modern’ in theology, ‘thoroughly Scotch in her reserve,’ and ‘quite the most difficult candidate’ that her interviewers had ever seen, Dorothy Lyon was accepted for training and went on to a long and successful missionary career in the Punjab![6]

Not all of my archival research was conducted in Britain, however. I also explored the archives of the United Theological College in Bangalore and of St Stephen’s Community in Delhi, a community of women missionaries affiliated to SPG. In Delhi, I had a mini adventure of my own! The metal cupboard in the office of St Stephen’s Home, where the Community’s records were apparently housed, was firmly padlocked shut. Despite the efforts of the housekeeper to produce the keys, they were nowhere to be found. It was agreed a handyman should be sent for to break down the door and I should come back the following day. Upon my return, I discovered much to my dismay that the handyman had broken down the door to the wrong cupboard! The papers remained beyond my reach and I had only three days left in Delhi! Fortunately, the padlock was eventually broken and I was presented with a pile of minute books dating from the Community’s foundation in the 1880s to the present day and covered in thick, black dust.[7] Their contents provided me with a fascinating insight into the inner workings of a group of women missionaries in the field. I read of debate regarding Nora Karn’s attempt to subvert SPG regulations, attempts to attract Indian members to the Community, and rumblings of discontent with its Rule of Life. Here was St Stephen’s in its own words – not the edited image it presented to SPG in London. Here was mission in the field.

The researcher’s mission, therefore, is simply to keep reading and keep digging. Amongst piles of paper and reams of repetitive reports, and sometimes in the most unexpected places, there are some real jewels in the mission archives’ crown!

Andrea Pass has just completed her D.Phil. at Magdalen College, Oxford.

[1] USPG Archives, Rhodes House, Oxford. Committee for Women’s Work (CWW) Papers. 277/1-3. Original Letters Received. (Chota Nagpur, Lahore (1 box) 1927-1929, Dornakal 1926-1929). 1926-1929. p.14.
[2] Ibid. p.8.
[3] USPG, Rhodes House. CWW282. Letters Received (India, Burma) 1926. p.80.
[4] USPG, Rhodes House. CWW146. Original Letters Received. Lahore, 1924.
[5] CMS Archives, University of Birmingham. C/ATw2 Candidates papers: white and blue packets.
[6] Ibid. Miss Dorothy Lyon.
[7] Archives of St Stephen’s Community, Delhi. Minute Books.

Powerful words

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:57:00 +0000

A major exercise in ‘linguistic archaeology’ has set out to complete a comprehensive survey of Cambridge University Library’s South Asian manuscript collection, which includes the oldest dated and illustrated Sanskrit manuscript known worldwide.

Written on now-fragile birch bark, palm leaf and paper, the 2,000 manuscripts in the collection express centuries-old South Asian thinking on religion, philosophy, astronomy, grammar, law and poetry.

The project, which is led by Sanskrit-specialists Dr Vincenzo Vergiani and Dr Eivind Kahrs and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, will study and catalogue each of the manuscripts, placing them in their broader historical context. Most of the holdings will also be digitised by the Library and made available through the Library’s new online digital library (http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/).

To read more about this exciting project, see: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/newspublishing/index.php?c=1#news315

Cambridge news: The Centre is moving!

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Advance warning: The Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, will be moving from its picturesque riverside location in Laundress Lane to the Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP between 14 December and 16 January 2012.

During this period access to the Centre's library and archive collections will be severely limited and visitors are advised not to plan research trips to Cambridge.

The Centre's new premises will be on the top floor of 7 West Road, with a fine view of the University Library. Our collections will also benefit from purpose-built archival stores.

For a webcam view of the new building see:http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/em/estate/building_projects/westroad/webcam/

Our website, telephone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.

We look forward to welcoming back researchers in the New Year.

Sovereign, squire and rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the heirs of a lost kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Usher) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:42:00 +0000

There's an event at the National Archives, Kew, on Maharajah Duleep Singh on 10th November. Speaker Peter Bance has published a number a books on Ango-Sikh history, including two on Maharajah Duleep Singh.

Indian Doumentary Film Festival in London 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Farzana Whitfield) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:54:00 +0000

Persistence/Resistance: Documentary practices in India, is being held in London between 1-8 November. The festival will run in conjunction with the Magic Lantern Foundation, New Delhi (http://magiclanternfoundation.org/) at SOAS, University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, and LSE. The festival will feature the work of seven leading filmmakers from India through screenings, conversations, panel discussions and art installations.

For further information about the festival, please follow this link: http://magiclanternfoundation.org/blog/2011/10/persistence-resistance-in-london/

Devi: the Goddess and the Modern Indian Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Readers may be interested in a free lecture on Monday 31st October 2011 at SOAS from 7 - 8.15 pm in the Brunei Gallery, Russell Square, Thornhaugh Street, London, WC1H OXG.

Eminent Indian social activist Madhu Kishwar, founder of “Manushi” and one of India’s foremost thinkers in the arena of women’s rights, social justice and collective responsibility, will speak on the top of Devi: the Goddess and the Modern Indian Woman.

She will be joined by Mukulika Banerjee from the London School of Economics. See Mukulika’s blog on the DEVI series at: http://www.progressivewomen.org.uk/devi-the-goddess-and-the-modern-indian-woman/

For more information, email events@katrianahazell.com

The Crisis of Indian Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:30:00 +0000

This year's Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture, on ‘The Crisis of Indian Democracy’, will be delivered by Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh on Monday 21st November 2011 at 6.30 pm at Chatham House, 10 St James’s Square, London, SWIY 4LE

Admission Free, but subject to personal registration with asia@chathamhouse.org.uk
or 0207 314 2761

The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture is kindly sponsored by India Advisory Partners Limited and generously supported by Trinity College,Cambridge, The Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Trust.

Festival of Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:30:00 +0000

The University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas celebrates the arts, humanities and social sciences, and is the only free festival of its kind in the UK. Festival events are extremely popular, and booking without delay is essential to avoid disappointment. Visit the Festival of Ideas website for full details on how to secure a place by phone or online: www.cam.ac.uk/festivalofideas.

Events likely to interest readers of the SAALG blog include:


Laying the topmost stone of New Delhi (one of two) on 30th September 1927

Moving Pictures, Moving Stories: photographs, films and interviews from the end of the Raj - on Saturday 29 October 2011, 15.00-16.30, Mill Lane Lecture Room 5.
Dr Annamaria Motrescu and Dr Kevin Greenbank (Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge) will discuss the use of these unique archival resources in online projects and classrooms. To book your place, email: admin@s-asian.cam.ac.uk or phone: 01223 338094.

Submitted as a cover for a tourist brochure
by Heather Balfour in 1959

Essays of Empire - on Thursday 27 October 17:00-18:00, Morison Room, Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DR.

Dr Seán Lang (Senior Lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University, and Chair of the Better History Group) will present a glimpse of how school children across the globe responded to the pressures for change within the British Empire through their entries to the Royal Commonwealth Society essay competition.
To book: telephone 0845 271 3333 or online at: www.angliaruskincommunity.eventbrite.com/

Links to digital resources:

Films from the archives, Centre of South Asian Studies: http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/films.html and interviews: http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/audio.html

Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition archive: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/repository/item_of_the_term/

300th anniversary of Tamil New Testament (1711)

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:30:00 +0000

Title page of the first part of the Tamil New Testament, printed in Tranquebar in 1714. The revised text is based on the first complete translation of the Tamil New Testament in 1711.

The 1711 manuscript inscribed on palm leaves in kept in the Royal Library, Copenhagen.

This year sees the Three Hundredth anniversary of the translation of the New Testament into Tamil. To mark this event Daniel Jeyeraj, Professor of World Christianity at Liverpool Hope University, will present a paper examining the Hindu religious traditions, Tamil cultural habits and linguistic factors that influenced the translation of the New Testament into Tamil in 1711. He writes:

The first Lutheran Pietist missionaries to Tranquebar, India believed that each person should be able to read and understand God's Word in their mother tongue and their love for the Tamil people enabled them to engage in a co-operative endeavour. They learned and borrowed a great deal of translated bible passages from the Jesuits. In their report to European readers they denied this fact. However an examination of their Tamil translation betrays how much they depended on the previous works of the Jesuits. Again the missionaries were unwilling to openly acknowledge the linguistic help rendered to them by Tamil Lutheran converts.

5.30 pm, Tuesday, 1^st November. Venue: Room ST273, Stewart House, 2nd floor. Stewart House is part of the Senate House complex, London WC1. It is most conveniently entered from Russell Square. For map see http://www.london.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/home/map.pdf

All Welcome

Rosemary Seton, Christian Missions in Global History Seminar, Institute of Historical Research, Email: rosemary@seton.demon.co.uk

Untold Lives - Sharing Stories from the Past

noreply@blogger.com (Penny Brook) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:42:00 +0000

The Untold Lives blog has just been launched by the British Library. Our collections contain stories of people’s lives worldwide, from the dawn of history to the present day. They are told through the written word, images, audio-visual and digital materials. The Untold Lives blog shares those stories, providing fascinating and unusual insights into the past and bringing out from the shadows lives that have been overlooked or forgotten. The blog will include stories that will be of interest to readers of the SAALG blog. There is already a story about East India Company warehouse labourers, and tales of Austrian and German missionaries and madams in India will appear in the blog soon.

We hope to inspire new research and encourage enjoyment, knowledge and understanding of the British Library and its collections. In addition to stories from the past, we will give glimpses of the hidden life of the Library and provide information about events and exhibitions. The blog will contain many links to act as signposts to research information and online resources that you can explore for work or pleasure.

The Untold Lives blog is managed by the History and Classics department but will include contributions from colleagues across the Library as a whole and from partners in collaborative projects such as Making Britain.

NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR INFORMATION RESOURCES ON ASIA (NACIRA)

noreply@blogger.com (Farzana Whitfield) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:29:00 +0000

CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2011

Revealing hidden gems:

Asian collections in the 21^st century

Monday December 5^th 2011

10.30am-4.00pm

Venue: The Eliot Room at the British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB

Our speakers will be

Gillian Evison and Andrew Skilton of the Bodleian Library on the union catalogue of Buddhist Shan manuscripts project

Annabel Gallop of the BL on the work of the South East Asian section of the British Library, with a visit to the collections

Chris Dillon of University College London on the future scenario for non-Roman script domain names

Yasmin Faghihi of Cambridge University Library on the FIHRIST Islamic Manuscripts Catalogue project of Oxford and Cambridge University Libraries

Peter Kornicki of Cambridge University on the growth of Tangut studies

The cost will be only £25 this year, to include lunch and refreshments (£10fofor students)

For further particulars on how to register please contact Gill Goddard, secretary of NACIRA on: g.m.goddard@sheffield.ac.uk

Freemasonry and the Indian Parsi Community

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:17:00 +0000

Some readers of this blog may be interested in a two day conference taking place in London on 22nd and 23rd October 2011, Freemasonry and Empire.

The Saturday programme includes:

Susan Snell, Archivist at the Library and Museum of Freemasonry speaking about the masonic relationship between Umdat ul Umrah (future Nawab of the Carnatic) and the Prince of Wales (future King George IV), Grand Master in 'Western ideology meets Eastern promise: an archival view';
Simon Deschamps, University of Bordeaux III, on 'Freemasonry and the Indian Parsi community: a late meeting on the level'; and Dr Annamaria Motrescu, Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, on 'Uncharted masonic identities in British colonial amateur films, 1920-1940'.

Full details of the conference programme are available online at: http://www.canonbury.ac.uk/conferences/programme11.pdf

The Flamboyant Mr Chinnery

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:10:00 +0000

The Flamboyant Mr Chinnery: an English artist in India and China - a free exhibition at Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 7LP -
4 November 2011 - 21 January 2012.

The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of events, for which tickets cost £8 per event, (£5 to Asia House Friends). Booking: 020 7307 5454 or email: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk

Events include:

Dr Patrick Conner, (Curator of the exhibition) on The Magic and the Myths : George Chinnery in India and China - Wednesday 9th November 2011, 18.45-19.45

Dr Frances Wood on China before Chinnery - Thursday 24th November 2011, 18.45-1945

John Keay on George Chinnery's India - Thursday 1st December 2011, 1845-19.45

Panel discussion on the relationship between China and India in the present day - Monday 16th January 2012, 18.45-19.45

The Himalayan Film Festival 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Farzana Whitfield) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:30:00 +0000

The Himalaya Film and Cultural Festival is on from 13th October. It will celebrate the rich and varied culture of the mightiest mountain range with film, music, art and photography.

The festival will showcase at various venues across the capital through the month of October. You can find more details below:

http://www.himalayafest.org.uk/

Lectures in Cambridge

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:23:00 +0000

Empire and the Historical Imagination in Colonial India is the theme of this year's Smuts Commonwealth Lecture, to be given by Professor Dipesh Chakrabarty (University of Chicago) on Tuesday, 18th October 2011, at 5.00 pm in Mill Lane Lecture Room 3, Cambridge. Everyone is welcome, no RSVP required. The lecture is supported by the Smuts Memorial Fund.

The lecture will focus on the question of how the modern academic discipline of history travelled to India in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and gave rise to a fundamentally anachronistic and utopian understanding of the eighteenth century among nationalist historians.

Gandhi and the burden of civility is the title of the Centre of South Asian Studies annual Kingsley Martin Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by Professor Uday Singh Mehta (City University of New York) on Wednesday, 26th October 2011, at 5.00 pm in the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms, Room 9.

Again, everyone is welcome, no RSVP required, and there will be a Reception afterwards to which everyone is also welcome to attend.

The SADACC Trust

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:57:00 +0000

SAALG members are warmly invited to three exhibitions at the SADACC Trust in Norwich:

Early Visions of India. Three pioneering British artists: aquatints by Thomas and William Daniell and James Baillie Fraser
Arts and crafts of the Swat Valley and tribal areas of Northern Pakistan
Beadwork from Gujarat, Western India

The South Asian Decorative Arts and Crafts Collection is located in the The Old Skating Rink Gallery in Bethel Street, Norwich.

Comprising over 3000 items, it includes pictures and prints, architectural items, vernacular furniture and objects which illustrate the everyday arts and crafts from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, though good examples of modern production are also included.

Geographically, the collection concentrates primarily on South Asia and to a lesser extent on neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Burma, Thailand and Indonesia.

The collection originated following a number of journeys through South Asia in the 1970s and additions to it have continued ever since. In the 1980s, pictures and prints started to be collected covering the period from the late 18th century through to the early 20th century, particularly where these portrayed aspects of everyday life in the region. Good examples of modern traditional miniature painting have also been collected or commissioned.

The SADACC Trust has been actively acquiring good examples of everyday South Asian arts and crafts and displaying these through a series of exhibitions. It also holds periodic lectures on South Asian arts, crafts and culture, and awards travel and educational scholarships to postgraduate students for the study of South Asian arts, crafts and culture. It is also building a library of resources on South Asian arts, crafts and culture.

The Trust's website includes digital images of an increasing number of items in the collection, such as the fine Company School painting, beadwork hat and Nuristani door illustrating this post and I would encourage readers to explore their website and visit the collection. I very much hope that a future SAALG conference will include a visit to this fine collection in Norwich.

Shakta Traditions - Oxford Conference, 10–11 September 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Rachel Rowe) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:45:00 +0000

A conference on Shakta traditions, organised by the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in collaboration with the Section for the Study of Religion at Aarhus University, will take place at Somerville College, Oxford on 10th and 11th September 2011. Registration costs £15 for the weekend. All are welcome.
See: http://ochs.org.uk/research/sakta-traditions

The conference aims to present an interdisciplinary survey of Śākta history, practice and doctrine in its diversity as well as to convey something of the Śākta religious world view that is distinctive and sets ‘Śāktism’ apart from other South Asian religious traditions.

For a detailed programme of speakers and talks, see: http://ochs.org.uk/research/sakta-traditions

Changes to the British Library's website

noreply@blogger.com (Penny Brook) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Recently we introduced a new home page and search facility on our website. This new home page, which is the result of extensive user testing, has new navigation labels, a rotating carousel of images and dropdown menus to help users find our full range of web content and services much more easily.
While the new home page looks quite different, the rest of the website is unchanged. So there is no need to edit your bookmarks or favourites. Meanwhile, a major project to redevelop a new website from scratch is already underway.
The new search ('Explore the British Library') is a major change, as it now allows users to search much more than our web pages and main catalogue. It retrieves twice as many journal article records as before, as well as sound recordings, 'trade literature', theses, datasets, archived UK websites, maps and music scores - adding up to over 60 million items.
Web page and catalogue results appear in separate tabs, and it is is easier to refine your results than before.
Please let us know what you think webeditor@bl.uk
You can also tweet your comments using #BLnewhomepage

SAALG summer conference

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Usher) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:58:00 +0000

Our 85th conference was held on 1st July in Edinburgh and spread over two days. On day 1, Dr Andrew Grout was our attentive host at the University of Edinburgh Library, and between talks we were given a tour of the refurbished building and got a chance to see some of the South Asian collections.

On Saturday, Dr. Henry Noltie was our guide to the Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and we had a behind-the-scenes look at a selection of the Garden's fabulous collections of dried plants and rare books, including items from the collection of Francis Buchanan Hamilton.