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Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1952- ) a non-political, non-government and non-profit
learned association registered under the Societies Act of 1860. Established in 1952, the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh is committed to the study of 'Man and Nature of Asia'. Both in spirit and organisational structure, the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh is a near kin to the asiatic society, Calcutta (est. 1784). The President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is its chief patron.
After partition of Bengal (1947), quite a number of scholars,
active as members of the Asiatic Society (Calcutta), migrated to dhaka.
They conceived the idea of founding a similar learned organisation in
Dhaka. It may be noted that in promoting oriental studies, Asiatic Societies,
though not directly linked to each other, were established in London,
Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Mumbai on the model of the original Calcutta
Society. The motto of all these associations has been the study of 'Man
and Nature of Asia'.
The initiative to set up a similar Society in Dhaka came from
Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani, then a teacher in the Department of History
at the university
of dhaka and curator of Dhaka Museum. During pre-partition
days,
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Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
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Dani was a regional superintendent of the Archaeological
Survey of India. He may be called the William Jones of the Asiatic Society
of Pakistan. Dr Dani's idea received enthusiastic support from other scholars
of Dhaka who met on 3 January 1952 and established the Asiatic Society
of Pakistan. The other founding members included Dr ABM Habibullah, Dr
muhammad
shahidullah, Dr IH Juberi, Dr sayed
moazzem hossain, Dr WHA Sadani, Dr abdul
halim, Dr Serajul Haque, Abdul Hamid, Syed Muhammad Taifoor,
Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman, Sheikh Sharafuddin and JS Turner. After liberation,
the Society was renamed as 'Asiatic Society of Bangladesh'.
The organisational set up of the Society followed that
of the Calcutta Asiatic Society. A 17-member elected committee, called
the Council, administers the affairs of the organisation. Its membership
is open to all scholars irrespective of nationality, creed and religion.
The Society's transactions are held at monthly general meetings. The council
is elected at the biennial general meeting, which is usually inaugurated
by the chief patron.
The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh organises and publishes original research studies pertaining to man and nature in Asia. It also publishes a number of journals in English and Bangla. It undertakes research projects and awards scholarships and fellowships to scholars. The Society maintains a reference library and also a laboratory for cartographic, photographic and multimedia work. It is housed in a spacious three-storied building at Nimtali, Dhaka.
The revenue of the Society comes from various sources,
such as government grant-in-aid, members' fees, sales proceeds of publications,
interest from trust funds instituted at the Society by philanthropists,
etc. So far the Society has been endowed with 16 trust funds, each intended
to promote a specific area of research.
[Sajahan Miah]
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