monographs

This monograph attempts to review the writings and research of William Henry Sykes (1790–1872) on India. Sykes came to India to serve as an officer in the East India Company Army. Later he was appointed as the Statistical Reporter of the Deccan. During the...

William Edward Frere (1811–1880), brother of Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay, was a Civil Servant who arrived in Bombay in 1830. He began his career as Principal Collector of Surat, and he moved from there to serve the Sudder Diwani Adalat Courts in...

An attempt is made in this monograph to explore the life and research work of William Erskine (1773–1852), the first Secretary of the Literary Society of Bombay (later the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of London and now the Asiatic Society of...

The prime object of this monograph is to review the Indian career of the two Jervis brothers George Risto and Thomas Best with a view to highlighting their pioneering contributions to the cause of rational education and to the dissemination of scientific knowledge which...

Sir James Mackintosh was born on 24 October 1765, in the Scottish Highlands and came from a humble background. From a young age, he showed an aptitude to achieve high goals and his extraordinary proficiency in studies earned him the name ‘prodigy of learning’....

Sir George Birdwood can certainly be considered as one of the architects of the city of Bombay in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Although he was trained as a doctor of medicine from the University of Edinburgh, he devoted his life to...

Largely drawn from original and archival sources, this monograph stands out as a distinctive work on the biography of Philip Anderson: 1816 - 1857.  The monograph sketches Anderson’s contribution in the field of literature. As Chaplain of the Afghan Church in Bombay, the monograph explores his ability to navigate between...

Professor Peter Peterson, a Sanskritist by training, was the last European to be appointed as Professor of Oriental Languages in the Elphinstone College, Bombay. He served as Registrar of the Bombay University for a considerably long period. Peterson was the President of the Bombay...

Researchers on the Bombay Presidency, epigraphy, and the history and folklore of Karnataka have the advantage of a solid foundation laid by an extraordinary gentleman, John Faithfull Fleet. A British I.C.S. officer, whose love for India and its people is well documented, Fleet held...

A series of 25 monographs on the Founders, Promoters and Guardians of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, the series expects to prepare meticulously researched monographs based on the primary and fresh source material preserved by the Society, along with that available elsewhere, highlighting the...

Dr. George Buist (1805–1860), the editor of the Bombay Times (precursor of the Times of India), merits attention of historians on account of his significant contributions to Indian journalism in its infancy, his contributions to the Society and the civic life of Mumbai in...

“I buy MSS wherever I am able to put my hand on them, which is not at all easy. The Brahmins do not want to part with them and hand them over to people from another faith. Only some deceitful agents are able to...

Alexander Kinloch Forbes (1821-1865) is best known as the author of Ras Mala, a book on the history and culture of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat know him as an agent of change, a harbinger of modernity, a fountainhead of new ideas and institutions,...