Activities

Release of ASM Journal Volume 91

We are happy to share with you that on 25^th November 2023, on the occasion of the Foundation Day of the Asiatic, the Society has released Volume 91 of the ASM Journal. It has come to the Society's notice that some unscrupulous elements are collecting money for publishing papers in the Society's Journal and offering bogus certificates. The Asiatic Society does not collect money for publishing in its journal, nor does it guarantee publication, and neither does it issue any certificate. Authors must verify with the Society before submitting any papers, and papers will be published only after rigorous peer review and editing. The Society does not take responsibility for any payments made to third parties claiming to represent the Society, or for their papers appearing in a cloned/spam journal. Ours is a print-only journal.

The lateritic plateau of the southern Konkan (Sada) is home to potentially thousands of petroglyphs — drawings etched into stone. Representing humans, animals, plants and abstractions, these are silent sentinels of a culture that has long vanished. Yet their continuing sacredness to the residents talk of cultural continuity that has lasted millennia. Since 2018, the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra has worked with amateur and professional rockart enthusiasts, archaeologists and local residents to document and conserve these petroglyphs and promote sustainabletourism around them. The efforts have culminated in UNESCO listing them in its tentative list of WorldHeritageSites.

In celebration of AzaadikaAmritMahotsav, the Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai presents a free public lecture by Dr. Tejas Garge Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra on "Discovery of Rock Art in Konkan and it's potential as World Heritage" on 22nd August 2022 at the Durbar Hall of the Society. Prof Arvind P Jamkhedkar, former Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Maharashtra will preside.

All are welcome. This is a walk in lecture.

The Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai presents a free public lecture by Dr. Jehangir Sorabjee titled "Bombay @ 75 — A visual sweep through the lost and found" on 17th August 2022 at 5 pm in the Durbar Hall. All are invited.

75 years after Independence, the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) has undergone massive growth and transformation. In the process much of its heritage has been obliterated and many familiar views of the city have been lost to us. This talk aims to take us on a visual tour of the city from the air and from the ground highlighting the changes that have taken place as well as focusing on parts of the hidden heritage in familiar and unexplored regions of the city that slip by our notice.

Dr Jehangir Sorabjee (MBBS, MD, MRCP, DTM&H) is Head of the Department of Medicine at the Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences, specializing is Infectious Diseases with stints at Kasturba Infectious Diseases Hospital and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London and the Royal Free Hospital. He has numerous academic publications.

Dr Sorabjee has published a widely acclaimed book of aerial pictures of Mumbai – “Above Bombay”. His images have been exhibited at the VeniceBiennale in 2006, The TateModern in 2007, the CanaryIslandsBiennale in 2009, the KalaGhodaFestival in 2010 and at the JehangirArtGallery in February 2013. Some have been selected for permanent display at the Mumbai Airport. His street photography was featured in Art India Magazine. He is currently working on a second book of unknown spaces in Mumbai.

Itamar Toussia Cohen has a BA from the prestigious Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem with a focus on painting, sculpture, art history & theory and an MA in Middle Eastern History from Tel Aviv University with a focus on Indian Ocean History, the Global History of Labour, British Aden, and Islamic Studies. He also spent a semester as an Erasmus+ Scholar in the Department of Global History at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. Since completing his Master’s, he has worked as a research assistant for a faculty member at Tel Aviv University. He is fluent in English and German in addition to his native Hebrew and has an excellent working knowledge of Gujarati and Modern Standard Arabic. He is an artist, primarily of figurative and decorative painting inspired by Arabic calligraphy, and a musician who has written, recorded, and performed original music in Tel Aviv and abroad.

Itamar studies the network infrastructures which preceded British colonialism in the Western Indian Ocean and how trade in this area was structured around kinship and community, particularly the Parsi community during the British Raj. Beyond dominant Weberian and Marxist models for explaining mercantile capitalist development, he is interested in more inclusive approaches to history which look at cultural hybridity in contrast to the tradition of national historiography that dominate Israeli academia.

The Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai has arranged a visit to the INS Angre Complex on Saturday, 9th July 2022 and also to the Naval Dockyard on Sunday, 17th July 2022. Both the visits are from 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon and they are strictly arranged for the Members and staff of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
Those members who wish to attend these visits may please pay on the below link/s latest by 1st July 2022 in order to enable us to forward the names to the concerned authorities. Further please email a copy of your Aadhaar card to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

INS Angre: https://rzp.io/l/91Mdd48W

Naval Dockyard: https://rzp.io/l/t7w1oDDu

The charges are Rs.300/- per visit.

- Dr. Shehernaz Nalwalla, Chairperson Mumbai Research Centre
- Prof. Mangala Sirdeshpande, Officiating Hon. Secretary

The Literary Club of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai
invites you to a talk by Dr Aneesh Pradhan on “Instruments of Change: The Santoor and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma"in the Durbar Hall on Tuesday 28th June at 5 p.m.

The Literary Club of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is pleased to invite you to a talk by Dr Aneesh Pradhan on “Instruments of Change: The Santoor and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma” on Tuesday 28th June at 5 p.m.
Across generations, practitioners and scholars of Hindustani music have debated on matters concerning purity and authenticity related to this musical tradition. Despite efforts at various points of time to project this system of music as a monolithic and unchanging entity, path-breakers have been involved in experimentation that has led to the evolution of musical styles, genres, compositional forms and instruments. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma’s journey to establish the santoor, a trapezoid-shaped instrument from Jammu and Kashmir, on the Hindustani music concert platform was an arduous one. This talk is a tribute to the maestro, who has left behind a rich musical legacy.

Dr Aneesh Pradhan is one of India’s leading tabla players, he is a disciple of the illustrious tabla maestro Nikhil Ghosh from whom he inherited a rich and varied repertoire of traditional tabla solo compositions. An acclaimed soloist and accompanist, Dr Pradhan is the recipient of several prestigious awards. He regularly conducts lecture-demonstrations and workshops and participates in seminars at educational institutions in India and abroad.

Dr Pradhan has been awarded the prestigious silver medal by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai for his book titled “Hindustani Music in Colonial Bombay.”
We look forward to having you with us on this occasion.
Tea will be served at 4.30 p.m.

- Meenal Kshirsagar, Vice President of the Society & Chairperson
- Prof. Mangala Sirdeshpande, Officiating Hon. Secretary Endowment Lectures Committee

Call for Applications for ASM-MRC Research Grants for 2022-2023

The Mumbai Research Centre of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai is pleased to announce the availability of research grants on any subject pertinent to the city of Mumbai, its metropolitan region and the erstwhile Bombay Presidency/State. The following grants will be available for qualified candidates:

1. 3 month grant of INR 5,000/-

2. 6 month grant of INR 10,000/-

3. 12 month grant of INR 25,000/-

The last date for receipt of signed grant applications, in physical form whether by post or in person is 30th June 2022. Successful applicants will be intimated by email by 31 July 2022.

Download the form from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FnYfhW8VPePpfG0Nhhc4_oMxppdxOBie/view?usp=sharing and please read the rules carefully before applying. Improperly-filled forms will be disqualified.