It is with great sadness that we report the death\u00a0on the 24th January 2021\u200b\u00a0of Dr. David Washbrook, Trinity College, Cambridge,\u00a0a\u00a0distinguished historian of South\u00a0Asia\u00a0and a long-standing member of the Society.\u00a0He made\u00a0significant contributions\u00a0to our understanding of\u00a0the social and economic history of India, examining inequality through the prism of caste and class and\u00a0to the\u00a0political\u00a0history of South India.\u00a0He was also\u00a0greatly\u00a0admired as a teacher and mentor by his students and colleagues. We offer our sincere condolences to his family,\u00a0friends,\u00a0colleagues and students.<\/p>\n
For further tributes please visit:\u00a0http:\/\/www.hist.cam.ac.uk<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.trin.cam.ac.uk<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.dailyo.in<\/a> \u00a0http:\/\/www.sant.ox.ac.uk<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/thewire.in\/author\/prashant-kidambi<\/a><\/p>\n Filiz\u00a0\u00c7a\u011fman\u00a0(1940-2021)<\/strong><\/p>\n It is also with great sadness that we learned of\u00a0the death of Dr. Filiz \u00c7a\u011fman,\u00a0the\u00a0distinguished\u00a0Turkish art historian on the 11th January 2021 in Edirne. She had a long and successful career working\u00a0in the Topkap\u0131\u00a0Palace\u00a0Library for over forty years and was\u00a0Director of the Museum between 1997-2005.\u00a0She was a well-known\u00a0figure to all those engaged in the study of the\u00a0rare\u00a0collections\u00a0she curated.\u00a0She published extensively,\u00a0revealing many unknown treasures to an international audience.\u00a0We send our sincere condolences to her family, friends and\u00a0colleagues.<\/p>\n For further tributes please go to:\u00a0http:\/\/www.hurriyetdailynews.com<\/a><\/p>\n For other news, we thought we would provide an update on the Society\u2019s collections. Whilst the reading room is currently closed to researchers, myself and Edward Weech are continuing to work through a variety of tasks from home. This includes responding to enquiries about the collections and directing people to our Digital Library<\/a> where possible.<\/p>\n One of the tasks I have been working on is the cataloguing of a small collection of papers of the Israeli historian, Professor Abraham Poliak, also known as Polak, (1910-1970). Little is known about his early life except that his family emigrated from Southern Ukraine to Palestine in 1923. Professor Poliak developed an interest in Islam and in 1934 completed his MA dissertation at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the \u2018Culture of Islam\u2019. He was awarded a PhD in 1936 with his thesis entitled, \u2018The History of Land Relationships in Egypt, Syria and Israel during the Late Middle Ages and in Modern Times.’<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 1937 he became a member of The Royal Asiatic Society. His research on feudalism in the Middle East captured the attention of the Society\u2019s awards committee and his publication, \u2018Feudalism in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the Lebanon 1250-1900\u2019<\/em> was published by the Society\u2019s Prize Publication Fund in 1939. A copy is currently held in the Society\u2019s collections.<\/a><\/p>\n From the papers I have been cataloguing, it is evident that this work was highly regarded as the collection contains a letter from the Librarie du Liban in Beirut to the Society in 1968, requesting authorisation for the reprint of 1000 copies of this publication.<\/p>\n However, the Society already had plans for a reprint and contacted Professor Poliak, asking whether he would like to make amendments to the original publication for the re-printed edition. It is clear from the correspondence that this suggestion was received enthusiastically as the collection contains three notebooks of the amendments that he made. It is clear that this task required a great deal of effort on his part as he copied the original text by hand before making amendments in pencil.<\/p>\n Sadly, the plans to reprint this work never came to fruition. A letter written in 1971 from the Secretary of the Society, Diana Crawford, to Professor Poliak, stated that the Society\u2019s Prize Publication Fund did not have the monetary resources for a complete reprint of the publication. This was never received by him as the Society was not aware that Professor Poliak had already died the previous year.<\/p>\n Whilst I feel sad that Professor Poliak was unable to see his book republished, it reminds me of the importance of my role in making information associated with scholars and their work accessible to the public. These papers will be made available on the Society\u2019s Archives Hub<\/a> page in the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Please join us at 6.30pm on Thursday February 25th for a Zoom book launch\u00a0by Professor Christopher Hancock on\u00a0\u2018Christianity and Confucianism: Culture, Faith and Politics\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>with respondent Graham Hutchings (Associate, Oxford University China Centre).<\/p>\n The publication sets a comparative textual analysis against the backcloth of 2000 years of cultural, political, and religious interaction between China and the West. As the world responds to China’s rise and China positions herself for global engagement, this major new study seeks to revise an ancient conversation.<\/p>\nCollections Update:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Virtual book launch by Professor Christopher Hancock:<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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