{"id":23341,"date":"2025-09-29T21:09:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T20:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/?page_id=23341"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:55:35","slug":"bayly-prize","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/bayly-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bayly Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Bayly Prize<\/h2>\n

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The Award<\/h4>\n

The Bayly Prize is awarded for a distinguished thesis in an Asian subject falling within the scope of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society<\/em> or the Journal of Modern Asian Studies<\/em>. The award winner will be presented with a prize of \u00a32,500.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eligibility<\/h4>\n

The thesis must have been examined and approved for the PhD degree at a British University in 2025. The date of the final approval letter must fall between 1st January and 31st December 2025.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nominations for the 2026 award are now open<\/h4>\n

Please download and complete the application form BAYLY-PRIZE-APPLICATION-FORM-2026<\/a>, and return by email with a PDF of your thesis and a certificate of the award of the PhD degree to the Director, Alison Ohta, ao@royalasiaticsociety.org<\/a>\u00a0by Monday 28th September 2026.<\/p>\n

Supervisors may nominate by name alone, but this must be followed by a direct application by the graduate by the closing date of\u00a0Monday 28th September 2026, and two references will still be required by the same date.<\/p>\n

The prizewinner will be announced in 2027, and will be offered the opportunity to publish their work as a Royal Asiatic Society monograph. Other finalists will be eligible for consideration for an award of the Royal Asiatic Society\u2019s Universities\u2019 Prize Essay, and their work may be considered for publication by the RAS. For all enquiries, please email the Director, Alison Ohta, at ao@royalasiaticsociety.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prize Panel<\/h4>\n

The Prize Panel is composed of Prof. Benjamin Hopkins (The George Washington University), Prof. Nile Green (UCLA), Prof Magnus Marsden (University of Sussex), Prof. Jagjeet Lally (University College London) and Prof. Susan Whitfield (Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East Anglia).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the Prize<\/h4>\n

The Prize was instigated in 2018 by friends and colleagues of the late Professor Sir Christopher Bayly FBA to mark his outstanding contribution to the study of world history and that of Asia in particular. The inaugural award was made in 2018.[\/vc_column_text][vc_tta_accordion active_section=”0″ collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”About Professor Christopher Bayly” tab_id=”1759093883545-aacfa703-2a40″][vc_column_text css=””]\"\"Christopher Bayly (1945\u20132015) was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. His father, Roy, was a master mariner and a geography teacher, and Bayly was inspired by his father\u2019s tales of travels and by the intellectual ambition of his mother, Elfreda. He studied European history at Balliol College, Oxford, but a long vacation across land to India in 1965, passing through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, sparked his passion for Asia. Under Professor Jack Gallagher, in 1966, Bayly began a thesis on Indian history. Bayly moved to Cambridge in 1969 and held many roles in this time there, including President of St Catharine\u2019s College, Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History in the Faculty of History, and Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies with which he was associated for over 45 years.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The Bayly Prize Fund Appeal<\/h4>\n

The Appeal for the Bayly Prize Fund remains open to enable the Prize to be put on a sustainable long-term footing. Contributions via PayPal can be made through the Support Us<\/a> page. If you would prefer to download and print out hard copies of the donation forms, please click on the appropriate form below.<\/p>\n

Bayly Prize Supporter Form – Bankers order regular payment<\/a>
\nBayly Prize Supporter Form – Single donation – cheque<\/a><\/p>\n

The Society would like to recognise and give thanks to the following for their generous donations to the Bayly Prize Fund.[\/vc_column_text][vc_tta_accordion active_section=”0″ collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Bayly Prize Donors” tab_id=”1759180931744-7efb1ba6-6f9d”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

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Alexandra McCarter<\/p>\n

Ann Wilks<\/p>\n

Ayesha Jalal<\/p>\n

Barbara Harriss-White<\/p>\n

Barbara Roe<\/p>\n

Brady Brim-DeForest of Balvaird Castle<\/p>\n

The Reverend Brian Roberts<\/p>\n

Cambridge University Press<\/p>\n

David Armitage<\/p>\n

Derek Davis<\/p>\n

Erica Wald<\/p>\n

Felicia Hecker<\/p>\n

William Crawley<\/p>\n

James Sasoon<\/p>\n

Rachel Rowe<\/p>\n

Sir Richard Lambert<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Francis & Pat Robinson<\/p>\n

Hamilton McMillan<\/p>\n

J A Thompson<\/p>\n

James Lupton<\/p>\n

John Robert Guy<\/p>\n

Jonathan Bayly<\/p>\n

Katherine Prior<\/p>\n

Lionel Knight<\/p>\n

Ludmila Jordanova<\/p>\n

Michael Swanwick<\/p>\n

The Past And Present Society<\/p>\n

Perveez Moody<\/p>\n

Christopher Durrant<\/p>\n

Anthony Stockwell<\/p>\n

Simon Szreter<\/p>\n

Anuradha Malshe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Peter James Marshall<\/p>\n

Peter Robb<\/p>\n

Ricardo Roque<\/p>\n

Richard Hall<\/p>\n

Robin Gilbert<\/p>\n

Seema Alavi<\/p>\n

Sugata Bose<\/p>\n

The Thriplow Charitable Trust<\/p>\n

Tom and Barbara Metcalf<\/p>\n

The Wolfson Foundation<\/p>\n

Prasun Sonwalkar<\/p>\n

Stephen Crew<\/p>\n

Joe Cribb<\/p>\n

Richard Blurton<\/p>\n

Peter Ford<\/p>\n

Revd Hamish Fullerton<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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2024 Winners<\/h3>\n

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First Prize<\/h5>\n

Dr. Luis Junqueira
\n<\/strong>University of Cambridge
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Science of the Spirit: Psychical Research, Healthcare and the Revival of the Occult in a Modernising China, 1900\u20131949<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”23343″ img_size=”180×180″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Second Prize<\/h5>\n

Dr.Xiaoqing Wang
\n<\/strong>University of Edinburgh
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bodyscapes of Modernity: A Post-Critical Sociology of Art and the body in republican China (1912-1937)<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”23344″ img_size=”180×180″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Third Prize<\/h5>\n

Dr Junda Lu
\n<\/strong>School of Oriental and African Studies<\/p>\n

The State as the Celestial: Roots of Statism in Modern China, 1820-1893<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”More about the Winners” style=”outline-custom” shape=”round” align=”center” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Froyalasiaticsociety.org%2Fthe-bayly-prize-2024-winners%2F”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Winners of the Past Three Years<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”19887″ img_size=”180×180″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]Awarded in 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Thomas Barrett (University of Oxford)<\/h4>\n

Foreigners and the Making of the Chinese Diplomat<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”18792″ img_size=”180×180″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]Awarded in 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Sonia Wigh (University of Exeter)<\/h4>\n

The Body of Words: A social history of sex and the body in early modern South Asia<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”23357″ img_size=”180×180″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_circle” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text css=””]Awarded in 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr Mallika Leuzinger\u00a0(UCL)<\/h4>\n

Dwelling in Photography: Intimacy, Amateurism and the Camera in South Asia<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=””] The Bayly Prize [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1759181458733{padding-right: 50px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=””] The Award The Bayly Prize is awarded for a distinguished thesis in an Asian subject falling within the scope of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society or the Journal of Modern Asian Studies. The award winner will be presented with a prize of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7635,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-23341","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23341"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24785,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23341\/revisions\/24785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}