? founded in 1784, by Sir William Jones, a British lawyer and Orientalist, to encourage Oriental studies.
? it was the vehicle for his ideas about the importance of Hindu culture and learning and about the vital role of Sanskrit in the Aryan languages.
? Headquarters are in Kolkata.
? The society owns an art collection that includes paintings by Peter Paul Rubens and Joshua Reynolds.
? The society’s library contains some 100,000 general volumes, and its Sanskrit section has more than 27,000 books, manuscripts, prints, coins, and engravings. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal is published regularly.