The Asiatic Society of Bombay is a public state library in the city of Mumbai, India. The society, founded by Sir James Mackintosh was then known as the Literary Society of Bombay, and first met on November 26, 1830. It was later moved to the present Town Hall building which was built in 1804. The library is currently run on an annual grant by the state of Maharashtra. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the most populous Indian city. ... The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. ... Sir James Mackintosh (October 24, 1765 - May 30, 1832), Scottish publicist, was undoubtedly one of the most cultured and catholic-minded men of his time. ... November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1804 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... India is subdivided into 28 states, 6 union territories and a national capital territory. ... Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र) is a state in west-central India. ...

Holdings

The library has over a hundred thousand books out of which 15,000 are classified as rare valuable. It also has priceless articles, over 3,000 ancient manuscripts in Persian, Sanskrit and Prakrit. Persian (فارسی), also known as Farsi (local name), Parsi (older local name, but still used by some speakers), Tajik (a Central Asian dialect) or Dari (an Afghan dialect), is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... Prakrit (Sanskrit prakrta: natural, usual, vulgar) refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. ...

Among the rare works are:

1. One of the only two known original copies of Dante's Divine Comedy
2. The Vasupujyacharita (12th century) Sanskrit text following the life of the Jain Tirthankara Vasupujya
3. The Shahnama of Firdausi (1853), written in Persian
4. The Aranyakaparvan (16th century) manuscript contains illustrated text from the Mahabharat and is written in Sanskrit.
5. Five Buddhist caskets excavated in the ancient port town of Sopara near the suburb of Nala Sopara.

Dante redirects here. ... This article is about the epic poem. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolizes the Jain Vow of Ahinsa, meaning non-injury and nonviolence. ... In Jainism, a Tirthankara (Fordmaker) is a human who achieved enlightenment, became a Jina, and whose religious teachings have formed the canon of Jainism; although not Gods, statues of Tirthankaras are found in temples. ... Shahnameh Shahnameh The Shahnama (Book of Kings) also written Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi around 1000 AD, is the national epic of Iran and one of the definite classics of world literature. ... Events January 19 - Giuseppe Verdis opera Il Trovatore premieres in Rome January 21 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope folding machine January 29 - Napoleon III marries the Spanish Countess Eugènie at the Tuileries March 4 – Inauguration of US president Franklin Pierce June 7 - Franklin College of Lancaster, Pennsylvania merges... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is the great religious, philosophical and mythological epic of India. ... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ... Nala Sopara is a town within the Mumbai Conurbation with a population of 184,664 (2001 census). ...

The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy held by the society, written by Dante Alighieri in the 14th century, is one of the only two known surviving original manuscripts. It was given to the Society by Mountstuart Elphinstone, governor of Bombay and President of the Society from 1819-1827 and bears his signature. Dante in a fresco series of famous men by Andrea del Castagno, ca. ... (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ... Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 - November 20, 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the British government of India. ... 1819 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Events February 20 - Battle of Huzaingo February 28 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. ...

In 1930, the Italian government under Mussolini offered the society one million pounds, citing it to be a national treasure. Mussolini believed that the offer could not be refused, but to his shock, the Society turned down his request stating that it was donated by an ex-member of the Society and hence it was their property. 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, can generally refer to the currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ...

The book is leather bound and is in a good condition. A visit to the Society by the Italian Minister of Culture in 2002 confirmed that it was in a much better condition than its other survivor which is currently in Milan. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ...

Functions of the society

• Holding: Preserving, conserving, cataloguing and documenting holdings
• Research: Generating supporting and disseminating research in its chosen fields
• Public interface: Providing a forum for debate and discussions on topics of public interest.

The adopt-a-book scheme was recently introduced by the Society which allows patrons to fund the upkeep of rare books. The Society is in financially in the red with a loss of Rs 1 crore (10 million). Due to the availability of information from the internet, membership has dropped significantly in recent years. The Internet, or simply the Net, is the publicly available worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using a standardized Internet Protocol (IP) and many other protocols. ...

Town Hall

The Town Hall building was originally built by the British as the town hall in 1804. It is a heritage structure, heavily influenced by Greek and Roman architecture. It has a portico with eight Doric columns. A flight of 30 steps lead up to the town hall and a wrought iron divided Regency staircase leads to the vestibule. In 1930 Sir John Malcolm, governor of Bombay stated: "It is the most magnificent structure that taste and munificence combined have as yet erected in India." The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... 1804 is a leap year starting on Sunday. ... The uncompleted Doric temple at Segesta, Sicily, has been waiting for finishing of its surfaces since 430 - 420 BC The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of Ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. ... Wrought iron is a very pure form of commercial iron, having a very small carbon content. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Sir John Malcolm (1769‑1833) was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian, born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire. ... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ... Bombay Presidency was a former province of British India. ...

The edifice is in the prime Fort area of South Mumbai overlooking the Horniman Circle Gardens and the Reserve Bank of India. South Mumbai South Mumbai (also referred to as South Bombay) is a geographic region in the city of Mumbai, India. ... The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India, and was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. ...

External links

• Homepage of the Asiatic Society of Bombay (http://education.vsnl.com/asbl/)