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27th July 2010
The first issue of the Trust's newsletter, INDIRAN, is ready. We hope you like the new look! Paper copies will be sent out in the next few days, but a digital version can be downloaded by clicking the link below (warning: large file).
If you have any requests or ideas for stories for the Autumn/Winter issue, please let us know at info@indiran.org.
INDIRAN Spring/Summer 2010 (24 MB)
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27th June 2010
Our Administrator, Anna Collar, is undertaking an exciting overland trip to Mongolia this summer, to raise money for two amazing charities, the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, and BirdLife International. She and her team-mate, boyfriend Stu Eve, also an archaeologist, have managed to secure sponsorship by leading archaeological journal ANTIQUITY, and will be sending in weekly archaeological reports for the Antiquity website. The journey will cover much of the Trust's area of interest - including Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. Any suggestions of sites, excavations or places of interest to visit (and sponsorship) will be much appreciated!
Her last day will be the 16th July, returning to work on the 27th September (fingers crossed that the car doesn't break down too much!) You can find out more about her trip, details of the route, the charities, the fundraising events, watch the music video, and sponsor her at www.lastsakerfalcon.co.uk.
There will be temporary cover in place for most of the summer, and the Library will be open as normal.
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13th June 2010
Over 80 people braved the cold weather to enjoy strawberries, cream and champagne at the AIIT's annual garden party. View more pictures on our facebook page.
4th June 2010
Dr F.R. Allchin, FSA, FBA (1923-2010)
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dr Raymond Allchin, one of the Founding Trustees of the Ancient India and Iran Trust, on Friday, 4 June 2010 in Cambridge.
Raymond Allchin was born in Harrow in 1923 and educated at Westminster but his lifetime commitment to South Asia came when he was posted there during the War in 1944. Quickly switching interests from architecture to archaeology, Raymond was appointed a Lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1954 before moving to Cambridge in 1959. Following a career of fieldwork and research across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he retired from Cambridge University with the title of Emeritus Reader in South Asian Archaeology in 1989. Now freed from University burdens, Raymond committed the next twenty years to developing the research profile of The Ancient India and Iran Trust.
Together with his wife, Bridget Allchin, he influenced generations of students through his joint and edited publications on the archaeology and history of South Asia which ranged from the excavation reports of Piklihal (1960) and Utnur (1963) to the successive synthetic volumes on the The Birth of Indian Civilisation (1968), The Archaeology of Afghanistan (1978), The Rise of Indian Civilisation in India and Pakistan (1982) and The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia (1995), although his 1964 translation of Tulsi Das’ Kavitavali demonstrates the true depth and breadth of his scholarship.
The funeral was held at Cambridge Crematorium on Friday 18th June at 2.15pm, and afterwards at Churchill College, Cambridge.
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May 2010
Between 3-11 June, Clare Hall College Cambridge will be holding INDIA WEEK, a celebration through music, dance, art, lectures, plays and food of all things Indian. All events are FREE! More details can be found on Clare Hall's website, here.
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April 2010
Spring is here at the Trust and we are delighted to announce our Spring Programme. We have finalised our lecture series for the Easter Term and we will be hosting a one-day conference on Recent Research on the Cultural History of Sri Lanka on 15th May. For more information, please click on the Events page, or click here to download the programme for the event.
However, April has seen the departure of long-term volunteers at the Trust, James and Grace Rankin, who have moved back to their native Scotland. We miss them terribly! We wished them well in their new home with a party at the Trust, a couple of pictures below.
This month has also had a research visit from French scholar Christophe Roustan-Delatour, here from Cannes to work on the Betjeman archives. Christophe comes to work at the Trust every year; his usual office in Cannes Museum is one of the most photographed places in the world, situated as it is behind the Festival front!
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December 2009
Volume 19 of the Bulletin of Asia Studies was published, a Festschrift in honour of our Honorary Fellow Prods Oktor Skjaervo containing 27 article on Iranian and Zoroastrian subjects, edited by Carol Bromberg and two of our Trustees, Nicholas and Ursula Sims-Williams.
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May 2009
Click on the PDF symbol to download the Summer 2009 issue of the AIIT's newsletter
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August 2008
August saw the launch of the Trust's new website, which has been updated in both style and content. Although the new site is almost complete, some content is yet to be added, so for the time being the old site will still be accessible here.
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June 2008
This month we celebrated 30 years of the Ancient India and Iran Trust. The Trust's 30th Anniversary Appeal was launched by Sir Nicholas Barrington on the 7th June.
The appeal seeks to raise £3.5 million to finance a new resource centre, which will be built as an extension to the Trust's existing premises in Cambridge. This will be used to accommodate and broaden access to the Trust's rapidly growing library, and will enable the Trust to have an up to date lecture room and so increase the scope and outreach of its activities.