Papers of Alexander Rogers, 1825-1910

The Papers mainly consist of original Manuscript drafts for the translations of _The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr_ and _Baihaki's life of Masaud._ These are in Rogers' hand but the manuscript for _The Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī_ is anootated and edited by Beveridge. There is some correspondence - three letters from Beveridge concerning Roger's translation and preservation of the manuscript.

Alexander Rogers was educated at Haileybury College before joining the Indian Civil Service at the Bombay (Mumbai) Presidency in 1845. He was elected for the executive branch. He served in the Northern Division becoming Collector and Magistrate in 1860, and Revenue and Police Commissioner in 1865. He became a Member of the Council in Bombay in 1872 before retiring in 1879. His publications include _History of the Land Revenue Settlement of Bombay,_ and translations of three modern Persian plays and of _Yusuf and Zuleika._ He died on 27 November 1910.

Henry Beveridge was born on 9th February 1837. He completed his education at Glasgow University and Queen's College, Belfast, before applying for the Indian Civil Service and he was posted to Bengal in 1857, serving in various posts until 1893. He married Annette Susanna Ackroyd, a graduate of Bedford College and translator of Persian and Turki text. Beveridge, himself, had many publications including _The District of Bakarganj,_ _The Trials of maharaja Nanda Kumar: A Narrative of a Judicial Murder_ and he was the editor for Alexander Rogers' _TheThe Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr._ They had two children, Annette Jeanie (d. 1956), and a son, William Beveridge (1879–1963), a noted economist who gave his name to the report associated with the foundation of the welfare state. Beveridge retired with his wife to England in 1893 but continued to be interested in Moghul history including returning to India in 1899 to search for historical manuscripts. He died on 8th November 1929.

The Papers are organised into two series covering Manuscripts and Correspondence. Thus:
AR/1 - Manuscripts
* AR/1/1 - Memoirs of Jahāngīr. Volume I
* AR/1/2 - Memoirs of Jahāngīr, Volume II
* AR/1/3 - Memoirs of Jahāngīr, unpublished chapters
* AR/1/4 - Memoirs of Jahāngīr, Index
* AR/1/5 - Baihaki's Life of Masaud
AR/2 - Correspondence

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The papers presumably came into the Royal Asiatic Society as manuscripts under discussion for publication. There is reference to Beveridge discussing the Rogers' translation of the Memoirs of Jahāngīr in a record of the Anniversary Meeting of the Society held 8 May, 1900 (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1900, p.600). In the correspondence within these papers it is suggested by Beveridge that the handwritten manuscripts could be destroyed by the Society now that he had prepared type-written manuscripts (AR/2/2). Obviously this advice was not taken.

Alexander Rogers was educated at Haileybury College before joining the Indian Civil Service at the Bombay (Mumbai) Presidency in 1845. He was elected for the executive branch. He served in the Northern Division becoming Collector and Magistrate in 1860, and Revenue and Police Commissioner in 1865. He became a Member of the Council in Bombay in 1872 before retiring in 1879. His publications include _History of the Land Revenue Settlement of Bombay,_ and translations of three modern Persian plays and of _Yusuf and Zuleika._ He died on 27 November 1910.

Henry Beveridge was born on 9th February 1837. He completed his education at Glasgow University and Queen's College, Belfast, before applying for the Indian Civil Service and he was posted to Bengal in 1857, serving in various posts until 1893. He married Annette Susanna Ackroyd, a graduate of Bedford College and translator of Persian and Turki text. Beveridge, himself, had many publications including _The District of Bakarganj,_ _The Trials of maharaja Nanda Kumar: A Narrative of a Judicial Murder_ and he was the editor for Alexander Rogers' _TheThe Tūzuk-i-Jahāngīrī, or, Memoirs of Jahāngīr._ They had two children, Annette Jeanie (d. 1956), and a son, William Beveridge (1879–1963), a noted economist who gave his name to the report associated with the foundation of the welfare state. Beveridge retired with his wife to England in 1893 but continued to be interested in Moghul history including returning to India in 1899 to search for historical manuscripts. He died on 8th November 1929.

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist in 2017 after volunteer help to appraise and clean the material.

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These Papers had historically been categorized as the Papers of Henry Beveridge who is better known as an orientalist and was connected with the Royal Asiatic Society. However on appraisal, due to the nature of the material and the further manuscript belonging to Rogers, the decision was made to catalogue as the papers of Alexander Rogers.

The Oriental Translation Fund undertook the publcation of Rogers' Memoirs of Jahāngīr, edited by Beveridge. The first volume was published in 1909 and the second volume was published in 1914. We have copies of both volumes within the RAS Collections. We also have copies of other Alexander Rogers publications. More details can be found in our Library catalogue: https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/.

Published

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