Royal Asiatic Society Public School Medal

The records of the Public School Medal cover the institution of the medal and the conferment of the Honour in subsequent years. They include examples of the medal, an original Declaration of Trust, and subsequent printed versions of the declaration; correspondence and newspaper cuttings. However there are not records for all instances of the presentation of the Medal. Researchers are advised to also examine the Council Minutes and the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (both held in the RAS Collections) when researching concerning the Public School Medal and its recipients.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

John Hansman graduated from the State University of Iowa and subsequently served with the U.S. Navy Submarine Staff Corps. From 1957-1960, he worked in the administration of an economic development program of the Kurdish region, Northeast Iraq. In Iraq, he had been introduced to archaeology when salvage excavating a 6000 year old simple burial site. During the early 1960s, he served two years on the administrative staff in Southwestern Iran. He moved to Britain during the mid-1960s to complete a PhD in archaeology at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. His thesis required historical surveys of ancient cultural sites in adjoining areas of Southern Iraq and Iran. Following graduation in 1970, Hansman remained in Britain some 20 further years, researching and publishing papers on ancient Middle Eastern cultures and historical geography, while periodically revisiting those regions to excavate and carry out archaeological reconnaissance. His excavations include: 1965 – Located Spasinou Charax. Capital of the small Parthian (Iranian) vassel state of Mesene (Characene) located on the Tigres river flood plain of Southern Iraq, a city that flourished ca. 129 B.C. – 220 A.D. 1966 – Located Hecatompylos, Greek name of an early Persian settlement refounded by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.; later Iranian Qumis, flourished second and first century B.C. as winter capital of the Parthian empire. Cultural debris of this now isolated site, which extends some 2.5 miles, contains eroded remains of large mud brick structures. 1970 – Identified the site of Anshan, a royal capital of the Elamite civilization in South Iran; which flourished ca. 2300-1600 B.C. During three seasons, Hansman served as co-director, under the British Institute of Persian Studies, at the Hecatompylos site. The last of these operations closed down after four weeks following outbreak, in 1979, of the Iranian revolution. Over two seasons, he directed archaeological excavations at the medieval Islamic port site of Julfar on the Persian Gulf, in the United Arab Emirates.
In 1971-72, while based at London, Hansman organized an appeal for the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Royal Asiatic Society. He also mounted an exhibition of the Society's history and co-organized a symposium of international scholars on un-deciphered and little understood ancient Asian languages.
In 1977 and 2002 Hansman was commissioned by the successive curators at Iolani Palace (former residence of the Hawaiian kings), Honolulu, to identify ceramic material recovered from utility trenches successively opened on the palace grounds. These pieces consisted mostly of sherds from a variety of formal dinner ware used in two older, smaller palace residences that occupied that property earlier in the 1800s.
In 1980 he was elected a Research Fellow at Clare Hall graduate college, Cambridge University. Hansman was decorated in 1983 by Shaykh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi, ruler of Ra's-al-Khaimah, of the United Arab Emirates, for excavations undertaken over-several-years at the early, port site of Julfar on the Persian Gulf. Dr. Hansman is an affiliate of Clare Hall, Cambridge University; a Life Fellow, Society of Antiquaries and Fellow Honoris Causa, Royal Asiatic Society, all in the United Kingdom.

The Material was divided into two series thus:
* RAS PGM/1 - Institution and Governance of the Public School Medal
* RAS PGM/2 - Conferment of the Public School Medal

Open. Some access may be restricted due to Data Protection Issues. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID and proof of address.

These are part of the institutional records of the Royal Asiatic Society which have been accumulated throughout its history. However there has not been a systematic keeping of records throughout the history of the Royal Asiatic Society and therefore some occasions of the Medal's conferment have few records and, in some cases, no records remain.

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was founded by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Sir Henry Thomas Colebrooke on the 15th March 1823. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV on the 11th August 1824 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'. It continues as a forum for those who are interested in the languages, cultures and history of Asia to meet and exchange ideas.

John Hansman graduated from the State University of Iowa and subsequently served with the U.S. Navy Submarine Staff Corps. From 1957-1960, he worked in the administration of an economic development program of the Kurdish region, Northeast Iraq. In Iraq, he had been introduced to archaeology when salvage excavating a 6000 year old simple burial site. During the early 1960s, he served two years on the administrative staff in Southwestern Iran. He moved to Britain during the mid-1960s to complete a PhD in archaeology at the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. His thesis required historical surveys of ancient cultural sites in adjoining areas of Southern Iraq and Iran. Following graduation in 1970, Hansman remained in Britain some 20 further years, researching and publishing papers on ancient Middle Eastern cultures and historical geography, while periodically revisiting those regions to excavate and carry out archaeological reconnaissance. His excavations include: 1965 – Located Spasinou Charax. Capital of the small Parthian (Iranian) vassel state of Mesene (Characene) located on the Tigres river flood plain of Southern Iraq, a city that flourished ca. 129 B.C. – 220 A.D. 1966 – Located Hecatompylos, Greek name of an early Persian settlement refounded by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.; later Iranian Qumis, flourished second and first century B.C. as winter capital of the Parthian empire. Cultural debris of this now isolated site, which extends some 2.5 miles, contains eroded remains of large mud brick structures. 1970 – Identified the site of Anshan, a royal capital of the Elamite civilization in South Iran; which flourished ca. 2300-1600 B.C. During three seasons, Hansman served as co-director, under the British Institute of Persian Studies, at the Hecatompylos site. The last of these operations closed down after four weeks following outbreak, in 1979, of the Iranian revolution. Over two seasons, he directed archaeological excavations at the medieval Islamic port site of Julfar on the Persian Gulf, in the United Arab Emirates.
In 1971-72, while based at London, Hansman organized an appeal for the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Royal Asiatic Society. He also mounted an exhibition of the Society's history and co-organized a symposium of international scholars on un-deciphered and little understood ancient Asian languages.
In 1977 and 2002 Hansman was commissioned by the successive curators at Iolani Palace (former residence of the Hawaiian kings), Honolulu, to identify ceramic material recovered from utility trenches successively opened on the palace grounds. These pieces consisted mostly of sherds from a variety of formal dinner ware used in two older, smaller palace residences that occupied that property earlier in the 1800s.
In 1980 he was elected a Research Fellow at Clare Hall graduate college, Cambridge University. Hansman was decorated in 1983 by Shaykh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi, ruler of Ra's-al-Khaimah, of the United Arab Emirates, for excavations undertaken over-several-years at the early, port site of Julfar on the Persian Gulf. Dr. Hansman is an affiliate of Clare Hall, Cambridge University; a Life Fellow, Society of Antiquaries and Fellow Honoris Causa, Royal Asiatic Society, all in the United Kingdom.

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2018.

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

These records are part of the Royal Asiatic Society's Institutional Records and therefore part of the historical records of the Society.

The Council Minutes Books of the Royal Asiatic Society have decisions minuted regarding the institution of the Medal, the yearly establishment of a Committee to choose the essay titles and to judge the entrants, with subsequent conferment of each Medal and Book prizes. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society also contains information in its "Proceedings of the Royal Asiatic Society"sections, particularly in the annual Report of the Annual General Meeting.
An article in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1984, pp.99-119, "The Emblems, Medals and Medallists of the Royal Asiatic Society" by John Hansman, contains information pertinent to researchers of the Public School Medal. An offprint of this article is found in this material.

Published

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