Like a number of other learned societies founded in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Royal Asiatic Society was established to support research and to disseminate knowledge to the public. It depends for its charitable status and the privileges attached to its Royal Charter on upholding these objectives. The Society has a good record in this respect, extending now over 186 years. To some degree, the work of the learned societies was first intruded on, and then taken over by, the universities as they grew in number, expanded their curricula, and went in for research as well as teaching. This was particularly true of the twentieth century where, in our field of interest, Asian studies in the humanities and social sciences became firmly lodged in several universities in the United Kingdom. But there always remained a place, particularly one where professional academics and the wider public could meet, for Society's such as ours to flourish; and, looking ahead, as university budgets come under greater pressure, I foresee a growing role for the Royal Asiatic Society in the future in ensuring that the interest and importance of understanding Asian societies and cultures remains in the forefront of the public mind.