Asiatic Society of Bangladesh

The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh is a non political and non profit research organisation registered under both Society Act of 1864 and NGO Affairs Bureau, Government of Bangladesh. The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh was established as the Asiatic Society of East Pakistan in Dhaka in 1952 by a number of Muslim leaders, and renamed in 1972. Ahmed Hasan Dani, a noted Muslim historian and archaeologist of Pakistan played an important role in founding this society. He was assisted by Muhammad Shahidullah, a Bengali linguist. The society is housed in Nimtali, walking distance from the Curzon Hall of Dhaka University, locality of Old Dhaka.

History
Asiatic Society of Bangladesh traces its origins to The Asiatic Society, which was founded by Sir William Jones in 1784. Some of scholars of the Asiatic Society moved to Dhaka, capital of East Bengal, after the Partition of India. Ahmad Hasan Dani, professor of history at the University of Dhaka, proposed the idea of establishing a Asiatic Society in Dhaka which was widely appreciated by scholars in Dhaka.

Asiatic Society of Pakistan was established on 3 January 1952 by Ahmad Hasan Dani, Abu Mohammed Habibullah, Abdul Halim, Abdul Hamid, Itrat Husain Zuberi, J. S. Turner, Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Khan, Muhammad Shahidullah, Sayed Moazzem Hossain, Serajul Huq, Sheikh Sharafuddin, Syed Muhammed Taifoor, and W. H. A. Sadani. The society modeled after The Asiatic Society in Kolkata is managed by a 17 member executive committee which has a two year term.

In September 2013, the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh published a junior version of Banglapedia.

The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in November 2020 cancelled the grant of two professors at the University of Dhaka after it found evidence of plagiarism in their work.

Museum
The Asiatic Society Heritage Museum is located in Old Dhaka.

Publications
The society's publications include:
 * Banglapedia, the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (edition 2, 2012)
 * Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh (2010, 28 volumes)
 * Cultural Survey of Bangladesh, a documentation of the country's cultural history, tradition and heritage (2008, 12 volumes)
 * Children’s Banglapedia, a three-volume version of Banglapedia for children
 * History of Bangladesh (1704-1971) (3 volumes)
 * National Online Biography; Digital publication of the Survey and Settlement Reports (1896-1927)
 * Parliamentary Documents and History
 * Digest of the reports and surveys on the mineral resources in Bangladesh
 * Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Humanities)
 * Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Sciences)
 * Asiatic Society Patrika