Background

William Jones became the first President of the Society and continued in this position until his death in 1794. Warren Hastings was the first Patron of the Society. Since then the position of the Patron was held by the Governor General and after independence by the Governor of West Bengal. Initially, the Society only had European citizens as its members. It was in 1829 that Indians were allowed to be a part of the society. In 1885, Rajendralala Mitra became the first Indian President of this organization.  During the early years of establishment, the organization functioned without a building. After the government granted it land in 1805, its official building was built by 1808. The present building of the society was constructed at the same site in 1961 and inaugurated by former President of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 22nd February 1965. 

The name of the Society underwent several changes during the last two centuries such as The Asiatick Society (1784-18325), The Asiatick Society of Bengal (1832-1935), The Royal Asiatick Society of Bengal (1936-1951) and in July 1952 it came to be known as The Asiatic Society.