Ikbal Al Doulah was a cousin of the nawab of the Indian princely state of Awadh.
Sir Thomas Edward Colebrooke, known as Sir Edward Colebrooke, was the second son of Henry Thomas Colebrooke, founder of the RAS. Alongside leading a political career, he served as the President of the Society from 1864 to 1866, from 1875 to 1877 and in 1881.
Jiao Bingzhen was a court painter of the Qing empire. He is known for figures and miniatures and was one of the early Chinese painters to learn Western techniques.
Peter Collin was head of French in the Department of European Languages and Literature at the University of Hong Kong. He returned to the UK in 1973 to work for Harrap, publishers of schoolbooks and dictionaries before starting his own publishing house, P H Collin in 1985, which was acquired on his retirement in 2002 by Bloomsbury. Since 1973 Peter is an active member of the Society and has served continuously on many committees including several
turns on the Council.
The Toyo Bunko, or The Oriental Library, is Japan's oldest research library dedicated to Asian studies. It was established in 1924 by Hisaya Iwasaki, the third president of the Mitsubishi.
William Woodville Rockhill was an American diplomat, author, and scholar of Chinese and, in particular, Tibetan studies. He served as United States Ambassador to Greece, Serbia, Romania, China, and Russia, and was known for helping to formulate the Open Door policy toward China advanced by the United States in the late 19th century. He became a member of the Society in 1882 and published an article on the geography, ethnography, and history of Tibet in the JRAS in 1891.