Recent work among the Sippar Collections of the British Musuem has brought to light a number of interesting texts, among which is the fragment BM 63570. This text lists the qīpu's of numerous temples along with other officials, associating them all with bundles of reeds measured in hundreds. This is of unusual interest, however it is not the first time such a text has come to light as a similar fragment, BM 68777, was identified and published by the present author in 1993. Indeed, without a doubt the two pieces belong to the same tablet. BM 68777 is the beginning of the text, while BM 63570 carries on the obverse from this after a very small break and then gives some lines from the top of the reverse. The reverse of BM 68777 was uninscribed.

The reign of Sultan ‘Alā’ al-Dīn Kayqubād (1219-1237) is depicted by both mediaeval and modern sources as the apogee of the Saljūq Sultanate of Rūm (Anatolia) (c. 1081–1308). The later court historian, Ibn Bībī, reflected subsequent generations' perception of ‘Alā’ al-Dīn when he recorded that “the earth has never borne a king the like of him, nor have the high heavens looked down on such a one”. Above all, his reign was remembered for the great military conquests that unified much of Anatolia under Saljūq rule. To the north, south and east neighbouring principalities, both Muslim and Christian, were either annexed outright or reduced to tributary status in a series of memorable campaigns.

Continuing our theme of looking at foreign relations between Iran and Britain from the point of view of the popular level through the role of the karguzar (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Agent), this article will consider cases concerning foreign trade and disputes over property. It will examine the popular response to the growth of the foreign presence through expansion of foreign trade and the way Iranians handled their situation in a system that was dominated by Europeans. As trade grew in the late nineteenth century, so did the number and workload of karguzars.

Calcutta Botanic Garden occupies a prime riverside site three miles downstream from the centre of Calcutta. It is most famous as the home of the world's largest tree, a vast spreading banyan. Its grand avenues, named after its founders and the fathers of Indian botany, convey something of its former glory. In the nineteenth century it was the greatest of all the colonial botanic gardens and an important scientific institution; two of its superintendents were knighted and one went on to become Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, the very centre of the imperial botanical network. The Garden is of considerable importance as it was one of the earliest institutions in India based on western science. This survey will look at the reasons for its foundation, and how it successfully established itself in its first twenty years.

In his biography for the Avatamsaka master Fazang (643–712), Tang Tae Ch'ǒnboksa kosaju pǒn'gyǒng taedǒk Pǒpjang hwasang chǒn (Ch. Tang Da Jianfusi gu sizhu fanjing dade Fazang heshang zhuan) (Biography for Upādhyāya Fazang, the Late Bhadanta-translator and Abbot of Great Jianfusi of the Tang) composed ca. 904, the Korean author Ch'oe Ch'iwon (Ch. Cui Zhiyuan, 857–904) reports a ritual that Fazang performed to pray for snow in order to prevent an imminent drought. The ritual was executed in the winter of 711, barely one year before Fazang's death, beside a pond at the scenic mountain range fifty li west of Chang'an – Mount Zhongnan.