2023-03-31-accounts

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES (Registered Charity No. 231161 } (A company limited by Guarantee and not having Share Capital) Registered Company No. 00740813 INDEPENDENTLY EXAMINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

PAGE I THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES CONTENTS Trustees Report Independent Examiner's Report Statement Of Financial Activities Balance Sheet 9-10 Notes to the Accounts 11-20

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 2 TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 The trustees hav¢ pleasure in presenting their report and finaiicial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accountiii& policies set out in Note I to the accounts and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, applicable law and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice, "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" Financial Reporting Standard l 02. CHARITABLE STATUS The charity was incorporated on 14 November 1962 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The charity's re8lSt¢r¢d otTice is l O Carlton House Terrace. London, England, SWI Y 5AH, registered number 231161. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Mrs J A Griggs FCA Levicks Chartered Accountants and Business Adviser5 61 London Road Maidstone Kent ME16 8TX BANKERS HSBC 69 Pall Mall London SWIY SEY The Co-operative Bank PO Box 250 Skelrnersdale WN8 6Wf COIF Senator House 85 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4ET OBJECTIVES The objectives of the charity are to promote and ¢ncourage the study of Iran and the wider Persianate world, the history, civilisation and culture in all periods, including the archaeology of Persian artefact5 worldwide.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 3 TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 {continued) TRUSTEES The members of the Governing Council are the trustees of the charity. New members of Governing Council are either elected by the Members at the Annual General MeetingJ or co-opted by the Governing Council. subject in each case to restrictions as to numbers and tern) of office as described in the charity's Articles of Association. The trustees who served the charity during the year were: Professor Charles Melvill¢ Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Ms Narguess Farzad MT Hossein Hamedani Professor Andrew Peacock Dr Cameron Petrie Dr Sarah Stewart Dr Arezou Azad Professor Andrew Newman Profeesor Alan Vincent Williams Dr Richard Piran Mcclary Dr Lindsay Allen Dr Shabnarn Holiday Dr Roham Alvandi (President) (Vi¢¢ Pr¢sid¢nt) (Hon Secretary) - Resigned 20 June 2023 (Hon Treasurer) Resigned 16 November 2022 Resigned 28 November 2022 Resigned 14 March 2023 Appointed 28 November 2022 Appointed 28 NovembeT 2022 ACTIVITIES TO FURTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR PUBLIC BENEFIT The year 2022-23 was marked by several developments intended to raise the profile and public awareness of BIPS'S research programmes and contributions to the study of Iran and the Persianate world in the UK and intemalionally. The first of these is the inauguration of the 'Flagship' projects- substantial multi-year funding for research that fulfils our own objectives and priorities.. currently with a focus on the regions b¢yond Iran's current borders that contributed to the enrichment of Persian culture. The two projects awarded are on 'The Agricultural sustainability of the Otrar oasis in Kazakhstan, from the 8th to the 18th century,, and 'Persian manuscripts between East and West= Britain, India and the circulation of the Persianate literary heritage,. Both engage with broad areas of study concerning Central Asia and India and will involve rich programm¢s of conferences and publications. indicative also of BIPS'S aim to widen our scholarly networks and support research partnerships in these r¢gions. The second development is the initiation of a major digitisation project, in collaboration with oth¢r Schools and Institutes of the British Academy, with an initial focus on the archives of our first director, David Stronach, whose excavation records and supporting mateiials are CULTently Iield in UCLA and being researched by our newly-appointed Stronach Research Fellow, based at York University. Both these initiatives will dominate our work and research expenditure in the coming years.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 4 TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (continued) FINANCIAL REVIEW Unrestricted funds decreased by £4,737 (2022: £4,518) to £244,022 (2022: £248.759). A restricted fund was created in th¢ financial year ended 31 March 2012 in respect of a donation of £4,000 towards fui)ding book publication grants. This fund had a balance of £2,000 {2022.' £2,(K)O) as at 31 March 2023. A restricted fund was crcat¢d in 2013 for advanced language training. There was a balance of £13,260 on this fund as at 31 March 2023 (2022: £13,260). The Bruce Wannell fund was setup in 2022 to fijnd an annual public lecture in honour of the Iranian Scholar Bruce Wannell, The fund is supported by external individual sponsorship and decreased to £25,693 as at 31 March 2023 (2022: £26,043). The Digitisation fund was a new fund in 2022 which arose from a generous UK donation in the y¢ar towards the cost of digitisation of BIPS archive of historical archaeological and research records. The balance on the fund is £6,250 as at 31 March 2023 (2022: £6.250). The designated funds set aside by the trustees for a new motor vehicle and to facilitate travel grants for research studenls ¢ontinued to be caffied forward. RISK MANAGEMENT The trustees have examined the major strategic, busincgs and operational risks to which the charity is exposed and can confirm that systems hav¢ been established and are in place to enable the early identification of issues so that the necessary steps can b¢ taken to initigate those Tisks. RESERVES POLICY It is the policy of the trnstees to maintain reserves at a level to ensure obligations relatingF to restricted funds can be met, to allow funds to be set aside for future investment when the situation eases in Iran, and to rnaintain free reserves at a level which equates to approxiinat¢ly between three and six months of the total expenditure of the charity. The t￿SteeS believe that this providcs a sufficient level of funding buffer to cover the expenditure arising in ￿rtheranee of the charity's objectives, and in its management and administration.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PACE 5 TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (continued) TRUSTEES, RESPONSONSIBLITIES The charity trustees (who are also the directors of The British Institute of Persian Studies for the pu￿oSeS of company law) are responsible for preparing a trust¢¢s' annual rep￿rt and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity t￿SleeS to prepaTe financial statemFnts for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including th¢ income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing the financial statements. the trustees are required to- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them ¢on8lStently' observe the Inethods and principles in the Charities SORP. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. state wliether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and ¢xplain¢d in the financial statements- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The trnstees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any lime the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the fii)ancial statements comply with th¢ Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding tli¢ assets of the cliarity and h¢nc¢ taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other ittegularities. The trustees ar¢ responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial inforniation included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United King,doin bJoverning the preparation and disseinination of financial statements may differ from legislation in otlier jurisdictions. Signatorie$: Professor Charles Melville Pr¢sid¢nt Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Vice President Dated fv/lo zY//o/.7Q75..........

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 6 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 I report to th¢ charity trustees on iny examination of the accounts of ihe company for the year ended 31 March 2023, which are set out on pages 7 to 20. Responsibilities and basis ofreporl As the charity's trustees {and also its diTectors for the purposes of coyipany law) you are responsibl¢ for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act,). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for indcpendcnt examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under sectiun 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the '2011 Act,). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Coinmission under section 145{5)(b) of the 2011 Act. Independent examiner s reporl I have completed my examinalion. I confimi that no matters have corne to my attention in Connection with the examination giving me cause to b¢li¢ve'. (l ) accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as requir¢d by section 386 of the 2006 Act- OT (2) the accounts do not accord with those accounting records. or (3) the accounts do not comply with thc accounting requirements of seclion 396 of th¢ 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. or (4) the accounts have not been prepard in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRSI 02). I have no concerns and have come across no oth¢r matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. These accounts have NOT yef been slgned by the Acttsuntsnt5. The name And address of the a¢tountAlIts has therefore been suppre55ed.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 7 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Unrestrieted Restricted Nol¢s Funds Funds 2023 Total 2022 Total INCOME FROM: Donations and legacies Donations Grants from Government and other public bodies Oth¢r grants 171 250 196,750 6,000 421 28,054 196,750 135,937 6,000 3,650 Charitable activities SubsLriptions Publication sales Hostel income 9,353 3,683 4,200 9,353 3,683 4,200 10,315 4,274 Investments Bank interest Income from investments 748 2.902 748 2,902 1,363 TOTAL INCOME 21,057 203.000 224,057 183,602

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 8 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AcfiviTIES (INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 EXPENDITURE ON: Unrestricted Restricted Notes Funds Funds 2023 Total 2022 Total Charlt4ble activities Grants and scholarships Workshops and lectures Book publication costs Office costs Financial costs Journal expenses Outreach ConfeTences Establishment and maintenance 3(a)/(c) 3(a) 3(a) 7,137 110,870 600 5.000 30,256 118,007 600 5,000 33,515 1,195 3,998 37,170 4,693 19,647 83,413 159 24,834 (999) 4,226 40,165 700 6,720 3,259 1,195 3(b) 3(a) 3(d) 3(a) 3,998 37,170 4,693 19,647 Other Cornputer support Ex(Imination and accountancy Managyement Legal expenses 500 3,640 1,824 3,077 3(e) 2,700 3,695 5,766 2,700 5,195 5,766 1,500 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 23,752 213,734 237,486 168,259 NET INCOMINGI(OUTGOING) RESOURCES BEFORE RECOGNISED GAINS TRANSFERS GAINSI(LOSSES) ON INVESTMENTS - UNREALISED (2,695) (10,734) (13,429) 15,343 (6) (2,036) (2,036) 1,821 ET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS {4,737) (10,728) (15,465) 17,164 TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD 248,759 59,196 307,955 290,791 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 244,022 48,468 292,490 307,955 The statcment of financial activitie5 includes all gains and losses in the year. All income and expenditur¢ derives from continuing activitie5.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 9 BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023 Notes 2023 2022 FIXED ASSETS Tangible Assets.. Leasehold Property Other Tangible Assets 47,533 47,533 47,533 47,533 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Investments Cash in hand and at bank 33,026 44,883 221,718 1,585 46,920 266,874 299.627 315.379 CREDITORS (amounts falling due within one year) Creditors 54.670 54,957 NET CURRENT ASSETS 244 957 260 422 NET ASSETS 292.490 307.955 FINANCED BY: Unrestricted Funds: General Fund Designated Funds 12(a)(b) 213,231 30,791 217.968 30.791 Restricted Funds: Conference Fuiid Bahari Foundation Fund Advanced Language Training Fund Basic Grant Business D¢velopm¢nt Grant Bruce Wanncll's Fund Digitisation Fund 12(a)(c) 1,265 2,000 13,260 1,265 2,000 13,260 10,378 25,693 6.250 26,043 6,250 TOTAL FUNDS 292,490 307,955

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAIY STUDIES PAGE 10 BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023 (continued) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small Companies. In preparing the financial statements: a) The directors are of ihe opinion that the company is entitled to the exemption from audit conferred by S¢¢tion 477 of the Companies Act 2006. b) No notice has been deposited under Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006 in relation to its financial statements for the financial year, and c) The directors acknowledge their responsibility for: Ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with Section 386 of the Companie5 Act 2006, and Preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of Ihe state of affairs of the coinpany as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395, and which othenvise comply with th uiiements of the Companies Act 2006. The accoun were approved and signed on behalf of th¢ Council by:_ Professor Charles elville - President Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis - Vice President zY/./4.ZoiJ Company registration number: 00740813

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 11 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR EIYDED 31 MARCH 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified by the revaluation of investments. Inveslm¢nts ar¢ included at market value. The financial statements have been prepared to comply wilh the requirements of the Companies Act 2000, Charities Act 2011, Financial Reporting Standard 102 and the 'Statein¢nt of Recommend¢d Practice, (SORP): Accounting and Reporting by Charities Financial Reporting Standard 102. The company is a public benefit entity as defined by Financial Reporting Standard l 02. The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. The accounts are prepared in sterling, being the ￿nCtIOnal currency of the charity. Fund accounting Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the &?cneral objectives of the charity. Unrestricted funds include a revaluation reserve representing the restatement of investment assets al market values. Designated ￿ndS are unrestricted ￿ndS earniarked by the GovMning Council for particular puryioses. Restricted funds are subject to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor. Tangible fixed assets and depreciation Depreciation has been provided at the following rates, in order to write off the assets over thejr estimated useful lives:_ Leasehold Buildings 2.50/0 straighi line The leasehold building was fvlly depreciated to a £nil net book value as ai 31 March 2016. Library books are no longer capitalised but shown as an expense in the statement of financial activities. Furniture and equipment and motor vehicles bouU]t before1995 were formerly depre¢iat¢d at 150/0 and 25 % r¢sp¢¢tiv¢ly on the reducing balance basis. Those asscts have now been fully depreciated. Since 1995 assets purchased by the charity have been expensed throu￿ the statemenl of financial aclivities. However, if a significant Capital expenditure is being proposed, the trustees consider whether this treatment is appropriate in relation to the specific transaction concerned. Investments Short tenn investments are held to generate funds. They are included at market value with gains and losses on revaluation being shown in the statement of financial activities.

THE BRITISH IIYSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 12 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR EIYDED 31 MARCH 2023 I. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONT'D) Income recognition All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the Charity 1$ ¢ntitled to the incorne and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuraFy. The following specific policies are applied to particular calegories of income.. Incoine received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in full in the statement of financial activities when receivable. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the Institute, are recognised when the Institute becoines unconditionally entitled to the grant. Investment income is included as it accrues. Income from charitable trading activities is accounted for when earned. Expenditure reeognition Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incutTed. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be recovered, and is reported as parl of the expenditure to which it relates. Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by th¢ Institu1¢ in the d¢liv¢ry of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that c}￿ b¢ allo¢alcd dircctly to such activitics and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. Other costs include those costs asso¢iat¢d with m¢eling the constitutional and statutory requireinents of the Institute and iiiclude the independent examin¢rs' f¢¢s and costs linked to the strategic management of the Instilute. All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the statement of financial activities on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. All costs are allocat¢d directly to a particular activity. GRANTS FROM GOVERNMENT AND OTHER PUBLIC BODIES Grants received from govenunent and other public bodies comprised £196,750 from The British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences and £6,000 from The Iran Society paid specifically for and on the occasion of bursaries to scholars in the final year of their PhD. The grant from The British Academy has been given on a restricted basis since 2015116.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 13 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 3(a) Direct funding of scholarly activity Direct funding of scholarly activity comprises grants, workshops and lectures. journal expenses, book publication costs, language teaching and conferences. This amounted to £132,298 (2022.. £88.498). 3(b) Financial costs These comprise: 2023 2022 Bank charges (Gain) l Loss on foreign exchange 192 1,003 187 (1,186) 999 3(c) Grant expenditure All grants were for the pU￿OSeS of academic research which includes travel and attendanc¢ at conf¢renc¢s. 3(d) Outreach Costs totalling £37,170 (2022- £40,165) comprised website costs £2,341, events £9,729 and assistant costs £25,100 (2022.. £4,028 website costs, £16,749 anniversary costs and £19,388 assistant costs). 3(e) Examination and accountancy The annual cost ofthe independent examination of the Institute's financial statements for the year is £2,690 (2022.. £2,600).

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 14 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 FIXED ASSETS Tangible Leasehold Furniture & Premises Equipment Library Books Total COST At beginning of year 250,656 27,419 47,533 325,608 At end of year 250,656 27,419 47,533 325,608 DEPRECIATION At b¢ginning of year 250,656 27.419 278,075 At end of year 250,656 27,419 278,075 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2022 47,533 47,533 At 31 March 2023 47,533 47,533 DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS 2023 2022 Grants relating to 2023124 Other debiors 30,000 3,026 1,585 33,026 ,585

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 15 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 2023 2022 Creditors Accruals 4,802 49,868 14,131 40,826 54,670 54,957 INVESTMENTS 2023 2022 Charities Official Investment FuTyd (at Cost) 14.656 14,656 Market value 44,883 46,920 All investments are held in the United KTThgdom STAFF COSTS Staff costs were: 2023 2022 Salaries and allowances Social Security costs Pension costs 46,519 52,956 661 5,296 4,652 51,171 58,913 There were no employees with emoluments above £60,000. The average weekly number of employees during the year was 2 (2022.. 2).

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 16 NOTES TO THE ACCOUIYTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 PAYMENTS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT 7 meillbers of Council received travel and other expenses totalling £2,198 (2022.. £1,824). 10. RELA TED PARTY TRANSACTIONS There were no related party transactions in the year. 11. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS Unrestricted Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total FIXED ASSETS Tangible Assets.. Leasehold Property Other Tangible Assets 47,533 47,533 47,533 47,533 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Investments Cash in hand and at bank 33,026 33,026 44,883 221,718 44,883 175,485 30,791 15,442 220,368 30.791 48,468 299,627 CREDITORS (amounts falling due within one year) Trade creditors 54,670 54,670 NET CURRENT ASSETS 165,698 30,791 48,468 244,957 IYET ASSETS 213,231 30,791 48,468 292,490

THE BRITISH IIYSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 17 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 12. FUNDS (a) FUND PURPOSES UJVRESTRICTED FUNDS.. General Fund - This represents funds available to be spent or appliqd at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes. Institute Building - This represents the unamortis¢d balance of the cost of the Institute's building in Tehran. The building is not, under present arrang¢ments, freely disposable. DESIGNA TED FUNDS.. BIPS UGIPG Travel Fund This fvnd represents monies to be used to facilitate trav¢1 by research students to Iran. Motor Vehicles - This fund represents money set aside to facilitate the purchase of a new vehicle. RESTRICTED FUNDS.. Bahari Foundation Fund - This fvnd represents money given to the Institute towards its special series publications. Advanced Language Training Fund - This fund represents money giv¢n to the Institute by the British Academy for the provision of advanced language training for research students. Conferenee Fund This fund represents rnoney given lo the Institute by the British Academy for proinoting and ¢n¢ouragingJ study of Iran and the wider Persianat¢ world. Development Fund - This fund represents the balance of grant moni¢s from the British Academy for the four distinct purposes of funding a development committee, refiJrbishm¢nt of the premises in Tehran, staff restructuring in Tehran, website improvements. Ba$1¢ Fund - This fund represents the balance of basic grant from the British Academy used for the core Charitable purpose5 of research, communications and outreach, library and collections and ¢stablishment costs. Iran Society - This fund r¢pr¢sents monies passed through the Institute from the Iran Society in respect of an arrangement to aid th¢ provision of grants to scholars in the final year of their PhD. Bruce W8nnell Fund - This fund has been set up in memory of the Iranian Scholar Bruce Wannell, to fund an annual public lecture in his honour at York University. Digitisation Fund - This fund has been set up to contribute towards the cost of digitising BIPS archive research and arcliaeological material.

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 18 NOTES TO THE ACCOUIYTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 12. FUNDS (b) UJVRESTRICTED FUNDS.. Deslgnated Funds General Motor BIPS Fund Vehicle$ UGIPG Travel Total Total Balance brought fonvard as at l April 2021 as restated Incoine Expenses 222,486 10,791 20,000 30.791 253,277 16,012 (30,430) 16,012 (30,430) Net incomel(expenses) Transfers Gainsl(losses) on investments (14,418) 8,079 1,821 (14,418) 8,079 1,821 Balance carried forward as at 31 March 2022 217,968 10,791 20.000 30,791 248,759 Balance brought forward as at l April 2022 as restated Income Expenses 217,968 10.791 20,000 30,791 248,759 21,057 (23,752) 21,057 (23,752) Net incomeJ(expenses) Transfers Gains/(losses) on investments (2,695) (6) (2,036) (2,695) (6} (2,036) Balanc¢ carried forward as at 31 March 2023 213,231 10,791 20.000 30,791 244,022

J ￿) ) NO

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES PAGE 20 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 13. TEHRAN EXPENSES Funds are received and expended in Tehran through a current bank account held and maintained in ITan. As the Tehran operation has b¢en mothballed, there are no activities in Iran and the costs included in the Stalement of Financial Activities relate to the mainteii4nce of the infrastn]¢ture. 2023 2022 Balance at l April 2022 Receipts Intcrcst Hostel maintenance Utilities Office expenses Bank charg¢s For¢ign exchange difference 5,388 22,000 457 (9,178) (906) (4,373) (5) (839) 4,202 21,200 (11,342) (868) (7,528) (276) Balan¢¢ at 31 March 2023 12,544 5,388 14. GENE114L INFORMATIOIY The Charity is constituted by its memorandum and articlcs of association. The registered office is l O Carlton House Terrace, London, England, SWIY 5AH. The company's registered number is 00740813 and the charity number is 231161. IS. TRANSFERS Year Ended 31 March 2023 A transfer of £6 was made during the year from the unrestricted General fund to the restricted Basic Fund. to cover the small shortfall of grants received in the year. Year Ended 31 March 2022 A transfer of £8.079 was inade during the year from the restricted Busin¢ss Develupment Fund to the unrestricted G¢n¢ral Fund. This was in respect of a retrospective reallocation r¢latinL' to expenses paid out of the General Fund during the year ended 31 March 2020. The reallocation was a&Fr¢od by the British Academy.

Table of contents

About the British Institute of Persian Studies	4
Governing Council and Offce Holders at 31 March 2023	6
Letter from the President, Professor Charles Melville	8
Research	12
Umbrella programmes	12
Research, Research Assistant and Travel Grants Programme	14
About the BIPS Grant Programme	14
2022-2023 BIPS Grant Awards	15
BIPS Flagship Research Project	19
Collaboration between the Iran Society and BIPS	20
Excavating the Archives: David Stronach’s feldwork in Iran with BIPS	22
Outreach	26
2022-2023 Events	26
Conference_Persian Impact on the History, Literature and Culture of_
Central and South Asia. Kolkata, March 2023	30
Publications	32
_IRAN_LX.I and LX.II (2022)	32
Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World Series	34
Archaeological Monograph Series	34
Financial Report	36

Persian flower motifs with animal centres, William De Morgan, late 19th century. Detail. E.1438-1917. ©Victoria & Albert Museum.

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About the British Institute of Persian Studies

The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) continues to be the UK’s foremost learned society dedicated to increasing public knowledge and supporting scholarship on Iran and the wider Persianate world, including South and Central Asia. The Persianate world includes territories historically associated with Persian and Iranian culture and language, these areas are, but not limited to Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Iraq, the Persian Gulf littoral and South Asia. BIPS is invested in supporting a range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, and subjects include Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, Classics, Cultural Studies, History, Language, Linguistics, Politics, Religious Studies and Sociology.

discounts on other publications and exclusive access to events, (both BIPS and other institutions). BIPS publishes its Annual Review in the Autumn of each year. This is the 2023 Annual Review (covering the financial year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023). It is sent to all the Institute’s members in hard copy and is available to download from the BIPS website.

BIPS is a UK charity and company limited by guarantee, with a self-governing membership organisation, whose members are elected on a three-yearly basis to serve on BIPS Governing Council as trustees of the charity and directors of the company. Most Governing Council members are academics in the field of Persianate studies, but some offer expertise in other areas, as do our co-opted members.

BIPS is one of the British International Research Institutes (BIRI) – a group of research institutes with overseas centres in Europe, Southwest Asia, North and East Africa. The BIRI are financially supported by and headquartered in the British Academy.

BIPS was founded in the UK in 1961 and in Iran in 1963; however the Institute in Tehran remains closed to the public. In the UK, BIPS plays a key role in sustaining the academic vitality and increasing the visibility of the field, by campaigning for greater provision for its study in higher education. BIPS’s activities include the biannual awarding of research and travel grants and an extensive programme of workshops, events, lectures, as well as recitals in the UK. BIPS has published its journal, IRAN, every year since 1963. It also publishes the Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World Series in conjunction with Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris and the Archaeological Monograph Series with Oxbow Books.

BIPS has approximately 270 members from around the world. Our membership year runs January to December, but we welcome new member applications at any time. Member benefits include receipt of our journal, IRAN , twice yearly and

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Governing Council and Office Holders at 31 March 2023

Professor Charles Melville (President)

Dr Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (Vice President)

Dr Lindsay Allen Dr Roham Alvandi

Dr Arezou Azad

Mr John Drake (Co-opted)

Ms Narguess Farzad (Honorary Secretary)

Mr Hossein Hamedani (Honorary Treasurer)

Dr Richard McClary (Research Director, until March 2023)

Dr Shabnam Holliday (Research Director, from March 2023)

Professor Andrew J. Newman (Outreach and Development Director)

Professor Andrew Peacock (Editor, BIPS Persian Studies Series, until November 2022)

Dr Cameron Petrie (Co-editor, IRAN and BIPS Archaeological Monograph Series) Dr Florian Schwartz (Co-opted)

Dr Sarah Stewart

Professor Ali Ansari (Honorary Vice President)

Professor Robert Hillenbrand (Honorary Vice President) Professor Paul Luft (Honorary Vice President)

Staff

London

Ms Imogen Edwards (Executive Officer)

Ms Silvia Ferreri (Outreach and Digitisation Co-ordinator)

Tehran

Ms Sima Mohannak (Acting Manager)

British Institute of Persian Studies

UK Registered Charity No: 231161 | UK Registered Company No: 00740813

10-11 Carlton House Terrace 1623 Dr Shariati Avenue London, SW1Y 5AH Tehran, 19396-13661 [phone] [phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]

View of the Shah Nimatollah Wali shrine, Mahan. From the Bruce Wannell Archive.

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Letter from the President, Professor Charles Melville

The year under review, to the end of March 2023, is a bit of a blur. This could be because of the advancing senility of the current president as he nears the end of his term in office, or it could be due to the non-stop pace of activities and developments that reduce down to a sort of Futurist, slightly out of focus moving scene of hurtling sports cars or pounding machinery. Whatever the cause, the effort to freeze this panorama into discrete episodes does lead to a few highlights and also lowlights coming into focus. Let’s ignore the lowlights, into which we could also merge the ‘business as usual’ aspects of our task, the regular holding of meetings of Council, the Management Committee, the Research Committee and Outreach Committee, all of which have been faced with a seemingly steady rise in business requiring attention and decisions and occupy much time and energy of our Trustees. It has been difficult to fulfil the aspiration that Trustees should not serve on more than one committee, but we are looking to increase the number of Trustees in the next round of elections at the AGM in November 2023 and get back to full strength.

One initiative to overcome ‘meeting fatigue’, especially on zoom, was to hold an Awayday for all members of Council; this took place in Oxford in February 2023 and was a pleasant chance to meet and discuss matters of immediate concern, as well as volunteer visions of where BIPS should be in five years’ time – punctuated by an agreeable lunch. This underlined the value of meeting in person and bouncing ideas around, and I hope will be a regular practice in future.

Of the pressing concerns, one is to review and update our policies and strategic documentation to ensure that we remain in conformity with our legal obligations as a charity and in accordance with company law. This work continues and benefits from the cogent advice of John Drake, a co-opted member of Council, and the rich experience of our Honorary Treasurer, Hossein Hamedani.

The highlights reflect the exciting and productive directions in which BIPS’s research funding is taking us. First, the inauguration of the ‘Flagship’ projects – substantial multi-year funding for research that fulfils our own objectives and priorities:

currently with a focus on the regions beyond Iran’s current borders that contributed to the enrichment of Persian culture. Both successful applications meet these criteria admirably. Katie Campbell’s project on the Agricultural sustainability of the Otrar Oasis in Kazakhstan, from the 8[th] to the 18[th] century, and Andrew Peacock’s on Persian manuscripts between East and West: Britain, India and the circulation of the Persianate literary heritage , both engage with broad areas of study concerning Central Asia and India and will involve rich programmes of conferences and publications, which we hope will attract further funding. BIPS can thank Richard McClary for his energy and vision in pushing through these initiatives. We naturally remain ready to support smaller grant applications in the usual way.

Secondly, given the importance of pursuing BIPS’s programme of digitising its archives along with the Academy’s other Research Institutes (the BIRIs) and with a view to participating in shared website platforms, we have received a generous grant from the British Academy to establish a Fellowship named after David Stronach, to carry out research on David’s archives and prioritise work on unpublished materials for digitisation and publication. We are lucky to have been able to appoint Dr Gareth Brereton to carry out this work, liaising with Dr Ali Mousavi at the Pourdavoud Center, UCLA, where the archive is stored currently. The Fellowship is hosted at York University with thanks to Richard McClary for facilitating this arrangement. This is envisaged as a long-term project that will require further substantial funding being raised beyond the initial two-year grant from the BA.

BIPS’s stated aims to widen our networks to include research in Indian contexts continued with a conference in Kolkata on 1–2 March 2023, on the topic of the Persian Impact on the History, Literature and Culture of Central and South Asia . This was organised by Andrew Peacock on behalf of BIPS, which supported the attendance of speakers from Iran and the UK, together with Mahmood Alam of the Institute of Indo-Persian Studies. The conference provided an opportunity to discuss further collaborations with the IIPS.

There are many other ongoing activities, such as the collaborative Parthian coin project led by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis for the British Museum and BIPS, and the subject of her AGM lecture in November 2022, as well as ideas for the future, of which BIPS can be proud. As reported in this Review, the Outreach programme is reaching large audiences and continues to investigate new possibilities under Andrew Newman’s fertile chairmanship.

We believe that the direction in which we are heading has the approval of the

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British Academy, with their encouragement to diversify and, to some extent, reinvent ourselves in the changing intellectual, financial and legal frameworks in which we operate, always putting the pursuit of research excellence at the heart of our efforts.

It is a matter of great regret to everyone at BIPS that direct dealings with Iran and opportunities for safe and productive travel there have been so hampered by the continuing deterioration of Anglo-Iranian relations during the year under review. Nevertheless, we maintain regular contact with Tehran, thanks to our Vice-President Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, and we were delighted to welcome Daneh Kordmahini in London shortly before Christmas; it was a pleasure to meet her and recognise that the Institute is indeed fortunate to be maintained in the safe hands of her and her mother, Sima Mohannak, for whose prudent guidance on our behalf we are extremely grateful.

Richard McClary and Andrew Peacock stood down at the end of the year and I would like to acknowledge their work on BIPS’s behalf while on Council and beyond. I am grateful to Dr Shabnam Holliday for taking on the chairmanship of the Research Committee. Imogen Edwards eased into her first year as Executive Officer in trying times, and we owe a great debt to Silvia Ferreri (Outreach and Digitisation Co-ordinator) and Hossein Hamedani for their dedicated response to the endless and often outrageous demands put on their time. Thanks to our Honorary Secretary Narguess Farzad and all Trustees for their continuing support and commitment.

I would like to end with the observation that there is a lot happening at BIPS, a lot that needs to happen, and a conducive environment for those with fire in their bellies for Persian and Iranian studies in the UK and a willingness to promote them at all levels of engagement, from schools’ programmes to research at the highest academic level. There are many obstacles to success, of which inadequate funding is only one; we are open to all offers of support and commitment to help fulfil BIPS’s ambitious but necessary aspirations to play the leading role in furthering the study of this magnificent but increasingly neglected civilisation.

Professor Charles Melville August 2023

Page 11. Large Hellenistic pot in Room 100. Takht-i-Suleiman, Pasargadae. From the David Stronach Archive.

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Research

Umbrella programmes

The Research programme at BIPS is managed by the Research Committee chaired by Shabnam Holliday, Associate Professor in International Relations, University of Plymouth. Dr Holliday replaced Dr Richard Piran McClary as Research Director in March 2023. BIPS thanks Dr McClary for his work as Research Director.

At the end of the financial year 2022-2023, the three Umbrella Programmes focussing on the study of the Ancient, Medieval and Modern Persianate world came to an end. BIPS is grateful to the Programme Directors, Lloyd Llewellyn Jones, Professor in Ancient History at the University of Cardiff, Andrew Peacock, Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic History at the University of St Andrews, and Shabnam Holliday, for their work over the years and for ensuring the success of the Programmes.

published in a British Museum press edited volume (forthcoming). A private viewing of the British Museum exhibition, led by its curator Dr James Fraser, for members of BIPS is planned in July 2023.

Finally, arising from the exhibition, and with an underspend contribution from the Outreach Committee, we have prepared four 10-minute videos on Persian and Greek objects from the exhibition aimed at A-level students and undergraduates. The BIPS logo is used. Links to these open-access videos will be placed on the BIPS website.

Thanks to all BIPS colleagues who have worked alongside me over the last five years I have spent on the Research Committee. I look forward to working alongside the Outreach team.

Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Objects of Empire: Imperial Elites and Material Cultures of Ancient Iran

For final report for the BIPS Ancient programme, I am happy to state that the Achaemenid costumes recreated for the British Museum exhibition, Luxury and Power - Persia to Greece , have been a great success with public and scholars. BIPS contributed £3,000 to their creation, an amount matched by the British Museum. They have been seen by well over 12,000 people and have appeared in world-wide media. The costumes will become part of the British Museum’s permanent collection and it is good to know that BIPS will have a presence in its collection. The riding costume will be on display again in the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek next year in an exhibition on dress in antiquity; BIPS will be credited. The creation of the costumes and the research undertaken will be

Persianisation and Persianate Cosmopolises in the Medieval World

The theme of the Medieval Research Programme is Persianisation and Persian Cosmopolises, examining the role of Persianate culture across Eurasia. In October 2022 the programme organised a major international conference at St Andrews on the theme of Iran and Persianate Culture in the Indian Ocean World , bringing together researchers from the UK, Iran, US and Europe to look at this important but neglected subject. Chronologically papers ranged from Sasanian engagement in the Gulf and Indian Ocean to Reza Shah’s exile to Mauritius, and brought together studies from archaeology, literature, linguistics and history. Geographically papers ranged from studies of the controversy of the medieval Shirazi migration to East Africa to the Iranian role in the Islamisation of the Maldives, to the influence of Persian literature on the intellectual history of Southeast Asia. Other papers examined newly discovered Persian manuscripts bringing to light fresh evidence for Persian engagement in the Indian Ocean. The rich range of themes represented will form the basis for a publication that builds on the work presented at the conference.

Professor Andrew Peacock

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Iran and the International in the Modern Period

The Iran and Sovereignty Project, the final part of the Modern Research Project, ‘Iran and the International’ was launched. This is a collaborative interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary project, led by Dr Shabnam Holliday, that brings together scholars from the UK, the EU, and the USA in the fields of Archaeology, Cultural Studies, Ancient, Medieval and Modern history, Politics, and International Relations.

It explores the complexity of sovereignty in Iran and highlights the importance of ‘Area Studies’ to address Eurocentrism in the humanities and social sciences. The first part of the project was an online workshop held on 10 and 11 January 2023. The second workshop will be held at the University of Plymouth on 6 and 7 July 2023.

Dr Shabnam Holliday

Research, Research Assistant and Travel Grants Programme

About the BIPS Grant Programme

output.

The Research Assistant Grants are designed to allow academics to hire assistants to help develop a research project, allow for the research of an established academic to be supported, with an income to be provided to an early-career scholar or postgraduate student who will conduct the majority of the research.

To qualify for a Travel Grant, applicants must be currently enrolled as a student (undergraduate or postgraduate, including doctoral candidates) at a UK HEI. The awards are limited to £1,200 and are normally awarded to assist with the costs of travel to the Persianate world, in its widest sense, but we may make awards for travel to conferences or to other regions if a strong rational is made in the application. All grant applications are assessed by the BIPS Research Committee, and their recommendations are then reviewed and ratified by BIPS Council.

At the time of taking their grant, successful applicants must be members of BIPS. Award holders must provide a financial report, for internal use, and a short narrative report that will be uploaded to the BIPS website.

For more information on our current grant rounds see the BIPS website.

BIPS supports UK-based post-doctoral researchers and UK-based students to carry out humanities and social science research into Iran and the Persianate world, and invites grant applications three times a year, usually in January, April, and October.

BIPS has traditionally supported a broad range of research projects and funded travel for research and conference attendance. This year we have added a new category of grants, the Research Assistant Grants, which have proven to be very popular and opened up a new avenue for funding research.

The Research Grants and Research Assistant Grants, generally up to a maximum of £5,000, can be awarded to applicants who have completed a PhD and hold a research-active position at a UK Higher Educational Institution (HEI). HEIs are usually universities but may also be museums or similar organisations. Research Grants are given for a range of purposes, including fieldwork, archival research and the organisation of conferences, with academic publications as the primary

In addition to the Research Grants, Research Assistant Grants and Travel Grants, BIPS also administers the Iran Society PhD Bursary of £5,000. This is for students entering their final year of a PhD programme at a UK university.

2022-2023 BIPS Grant Awards

During the financial year 2022-2023 BIPS has awarded a total of twenty-two grants, which have supported important research projects. These cover a broad chronological span and a variety of disciplines, and the Research Assistant Grants continue to prove very successful, with five awarded.

The third, and final, Iran Society Bursary was divided between Sean Strong (Cardiff

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University) and Friederike Jürcke (University of Cambridge).

In the financial year 2022-2023 the following grants were awarded:

Type of Award	Awardee	UK HEI	Topic	Value
Research	Robert Gleave	University of Exeter	Conducting feld research in India for the project_India-Iran- _Iraq: Akhbārī and Ușūlī Scholars in Persianate Context	£2,095
Research	Eve MacDonald	Cardiff University	Seeb Community History Project, Oman	£5,000
Research	Eve MacDonald	Cardiff University	Conducting carbon dating on the project_Fulayj: A Sasanian_ Persian Fort in Oman	£5,000
Research	Saeed Talajooy	University of St Andrews	The Eastward Gaze: the Dialogue of Iranian Theatre Practitioners with Chinese, Japanese and Indian Dramatic Forms(1900-present)	£1,200
Research	Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Rebecca Green	The British Museum	Line Drawings for the volume Sylloge Nummorum Parthicorum Volume 4	£1,500
Research Assistant	Ali Ansari	University of St Andrews	History, Culture and ideology in Pahlavi Iran – the contribution of Shojaeddin Shafa	£5,000
Research Assistant	Sussan Babaie	The Courtauld Institute of Art	Supporting an upcoming exhibition on Art of the Mongol World	£5,000
Research Assistant	Derek Kennet	Durham University	Williamson Project	£4,500

Research Assistant	Roger Matthews	University of Reading	Analysis of animal bones from Iranian Epipalaeolithic- Neolithic sites on the Caspian shores	£4,995
Research Assistant	Richard Pendry	University of Kent	Study of Journalists In Afghanistan	£4,885
Student Travel	Asma Abdi	Warwick University	Intimacy in (times of) crisis; Queering economic sanctions through the lens of heterosexual life (Paper presented at BRISMES Conference 2023)	£452
Student Travel	Mohammad Amir Hakimi Parsa	SOAS University of London	Visit to Istanbul archive as part of_The ideas of “Iran and Rum” _among early modern diplomats (1600–1800)	£1,200
Student Travel	Robert Allan	Oxford University	Attending a language school in Dushanbe	£100
Student Travel	Ana Garcia Espinosa	Cardiff University	Royal women, armies and warfare in Hellenistic Iran: who had more power?(Paper presented at the Classical Association Annual Conference 2023, Universityof Cambridge)	£537
Student Travel	Clare Parry	Cardiff University	Communicating Power and Legitimacy? Dynastic Display in Ancient Persia and the Near East (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History conference 2023, Valletta, Malta)	£650
Student Travel	Clare Parry	Cardiff University	The Iconography of War and Violence in Persia and the Near East(Paper presented at the Lyceum Classics Community Seminar series, UCL)	£182

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Student Travel	Margaret Squires	The Courtauld Institute of Art	Fragmented Histories: A Deccani Carpet in the Chehel Sotun(Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies Biennial Convention, Yerevan, Armenia)	£650
Student Travel	Sean Strong and Domiziana Rossi	Cardiff University	Registration costs of all speakers presenting papers under the strand_Roman and Sasanian_ Networks and Entanglements	£1,200
Student Travel	Sean Strong	Cardiff University	Emperor Maurice and his Eastern Generals: Military Careers and Networks along the Roman-Sasanian Frontier (Paper presented at IMC 2023, Leeds)	£291
Student Travel	Raffay Yousef	Oxford University	Attending a language school in Dushanbe	£100
Student Travel	Khosrow Tousi	SOAS University of London	On a Global Wavelength: The Emergence of Radio Psychology in Pahlavi Iran (Paper presented at the 34th Deutscher Orientalistentag Conference, Berlin)	£424

Dr Shabnam Holliday BIPS Research Director

BIPS Flagship Research Project

In 2022, BIPS launched its Flagship Research Project which aimed to fund innovative research projects related to the history, literature and culture of the Iranian world in its widest sense. Two projects were selected. These will run over three years, from April 2023 to March 2026.

Persian Manuscripts between East and West: Britain, India and the Circulation of the Persianate Literary Heritage . This project, led by Professor Andrew Peacock, University of St Andrews, explores British engagement with Persian manuscript culture through British collections of Persian manuscripts, and the British role in forming Indian collections. It contributes to a more nuanced public debate over questions such as the origins and restitution of colonial artefacts by highlighting the complex histories of these manuscripts even before they reached British hands.

Agricultural Sustainability of the Otrar Oasis . This project, led by Dr Katie Campbell (King’s College, University of Cambridge), investigates the reasons for population decline in Otrar Oasis in in southern Kazakhstan and its agricultural economy. It contributes to a better understanding of a somewhat overlooked part of the Persianate world and will transform our understanding of the agricultural economy at Otrar.

Aerial photograph of the Otrar Oasis archaeological site. ©Katie Campbell.

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Collaboration between the Iran Society and BIPS

In the third and final year of our joint programme, the Iran Society is pleased to have provided funds to BIPS to award grants to two PhD students to assist them in their final write-up year, when their funds are drying up. The aim was to support students working on subjects that are of general interest.

£5000 was awarded, split between the following students:

Sean Strong (Cardiff University), Generals and Rulers in Theophylact Simocatta’s History: Ideals and Practices of Roman and Sasanian Leadership in a Time of Transition.

Friederike Jürcke (Cambridge University), Modelling movement across the Iranian Plateau in the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE .

Sean Strong subsequently gave an excellently polished lecture on his subject to a joint Iran Society/BIPS audience. Those who received awards in previous years have all completed their theses.

The Iran Society is grateful to BIPS for adjudicating the awards and to Imogen Edwards for her efficient organisation of the applications and interviews with the short-listed candidates.

Antony Wynn Chairman, The Iran Society www.iransociety.org

Zal and Rudabah. Shahnamah , Mughal, early 17th century. Artist: Qasim. Add 5600, f. 42v. ©The British Library.

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Excavating the Archives: David Stronach’s fieldwork in Iran with BIPS

David Stronach OBE FSA (1931 - 2020) was a leading figure in the field of Iranian archaeology and founding Director of the British Institute of Persian Studies. He left behind an extensive archive of his pioneering

excavations in Iran, which are currently being digitised at the Pourdavoud Centre at UCLA (a first report on these activities is in the BIPS Annual Review 2022, pp. 18-20). The digitised files are then sent to the UK to be reviewed and catalogued, with the eventual aim of making the digitised archive freely available online via a BIPS hosted website. The archive will also be used to generate new research and scholarly publications.

In March 2023 I travelled to the Pourdavoud Centre at UCLA, where I was kindly hosted by Dr Ali Mousavi, to begin sorting through the wealth of archival material currently held in his office. My task during the initial visit was to examine and organise the archival material in preparation for digitisation and cataloguing. From this initial review, it was evident that the archive contained extensive documentation relating to David Stronach’s early excavations with BIPS at the archaeological sites of Pasargadae, Nush-i Jan, Shahr-i Qumis and Yarim Tepe.

Pasargadae, the grand capital of Cyrus the Great, was surveyed and excavated over three field seasons between 1961 and 1963, the results of which significantly advanced our understanding of this important Achaemenid centre. The excavations are well published, most notably in David’s substantial final report of 1978, which remains the standard work on the site. The archival material for Pasargadae

includes 1,000 slides documenting the excavations that have now been digitised and catalogued in preparation for publication online.

Nush-i Jan is an important Median and Parthian period settlement located in the Malayer plain, which was excavated by David over five field seasons between 1967 and 1977. Related publications include three preliminary reports published in Iran and two monographs covering the architectural remains of the Median period as well as the small finds. Planned volumes on the ceramics, the later Parthian settlement, and a related survey of the Malayer plain remain unpublished. In terms of research and publication potential, the extensive archive for Nush-i Jan - which includes the original field notebooks, registers, drawings, plans and photographs - is of great importance and should be prioritised for digitisation. To date, over 500 negatives documenting the excavations and finds have been digitised alongside a number of field notebooks and registers.

Shahr-i Qumis is an extensive Parthian period site located in north-eastern Iran. David’s work at the site, which was codirected with Dr John Hansman, took place over four field seasons between 1967 and 1978. Related publications include preliminary reports published in JRAS and a more recent paper on the Parthian

The Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae. From the David Stronach Archive.

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pottery from Qumis published in Iran . In terms of research potential, a final report has yet to be published and only short reports exist for the final two field seasons. The Shar-i Qumis archive is similarly extensive and comprises the original field notebooks, registers, drawings, plans, photographs, and pottery statistics. A full appraisal of this archive can significantly enhance our understanding of this important Parthian site.

David’s early work at Yarim Tepe, a mound located on the Gorgan plain, revealed an archaeological sequence spanning the Late Neolithic through to the Iron Age. The mound was excavated over

two seasons between 1960-62, the results of which remain largely unpublished. On reviewing the available archival material for Yarim Tepe, which again includes much of the original field notebooks, registers, drawings, plans, and photographs, it was decided that the material should be digitised in preparation for a final report on the excavations. To

achieve this, I travelled to UCLA for a second time in May to catalogue and collect the Yarim Tepe archive.

Currently, I am in the process of sorting, digitising, and transcribing the available material in preparation for publication. Despite the wealth of material to hand, this is proving to be quite the puzzle, involving the slow but rewarding processes of patching together descriptions, sketches, photographs, and notes – some of which are scribbled on the back of envelopes – to build up a picture of the excavations. Unfortunately, there appears to be some gaps in the documentation. As is often the case with archaeological excavations, the amount of detail recorded can vary considerably between trenches and their respective supervisors. Some field

Excavating the Columned Hall at Nush-i Jan. From the David Stronach Archive.

notebooks feature thorough descriptions of the excavations accompanied by drawings, plans and levels. Others contain very little in the way of useful information. Many of the excavation photographs do not have accompanying captions, the subjects of which must be identified by comparing images with plans, sketches, and field descriptions. The same is true of the pottery drawings, which require considerable work before we can start to produce a valuable ceramic sequence for the site. Nevertheless, much progress is being made and the preliminary results look very promising. It is hoped that the publication of this material can make a significant contribute to the field and will provide a fitting tribute to the pioneering work of David Stronach.

Dr Gareth Brereton University of York/BIPS

Excavations at Shar-i Qumis. From the David Stronach Archive.

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Outreach

2022-2023 Events

8 March 2023	Modern Iran: A global history “from below“	The Annual Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture, co-organised by BIPS and IMeEIS, University of Durham. In person event at the Calman Learning Centre, Durham University;with Stephanie Cronin
1-2 March 2023	Conference: Persian Impact on History, Literature and Culture of Central and South Asia	[BIPS sponsored event] In person event at the Centre for the Arts and Library, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Kolkata
1 March 2023	Bringing Wales and Iran together through academia and beyond	[Event coorganised by BIPS and Wales Week/Iran] On-line (via Zoom) talk by John Price; chaired by Andrew Newman
22 February 2023	Agreeable News from Persia: What 18th and early 19th- century American newspaper readers knew about contemporaryevents in Iran	On-line (via Zoom) talk with Daniel T. Potts; chaired by Andrew Newman
18 January 2023	Making and Unmaking Community: Urban Life in Persianate Rajasthan	On-line (via Zoom) talk with Elizabeth Thelen; chaired by Andrew Newman
7 December 2022	Economic and Cultural Renaissance at Kartid Herat, 1251 to 1381	On-line (via Zoom) talk with Shivan Mahendrarajah; chaired byAndrew Newman
2-3 December 2022	Conference: Safavid Majmu’s(s) and jung(s): History, Philology, and Arts of the Book	[BIPS sponsored event] In person event at the University of Oxford; convened by Mahroo Moosavi

28 November 2022	Rivalling Rome: Parthian coins and culture	AGM Lecture by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Hybrid event: on-line (via Zoom) and in person at The British Academy
19 October 2022	Humayun Padshah and Iran: Safavid Present and Mythical Past	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Ebba Koch; chaired by Andrew Newman
21September 2022	A Persianate Japanology? The Reach and Limits of Inter- Asian Exchange	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Nile Green; chaired by Andrew Newman
15 September to 10 October 2022	Afghanistan: From Buddhism to Islam (8th to 13th century)	[Organised by the Invisible East programme, Oxford, with technical support from BIPS] Series of fve online talks by Llewelyn Morgan, Arezou Azad, Alka Patel, Majid M. Mahdi, Reza Huseini
7-8 September 2022	Conference: Iran and Persianate Culture in the Indian Ocean World	Conference of the BIPS Medieval Programme In person event at the University of St Andrews; convened by Andrew Peacock
20 July 2022	The Mobility of Persian Artefacts: The Sanguszko Carpet in Motion	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Yuka Kadoi; chaired by Andrew Newman
29 June 2022	Roi sur Trône: the Achaemenid Royal Audience in Late Qajar Media	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Lindsay Allen; chaired by Andrew Newman

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18 June 2022	William Darlymple in Conversation	[Event coorganised by BIPS, University of York, Jaipur Literature Festival] 1st Bruce Wannell Memorial Lecture In person event at the University of York;with William Darlymple
25 May 2022	Persianate Aspects of the Malay-Indonesian World: Rare Manuscripts	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Majid Daneshgar; chaired by Andrew Newman
27 April 2022	The City of Isfahan as Actor: Urban Knowledge and Household Anthologies	On-line (via Zoom) talk by Kathryn Babayan; chaired by Andrew Newman
6 April 2022	Unequal Treaties and the Question of Sovereignty in Qajar and early Pahlavi Iran	The Annual Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture, co-organised by BIPS and IMeEIS, University of Durham. On-line (via Zoom) lecture; with Ali Gheissari

The enhancement of BIPS’ online presence continued to be of particular importance over this period. Ms Silvia Ferreri spearheaded this process. BIPS now has a growing social media footprint across the most important platforms, as the accompanying data shows.

The monthly BIPS’ webinar series continued apace over this past year. We held 11 events on topics ranging from Isfahani households in the Safavid period, manuscripts of the Malaysian-Indonesian world, Persianate culture in the Indian Ocean, urban life in Persianate Rajasthan, and the economic and cultural renaissance of Kartid Herat.

In addition, BIPS continued its collaboration with Durham University with which it organises the Annual Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture. In April 2022 the Lambton Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Ali Gheissari on the topic Unequal

Treaties and the Question of Sovereignty in Qajar and early Pahlavi Iran . In March 2023, the lecture was Modern Iran: A global history “from below” delivered by Dr Stephanie Cronin.

In June 2022, William Dalrymple in Conversation was the Inaugural Bruce Wannell Memorial Lecture, held at York in partnership with University of York and the Jaipur Literature Festival.

During this year, BIPS (co-) sponsored three conferences in St Andrews, Oxford, and Kolkata. BIPS also collaborated with the Invisible East programme at the University of Oxford to organise a series of five lectures which were livestreamed on the BIPS’ Zoom platform. A full list of all BIPS’ events over the period can be found on the BIPS website.

The weekly student newsletter, started in March of 2022, also with the assistance of Ms Silvia Ferreri, continued to be circulated over the past year. The newsletter contains news

of events, publications, job postings and other academic announcements. Past newsletters can be found in the Newsletter Archive page on the BIPS website.

BIPS is supporting Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones’ production of a series of videos in conjunction with the Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece exhibit at the British Museum from May 2023.

Professor Andrew Newman BIPS Outreach and Development Director

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Conference Persian Impact on the History, Literature and Culture of Central and South Asia . Kolkata, March 2023

BIPS co-organised a conference on the Persian Impact on the History, Literature and Culture of Central and South Asia , which was held in Kolkata, India on 1-2 March 2023 in conjunction with the Institute for Indo-Persian Studies.

This highly successful conference saw a range of papers stretching from pre-Islamic to modern times delivered by representatives of BIPS, Indian and Iranian scholars, which highlighted to depth and breadth of Persian influences in South Asia.

A number of papers dealt in particular with IndoPersian manuscripts, which represent a research priority for BIPS. In the future, BIPS hopes to expand its collaboration with the Insitute of Indo-Persian Studies to shed further light on this crucial aspect of the broader Persianate world.

Professor Andrew Peacock Conference organiser on behalf of BIPS

Poster of the conference Iran and Persianate Culture in the Indian Ocean World held at the University of St Andrew’s, Scotland, on 7-8 September 2022.

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Publications

BIPS has continued to be busy with publications with four new volumes to appear in the Persian Studies Series and the Archaeological Monograph Series.

Each year, a new volume of its journal IRAN is published (in two issues, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn). BIPS members receive a hard copy by post as a benefit of membership. An online version is available to members through BIPS’s website.

IRAN LX.I and LX.II (2022)

In 2022-23, IRAN was edited by Professor Cameron Petrie and Professor Charles Melville, both Trustees of BIPS. The journal is peer reviewed, and has an international editorial board. It also receives assistance from BIPS Trustees and Honorary Vice Presidents in reviewing submitted articles. For 60 years IRAN has maintained an international reputation for publishing significant academic articles on all aspects of Persianate study (except for modern politics), and in addition to the two issues of the journal that are published in hard copy each year, articles are also available online, and an increasing number are being published Open Access and are thus available to the general public.

Submissions are made online and the guidelines are available on the BIPS’s website.

LX.I

Marta Ameri,Who Holds the Keys? Identifying Female Administrators at Shahr-i Sokhta	p.1-38
Soheila Hadipour Moradi & Bita Sodaei,Two Bronze Coins of Alexander Balas Recently Discovered in Luristan(Iran)	p.39-45
Bertille Lyonnet,New Insights into Sogdiana during the Classical Period (from the end of the 4th c. BCE to the 3rd c. CE)	p.46-64
Ruben S. Nikoghosyan, Where Did the Battle Between Wištāsp and Arjāsp Take Place?	p.65-72
Andrea Squitieri, The Sasanian Cemetery of Gird-i Bazar in the Peshdar Plain(Iraqi Kurdistan)	p.73-90

Atri Hatef Naiemi,The Ilkhanid City of Sultaniyya: Some Remarks on the Citadel and the Outer City	p.91-120
Soli Shahvar,‘Abbas Mirza’s Invitation to Europeans to Settle in Nineteenth-Century Iranian Azerbaijan: Reasons, Causes and Motives	p.121-134
Ladislav Charouz,Naser al-Din Shah’s 1873 Visit to the World’s Fair in Vienna	p.135-147

LX.II

Sören Stark, Fiona J. Kidd, Jamal K. Mirzaakhmedov, Shujing Wang, Robert N. Spengler III, Siroj J. Mirzaakhmedov, Zachary Silvia, Silvia Pozzi, Husniddin Rakhmonov, Megan Sligar & Munira Sultanova,The Uzbek-American Expedition in Bukhara. Preliminary Report on the Third Season(2017)	p.149-199
V.A. Gaibov & A.B. Nikitin,Göbekly-Depe in Margiana	p.200-208
Arthur Stefanski,Dynamics in Ceramic Production: Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from Godin Tepe III:6 and III:5	p.209-224
Hassan Karimian, Fatemeh Karimi & Simin Karimian,Impact of Religious Commandments on Residential Architecture of Zoroastrians, Case Study: Dasturān District in Yazd City	p.225-239
Roberta Tomber, Michela Spataro & Seth Priestman,Early Islamic Torpedo Jars from Siraf: Scientifc Analyses of the Clay Fabric and Source of Indian Ocean Transport Containers	p.240-263
Massoumeh (Nahid) Assemi,Shahnameh-ye Davari; An Ode to a Dying Art?	p. 264-293

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Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World Series

BIPS are delighted to announce that we are entering a new publishing collaboration with Bloomsbury/IB Tauris for the publication of this series.

We have two books currently under production with our new partners. One, by Nahid Assemi, is entitled Piety and Politics in Qajar Iran: The Takkiyya Mu’avin alMulk in Kermanshah and is a study of an important Qajar architectural monument. The other book is edited by Saeed Talajooy and comprises a collection of essays on the Iranian playwright and cinematographer Bahram Beyzaei, entitled Bahram Beyzaie’s Drama and Cinema: Origins, Forms and Functions .

Both books will appear in early 2024, and we look forward to a productive publishing partnership with Bloomsbury.

Archaeological Monograph Series

The Archaeological Monograph Series was established in 2009 as a joint publishing venture between BIPS and Oxbow Books to create a venue for the publication of archaeological research, particularly the results of large-scale surveys and excavations. The series is edited by Professor Cameron Petrie.

The series’ seventh volume edited by Eberhard Sauer, Jebrael Nokandeh and Hamid Omrani Rekavandi entitled Ancient Arms Race: Antiquity’s Largest Fortresses and Sasanian Military Networks of Northern Iran: A joint fieldwork project by the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handcraft and Tourism Organisation and the Universities of Edinburgh and Durham (2014-2016) was published in 2022.

The eighth volume, by Seth M. N. Priestman and Derek Kennet entitled Sasanian and Islamic Settlement and Ceramics in Southern Iran (4th to 17th Century AD): The Williamson Collection Project is due to be published in 2023, and presents the results of fieldwork, research and analysis that has been supported by BIPS since the 1970s. It is available for pre-order from Oxbow Books.

Page 35. The Siege of Baghdad: details of illustration of Rashid-al-Din’s Jami’ al-tawarikh. Tabriz(?), 14th century. ©Staatsbibliothek Berlin.

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THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

Financial Report

The year 2022-23 was marked by several developments intended to raise the profile and public awareness of BIPS’s research programmes and contributions to the study of Iran and the Persianate world in the UK and internationally. The first of these is the inauguration of the ‘Flagship’ projects – substantial multi-year funding for research that fulfils our own objectives and priorities: currently with a focus on the regions beyond Iran’s current borders that contributed to the enrichment of Persian culture. The two projects awarded are on ‘The Agricultural sustainability of the Otrar oasis in Kazakhstan, from the 8th to the 18th century’, and ‘Persian manuscripts between East and West: Britain, India and the circulation of the Persianate literary heritage’. Both engage with broad areas of study concerning Central Asia and India and will involve rich programmes of conferences and publications, indicative also of BIPS’s aim to widen our scholarly networks and support research partnerships in these regions.

The second development is the initiation of a major digitisation project, in collaboration with other Schools and Institutes of the British Academy, with an initial focus on the archives of our first director, David Stronach, whose excavation records and supporting materials are currently held in UCLA and being researched by our newly-appointed Stronach Research Fellow, based at York University. Both these initiatives will dominate our work and research expenditure in the coming years.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Notes INCOME FROM: Donations and legacies Donations - Grants from Government and other public bodies 2 Other grants Charitable activities Subscriptions Publication sales Hostel income Investments Bank interest Income from investments TOTAL INCOME	Unrestricted Restricted 2023 2022 Funds Funds Total Total Restated £ £ £ £ 171 250 421 28,054 - 196,750 196,750 135,937 - 6,000 6,000 3,650 9,353 - 9,353 10,315 3,683 - 3,683 4,274 4,200 - 4,200 - 748 - 748 9
	2,902 - 2,902 1,363
	21,057 203,000 224,057 183,602

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THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT 248,759 59,196 307,955 290,791 FORWARD TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED 244,022 48,468 292,490 307,955 FORWARD

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCORPORATING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

		Unrestricted	Restricted	2023	2022
	Notes	Funds	Funds	Total	Total
		£	£	£	£
EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities
Grants and scholarships	3(a)/(c)	7,137	110,870	118,007	83,413
Workshops and lectures	3(a)	-	600	600	-
Book publication costs	3(a)	-	5,000	5,000	159
Offce costs		3,259	30,256	33,515	24,834
Financial costs	3(b)	1,195	-	1,195	(999)
Journal expenses	3(a)	-	3,998	3,998	4,226
Outreach	3(d)	-	37,170	37,170	40,165
Conferences	3(a)	-	4,693	4,693	700
Establishment and maintenance		-	19,647	19,647	6,720

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

Other Computer support Examination and accountancy 3(e) Management Legal expenses TOTAL EXPENDITURE NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES BEFORE RECOGNISED GAINS TRANSFERS GAINS/(LOSSES) ON INVESTMENTS – UNREALISED NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS	- - - 500 2,700 - 2,700 3,640 3,695 1,500 5,195 1,824 5,766 - 5,766 3,077
	23,752 213,734 237,486 168,259 (2,695) (10,734) (13,429) 15,343 (6) 6 - - (2,036) - (2,036) 1,821
	(4,737) (10,728) (15,465) 17,164

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THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF PERSIAN STUDIES

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023

Notes FIXED ASSETS Tangible Assets: Leasehold Property 4 Other Tangible Assets 4 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 5 Investments 7 Cash in hand and at bank CREDITORS(amounts falling due within one year) Creditors 6 NET CURRENT ASSETS NET ASSETS FINANCED BY: Unrestricted Funds: 12(a)(b) General Fund Designated Funds Restricted Funds: 12(a)(c) Conference Fund Bahari Foundation Fund Advanced Language Training Fund Basic Grant Business Development Grant	2023 £ £ - 47,533 47,533 33,026 44,883 221,718 299,627 54,670 244,957 292,490 213,231 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 - -	2023 £ £ - 47,533 47,533 33,026 44,883 221,718 299,627 54,670 244,957 292,490 213,231 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 - -	2022 £ £ - 47,533 47,533 1,585 46,920 266,874 315,379 54,957 260,422 307,955 217,968 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 10,378 -	2022 £ £ - 47,533 47,533 1,585 46,920 266,874 315,379 54,957 260,422 307,955 217,968 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 10,378 -
		47,533 244,957		47,533 260,422
		292,490		307,955
		213,231 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 - -		217,968 30,791 1,265 2,000 13,260 10,378 -

Bruce Wannell’s Fund Digitisation Fund TOTAL FUNDS	25,693 26,043 6,250 6,250
	292,490 307,955

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Persian flower motifs with animal centres, William De Morgan, late 19th century. Detail. E.1438-1917. ©Victoria & Albert Museum.

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MEMBERSHIP

Membership of BIPS is open to all, and we welcome new members. BIPS organises an extensive programme of talks, conferences and workshops throughout the year in the UK and overseas. It publishes its journal IRAN twice a year and occasional books in its Persian Studies Series or Archaeological Monograph Series. Becoming a member is your chance to support our work and contribute to our efforts to broaden appreciation of the cultural heritage of the Persianate world.

Membership runs from January to December, but new members can apply any time of the year. We offer four types of membership: Student (£20 a year); Corresponding (£30 a year - for non-UK members); Full (£40 a year) and Fellow (£50 a year for academics). Membership renewals or applications can be made via our website: www.bips.ac.uk/join-us/

CONTACT DETAILS

10 Carlton House Terrace London, SW1Y 5AH [phone] [e-mail]

1623 Dr Shariati Avenue Tehran, 19396-13661 [phone] [e-mail]