Thai South and Malay North


Book Description

The portion of the Malay Peninsula where the Thai Buddhist civilization of Thailand gives way to the Malay Muslim civilization of Malaysia is characterized by multiple forms of pluralism. This book examines a broad range of issues relating to the turmoil afflicting the region.







Religion and Nationalism in Southeast Asia


Book Description

Religion and nationalism are two of the most potent and enduring forces that have shaped the modern world. Yet, there has been little systematic study of how these two forces have interacted to provide powerful impetus for mobilization in Southeast Asia, a region where religious identities are as strong as nationalist impulses. At the heart of many religious conflicts in Southeast Asia lies competing conceptions of nation and nationhood, identity and belonging, and loyalty and legitimacy. In this accessible and timely study, Joseph Liow examines the ways in which religious identity nourishes collective consciousness of a people who see themselves as a nation, perhaps even as a constituent part of a nation, but anchored in shared faith. Drawing on case studies from across the region, Liow argues that this serves both as a vital element of identity and a means through which issues of rights and legitimacy are understood.




The Malays


Book Description

Just who are ‘the Malays’? This provocative study poses the question and considers how and why the answers have changed over time, and from one region to another. Anthony Milner develops a sustained argument about ethnicity and identity in an historical, ‘Malay’ context. The Malays is a comprehensive examination of the origins and development of Malay identity, ethnicity, and consciousness over the past five centuries. Covers the political, economic, and cultural development of the Malays Explores the Malay presence in Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, as well as the modern Malay show-state of Malaysia Offers diplomatic speculation about ways Malay ethnicity will develop and be challenged in the future




Traditional Malay Monarchy


Book Description

This remarkable book brings to an English-speaking audience detailed scholarship originally conceived and written in the Malay language and with a Malay perspective. It examines the nature of monarchy in the Malay world, which includes present-day Malaysia and Indonesia, before and during the onset of Western colonialism when the Malay world was ruled by a large number of separate Muslim sultanates. It highlights that monarchs were the highest authority in the social, political, legal and economic system, rather than the government of a clearly defined territory; the notion of Dewaraja (god-king) and what a model monarch’s attributes should be; and how the monarch’s role related to Islamic principles, including the Islamic ideal of the Caliph of God meting out fair judgement and punishment. Two prominent and pivotal concepts of traditional Malay society, that of daulat (sovereignty) and derhaka (disloyalty) are here analysed and evaluated against the background of the period of absolute monarchy. Moreover, this volume also discusses the parts played by leading ministers and viziers, who often exercised enormous power, explores the role of monarchs in managing and regulating economic activity, and outlines differences between the different sultanates.




The Many Ways of Being Muslim


Book Description

"This collection brings together for the first time 22 short stories by nine Muslim Filipinos written over nearly seven decades, beginning in the 1940s. Muslims are a minority in the predominantly Catholic Philippines and the integration of Muslims into this nation has been uneven. As the stories in this anthology reflect, there is no simple or single way to capture the complex ways Muslims from different backgrounds - but especially those from the college-educated middle classes - interact with and help define contemporary Filipino identity and intellectual life. Few Muslims have seen their work anthologized in major short story collections in the Philippines: this anthology, possibly the biggest assemblage of Muslim Filipino fictionists, is intended to give readers in the Philippines and elsewhere a chance to read and enjoy their writings." --Book Jacket.




A Short History of Malaysia


Book Description

New in the Short History of Asia series, edited by Milton Osborne, this is a readable, well-informed and comprehensive history of Malaysia from ancient past to hyper-modern present day.




Sovereign Women in a Muslim Kingdom


Book Description

The Islamic kingdom of Aceh was ruled by queens for half of the 17th century. Was female rule an aberration? Unnatural? A violation of nature, comparable to hens instead of roosters crowing at dawn? Indigenous texts and European sources offer different evaluations. Drawing on both sets of sources, this book shows that female rule was legitimised both by Islam and adat (indigenous customary laws), and provides original insights on the Sultanah's leadership, their relations with male elites, and their encounters with European envoys who visited their court. The book challenges received views on kingship in the Malay world and the response of indigenous polities to east-west encounters in Southeast Asia's Age of Commerce.




A History of Ayutthaya


Book Description

The first full history of a great commercial and political center that rose in Asia over almost five centuries.