Revelation of Empire: The Maxwells and Their Study of Malay Customs

Abstract

This essay aims to revisit and evaluate the authoritarian British imperial policy and conduct in Northern Perak and Kedah, especially those involving the official duties and the daily interactions of the first Supreme Court Judge of the Straits Settlements and British Adviser to Kedah, namely Sir Peter Benson Maxwell and Sir George William Maxwell respectively. However, despite desires to establish the supremacy of western culture and civilisation, the Maxwells appreciated and valued the Malays and their customs in Perak and Kedah. Hence they aimed at diminishing prejudice to foster togetherness and bring justice to the northern Malays. Information provided by Sir P. B. Maxwell in Our Malay Conquests (1878) and G. W. Maxwell's In Malay Forests (1907) depicted their "accounts of personal incidents" that help readers understand the Maxwells' political and personal views of the Malays and their fascinating customs reflective of their writings. The Maxwells therefore ridicule the irony of British's "love for justice," orient-occident dichotomy and injustice done to these oriental and their long-established adat (customs) that is loosely translated as culture.