The book probes and examines traditional sources of royal power and control, as well as indigenous socio-political systems in the Malay world. It is focused on the north-western Malaysian Sultanate of Kedah which is acknowledged as the oldest unbroken independent kingship line in the 'Malay and Islamic world' with 1,000 years of history. Little scholarly attention has been paid to its pre-modern history, society, religion, system of government and unique geographic situation, potentially controlling both land and sea lines of communication into the remainder of Southeast Asia. It will thus provide the first comprehensive treatment in English, or other languages, on Kedah's pre-modern and nineteenth century historiography and can provide a foundation for comparative studies of the various Malay states which is presently lacking. The proposed book also sheds much needed light on a range of important topics in Malay history including: Kedah and the northern Melaka Straits history, colonial expansion and rivalry, Southeast Asian history and politics, interregional migration and the influence of the sea peoples or orang laut, traditional Malay socio-political and economic life, Islamic influences and the course of Thai-Malay relations. The book attempts to offer a new understanding, not only of Kedah, but of the political and cultural development of the entire Malay world and of its relationships with the broader forces in both its continental and maritime settings. It argues that Kedah does not seem to follow, and in fact, often seems to contradict what has been commonly been accepted as the "typical model" of the traditional Malay state. Thus it concludes that the ruling dynasty has historically exploited a wide range of unique environmental conditions, local traditions, global spiritual trends and economic forces to preserve and strengthen its political position.

Buku ini menampilkan kepada pembaca sebuah naskhah perundangan adat negeri Kedah yang diberi judul Undang-Undang Adat Negeri Kedah yang terhasil pada tahun 1893 dan masih belum diterbitkan. Isi kandungannya memerikan pelbagai maklumat penting tentang amalan undang-undang adat kesultanan Kedah pada abad ke-19, dan dalam masa yang sama mengetengahkan nilai sosiobudaya, ekonomi dan aturan kehidupan seharian masyarakat. Naskhah undang-undang tersebut juga kaya dengan nasihat adab pemerintahan mengikut ajaran Islam, kedudukan wanita, keanekaragaman bahasa dan sebagainya. Berdasarkan hukum-hakam yang tercatat dalam naskhah tersebut, dapat dibuat suatu gambaran tentang permasalahan sosial yang berlaku di Kedah sekitar abad ke-19 hingga pelbagai bentuk undang-undang telah diwujudkan bagi membendung dan mengatasi permasalahan sosial tersebut. Keunikan naskhah Undang-Undang Adat Negeri Kedah semakin terserlah melalui identiti pemiliknya, Ku Din Ku Meh yang pernah berkhidmat sebagai Penguasa Penjara di Alor Setar, Kedah pada zaman pemerintahan Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Syah (1881–1943), dan seterusnya menjadi Gabenor di Setul (Satun). Hal ini memperlihatkan bahawa naskhah perundangan adat masih memainkan peranan dalam sistem perundangan di negeri Kedah pada abad ke-19 bagi memelihara keharmonian dan keutuhan kerajaan dan negara. Naskhah Undang-Undang Adat Negeri Kedah merupakan suatu pencapaian penting bagi sejarah dan ketamadunan hidup serta ketinggian hasil persuratan di negeri Kedah yang perlu diketengahkan kepada masyarakat hari ini.

In the early twentieth century, social banditry was endemic in the countryside near the border between the northern Malaysian state of Kedah and Siam, and some outlaws became local heroes. Cheah Boon Kheng's account of peasant banditry and the society where it flourished draws on colonial records, literary sources and interviews to examine the circumstances that led the Governor, Sir Laurence Guillemard, to call the border area "one of the most lawless and insecure districts" in British Malaya during the 1920s. Considering banditry from the perspective of the peasant community, Cheah concludes that it grew out of lax government, weak policing, the geography of the border region and underdevelopment, and suggests that bandit heroes might be seen as symbols of rural protest. His discussion of the details of rural life in the early twentieth century and the conditions that underlay rural crime provide a unique social history of rural society in Malaya. This innovative volume broke new ground in Malaysian studies when it first appeared in 1988. This second edition is intended for the work to reach a new audience.