Monarchies and decolonisation in Asia

307 Pages·2020·2.98 MB·English

by  Cindy McCreery (editor), Robert Aldrich (editor)

General editors: Andrew S. Thompson and Alan Lester
Founding editor: John M. MacKenzie
When the ‘Studies in Imperialism’ series was founded by
Professor John M. MacKenzie more than thirty years ago,
emphasis was laid upon the conviction that ‘imperialism
as a cultural phenomenon had as significant an effect on
the dominant as on the subordinate societies’. With well
over a hundred titles now published, this remains the
prime concern of the series. Cross-disciplinary work has
indeed appeared covering the full spectrum of cultural
phenomena, as well as examining aspects of gender and sex,
frontiers and law, science and the environment, language
and literature, migration and patriotic societies, and much
else. Moreover, the series has always wished to present
comparative work on European and American imperialism,
and particularly welcomes the submission of books in these
areas. The fascination with imperialism, in all its aspects,
shows no sign of abating, and this series will continue to
lead the way in encouraging the widest possible range of
studies in the field. ‘Studies in Imperialism’ is fully organic
in its development, always seeking to be at the cutting
edge, responding to the latest interests of scholars and the
needs of this ever-expanding area of scholarship.
Monarchies and decolonisation
in Asia
SELECTED TITLES AVAILABLE IN THE SERIES
WRITING IMPERIAL HISTORIES
ed. Andrew S. Thompson
GENDERED TRANSACTIONS
Indrani Sen
EXHIBITING THE EMPIRE
ed. John M. MacKenzie and John McAleer
BANISHED POTENTATES
Robert Aldrich
MISTRESS OF EVERYTHING
ed. Sarah Carter and Maria Nugent
BRITAIN AND THE FORMATION OF THE GULF STATES
Shohei Sato
CULTURES OF DECOLONISATION
ed. Ruth Craggs and Claire Wintle
HONG KONG AND BRITISH CULTURE, 1945–97
Mark Hampton
Monarchies and
decolonisation
in Asia
Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery
MANCHESTER
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © Manchester University Press 2020
While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press,
copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors, and no chapter
may be reproduced wholly or in part without the express permission in writing of both
author and publisher.
Published by MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
ALTRINCHAM STREET, MANCHESTER M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 4269 6 hardback
First published 2020
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for
any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or
appropriate.
Cover image: Vintage World Map, 2015
© Michal Bednarek, bednarek-art.com
Cover design: riverdesignbooks.com
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
CONTENTS
List of figures—vii
Notes on contributors—x
Acknowledgements—xiii
1 Monarchies, decolonisation and post-colonial Asia 1
Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery
2 All the king’s men: regal ministers of eclipsed empires in
India 22
Priya Naik
3 Decolonised rulers: rajas, maharajas and others in post-
colonial India 44
Jim Masselos
4 The Himalayan kingdoms, British colonialism and
indigenous monarchs after the end of empire 60
Robert Aldrich
5 Conflict and betrayal: negotiations at the end of British rule
in the Shan States of Burma (Myanmar) 80
Susan Conway
6 Malaysia’s multi-monarchy: surviving colonisation and
decolonisation 95
Anthony Milner
7 Celebrating the ‘world’s most ideal state’: Sarawak and the
Brooke dynasty’s centenary of 1941 112
Donna Brunero
8 Refashioning the monarchy in Brunei: Sultan Omar Ali and
the quest for royal absolutism 134
Naimah S. Talib
9 Colonial monarchy and decolonisation in the French
Empire: Bao Dai, Norodom Sihanouk and Mohammed V 152
Christopher Goscha
10 Loyalism and anti-communism in the making of the
modern monarchy in post-colonial Laos 175
Ryan Wolfson-Ford
[ v ]
CONTENTS
11 Indonesia: sultans and the state 192
Jean Gelman Taylor
12 Defending the Sultanate’s territory: Yogyakarta during the
Indonesian decolonisation, 1942–50 208
Bayu Dardias Kurniadi
13 The uses of monarchy in late-colonial Hong Kong, 1967–97 225
Mark Hampton
14 From absolute monarch to ‘symbol emperor’: decolonisation
and the Japanese emperor after 1945 243
Elise K. Tipton
15 Dramatising Siamese independence: Thai post-colonial
perspectives on kingship 260
Irene Stengs
Index—283
[ vi ]
FIGURES
1.1 Members of the Indian Conference of Princes with the
Viceroy, 1917. Photograph, Wikimedia Commons. 6
1.2 One rupee Indian coin with George VI as King-Emperor,
1947. Collection of Arun Kumar Singh. Photograph,
Wikimedia Commons. 10
2.1 Seating plan of the Chamber of Princes, February 1928.
Courtesy of National Archives of India, New Delhi. 33
2.2 Detail of 1911 map of New Delhi, showing areas desig-
nated for maharajas and dewans. Courtesy of National
Archives of India, New Delhi. 35
3.1 Painted plaster of Paris figurine of a maharaja produced by
Air India as a gift for passengers, c. 1970s–1980s. From the
collection of Jim Masselos. 54
3.2 Printed set of Air India playing cards featuring a maharaja,
c. 1970s–1980s. From the collection of Jim Masselos. 54
4.1 Ugyen Wangchuck in 1905 after his investiture with the
Order of the Indian Empire. Photograph by John Claude
White, British Library. Wikimedia Commons. 62
4.2 General Sir Claude Auchinleck receives the Order of the
Star of Nepal from King Tribhuvan, 1945. Photograph,
Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate. Wikimedia
Commons. 70
4.3 Chogyal (King) Palden of Sikkim and Gyalmo (Queen
Consort) Hope Cooke, with their daughter watch birthday
celebrations, 1971. Photograph by Alice S. Kandell, Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
D.C. Wikimedia Commons. 72
5.1 Shan sawbwas (princes) at the Delhi Darbar, 1903.
Photograph by Underwood & Underwood, British Library.
Wikimedia Commons. 85
6.1 Signature of the Federation of Malaya Agreement by the
Sultan of Perak, at King’s House, Kuala Lumpur, 1948.
Colonial Office Photographic Collection, CO 1069/504,
The National Archives UK. Wikimedia Commons. 106
7.1 ‘Sarawak’s hundred years of rule under the White Rajahs’,
Illustrated London News, 4 October 1941, p. 22. ©
Illustrated London News/Mary Evans. 122
[ vii ]
LIST OF FIGURES
8.1 Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. Photograph, Historic
Collection/Alamy Stock Photo. 139
9.1 Former Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam at the Elysée Palace,
Paris, 1948. Photograph OFF/AFP/Getty Images. Creative
Commons. 155
9.2 King Sihanouk of Cambodia, c. 1949. Photograph, Studios
Harcourt, Paris. Creative Commons. 158
10.1 King Savang and Queen Khamphoui in internal exile after
the overthrow of the Lao monarchy. Unknown photogra-
pher, reproduced in Joanna C. Scott, Indochina’s Refugees:
Oral Histories from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1989). 189
11.1 Paku Buwono X of Surakarta in Royal Netherlands Indies
Army uniform, c. 1903. Photograph, Tropenmusem,
Amsterdam, TMnmr-10001903, Wikimedia Commons. 193
11.2 President Joko Widodo receives eighty-eight rajas and
sultans from across the archipelago at the presidential
palace in Bogor, 4 January 2018. Photograph, Press Bureau
Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Indonesia. 205
12.1 Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX of Yogyakarta. Public
Domain. 210
13.1 The Queen pauses to talk to some of the thousands of
people who greeted her at a Kowloon housing estate,
May 1975. (Hong Kong Yearbook 1976). Courtesy of the
Information Services Department, Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region. 235
14.1 Emperor Hirohito visiting General Douglas MacArthur, 27
September 1945. Courtesy of The MacArthur Memorial
Archives, Norfolk, Virginia, USA. 248
15.1 This famous, undated engraving by Jean-Baptiste Nolin
depicts the audience of the French ambassador with King
Narai on 18 October 1685. National Library of France,
Paris. Wikimedia Commons. 264
15.2 Panel of the King Naresuan the Great Monument in
Ayutthaya, depicting King Naresuan’s declaration of
independence. Photograph by Irene Stengs. 268
15.3 Panel of King Naresuan the Great Monument in Ayutthaya
depicting the cockfight between the roosters of Prince
Naresuan and the Burmese crown prince. Photograph by
Irene Stengs. 271
15.4 Roosters offered by worshippers of King Naresuan at
the King Naresuan the Great Monument in Ayutthaya.
Photograph by Irene Stengs. 272
[ viii ]
LIST OF FIGURES
15.5 Statue of King Naresuan mounted on a war elephant in
Suphanburi province on Royal Thai Army Day 1991; this
was reputedly the location where the king fought his
victorious battle against the Burmese crown prince on 25
January 1592. Photograph courtesy of Sjon Hauser. 273
15.6 Image of Queen Suriyothai from the film The Legend of
Queen Suriyothai’s Sacrifice as reproduced on a can of
Singha beer. Photograph by Irene Stengs. 276
Every effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copy-
right material, and the editors will be pleased to be informed of any
errors and omissions for correction in future editions.
[ ix ]