The elephant and the mousedeer – a new version: Anglo-Kedah relations, 1905–1915
This article by J. de Vere Allen examines Anglo-Kedah relations during the decade 1905–1915, using the metaphor of the elephant (Britain) and the mousedeer (Kedah) to frame the power dynamics between the British and the small Malay state.
Summary
The piece offers what Allen terms “a new version” of the Anglo-Kedah relationship, revisiting the conventional understanding of how British influence operated over the state of Kedah in the early twentieth century. The elephant-and-mousedeer framing signals a focus on the asymmetry of power and the degree of agency available to the smaller party within the protectorate relationship. Spanning forty pages, the article constitutes a full-length study rather than a brief note, and was published in the first issue of Volume 41 of the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1968).