The Peasant Robbers of Kedah, 1900-1929: Historical and Folk Perceptions

The north Malaysian state of Kedah, which borders on Siam, contains a form of social banditry which has always been endemic in the countryside. In the early part of the 20th century, when the state was still under Siamese sovereignty (later exchanged for British), bandits of the Robin Hood type were not unknown. This account draws on colonial, literary and oral sources to present a social history of Kedah from the viewpoint of the peasant community. It focuses attention on the factors which produce rural crime, and discusses the extent to which bandit heroes can be regarded as symbols of rural protest.