The Return of the Galon King

<div> <p>In late 1930 on a secluded mountain overlooking the rural paddy fields of British Burma a peasant leader named Saya San crowned himself King and inaugurated a series of uprisings that would later erupt into one of the largest anti-colonial rebellions in Southeast Asian history. Considered an imposter by the British a hero by nationalists and a prophet-king by area-studies specialists Saya San came to embody traditional Southeast Asia's encounter with European colonialism in his attempt to resurrect the lost throne of Burma.</p> <p><i>The Return of the Galon King</i> analyzes the legal origins of the Saya San story and reconsiders the facts upon which the basic narrative and interpretations of the rebellion are based. Aung-Thwin reveals how counter-insurgency law produced and criminalized Burmese culture contributing to the way peasant resistance was recorded in the archives and understood by Southeast Asian scholars.</p> <p>This interdisciplinary study reveals how colonial anthropologists lawyers and scholar-administrators produced interpretations of Burmese culture that influenced contemporary notions of Southeast Asian resistance and protest. It provides a fascinating case study of how history is treated by the law how history emerges in legal decisions and how the authority of the past is used to validate legal findings.</p> </div>