Raffles and Religion A Study of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles' Discourse on Religions Amongst Malays

The first and only proconsul of Java for Britain, founder of Singapore, and the author of a two-volume encyclopaedic work on Java, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) is, in the minds of many, the most dedicated colonial administrator in the history of Southeast Asia. So much so that entire collections of writings have been devoted to him, and he has been the subject of a comprehensive bibliography. Yet, none of these works has made an extensive analysis of Raffles' discourse on the religions of a people he perceived as `Malays', which he developed throughout his 18 years of service in the region. The book attempts to fill this gap by examining in detail Raffles' discourse on the `various religions' of the Malays.