On the Spot: Annabel Teh Gallop
‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? Orality. Historians search for ‘lost’ manuscripts which might never have existed.’
Why are you a historian of the Malay world?
I grew up in Brunei, my mother is from Kedah in Malaysia, and I was bowled over by West Java in Indonesia where I taught in my gap year: contrasting worlds connected by language.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
Things don’t necessarily get better.
Which history book has had the greatest influence on you?
Takeshi Ito’s 1984 PhD thesis ‘The World of the Adat Aceh’ made sense of a difficult 17th-century Malay text without a single direct quotation.
What book in your field should everyone read?
Illuminations: Writing Traditions of Indonesia, published by Lontar.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
Melaka in the 15th century, the ‘Venice of the East’, to see what books they had.
Which historian has had the greatest influence on you?
Anthony Reid, who delivers the macro and the micro of Southeast Asia.
Which person in history would you most like to have met?
Sir Hans Sloane, collector extraordinaire, and founder of the British Museum and its library.
How many languages do you have?
Malay/Indonesian and English.
What historical topic have you changed your mind on?
Orality. Historians search for ‘lost’ manuscripts which might never have existed.
What is the most common misconception about your field?
That Malay is a simple language.
What’s the most exciting field in history today?
The Indian Ocean world.
Who is the most underrated person in history…
Sultanah Tajul Alam, the first queen of Aceh.
… and the most overrated?
Her father, Iskandar Muda, the most famous sultan of Aceh.
Is there an important historical text you have not read?
Barbara Andaya’s The Flaming Womb.
What’s your favourite archive?
The British Library.
What’s the best museum?
The Pedir Museum in Aceh, founded with passion.
What technology has changed the world the most?
Printing.
Recommend us a historical novel...
Nikos Kazantzakis’ Christ Recrucified.
... and a historical drama?
Seven Samurai.
You can solve one historical mystery. What is it?
Which Malay manuscripts were lost when Raffles’ ship Fame sank in 1824.
Annabel Teh Gallop is Head of the Southeast Asia Section at the British Library.