All the Seas Were Ink

In this innovative history of the travels of law, Iza R. Hussin explores how law moves, what happens when it arrives, and how it gains its onward momentum and direction. Through the itineraries of Abu Bakar, Sultan of Johor (1833–1895), Hussin uncovers a world of sovereigns in the shadow of empire, from Hawaii to Singapore, Java to Japan, Delhi to Constantinople, Cairo to London. In his travels, Abu Bakar navigated archipelagic and imperial logics of authority, chased sovereignty at sea, and translated Islam across a shifting global landscape. These itineraries gave rise to Southeast Asia's first constitution, and the world's longest-running continuous experiment in modern Islamic constitutionalism, revealing histories of imperialism and international law, and forgotten genealogies of sovereignty, constitutionalism, and Asian internationalism. Through the compelling story of Abu Bakar's travels, Hussin argues for a new understanding of the imperial international order, Islamic constitutional history, and the making of the modern Muslim state.