The two State Kreis of the White Rajah always lay on a table at my grandmother’s home. They were associated with an act of derring-do typical of the imperial Britain in the age of Queen Victoria but much frowned upon today. The hero of the action was Adam Wilson, a Scots-born Australian who was given the fine-sounding title of Maharajah Muda Satiah Rajah by the Sultan of Siak a century and a half ago: We appoint Mr Wilson commander-in-chief and place all the rajahs and chiefs of whatever rank under his orders. If anyone refuses obedience or turns traitorous we…