As I have been requested to write a preface to The History of Sarawak under its Two White Rajahs , one of whom I have the honour to be, I must, first of all, assert that I have had nothing to do with the composition or writing of the book, and I do not profess to be a writer, otherwise than in a very ordinary sense, having left school at the age of twelve to enter the Navy. In that service I remained for ten years, when I obtained my lieutenancy, and then received two years' leave, which the Adm

Sultan. —Supreme head of the once large Bruni Sultanate, which is now only a corner or enclave within the raj of Sarawak. Iang di Pertuan, the Lord who Rules, is the correct supreme title in Bruni, and the one most generally in use. [1] Sultan Muda , heir-apparent. Lit. young Sultan, but seldom used. Iang di Pertuan Muda is the more correct Malay title. Cp. Pangiran, infra . Rajah (fem. Rani, or Ranee).—The old title of the Bruni sovereigns. It is a Sanskrit word, and means king. But in Bruni it

NEPENTHES, AND RAFFLESIA TUAN-MUDÆ. Next to Australia and New Guinea, Borneo [7] is the largest island in the world; it is larger than the whole of France. It sits astride on the equator, that divides it nearly, but not wholly, in two; the larger portion being to the north of the Line. The belt of islands, Sumatra, Java, and the chain to Timor and the Sarwatty group, represents a line of weakness in the crust of the earth, due to volcanic action, which still makes itself felt there. But the axis

Taken from the Selesilah (Book of the Descent), preserved in Bruni, by the late Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G. Published in the Journal No. 5 of the Straits Branch R.A.S. 1. Sultan Mahomed, who introduced the religion of Islam. 2. Sultan Akhmed, brother of above, married to the daughter of Ong Sum Ping, Chinese Raja of Kina-batangan. No sons, but one daughter married to— 3. Sultan Berkat, from Taif in Arabia. A descendant of the prophet through his grandson Husin. Berkat, the blessed. His real name was

James Brooke was born at Benares on April 29, 1803, and was the son of Thomas Brooke of the East India Company's Civil Service. He entered the Company's army in 1819, and took part in the first Burmese war, in which he was severely wounded, and from which he was invalided home in 1825. He had been honourably mentioned in despatches for conspicuous services rendered in having raised a much needed body of horse, and for bravery. Then he resigned his commission, and visited China, Penang, Malacca,

As we have already mentioned, the second, and by far the most difficult, task that Rajah Brooke had set before him, and was determined to accomplish, was the suppression of piracy, which he rightly described as an evil almost as disgraceful to the European nations who permitted it as to the native States engaged in it. The principal piratical peoples at the time were the Illanun, or Lanun, the Balenini, the Bajaus, and the Sulus, all living to the north or north-east of Bruni, and consequently f

With this chapter commences the history of the life of the present Rajah, in itself an epitome of the history of the raj, who in 1852, at the age of twenty-three, obtained two years' leave of absence to try his fortunes in Borneo at the invitation of his uncle the Rajah. He arrived at Kuching on July 21, 1852, at the commencement of a new era in the history of Sarawak. Hitherto the raj extended only as far as the Samarahan river, and within this little state order had been established and peace

We must take a retrospective glance before proceeding with the subject of this chapter, in order to note briefly some important incidents, which have not been recorded in their proper sequence, so as not to interrupt a connected narrative of the events related in the preceding chapter. During the period covered by that chapter happened the grave disturbances caused by Sherip Masahor, aided by the disaffection of the Datu Patinggi Gapur, and backed by Bruni intrigue; also the troubles at Muka, wh

When the Rajah assumed the Government of Sarawak, he had to look out for suitable officials among the Malays to carry on the Government, and suitable officials were not easily to be found where hitherto all had been corruption and oppression. There is not much choice in rotten apples. There were three offices of importance to be filled: that of Datu Patinggi, he who had the supervision and control over the tribes on the left-hand branch of the river; that of Datu Bandar, he who held sway over th

In 1856, the Honourable G. W. Edwardes had been appointed Governor of Labuan; Mr. Spenser St. John being Consul-General at Bruni. The Governor was known to have imbibed all the prejudices and antipathies fostered in England by Mr. Gladstone and his tail; and he was eager in everything to hamper the development of the little State of Sarawak. He was not, however, authorised to interfere in the relations between Bruni and Sarawak, nor in the internal affairs of these States, where he had no jurisd

As we have already noticed, the action of the Nemesis with a fleet of Balanini pirates off Bruni in May, 1847, following on the destruction by Admiral Cochrane of the pirate strongholds in North Borneo, for some years effectually checked the marauding expeditions of the pirates down the north-west coast of Borneo. This lesson was shortly afterwards followed up by the destruction of the Balanini strongholds by the Spanish, who a few years later destroyed Tianggi, or Sug, the principal town in Sul

KAYAN MORTUARY. Early in 1863, the Rajah was again obliged to leave for Sarawak, owing to certain complications having arisen, due to the acts of his nephew, the Rajah Muda. Into this matter it is not our intention to enter at length. It has already been dealt with fully in both Miss Jacob's and Sir Spencer St. John's biographies of the Rajah, and it is sufficient to say here that it was mainly the result of an inexplicable misconception of the policy being pursued by the Rajah in England. The f

THE RAJAH'S TOMB. We are drawing near to the close of the first stage in the History of Sarawak. It had opened with great hopes. To his mother the Rajah had written in 1841: "I trust there may be marked out for me a more useful existence, that will enable me to lay my head on my pillow and say that I have done something to better the condition of my kind, and to deserve their applause," and again, "I hope that thousands will be benefited when I am mouldering in dust," and these hopes have been f

BERROW VICARAGE. Charles Brooke was proclaimed Rajah on August 3, 1868, throughout the territory. The ceremony in the capital and at the out-stations was simple. The people were assembled, the proclamation read, and the Rajah's flag saluted. He did not then take the oath, but this was administered at the next meeting of the General Council, on October 11, 1870, when the Rajah solemnly bound himself to respect the religion, rights, privileges, and institutions of the people; that no laws or custo

BRUNI CHANANG OR GONG. A good deal has already been said about that blot on the map of Borneo, Bruni, and of its Rulers, and in this chapter shall be given the history of the relations between the Sultans and the present Rajah since his accession, as well as of the policy of the Foreign and Colonial Offices in regard to that "wretched phantom the Bruni Government." [307] Many chapters might well be devoted to the past and present history of Daru'l Salam, the Haven of Peace, the sublime Arabic ti

LAND-DAYAK WEAPONS. In an address to the Council Negri in 1891, the Rajah said that he might divide his term of service of thirty-nine years into three periods of thirteen years each. The first period had been almost wholly devoted to the work of suppressing head-hunting among the Dayaks, involving frequent expeditions by sea and by land, and a life of carrying arms and keeping watch and ward against subtle enemies. The second period had been divided between expeditions of the same nature, and t

The Rajah shortly after his marriage returned to Sarawak with the Ranee. This was in 1870. When the Ranee arrived in the country which was to be her home for many years, and where by the exercise of a kindly and tactful influence she was soon to gain the enduring affection and esteem of all her people, Kuching presented a very different appearance to what it does now. It was a small place then, with but few roads, with no places of recreation or amusement, and with a very limited society. But it

A general review of the financial, commercial, and industrial progress of Sarawak will probably convey to our readers a better conception than the foregoing history may have enabled them to form of the uniform advance of Sarawak along the path of civilisation: for no better evidence of the prosperity of a country can be advanced than the growth of its trade and industries, dependent as this is upon security to life and property and liberal laws. Of the revenue before the Chinese rebellion there

Many changes of opinion must take place upon the subject of the education of natives before it is exhausted and the best way of teaching found, and such changes of opinion and the improvements in methods which follow in their train can only be the result of experience, or of conclusions drawn from successful or unsuccessful experiments. So the Rajah wrote thirty years ago, but hitherto experience has taught little that gives any encouragement to the expectation that the present condition of the