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"When I seat myself on the mat, one by one they come forward, and tie little bells on my arm; a young cocoa-nut is brought, into which I am requested to spit. The white fowl is presented. I rise and wave it, and say 'May good luck attend the Dyaks; may their crops be plentiful; may their fruits ripen in due season; may male children be born; may rice be stored in their houses; may wild hogs be killed in the jungle; may they have Sijok Dingin or cold weather.' The people, both men and women, 'take my hand, [and] stroke their own faces'. After this, they wash my hands and my feet, and afterwards with the water sprinkle their houses and gardens. Then the gold dust, with the white cloth which accompanies it, both of which have been presented by me, is placed in the field." |
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James Brooke (1845)
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| The 19th
and 20th century history of Sarawak reads
like a Hollywood movie script—benevolent
English adventurer and former British army
officer from Bengal goes to an exotic country,
suppresses a rebellion, awarded the title
of White Rajah, stops headhunting and piracy,
and brings order and prosperity. There is
a boat chase, sea battles with warships,
ships attacking river villages and pirates,
and storming of a jungle stockade. Between
the 14th and 16th centuries, Brunei was
a powerful sultanate. By the early 19th
century, Brunei's power over Sarawak was
dwindling for Sarawak was in rebellion and
there was piracy on the seas. In 1826, the
Rajah of Sarawak, Pengiran Indera Makota,
forced the Malays and Land Dayaks (now known
as Bidayuh) to work in the antimony mines,
collected taxes and stole from the Dayaks,
and sold Dayak women and children into slavery.
Previously, the Malay elite that served
as local chiefs (datu) collected taxes and
traded with the Dayaks. The Malay datu and
Dayaks revolted in 1836. In 1839, James
Brooke (1803-1868) sailed up the Sarawak
River to Kuching on his 142-ton schooner
Royalist to deliver a letter thanking Pengiran
Bendahara Hassim, uncle and regent to the
sultan of Brunei, for his help in rescuing
some shipwrecked British sailors. Hassim
was sent by the sultan to suppress the uprising.
He was desperate to regain control of Sarawak
and offered to grant Brooke the title of
Rajah and a small part of the northwestern
coast of Borneo near Kuching if he ended
the rebellion. Brooke interceded and brought
a peaceful settlement. Thus began the dynasty
of the White Rajahs who ruled Sarawak for
hundred years. On September
24, 1841, Brooke was appointed governor
of Sarawak and on August 18, 1842, he was awarded the title of
Rajah. When Brooke died in 1868, Sarawak
had grown three fold, headhunting and piracy
were curtailed, there was only one European
company in the country, and trade, mostly
Chinese, was taking root. Brooke, however,
was a poor administrator and financier.
He initially used his personal funds and
refused to exact anything more than a nominal
tax. |
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