Chapter 4

Sarawak economic prosperity attracted Brooke families

 • Sarawak under Brunei influence
• Opposition towards Sultan of Brunei
• James Brooke in Sarawak
Objective • Agreement terms 1841
• Brooke Family’s Administration System
• Development Of Town
Sarawak under Brunei influence
Sarawak • Local leaders were appointed by the
Sultan of Brunei
under Brunei
• Sultan of Brunei divided Sarawak to
influence few districts
• Local chiefs were responsible to give
commands and collect tax
 • In 19th century, Sultan of Brunei appointed Pangeran Indera
Mahkota as the representative of Sultan of Brunei in
Sarawak.
• Local people revolt against the rule of Pangeran Indera

Opposition Mahkota because:

 He took over the administrative power from the local
chiefs
towards  He took over the mining and trade activity of antimony
and gold
Sultan of  He impose high taxes towards the local people
 Did not pay the wages of local Bidayuh people who
Brunei worked on the antimony mines
Sarawak under Brunei influence
Brunei under Britain
• Under the reign of Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin
• Brunei was only around the size of modern Brunei at this time as
British would constantly take land forcibly
• The Sultan ceded Terusan to Sarawak and appealed to the
British crown to stop Charles Brooke (Rajah of Sarawak)
• Treaty of Protection (17th September, 1888) ○
• The treaty, however, recognized Charles Brooke as British, and
the British Protectorate did not prevent him from seizing
Limbang in 1890 (correction in the map)
• Limbang was the richest food-growing district of Brunei
British Protectorates
• By 1905 Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo were protected by the
British
• The Sultan of Brunei accepted a British Resident and this saved his
weak kingdom.
• Britain did this to stop other European powers from interfering in
these territories
James Brooke in Sarawak
• Brooke was born in Bandel, near Calcutta, Bengal.
• His father, Thomas Brooke, was an English Judge in
the Court of Appeal at Bareilly, British India;
• Brooke stayed at home in India until he was sent,
aged 12, to England for a brief education at Norwich
School from which he ran away.
• Some home tutoring followed in Bath before he
returned to India in 1819 as an ensign in the Bengal
Army of the British East India Company.
• He remained on the ship he had travelled out in,
the Castle Huntley, and returned home via China.
James Brooke in
Sarawak
• He sailed to the Malay Peninsula and then to Borneo
and the Sarawak river.
• In Sarawak, the Bidayuhs, Ibans and Malays were at
war.
• With superior cannons on his ship and good
negotiating skills, James Brooke brought peace. As a
reward the Crown Prince of Brunei, Raja Muda
Hassim, made him its ruler and Brooke became the
Rajah of Sarawak
• The war-like Ibans fought against the new White
Rajah’s rule but were defeated
• Over the years, Brooke’s kingdom grew in size as he
bought more and more land from Brunei, eventually
creating Sarawak’s borders today
 • Brooke attempted to trade in the Far East, but was not successful. In
1835 he inherited £30,000, which he used as capital to purchase a
ship, Royalist.

• Setting sail for Borneo in 1838, he arrived in Kuching in August to find

the settlement facing an uprising against the Sultan of Brunei.

• Greatly impressed with the Malay Archipelago, in Sarawak he met the

Brooke’s in sultan's uncle, Pangeran Muda Hashim, to whom he gave assistance

in crushing the rebellion, thereby winning the gratitude of the Sultan,
who in 1841 offered Brooke the governorship of Sarawak in return for

Sarawak his help.

• Rajah Brooke was highly successful in suppressing the widespread

piracy of the region. However, some Malay nobles in Brunei, unhappy
over Brooke's measures against piracy, arranged for the murder of
Muda Hashim and his followers.

• In 1842 Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien II ceded complete sovereignty of

Sarawak to Brooke. He was granted the title of Rajah of Sarawak on 24
September 1841, although the official declaration was not made until
18 August 1842.
 • 1835 Beginning of the Sarawak
Rebellion (against the Sultan of Brunei)
led by Sarawak chief Datu Patinggi Ali.
Chronology of • 1839 James Brooke arrives in Kuching
Sarawak on the Royalist carrying a message of
thanks and presents from the
throughout the Governor of Singapore to Rajah Muda
Brooke Era to Hassim in Sarawak.
• He returns later and at the request of
Malaysia Day the Rajah Muda Hassim, the Sultan of
Brunei, suppresses the rebellion.
• Sept 21 1841 Brooke made rajah and
governor of Sarawak after Rajah Muda
Hassim dismisses Makota.
 • 1845 The battle of Marudu Bay sees Brooke
Chronology enlisting the help of the British Royal Navy in
of Sarawak Singapore to defeat Sherif Osman, a famous
pirate leader from North Borneo, effectively
throughout ending his piracy.

the Brooke • 1846 Sultan of Brunei unhappy with the

English and Brooke.
Era to • His first move against Brooke is to order the
Malaysia killing of Englishmen and everybody in Brunei
close to him, which includes Rajah Muda
Day Hassim, his brother Badruddin and other
leaders in Brunei.
The people of Sarawak
• Unlike the Malay peninsula, a large
population of indigenous people lived in
Sarawak
• The Indigenous people were diverse
though most of them were Bidayuhs
(Land Dayaks) and Ibans (Sea Dayaks).
• The Bidayuhs were an interior people.
Their livelihood was based on shifting
agriculture and farming.
• The Ibans were fearsome warriors,
pirates and practised headhunting.
• Other indigenous Sarawakians include
the Melanaus, Kedayans, Kelabits Punan
and Muruts.
• Although originally animists, most of the
indigenous people are now Christians
4.4 Agreement terms 1841

• James Brooke ruled Sarawak

• James Brooke control all resources in Sarawak
• James Brooke MUST respect and protect the laws and
customs of the Malays and tribes in Sarawak.
The terms of the 1888 agreement were:

• British protected Sarawak from enemy attacks.

• Brooke family ruled the country freely.
• Sarawak foreign affairs was under the British control.
 1. What is the evidence that the sultanate of Brunei influenced the
state of Sarawak before the 19th century?
2. state two factors of people's anger towards the Brunei crown
prince in Sarawak?

Questions A 3. Why Prince Raja Muda Hashim started to build friendship with
James Brooke?
4. What was the purpose of James Brooke facing sultan Omar Ali
Saifuddin in 1842?
5. How James Brooke succeeded in defeating the rise of Sultan Omar
Ali Saifuddin in Sarawak?
Brooke era
1841 - 1941
• Under Charles Brooke, who
ruled from 1868 until his death
in 1917, the territory of
Sarawak was extended to
include Baram (1881), Limbang
(1890) and Lawas (1905), and
to its present boundaries. 
• At this time, the government
machinery was formalised with
proper laws and order, and
efforts were made towards
economic development using
technologies from the west.
• Rajah Charles introduced public
administration system, built a
strategic network of fortresses,
including Fort Margherita.
• The mass Chinese migration,
growth of rubber plantation, oil
prospecting in Miri, establishment
of the Sarawak Museum, the
famed Sarawak Rangers and
Sarawak constabulary took place
during his reign
Fort Magherita
in Kuching,
Sarawak
Charles vyner brooke
• Charles Vyner Brooke, the
second son of Charles Brooke,
succeeded his father to become
the third Rajah of Sarawak on
24 May 1917. 
• The elder son Betram Brooke
had earlier on declined the offer
to rule.  Vyner Brooke
formulated a new constitution,
which put an end to the
absolute power of the Rajah in
1941. 
• The Council Negri was given
the power to ensure that no
law could be passed, or money
spent without its consent
 4.5: Brooke Family’s Administration System

• Involved local leaders in administration.

• Datu Patinggi, Datu Bandar and Datu Temenggung were appointed to assist James Brooke to
administer Sarawak.
• New departments such as the Department of Justice, Police, Customs and Excise and Post
Offices were established.
• A Police Station was built.
• The first Sarawak’s flag was introduced by James Brooke in 1848.
• The court of justice was established.
• Civil cases among Malays, Dayaks, and Chinese - judged by their leaders.
• Criminal cases and cases involving more than one tribe will be judged by the Sarawak King,
Resident or Deputy Resident.
Bird nest
Raw material in
Rattan Sarawak has
strengthened
Timber Brooke's
administrative

Rubber
 • Coconut
Agricultural • Sarawak black pepper
THat benefited • Sago
the brooke • Gambir
• Tobacco
family
4.6 Development Of Town Under the administration of Brooke’s family

• 1)Transport System
Ø Depended on the water transport.
Ø Roads in big cities like Kuching and Miri.
Ø Railroad - connect Kuching with Bau
Ø Railway service was stopped due to economic recession.
Ø Airplane service connecting Kuching city with Singapore was
established.
Ø Bus in Kuching
4.6 Development Of Town Under the administration of Brooke’s family

2) Relation System
• Postal, telegraph and telephone services
• Telegraph service between Kuching and Singapore.
• Post Office was built
• Stamps- the first stamp was released in 1869 - with Brooke's
family picture.
4.6 Development Of Town Under the administration of Brooke’s family

3 ) Health Services
• Construction of hospitals and clinics by Christian
missionaries
• Hospitals in big cities like Kuching and Sibu
• Low health facilities in rural areas.
4) Education Development
• Brooke's family was not convinced
that the western education system
would be suitable for the locals.
• Schools were built for Malays and 4.6 Development Of
Chinese Town Under the
administration of
• Did not encourage schools for Dayaks Brooke’s family
because they wanted to maintain their
traditional way of life.
4.6
4) Education Development
Development • English school:
Of Town • Built by Christian missionaries. - St.
Thomas, St. Mary and St. Louis School
Under the Teresa in Kuching.
administration • Anglican School was built
• Catholic schools were built
of Brooke’s • Chinese school
family • Financed and managed by Chinese people.
• Teachers, syllabuses and books were
brought from China
Conclusion
• The weaknesses of Brunei's leadership led to James Brooke's
intervention in Sarawak
• The use of military power allowed Brooke's family to expand its
colonisation
• Brooke's family exploited Sarawak's resources