Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868.
The flag of Sarawak, a state of Malaysia, is based on the flag of the Raj of Sarawak of the White Rajah, and includes the yellow of Southeast Asian royalty — a similar yellow and diagonal black are in the flag of Brunei, although Brunei's yellow is of a brighter shade.
The Royalist was a 142-ton topsail schooner. She was probably built in Cowes in 1834 as a gentleman's yacht for Rev T.L. Lane. James Brooke purchased her in 1836 with money he had inherited from his father. Brooke intended to use it for an expedition to the East Indies in the course of a circumnavigation of the globe, in preparation for which he cruised in the Mediterranean in 1837. As a vessel of the Royal Yacht Squadron it was permitted to fly the White Ensign and be accorded the same rights as ships of the Royal Navy. When armed, with "6 six-pounders, a number of swivels, and small arms in abundance," Royalist was effectively a private warship.
Melanau or A-Likou is an ethnic group indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia. They are among the earliest settlers of Sarawak. They speak in the Melanau language, which is a part of the North Bornean branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages.
The Raj of Sarawak, also State of Sarawak, located in the northwestern part of the island of Borneo, was an independent state with a treaty of protection with United Kingdom from 1888. It was established as an independent state from a series of land concessions acquired by an Englishman, James Brooke, from the Sultan of Brunei. Sarawak received recognition as an independent state from the United States in 1850, and from the United Kingdom in 1864. The area now forms the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke was appointed the Rajah Muda of Sarawak on 25 August 1937, by his uncle, Rajah Vyner of Sarawak, the third and last of the ruling White Rajahs.
Rentap (1800–1863) was an Iban-Dayak warrior and a recognized Iban hero in Sarawak during the reign of the first White Rajah, James Brooke. His praisename, Rentap Tanah, Runtuh Menua translates from the Iban language as 'Earth-tremor, World-shaker'. His famous and frequently quoted slogan was "Agi idup, Agi ngelaban" which translates into "Still alive, still fighting".
Sharif Masahor bin Muhammad Al-Shahab, also written as Syed Mashhor and commonly known as Syarif Masahor, or Sharif Masahor in Malayan contexts, was a famous Malay rebel of Hadhrami descent in Sarikei, Sarawak state, Malaysia during the Brooke White Rajahs era in that state. Later, he played an important role in the Klang War.
The oral history of the Iban has traditionally been committed to memory in the oral forms of literature i.e. inchantations and genealogies (tusut), and some of these are recorded in a system of writing on boards as pneumonics by the initiated shamans, or lemambang. This includes elaborate genealogical records, which usually go back about fifteen generations, although some purport to go back up to twenty-five. These genealogies (tusuts) are essentially records of who married who and whom begat whom. Names of individuals with great achievements in life are accompanied by a short description, a praise-name (ensumbar) and the respective narratives of their accomplishments. So, this is how the Iban records their history in the oral form.
The History of Sarawak can be traced as far as 40,000 years ago to the paleolithic period where the earliest evidence of human settlement is found in the Niah caves. A series of Chinese ceramics dated from the 8th to 13th century AD was uncovered at the archeological site of Santubong. The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century. In 1839, James Brooke, a British explorer, first arrived in Sarawak. Sarawak was later governed by the Brooke family between 1841 and 1946. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the war, the last White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, ceded Sarawak to Britain, and in 1946 it became a British Crown Colony. On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British. Following this, it became one of the founding members of the Federation of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963. However, the federation was opposed by Indonesia, and this led to the three-year Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. From 1960 to 1990, Sarawak experienced a communist insurgency.
Margaret, Lady Brooke, Ranee of Sarawak was the ranee of the second White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke. She published her memoir, My Life in Sarawak, in 1913. The memoir offers a rare glimpse of life in The Astana in Kuching and colonial Borneo. The Ranee became legendary during her lifetime as a woman of strength and intelligence, as well as on account of her status, which she shared with the other White Rajahs, of being at once an English subject and also an Asian monarch.
Francis Thomas McDougall was the first Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1849 to 1868.
The Sulu and Celebes Seas, a semi- enclosed sea area and porous region that covers an area of space around 1 million square kilometres, have been subject to illegal maritime activities since the pre-colonial era and continue to pose a maritime security threat to bordering nations up to this day. While piracy has long been identified as an ubiquitous challenge, being historically interwoven with the region, recent incidents also include other types of maritime crimes such as kidnapping and the trafficking of humans, arms and drugs. Attacks mostly classify as 'armed robbery against ships' according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as they occur in maritime zones that lie under the sovereignty of a coastal state. Incidents in the Sulu and Celebes Seas specifically involve the abduction of crew members. Since March 2016, the Information Sharing Centre (ISC) of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) reports a total of 86 abuctions, leading to the issue of a warning for ships transpassing the area.
The North Star affair occurred in May 1861 when Chinese pirates attacked the British merchant ship North Star. Several men were killed in the incident, including a Royal Navy officer. The pirates escaped capture with 4,000 dollars' worth of gold.
Ludvig Verner Helms was an adventurer, merchant, emissary, and author associated with the Far East, especially the Borneo Company in Sarawak. As a manager for the Borneo Company, Helms developed and expanded trade for Sarawak in the country's infancy. Helms traveled extensively and encountered several notable personalities including Mads Lange, the Kings of Cambodia and Siam, the White Rajahs of Sarawak, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Brigham Young. Helms wrote and illustrated an account of his adventures in 1882 titled Pioneering in the Far East and Journeys to California in 1849 and to the White Sea in 1878, providing firsthand accounts of Bali, California, Cambodia, Thailand, Sarawak, Japan, the White Sea, and their leaders during periods of significant historical interest.
Mukah (muːkəh), historically known as Muka is a coastal town which serves as the capital and the administrative center of the Mukah Division since 1 March 2002.
HMS Dido was an 18-gun Daphne-class corvette built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s.
John Brooke Johnson Brooke was a soldier and Rajah Muda, heir to the Raj, of the Raj of Sarawak until disinherited in favour of his younger brother, Charles.
Apilan and kotamara are two Malay nautical terms which refers to the structure on a vessel where the cannon is installed. This term is used especially on Malay ships and boats.
Lela or lila is a type of Malay cannon, used widely in the Nusantara archipelago. They are similar to a lantaka but longer and had larger bore. Lela can be configured as swivel gun, fixed gun, or mounted in a gun carriage. It is the equivalent of European falcon and falconet.
Raj of Sarawak 
