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.
Sir Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, GCMG, born Charles Anthoni Johnson, ruled as the head of state of Raj of Sarawak from 3 August 1868 until his death. He succeeded his uncle, James Brooke, as the second White Rajah of this small country on the coast of Borneo.
Vyner, Rajah of Sarawak, GCMG, full name Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke was the third and last White Rajah of the Raj of Sarawak.
The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo, from 1841 to 1946. The first ruler was Briton James Brooke. As a reward for helping the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples, he was granted the province of Kuching, which was known as Sarawak Asal in 1841 and received independent kingdom status.
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 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 starting 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.
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".
Sylvia Leonora, Lady Brooke, Ranee of Sarawak, was an English aristocrat who became the consort to Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, the last of the White Rajahs.
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.
HMS Hazard was an 18-gun Favorite-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was one of four Favorite-class ship sloops, which were a ship-rigged and lengthened version of the 1796 Cruizer-class brig-sloop. All four ships of the class were ordered on 10 June 1823. She was launched in 1837 from Portsmouth Dockyard.
The Eastern Archipelago Company was a company incorporated by British royal charter in 1847. It was active on the island of Labuan off the coast of Borneo from its creation until its dissolution in 1858.
Henry Wise was a mariner and merchant associated with the Far East.
The Battle off Mukah was a naval engagement fought in May 1862 between boats of the Sarawak and pirates. After the kidnapping of Sarawakian citizens some time before, two small gunboats encountered the pirates off Mukah on the northern coast of Borneo. In an unusual action, the Rajah Muda, Captain John Brooke, then the heir apparent to be White Rajah of Sarawak, led his force in the defeat of six pirate ships and the rescue of captured civilians.
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 for twenty years, 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.
The Nine Cardinal Principles of the rule of the English Rajah is the Preamble of the Sarawak Constitution 1941. The document setting forth the Sarawak Constitution 1941 opened by enunciating the Cardinal Principle edict by Charles Vyner Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak on 24 September 1941. Known as the Nine Cardinal Principles of the rule of the White Rajah, it was later adopted into the Nine Cardinal Principles of the rule of the English Rajah.
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.
James Erskine Murray (1810–1844) was a lawyer, author, and adventurer in Borneo.
This page includes non-fiction books, articles and documents about Sarawak. Such bibliographies have been compiled since the British period, as well as in other publications. Specialised bibliographies of ethnic groups in Sarawak have been published by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. The Sarawak State Library maintains its own bibliography.
United Kingdom