INTRODUCTION

Every one has heard of Rajah Brooke. He was my husband’s uncle, and this is how he became ruler of Sarawak.

Borneo is one of the largest islands of the world. The Dutch occupy three parts of its territory. The British North Borneo Company, a group of Englishmen, have established themselves in the north, and Sarawak, with its five hundred miles of coast-line and its fifty thousand square miles of land, is situated on the north-west. Until some four hundred years ago, at the time of Pigafetta’s visit to Brunei, Borneo was almost unknown to Europe, but ever since then, at various periods, Dutch, Portuguese, and English have attempted to gain a footing in the island. The Dutch, however, were the most successful, for it was only in 1839 that the English obtained a firm hold of a portion of this much disputed land. It must be remembered that owing to the murders of Englishmen who attempted to trade with Brunei in 1788, 1803, and 1806, the Admiralty issued a warning as to the dangers attendant upon English merchants engaging in commercial ventures with the Sultan of Brunei and his people. About forty years went by without English people making further attempts to trade in that part of the world, until one day, in August 1839, James Brooke, the future white Rajah of Sarawak, appeared upon the scene, and it was due to his bold but vague designs that peace, prosperity, and just government were subsequently established in a country hitherto torn with dissension and strife. James Brooke had always felt a great interest in those lands of the Malayan Archipelago. As a very young man he had held a commission in the army of the British East India Company, and had seen active service in Burmah. He was seriously wounded during the Burmese war, invalided home, and finally resigned his commission. He then made two voyages to the Strait Settlements and to China, and it is to be supposed that his interest in that part of the world dates from that period of his life. At his father’s death, he inherited a small fortune, which he invested in the purchase of a yacht of 140 tons, in which he set sail in 1838 for the Eastern Archipelago. In those days, the Sultan of Brunei owned the extreme north of the island, and his territory stretched as far as what is called Cape Datu, now belonging to the Rajah. Whilst staying at Singapore, James Brooke heard rumours of a rebellion by the Malays of Sarawak against their Sultan, for both the Sultan and his Brunei nobles (many of whom were of Arabic descent), in order to enrich themselves, had instituted a tyrannous and oppressive government against the people. When Brooke arrived in Sarawak, he made the acquaintance of the Sultan’s Viceroy, Rajah Muda Hassim, who was an uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, and the acknowledged heir to the Sultanate. Hence his title Rajah Muda and Sultan Muda, meaning heir-apparent. They made friends, when the Malay Governor confided in Brooke and besought his help in quelling the rebellion. Brooke consented, and the rebellion was soon at an end. The rebels, determined not to fall back under the yoke of their former tyrants and oppressors, implored Brooke to become their Rajah and Governor. Rajah Muda Hassim was favourable to the people’s request, and in 1841 Brooke was proclaimed Rajah of Sarawak amidst the rejoicing of its population. Rajah Muda Hassim, as representative of the Sultan, signed a document resigning his title and authority to the Englishman, and in 1842 Brooke, being desirous of obtaining from the Sultan himself an additional proof of his goodwill towards his position in Sarawak, visited the potentate in Brunei, when the Sultan confirmed his title as independent Rajah of Sarawak. On the other hand, it is interesting to realize that Rajah Muda Hassim was never in any sense Rajah of Sarawak, that country then not being a Raj, but a simple province misruled by Brunei Governors who never bore the title of Rajah, for after all Rajah Muda Hassim did not abdicate in favour of Brooke, but it was the people themselves who insisted on Sarawak being independent of the Sultan’s and his emissaries’ authority, and chose Brooke as their own Rajah, thus regaining their former independence.

When James Brooke first became Rajah of Sarawak in 1841, the area of his country known as Sarawak proper comprised some seven thousand square miles in extent.

It might be as well to give a short account of the manner in which the first white ruler of Sarawak organized his Government. The Sarawak Malay nobles, the Datus or chiefs that governed the State before James Brooke’s accession to power, and who had been superseded and driven into rebellion by the Brunei nobles, the Sultan’s emissaries, were recalled by James Brooke and chosen to help in carrying out his Government. When in the course of years these nobles died, their sons or members of the same aristocratic families (but always with the approval of the people) were, and are, chosen to fill the vacant places. The first of these chiefs who helped to inaugurate and establish James Brooke’s Government was a gallant Malay gentleman called Datu Patinggi Ali, who was a direct descendant of Rajah Jarum, the founder of Sarawak, who led his people against the oppression of Brunei, and found death by the side of James Brooke, sword in hand, fighting for his and his people’s cause. His son, the Datu Bandar, Haji Bua Hassan, held office for sixty years, and died a few years ago in Kuching, over one hundred years of age. He was a brave and upright man; intelligent and wide-minded in Council, and a true friend of the Rajah’s, of our sons, and of mine. Datu Isa, to whose memory I have dedicated this book, was his wife, and I only wish it were in my power to put into words her charming, sympathetic personality, and make it understood how, in her blameless useful life, she set a high standard of conduct amongst the Malay women of Kuching.

The present Datu Bandar, Muhammad Kasim, and the Datu Imaum, Haji Muhammad Ali, are the sons of the late Datu Bandar and of Datu Isa. These four great Malay officials are members of the Supreme Council and assistant judges of the Supreme Court. The Datu Bandar, premier Datu and Malay magistrate, is president of the Muhammadan Probate Divorce Court. The Datu Imaum is the religious head of the Muhammadan community. The Datu Tumanggong’s title, signifying that of Commander-in-Chief or fighting Datu, is no longer employed in that capacity, but ranks next to the Bandar as peaceful member of the Council, whilst the Datu Hakim is adviser in Muhammadan law.

Now that a very short account has been given as to the principal Malayan officials in Sarawak, we must turn back to the year 1841 and take up the thread of our story. At that time the more northern rivers outside Sarawak were infested by pirates, who, under the leadership of Brunei nobles, devastated adjacent lands. The first Rajah, backed by his loyal subjects, made many expeditions against these criminal tribes. In 1849, Her Majesty’s ship Dido, commanded by Sir Harry Keppel, came to his aid, when the combined forces of Malays and Dyaks, strengthened by the crew of Her Majesty’s ship, completely scoured out the nests of the redoubtable piratical hordes, and an end was put to their devastation in those regions. Little by little the authority and strength of the white Rajah’s government became acknowledged, even by the ci-devant miscreants themselves, and the inhabitants of the more northern rivers, realizing that after all honesty is the best policy, willingly laid down their arms and clamoured to be enrolled in the territory of the great white chief.

Being monarch of all he surveyed, unfettered by tradition, and owning no obedience to the red-tapeism of Europe, Rajah Brooke laid the foundations of one of the most original and, so far as justice goes, successful Governments that perhaps has ever been known, its most salient feature being that from its very beginning the natives of the place were represented by their own people, and had the right to vote for and against any law that was made by their Government. Brooke established stations in the mouths of the principal rivers, and in each of these stations were appointed one or two English officials to represent the white ruler. Billian or iron wood forts were built in each of these settlements, and a small force of Malays, armed with muskets and small cannons, was placed there in order to enforce obedience to the laws of the new Government and to inspire confidence in its supporters. The duty of these officials, called Governors or Residents, was to protect the people from the tyranny of some of the higher classes of Malays, to prevent head-hunting, and to discourage disorder. The co-operation of local chiefs and headmen was elicited to help in this good work, and one cannot repeat too often that such native coadjutors have been the mainstay of the Rajah’s Government, and so they must always remain. The present Rajah and his uncle have strictly adhered to this excellent policy of associating the natives with the government of their country. James Brooke began his law codes in respecting and maintaining whatever was not positively detrimental in the laws and customs as he found them. Instead of imposing European made laws upon the people, Muhammadan law and custom has been maintained whenever it affects Muhammadanism. No favouritism is allowed, and any white man infringing the laws of the country would be treated in exactly the same way as would be the natives of the soil. In the Sarawak Gazette of 1872, the present Rajah at the beginning of his reign wrote these words: “A Government such as that of Sarawak may start from things as we find them, putting its veto on what is dangerous or unjust, and supporting what is fair and equitable in the usages of the natives, and letting system and legislation wait upon occasion. When new wants are felt, it examines and provides for them by measures rather made on the spot than imported from abroad; and, to ensure that these shall not be contrary to native customs, the consent of the people is gained for them before they are put in force. The white man’s so-called privilege of class is made little of, and the rulers of government are framed with greater care for the interests of the majority who are not Europeans, than for those of the minority of superior race.”

The Supreme Council consists of four Malay officials, together with three or four of the principal European officers; the Rajah presides over all its deliberations. The Malay members of the Council always take an active and prominent part in its decisions. Every three years a State Council meets at Kuching, under the presidency of the Rajah, consisting of the members of the Supreme Council, the European Residents in charge of the more important districts, and the principal native chiefs, some seventy in number, who come from all the important districts of the principality. At this meeting questions of general interest as to the government of the country are discussed; the members are informed of any recent question relating to public affairs, and are told of the general progress achieved in the Government, or of anything pertaining to the State since the Council’s last meeting. Each member is formally sworn in and takes an oath of loyalty to the Rajah and his Government. It would be very tempting to anyone who is as interested as I am in the prosperity of the country to give more details regarding the incessant work required in order that each law as it is made should be satisfactory and meet the requirements of the whole of the Sarawak people; suffice it to say that the Rajah, his English officers, and his Malay chiefs are indefatigable in their endeavours to promote trade and commerce, peace and prosperity amongst the people. I have only a short space in which to speak of these more important matters, and I can only hope that the very slight sketch I have given in the limited space at my disposal of the past and present history of Sarawak may induce those whom it interests to seek further information in the many volumes that have already been written on the subject. It might perhaps not be amiss to mention the two last books published on Sarawak, these being The White Rajahs of Sarawak, by Messrs. Bampfylde and Baring-Gould, and The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, by those two well-known English scientists—​Dr. Hose and Mr. McDougall. It must be remembered that Mr. Bampfylde and Dr. Hose occupied for years very important posts in the Rajah’s Government, and on that account their experience of the people and the country must be invaluable.