SARAWAK
BRIEF HISTORY
The state of Sarawak originally formed part of the hereditary domains of the Sultan of Brunei, though his control over it was more apparent than real. The Dayak tribes and pirates that inhabited the territory were fiercely independent, frequently rejecting the Sultan's authority.
At least, so things stood until the arrival of a young English adventurer from India. James Brooke, a former army officer from Bengal, arrived on the scene in the late 1830's. Entering the Sultan of Brunei's service, he set about pacifying the wild territory known as Sarawak. Succeeding in his task, he first secured appointment as the Sultan's Governor, but succeeded in establishing his independence in 18th August 1842.
He secured the title of Rajah of Sarawak and had this recognized by Great Britain. He conquered a vast slice of the North Eastern coast of Borneo, so large that it was to dwarf the domains of his erstwhile suzerain. He left his vast domain to his nephew, younger son of one of his surviving sister.
Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak, greatly extended and pacified his inheritance. He expanded trade and commerce, encouraged immigration and accepted a British Protectorate over Sarawak, 14th June 1888. Charles was succeeded in 1917 by his third, but eldest surviving son, Charles Vyner. His reign lasted 39 years, but his interests lay outside Sarawak.
The Japanese invaded and conquered the Raj on Christmas day 1941, forced him into exile in Australia. He formally ceded his rights to the British Crown on 1st July 1946, in return for a large pension, and retired to England.
Administered as a Crown Colony until 1963, Sarawak, together with the former British North Borneo and the Federation of Malaya, came together to form the new kingdom of Malaysia on 16th September 1963.
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