Page 44 - The Guide To Sarawak

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INTRODUCTION TO THE STATE OF SARAWAK
Rajah Sir James Brooke, who became the first Rajah of Sarawak in 1841 and ruled till 1867.
convey a letter
of gratitude
and gifts to
the Sultan of Brunei’s governor in Sarawak for rescuing some shipwrecked English
sailors. The foolhardy Brooke was the ideal candidate to undertake a voyage through pirate-infested waters, and the Royalist, with six 6-pounder guns, was effectively a private warship.
Brooke arrived in Sarawak,
with the young nobleman and extended his stay in Sarawak for a number of months. During this time he was made aware of
a rebellion by Bidayuh antimony miners and local Malay chieftains, who had sought Dutch intervention against Brunei.
Brooke returned to Sarawak in August 1840 to find the rebellion still in full swing, and Pengiran Muda Hassim sought his help to put down the insurgents, in return for which he would cede to him the government of Sarawak. Brooke’s 6-pounder cannons, reinforced by Bruneian
levee troops from the outlying river areas,
ensured the rebellion ended bloodlessly. However, Hassim was reluctant
to make good on his promise, encouraged by former governor Makhota, and Brooke required the support of the local Malay aristocracy and a show
The Brooke Era
In 1839 a wealthy 36-
year old Englishman, James Brooke, arrived
in Singapore aboard his armed yacht Royalist. Brooke had forfeited his commission with the British East India Company’s
army following a serious injury sustained in the first Anglo-Burmese war. At a loss as to what to do with his life, he tried to follow
in the footsteps of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder
of Singapore. He dreamt of founding a trading empire, although he had never visited Southeast Asia before and his early ventures were quite unsuccessful.
At that time, the Straits Settlements administration and the Singapore Chamber of Commerce wanted to
upstream from the mouth of the Sarawak River, in August 1839, and was received by the governor or Pengiran Muda, Hassim ibn al-Sultan Muhamad Kanzul ‘Alam, a nephew of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II of Brunei. He struck up a firm friendship
The gold mine operated by the Hakka Chinese Kongsi in Bau that rebelled against Brooke rule in 1857.