Brunei and the British in the Nineteenth Century

Of a Seer-poet, an Adventurer, and the Near Extinction of an Ancient Malay Sultanate

Ooi Keat Gin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040424872
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

Brunei and the British in the Nineteenth Century relates the remarkable tale of the encounter between the Sultanate of Brunei, that in 1800 possessed nominal hegemony over most of northern Borneo, and Western colonialists, particularly the British.

The study focuses on two notable protagonists: Pengiran Indera Mahkota (c. 1790s–1858), a high-born Bruneian courtier, and James Brooke (1803–1868), a former English soldier and gentleman-adventurer. Pengiran Indera Mahkota was governor (rajah) of Sarawak, then a small area of Brunei. He penned his cautionary words and counsel in a popular verse form titled, Syair Rakis, which he presented to the throne in 1847. James Brooke successfully detached Sarawak from Brunei, establishing his own dynastic "raj", ruling as the "White Rajah" of Sarawak from 1841 until his passing to be succeeded by his younger nephew, as Rajah Charles Brooke. In this book, textual analysis together with archival research present a mapping of verse (poem) and fact (history) that reveal a confluence of the two that was compatible. It shows the veracity of the forewarnings and intuitive hunches in the Syair Rakis that uncannily reflected historical developments. Although Pengiran Indera Mahkota's counsel was not acted upon, and the outcome for Brunei was unfavourable, the book argues that Pengiran Indera Mahkota was a significant figure, whose prominent and pivotal role deserves greater recognition.

This book will be of interest to historians and scholars of Southeast Asian history, Imperial and Colonial history and Malay literature.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• Dramatis Personae
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Note on Terminology and Currency
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Backdrop and Setting
• 2 Brunei Pengiran to Rajah of Sarawak
• 3 James Brooke, Borneo, and Britain
• 4 “There Cannot be Two Suns in the Sky”
• 5 Syair Rakis
• 6 Between Predatory Neighbours
• 7 All Came to Pass …
• Concluding Remarks
• Postscript
• Glossary
• Sarawak, 1841
• Sarawak, 1842
• Syair Rakis
• Anglo-Brunei Treaty of Labuan
• Anglo-Brunei Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty and the Sultan of Borneo. Signed in the English and Malay Languages, May 27th,1847
• The Sarawak-Brunei Treaty of 1853
• Engagement by the Rajahs of Brunei
• BRUNEI, 1888
• BRUNEI, 1905 AND 1906
• Index