Sarawak |
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Sarawak had been a loosely governed territory under the control of the Brunei Sultanate in the early 19th century. James Brooke (see figure below) became governor of Sarawak on September 24, 1841 and was appointed Rajah by the Sultan of Brunei on August 18, 1842; originally this territory was just the western end of later Sarawak, around Kuching. He ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868. His nephew Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke became Rajah after his death; he was succeeded by his son Charles Vyner Brooke. The territory was greatly expanded under these three, mostly at the expense of areas nominally under the control of Brunei. In practice Brunei had only controlled strategic river and coastal forts in much of the lost territory, and so most of the gain was at the expense of Muslim warlords and of the lost de facto independence of local tribes. Sir James BrookeThe Brooke dynasty ruled Sarawak for a hundred years and became famous as the "White Rajahs", accorded a status within the British Empire similar to that of the Indian Princes. In contrast to many other areas of the empire however the Brooke family was intent on a policy of paternalism to protect the indigenous population against exploitation. They governed with the aid of the local Malay and Muslim classes and employed the Ibans and other 'Dayak' peoples as their army. They also encouraged the immigration of a Chinese merchant class. Japan invaded Sarawak in 1941 and held it for the duration of World War II until the area was secured by Australian forces in 1945. The Rajah formally ceded sovereignty to the British Crown in 1946, under pressure from his wife among others. His nephew Anthony continued to claim sovereignty as Rajah of Sarawak. The Malays in particular resisted the cession to Britain, dramatically assassinating the first British governor. Sarawak was one of the main sites of the Indonesian Confrontation between 1962 and 1966. It became an autonomous state of the federation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 despite initial opposition from parts of the population. |
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14. Photos 15. Anthem - sound file |
1. Dependency status: state in Malysia; known as "Land of the Hornbills" 2. Government type: titutional monarchy (Malysia) 3. Location: Western Europe, island in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland 4. Border Countries: Indonesia; Brunei 5. Climate: equatorial, humid6. Terrain: hills in north and south bisected by central valley 7. Area: 124,400. sq km 8. Capital: Kuczing (Kuching) - pop. 458,300 in 2000 9. Administrative divisions: Sarawak is currently divided into eleven Administrative Divisions: Kuching Division, Samarahan Division, Sri Aman Division, Betong Division, Sarikei Division, Sibu Division, Mukah Division, Kapit Division, Bintulu Division, Miri Division and Limbang Division. 10. Population: 1650,000 tyś. mieszkańców (1992 11. Languages: Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note - in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan 12. Religions: Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism; note - in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia 13. Currency: ringgit (MYR) |
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