Baring-Gould Sabine
A History of Sarawak under Its Two White Rajahs 1839-1908
After visiting the late Sherip Usman's town in Merudu, which it was found had not been occupied since its destruction just a year previously, the Admiral passed on to China, leaving Captain Mundy, whom the Rajah now joined on the Iris, to take any further operations against the pirates that might be found necessary. One pirate prahu was met with and destroyed, also another small Lanun stronghold near Pandasan. At Kimanis information was received that Haji Seman, after he had fled from Bruni, had fortified himself at Membakut, near the Kimanis river; he was attacked and driven into the interior. The Lanuns shortly afterwards abandoned the north-west coast, and established themselves at Tungku on the east coast, where they were long left unmolested.
On the return of the Rajah to Bruni in the Phlegethon on August 19, he found the Sultan still absent, so sent him a message that if he returned he would be answerable for his safety, and in reply the Sultan sent a humble letter laying his throne and kingdom at the Rajah's feet. He at once returned and sued for pardon. The Rajah would not see him until the murderers of his uncles had been brought to justice, and until he had given convincing proof of his intention to govern his country uprightly, with the assistance of advisers worthy of trust; pardon he must ask of the Queen, upon whose flag he had fired, and the agreements he had previously made must be re-ratified. All this the Sultan engaged to do. In addition, he paid royal honours at the graves of his murdered relatives; and, taking the most humble tone and position, gave Sarawak to the Rajah unconditionally, and granted him the right of working coal.136 But even then the Rajah refused to see him.
To conclude the story of Sultan Omar Ali, he gave little more trouble after the severe lesson he had been taught, became afflicted with cancer in the mouth, and died in 1852, when Pangiran Mumin succeeded to the throne. He was a brother-in-law to the murdered princes, but only remotely connected with the royal family, being descended from Muhammad Ali the twelfth Sultan of Bruni, in or about 1660, brother of the Sultan Abdul Jalil ul Akbar, the ancestor of Omar Ali, who was seventh in descent from him. The feeble-minded Abdul Mumin died at a great age in 1885, when he was succeeded by Hasim Jalil ul Alam Akmadin, the reputed son of Omar Ali; he died in 1906, over 100 years of age, and was succeeded by his son, the present Sultan, Muhammad Jamal ul Alam.
The Rajah returned to Kuching at the end of August in the Phlegethon, with "a perfect menagerie of old women and children," the unhappy survivors of the Sultan Muda's family.137 Many other families had already fled from Bruni to seek a refuge in the universal haven, Sarawak.
By the deed which the Rajah now bore back with him, the one under which Sarawak Proper is still held, the sovereignty of James Brooke and his heirs in perpetuity over the raj was acknowledged absolutely, and by it the Sultan surrendered his claim to suzerainty. No yearly payment was to be made for the province,138 and it was left to the Rajah to dispose of as he pleased; hence he was at liberty to hand it over to a foreign government if he so wished.139 Sarawak now became de jure independent; de facto, it had been independent for some years; and the Rajah "held a double claim to its possession – the will of a free people strengthened by the cession made by a sovereign, who was unable to rule his subjects."140 Such being the position of the Sultan, the Rajah maintained the title de jure to be of small value, whilst the title derived from the election and support of a free people he considered of superior importance. The power of Bruni had become but a shadow, not only in Sarawak but along the coast as far as Oya, and the prerogative of the Sultan to grant their country to any one was disavowed by the people of Sarawak. Their ancestors had been free, and they had but a few years previously voluntarily placed themselves under the Bruni Government, upon certain conditions, but in the decay of the Government of Bruni these had been disregarded, and misrule succeeded. They rebelled and successfully maintained an independent position; they had offered their country to Holland; and had finally surrendered to Mr. Brooke, conditionally upon his becoming their ruler. All possession of territory in Borneo was a question of might, and the Sultan himself looked to the Rajah "to support his throne, and to preserve his government."141 Though the question of the independence of Sarawak142 has been placed beyond doubt by its recognition by the British Government in 1863 as an absolutely independent State, yet it has been maintained, and by some who should know better, that the country is still under the suzerainty of Bruni.
To conclude the eventful year of 1846, Captain Mundy returned to Sarawak in December with instructions from the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston, conveyed through Sir Thomas Cochrane, to occupy the Island of Labuan, after consulting with the Rajah as to the best mode of carrying out his instructions.143 He at once proceeded to Bruni, the Rajah going to Singapore. Labuan was ceded on the 18th, and the British flag was hoisted on the island on December 24.
The Dutch Government had viewed the Rajah's elevation and settlement at Sarawak, as well as the past and recent operations of the British on the north-west coast, with unfeigned jealousy, and had, during the last two years, repeatedly remonstrated with the British Government for countenancing these proceedings, which the Dutch Minister, by a stretch of imagination, exaggerated into having been the cause of a general uneasiness arising in Holland "as to the security and integrity of the Netherlands possessions in the Eastern Archipelago," and a suspicion of "the Government having surrendered, or very nearly so, the Eastern Archipelago to England." Further, "the King's Government," extravagantly wrote the Minister, "cannot forget how much it has had to suffer at different epochs in India from the practices of this individual (the Rajah), whom the Netherlands authorities have everywhere found in their way, and constantly in opposition to them." In his position as H.M.'s Political Agent, "combined with his long experience and intimate knowledge of Borneo," with "his desire to annoy, and his ill-will towards the Netherlands," the Minister considered him a very inconvenient and harassing personage to the Netherlanders and their Government. The Netherlands Government alleged that the Rajah's action in Sarawak and the occupation of Labuan were an abandonment of the spirit of the Treaty of 1824, if not of the letter. But by that Treaty the Dutch sphere of influence in Borneo had been limited to the equator, north of the line remaining within the sphere of British influence. As the Minister foresaw, Lord Aberdeen, on these grounds, denied that the recent measures taken in Borneo were in any way a contravention of the treaty or inimical to Dutch interests. Lord Aberdeen, in supporting the Rajah, eulogised him as a gentleman of high character, whose "efforts have been directed to the furtherance of civilization, to the discouragement of piratical pursuits, and to the promotion of the welfare of the native population," and contended that he had obtained his possessions "in the most legitimate manner." He further implied that the Rajah's legitimate objects and pursuits having met with undue interference by the Netherlands authorities, occasion had perhaps been given for disputes arising between him and the Netherlands Government, for he was naturally "not favorably disposed to the extension of Dutch influence in the parts where he had acquired possessions";144 an influence which the Governor-General of Netherlands India in his rescript of January 1846, mentioned in footnote, p. 93, said his Government did not exercise in the State of the Sultan of Bruni, which extended from cape Datu to the Kimanis river.
The Rajah wrote: —
The Netherlands Government has made an attack upon me, but it has failed. I am astonished at the misrepresentations to which it stoops… I never had any dispute with the Dutch authorities; and the only communications which have passed between the Resident of Sambas and myself have been of a most friendly kind.145
But though she failed, it was some years before Holland gave up her pretensions to Sarawak, pretensions which twice before they could have realised – in 1833, when Pangiran Usup offered her the country, and, a few years later, when the Sarawak people asked for her protection; but the one involved a monetary equivalent, and the other military support, and she thought to acquire the country by cheaper methods, which the Rajah knew she still meant to do after his death if she could. Without his influence, and without his influential friends, he did not think that Sarawak could subsist after he was gone, and this it was that made him so urgent to be put under British protection. When, finally, the British Government did recognise Sarawak as an independent State, the Netherlands Minister was asked if he were aware of the recognition. The reply was, "Holland will not recognise Sarawak, as the Government is convinced that Sarawak cannot last beyond the lifetime of Sir James Brooke." He added, "I told you this seven years ago, and I see no reason, from recent events, to alter my opinion."146 This was in 1863.
The early part of 1847 was spent by the Rajah recruiting his health on Penang hill, where a letter was received from the Sultan notifying that Haji Seman had given himself up at Bruni, and asking for instructions of the Admiral and the Rajah as to his disposal. It was not considered that his execution was now necessary as an example, and the Sultan was informed that the past could be buried in oblivion, but that misconduct in the future would revive its recollection.147
In Singapore the Rajah received instructions from the Foreign Office to proceed to Bruni to conclude a treaty with the Sultan for the arrangement of commercial relations, and for the mutual suppression of piracy; to reserve to H.M.'s Government power and jurisdiction over all British subjects residing within the Sultanate, and to bind the Sultan not to alienate any portion of his dominions to any foreign power or to others without the sanction of her Majesty's Government. The Rajah proceeded to Bruni in the Nemesis, touching at Kuching on his way, and the treaty was signed on May 27. On the 30th, when leaving the Bruni river, the Nemesis was hailed by a passing canoe, and received the information that a fleet of pirates was in the offing. The steamer immediately started in pursuit, and the pirates, finding escape impossible, came to anchor in a small bay with their bows seaward, and secured their prahus, eleven in all, together with hawsers. The engagement which followed, and which lasted several hours, the pirates fighting desperately, resulted in five of the pirate prahus being destroyed, and six effecting their escape.148 The Nemesis lost two killed and six wounded, and the pirates about sixty killed. Fifty more, who had escaped inland, were captured by the Sultan's men, and executed in Bruni. About 100 captives, mostly Chinese and Malays, were rescued and sent to Singapore. The pirates, who were Baleninis, were on their return from a year's cruise laden with plunder and captives. They had proposed to attack Kuching, but had thought better of it.149
The desire to visit England was now strong upon the Rajah. Besides personal reasons, the wish to see his relations and friends, and to obtain change and rest, he also felt that he could effect more than by correspondence were he personally to interest Ministers in Bornean affairs and urge on them the necessity of a decided course for the suppression of piracy, which could be put down were a steady course pursued instead of mere convulsive efforts, and Sulu he wished to see crushed.150 Sarawak, where all was peaceful, would be safe under the administration of his connection, Mr. A. C. Crookshank.151 Labuan was established as a naval station under naval administration. Bruni had been reduced to subjection, and was powerless to give further trouble, and the coast was generally quiet; so, there being nothing requiring attention in the immediate future, he sailed from Singapore in July, and arrived in England early in October.
And now honours rained on him. He was presented with the freedom of the City of London; Oxford University conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.; he was graciously received at Windsor by the Queen and the Prince Consort; was appointed Governor of Labuan, and Commissioner and Consul-General in Borneo, and made a K.C.B.152 The United Service, the Army and Navy, the Athenæum, Travellers, and other Clubs elected him an honorary member. He was lionised and fêted, and was received with marked distinction by every one, including Ministers.
He sailed from England on February 1, 1848, with his Labuan staff, in the Mæander, commanded by his old friend and ally, Captain Keppel, and having the present Rajah on board as sub-lieutenant.153 After spending a few months in Singapore making preparations for the establishment of his new colony, he arrived at the Muaratebas entrance of the Sarawak river in September; here he left the Mæander, and was triumphantly escorted up-river by the whole Kuching population amidst general rejoicings.
He found affairs in his little raj had not been conducted quite so well as he could have wished, and that there were evidences of renewed activity on the part of the pirates. Pangiran Makota was in power at Bruni, and that was a menace to the good conduct of both the external and internal affairs of the Sultanate. The Sultan had been in direct communication with the Sekrang Dayaks, amongst whom both Sherip Mular and Sherip Ahmit were busy intriguing, and collecting the dissatisfied party which had been scattered. Hostile operations on the part of the Saribas were only checked by the arrival of the Mæander.
On September 14, the Rajah was joined by his nephew, Captain James Brooke-Johnson,154 of the Connaught Rangers, as his official A.D.C. He assumed the surname of his uncle, and was given the title of Tuan Besar. Although he was always looked upon as the heir-presumptive, the title of Rajah Muda was only conferred upon him when he was officially and publicly recognised by the Rajah as his heir in 1861.
"To give a spirit of national pride to the natives," the Rajah now granted the country a flag,155 and this was hoisted with due ceremony on September 21. Viscount Palmerston, in a despatch dated June 20, 1849, subsequently conveyed the approval of H.M.'s Government of the flag having been hoisted, in order, with the sanction of the British Government, to afford a recognised permanency to the country.
The Rajah then sailed in the Mæander to Labuan, where he was busy for some time arranging and organising the colony, but, falling a victim, with many others, to the insalubrity of the climate, he took a sea voyage in the Mæander, visiting several places on the north-west coast and passing on to Sulu, where he established friendly relations with the Sultan, and paved the way to a treaty being effected, by which Sulu would be placed within the sphere of British influence. He returned to Labuan in January, 1849, nearly recovered, and the next month was back in Sarawak again, to face an anxious time, a year of trouble and strife.
The Rajah had done all he could in England to move the British Government to take energetic action effectually to stamp out piracy, especially in regard to the Saribas and Sekrang, amongst whom the peaceable party had now been completely overborne by the piratical faction, and this would have been prevented had the British Government sanctioned the Rajah's scheme of building a fort in the disturbed district. Alone, he was powerless to effect much, if anything. The Mæander had been specially fitted for taking action against these pirates, and her captain specially appointed on account of the experience he had already gained in dealing with them, as it was intended that the frigate should be detailed for this service; but trouble having occurred in China, she was recalled by the Admiral, and the Rajah was left with the H.E.I.C. Nemesis only, a steamer quite inadequate for the purpose; and, being required to keep up communication between Labuan and Singapore, her station being at the latter place, she could be only occasionally placed at his disposal.
The departure of the Mæander, and the Rajah's long absence in the north, had emboldened the Saribas and Sekrangs to prepare for fresh atrocities. Their insolence had, moreover, so increased that they went so far as to send the Rajah a message of defiance, daring him to come out against them, taunting him with cowardice, and comparing him to a woman.156
On March 2nd, the Rajah received news that a large pirate fleet of one hundred prahus had put to sea, and, after having captured several trading vessels, the crews of which they had put to death, had proceeded up the Sadong river, where they had killed upwards of one hundred or more Malay men, women, and children, and had carried others into slavery. Within the three previous months they had killed three hundred persons, burnt several villages, and captured numerous prahus.157 This expedition was led by the Laksamana, the Malay chief of the Saribas;158 it was checked at the town of Gedong, which was well prepared for defence, and too much on the alert to be taken by surprise.
An artifice of these pirates, and they never attempted by force what could be acquired by stratagem, was this: some of the party remained behind and assumed the clothes of their victims, and the umbrella-shaped hats of palm leaf commonly used by those harvesting in the sun, which would completely conceal their features; thus disguised they paddled down stream, and called in Malay to the women to issue from their hiding-places, as they had come to convey them to a place of safety. The poor creatures, supposing that these were of their own tribe, ran down with their children in their arms only to be speared and their heads hacked off by these wolves in sheep's clothing.159 On the last day of February, a numerous and industrious population was gathering in the harvest, and on March the 1st every house was plundered, and scattered about the fields were the mangled bodies of the reapers, and in the villages lay the headless trunks of men, aged women, and children too young for captivity.
Not a day passed without news reaching Kuching of some village burned or of some trading vessel captured. After the attack on Sadong, while the Saribas hovered along the coast, crowds of refugees arrived in Kuching. From all parts they came; from the river of Matu alone twenty prahus full of men, women, and children, and from Kalaka many hundreds. They said that they could endure life no longer in their own country, continually engaged in resisting these murderous attacks, and losing numbers of their people at the hands of the Sekrangs and Saribas.
"No news except of Dayaks, and rumours of Dayaks. Dayaks here, Dayaks there, and Dayaks everywhere," so wrote the Rajah.
The Kalaka river had also been laid waste. Hunt in 1812 described Kalaka as being one of the principal ports of trade on the north-west coast,160 and the country as producing large quantities of grain. But this was before the Sea-Dayaks had become pirates. In 1849, the river had been so devastated by piratical attacks that all cultivation had been abandoned, and its once flourishing town and villages deserted, with the exception of two that were small. "Never before had I been so struck with the irreparable mischief done by the piratical tribes, as when I saw this lovely country so completely deserted," so wrote Mr. S. St. John in 1849.
The ravages of these murderous Dayaks had been peculiarly destructive in the delta of the Rejang, once well populated by the quiet and industrious Melanaus, the producers of the Bornean sago brought to the market of Singapore. The pirates not only destroyed the villages and plantations, but captured many richly laden prahus, freighted with the produce of this district on their way to dispose of their lading in the British Settlement of Singapore, and in Sambas and Pontianak. Like the Malays of Kalaka, nearly all the inhabitants had fled, most to Sarawak, some to other places.
During the first six months of 1849, some 600 persons fell victims to these savages; it must be borne in mind that the districts inhabited by these people and those attacked by them were then in Bruni territory, and outside the raj of Sarawak.
In 1849, it was reckoned that the Saribas had 6000 fighting men, the Sekrangs an equal number, and those Sekrangs and Saribas who had moved across to the Kanowit, Katibas, and Poi, affluents of the Rejang river, could muster 8000 warriors,161 making, with their Malay allies, a total of 25,000 men living on piracy and murder. Secure on their rivers, in their stockades, in their jungles, in their large and well-constructed boats, and in their numbers, they scoffed at warnings, and proceeded from crime to crime until the whole country from Bruni to Sarawak was nearly their own.
In desperation, and with the hope of checking these outrages, the Rajah at once started against the pirates with his own little flotilla of some twenty-four war prahus manned by 800 Malays, but he was driven back by the north-east monsoon, perhaps fortunately, as his force was totally inadequate. Then the Nemesis, under Commander Wallage, arrived, and the Rajah, feeling he was now strong enough to effect something, sallied forth again on March 25, with the same native force and four of the boats of the Nemesis. The bala162 was augmented by eighty-four native prahus with over 2000 friendlies, all thirsting for revenge. Both branches of the Kalaka were ascended, and from the left-hand branch the native levies crossed over into the Rembas, a large affluent of the Saribas, and here several strongholds were destroyed, with large quantities of rice and salt; the enemy were, however, absent on an expedition, and but few fighting men were left behind. The Rajah then proceeded up the Saribas, the entrance of which the Nemesis had been sent on to guard, and at the mouth of the Rembas branch met a large force of Saribas Dayaks which hurriedly retreated. These were on their way to effect a junction with the Sekrangs, the Malay town of Banting up the Lingga being the objective. Ten prahus of Sadong friendlies on their way home were met and attacked at night by these Sekrangs, who had a force of 150 bangkongs, but, the Balau Dayaks opportunely coming to the assistance of the former, the Sekrangs were defeated and driven back to their own country. This well-contrived expedition then terminated in a return to Sarawak, and though the pirates had not suffered any great loss, especially in lives, a severe check had been administered, and by preventing a junction between the Saribas and Sekrangs their piratical venture for that occasion had been spoiled.
After his return from this expedition the Rajah took advantage of the lull that was certain to follow, for the Dayaks would lie low for a time fully expecting to be again attacked, and proceeded to visit his little colony at Labuan. From thence he passed on to Sulu, where he concluded a commercial treaty with the Sultan, returning to Kuching at the end of May. In the meantime Admiral Sir Francis Collier had despatched the Albatross, Commander Farquhar,163 to Sarawak, to take the Mæander's place, and she had arrived at Kuching before the Rajah's return in the Nemesis, and had there been joined by the Royalist, Lieutenant Everest. Preparations were pushed forward to deliver a final blow to the Saribas and Sekrang pirates, who, now the Ramathan, or fast month, had commenced, considered themselves safe, under the firm persuasion that the Rajah would not move against them so long as it lasted, out of regard for the religious scruples of the Malays.
The expedition started on July 24. It comprised the Nemesis, the Royalist, and the Ranee (the Mæander's little steam tender), seven men-of-war boats, and the Rajah's Malay force of eighteen war prahus manned by 640 Malays. At the mouth detachments of Lundu and Balau Sea-Dayaks, and Malays from Samarahan and Sadong joined, which brought the native force up to a total of seventy prahus with 2500 men. The Royalist was towed by the Nemesis into the Batang Lupar, and left to guard that river off the mouth of the Lingga, and the latter went on to the entrance of the Saribas, where, with the ships' boats, she took up her position. The main force joined her on the 28th, and the same evening information was received that a large piratical bala, under the command of the Datu Patinggi of Saribas and the principal Malays, had left the Saribas two days previously and had gone northwards. The Rajah and Captain Farquhar immediately determined to intercept them on their return. With twelve war prahus and two men-of-war cutters the Rajah took up a position across the mouth of the Kalaka, to prevent the pirates gaining their way home by that river. The Nemesis, with the rest of the force, blocked the Saribas, and the only other route open to them via the Batang Lupar was guarded by the Royalist. There was an alternative way back, a long one, up the Rejang and Kanowit, but they were not likely to take this. On the evening of the 31st, a rocket sent up from the Rajah Singha,164 the Rajah's war prahu, announced the approach of the enemy. They came on boldly, and, perceiving the force at the entrance of the Kalaka, but not the more formidable one hidden by the long promontory separating the mouths of the two rivers, dashed on for the Saribas with defiant yells, to encounter in the growing darkness greater peril, and thus commenced the most famous fight in the Sarawak annals, which brought a just retribution on these savage pirates and for ever broke their power, the battle of Beting Maru.165 Met with showers of grape, cannister, rockets, and musketry from the Nemesis and the boats, and the savage onslaughts of the native levies mad for revenge, well led by the Rajah's English and Malay officers, and with their retreat intercepted by the Rajah's division, the pirates were soon thrown into confusion, and thought only of escape. But cut off in all directions, for five hours, in bright moonlight, they had to sustain a series of encounters extending over a distance of ten miles. At midnight all was over. About a dozen bangkongs escaped, whilst over a hundred were destroyed, and the enemy had lost about 300 killed. This loss would have been far heavier had the Rajah allowed his native forces to intercept the retreat of the great numbers who had landed and escaped into the jungle, and this could have easily been effected; as it was, 500 died of wounds, exposure, and starvation, or were cut off before they could reach their homes. Of those who succeeded in escaping up the Saribas that night was the famous Dayak chief Linggir, who, with seventeen war-boats, had made a desperate attack on the Nemesis, which resulted in the destruction of all the boats with their crews except his.166
Had this expedition started but a few days earlier, the mischief that had been done would have been prevented, though that mischief was far less than it would have been had not the pirates been forced to beat a hasty retreat on receiving news that so powerful a force was out against them. They had attacked Matu, but that town was found to be too well prepared to be carried without considerable loss, and, their aim being not glory but to procure heads, captives, and plunder, with the least possible risk to themselves, they retreated in search of easier prey after sustaining a loss of ten killed, but not before they had taken a detached house in which they obtained seven heads and captured four girls. Palo they had plundered, and had there seized three girls;167 they spared the place as being the main source of their salt supply. Two vessels trading to Singapore were captured, and the crew of one were all killed. Serikei proved too strong for them. A detachment had gone westward, and off Sambas they killed some Chinese fishermen and took their heads. At Sirhasan, one of the Natuna islands, they captured a trading vessel, and on their way back to join the main fleet attacked the Malays living at the mouth of Muaratebas, but were repulsed after a desperate fight. A trading prahu was there seized, the owner and five of the crew being killed. Coming across Abang Husin, a nephew of the Datu Temanggong, they killed him and his boat's crew of six, after a gallant defence.
A couple of days having been spent in destroying the captured bangkongs and securing prisoners, the expedition proceeded up the Saribas river. After some exciting episodes and hard work in cutting their way through innumerable trees, which had been felled across the river to impede their progress, the force reached Paku, which was taken and burnt for the second time. The expedition then proceeded up the Rejang, to punish the Sekrang Dayaks living in the Kanowit. Eighteen villages were destroyed, and the country laid waste for a hundred miles. This done, the Rajah returned to Kuching with the whole force, arriving there on August the 24th. With him came many Serikei people, who wished to escape from the tyranny of Sherip Masahor,168 an infamous and intriguing half-bred Arab chief, who appears to have but lately settled in the Rejang as the Bruni governor, and who in the near future was to cause the Sarawak Government considerable trouble.
After the battle of Beting Maru, the well-inclined Malay and Dayak chiefs of the Sekrang were once more raised to power, and the Rajah built a fort at Sekrang, of which Sherip Matusain, who has been before mentioned as having taken a prominent part on the side of the Sarawak Malays in the rebellion against Bruni, was placed in charge. The fort was built to uphold the friendly and non-piratical party against the interior piratical tribes, to prevent the latter passing down to the sea, and as a position for the advancement of commerce. It was built entirely by Sekrang Malays and Dayaks under the supervision of Mr. Crookshank, and when Mr. Brereton169 went there shortly afterwards to take charge, at the request of the natives that a European might be placed over them, he was entirely dependent on their goodwill, having no force of any sort, to support his authority.
