Table Of ContentA HISTORY OF BRUNEI
A History of Brunei remains the only full-length study of the Brunei
Sultanate from the earliest times to the present. It traces the history
of the state and its lines of rulers from their pre-Islamic origins
to the present. Graham Saunders explores the controversies over
events, persons and developments in Brunei's past which are still
important issues in defining Brunei's identity and its political and
social systems today. The antecedents of the Sultanate, the date of
the conversion to Islam, the reigns of the early Sultans, the line
of descent, early contacts with the Europeans and the Sultanate's
struggle to survive pressures from abroad are all elucidated in this
fascinating study.
The book also explores Brunei's changing fortunes over the course
of the twentieth century, from its apparently inevitable decline
towards extinction under pressure from the Brookes of Sarawak
and the British North Borneo Company at the turn of the century,
to the economic successes of the post-war years which prompted
popular desire for democratic and constitutional reform. This
transition from dependency to independence while retaining the
Sultan's absolute rule, is analysed in detail, and includes an
assessment of the years since independence in 1984.
This book will appeal to those with an interest in Brunei, Borneo
and Malaysia. It will also appeal to readers with more general inter
ests in the history of Southeast Asia, the process of decolonisation,
the role of Islam and the role of the small states in the broader
strategic, political and economic systems of the ASEAN and Pacific
regions.
Graham Saunders is an Honorary Fellow of the University of
Hull and an Associate Lecturer in Pacific Studies with the Open
University. He taught history in Sarawak and Brunei for almost thirty
years, and has published numerous articles on Southeast Asia.
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A History of Brunei
GRAHAM SAUNDERS
I~ ~~~!~;n~~~~urzon
London and New York
ISBN 9-781-1-36873-942
For Robert Nicholl
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Acknowledgements
IT will be clear to readers that lowe a debt to numerous scholars
who have contributed to our knowledge of the history of Brunei. To
keep footnotes to a minimum, I have assimilated their research into
the narrative, and have listed the works cited or referred to in the
Bibliography. lowe a special debt to Robert Nicholl, whom I first
met in Sarawak in 1963. We were subsequently, from 1970, Edu
cation Officers in Brunei. His erudition, linguistic skills, and cor
respondence with scholars world-wide enabled him to collect and
collate a wide range of source material on Brunei, which he mined
assiduously and skilfully for his own writing and which remains a
valuable resource for others. As mentor and friend, he stimulated
my own interest in the history of Brunei, and to him this book is
dedicated. I have acknowledged my debt to other writers on Brunei
in the introduction to the Bibliography.
This book is the product of many years' residence in Sarawak
and Brunei, during which I accumulated information and, I trust,
acquired some understanding, to which many people, too numerous
to mention, contributed. They bear no responsibility for what I have
written and in many cases, no doubt, have forgotten my existence.
Nor does any apparent criticism belie the fact that my experience
of Brunei was a pleasant one. If it had not been, I would not have
remained there so long or been prompted to try to understand its
history.
Over the years, the staffs of many libraries and museums have
been of great assistance, particularly those of the Brunei and Sara
wak Museums and the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of
Hull. Simon Francis has generously shown me material he has
researched in the Public Records Office and has been a mine of
information on publications about Brunei. His bibliography of Bru
nei will be a major asset to scholars.
Moving from England to Cyprus, while writing this book, created
Vlll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
practical problems. Thanks are due to Urban Norstrom for assist
ance in overcoming the problems created by transferring my work
from one word-processing system to another.
As always, I owe a special debt of gratitude to my wife, Anne, for
her encouragement, support, and patience at a time of great up
heaval as we moved house and country, not once, but twice. In
many respects, this book is as much hers as mine.
Cyprus GRAHAM SAUNDERS
December 1993
Note
All references to dollars ($) in this book are to the Straits dollar up
to 1963 and thereafter to the Brunei dollar, unless otherwise specified.
Contents
Acknowledgements vu
Figure Xl
Maps Xl
Plates xu
Abbreviations XlV
Introduction xv
Part I From Earliest Times to the Creation
of the Sultanate 1
1 The Earliest Kingdoms 3
2 Pre-Islamic Brunei 21
Part II The Rise and Decline of the Brunei
Thalassocracy 33
3 The Early Muslim Sultanate to c.1550 35
4 A Century of Conflict, c. 1550-c. 1650 49
5 Stagnation and Decline, c.1650-c.1770 62
Part III Brunei, the British, and the Brookes,
c.1770-1906 67
6 The Struggle for Survival, c.1770-1870 69
7 Almost Terminal Decline, 1870-1906 87
Part IV The Residency, 1906-1959 99
8 Brunei Preserved: The Residency from
Its Establishment to 1941 101
9 The Japanese Interregnum and the Last Years
of the Residency, 1941-1959 121
