"Kingdom of Sarawak" redirects here. For the former sultanate, see Sultanate of Sarawak.
Raj of Sarawak
Kerajaan Sarawak
1841–1946
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: Latin: Dum Spiro Spero[1][2] (While I breathe, I hope)[2]
Anthem:Gone Forth Beyond the Sea
The Raj in the 1920s
Status
Independent sovereign state (1841–1888) Independent Protected State[3] (1888–1946)
Capital
Kuching
Common languages
English, Iban, Melanau, Bidayuh, Sarawak Malay, Chinese etc.
Government
Absolute monarchy[4][5]
White Rajah
• 1841–1868 (First)
James Brooke
• 1868-1917
(Second)
Charles Anthony Brooke
• 1917–1946 (Third)
Vyner Brooke
Legislature
Council Negri
Historical era
New Imperialism
• Established
24 September 1841
• Protected State
14 June 1888
• Japanese invasion
16 December 1941
• Allied liberation
10 June 1945
• Ceded as a Crown colony
1 July 1946
Currency
Sarawak dollar
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Bruneian Empire
Sultanate of Sarawak
Japanese occupation of British Borneo
British Military Administration (Borneo)
Crown Colony of Sarawak
Today part of
Malaysia Brunei During 1888 (For a short period after the collapse of the sultanate of Brunei)[citation needed]
The Raj of Sarawak, also the Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, located in the northwestern part of the island of Borneo, was an independent state founded in 1841, in a treaty of protection with the United Kingdom starting from 1888. It was established from a series of land concessions acquired by an Englishman, James Brooke, from the Sultan of Brunei. Sarawak was recognised as an independent sovereign state by the United States in 1850 and by the United Kingdom in 1864. The Kingdom is now the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Following recognition, Brooke expanded the Raj's territory at the expense of Brunei. Several major rebellions occurred against his rule, causing him to be plagued by debt incurred in countering the rebellions, and the sluggish economic situation at the time. His nephew, Charles Brooke, succeeded James and normalised the situation by improving the economy, reducing government debts and establishing public infrastructure. In 1888, the Raj acquired protected state status from the British Government whilst avoiding annexation.
To gear up economic growth, the second Rajah encouraged the migration of Chinese workers from China and Singapore to work in the agricultural fields. With proper economic planning and stability, Sarawak prospered and emerged as one of the world's major producers of black pepper, in addition to oil and the introduction of rubber plantations. He was succeeded by his son Vyner Brooke but World War II and the arrival of Japanese forces ultimately brought an end to the Raj, with the territory placed under a military administration on the Japanese capitulation in 1945, and annexed by Britain as its last acquisition as a Crown Colony in 1946, contrary to the Atlantic Charter.
^Barley 2013, p. 101.
^ abStraumann 2014, p. 63.
^Salisbury (6 March 1888). "Minutes by Lord Salisbury regarding the Borneo Protectorates". The Trove. Foreign Office. Retrieved 29 February 2024. Under the proposed arrangement, Brunei, Sarawak , and North Borneo would become "independent protected states", preserving their absolute rights of internal govt, but carrying on their relations with foreign states only through the medium of the protecting power.
monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the RajofSarawak as a sovereign state, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo in...
The Sarawak Rangers were a para-military force founded in 1862 by the second White Rajah of the RajofSarawak, Charles Brooke. Sarawak rangers evolved...
Sarawak Day (Malay: Hari Sarawak) is a holiday celebrated on 22 July annually by Sarawak, celebrating the establishment of de facto self-government on...
The History ofSarawak can be traced as far as 40,000 years ago to the paleolithic period where the earliest evidence of human settlement is found in the...
The Sultanate ofSarawak (Malay: كسلطانن ملايو سراوق دارالهنا, romanized: Kesultanan Sarawak) was a Malay kingdom, located in present-day Kuching Division...
Brooke, Rajah[note] ofSarawak KCB (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the RajofSarawak in Borneo. He ruled...
The dollar was the currency of the RajofSarawak from 1858 to 1953. It was subdivided into 100 cents. The dollar remained at par with the Straits dollar...
Sarawak (/səˈrɑːwɒk/ sə-RAH-wok, Malay: [saˈrawaʔ]) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular...
Brooke family is an English family that ruled the RajofSarawak from 1841 until 1946. Rajahs ofSarawak: James Brooke (1841–1868) Charles Brooke (1868–1917)...
II, Sarawak was known as the RajofSarawak (1841–1946), Sabah was known as North Borneo (1881–1946), and Labuan was known as the Crown Colony of Labuan...
ofSarawak, with its territory bifurcated by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo; the remainder of...
consort of the Sarawak is a person married to a Sarawakian rajah during his reign. All spouses of the rajahs ofSarawak have been titled "Ranee ofSarawak" with...
Hashim's reign in the 1830s. He became one of the first supporters of the Brooke Raj and hailed as Sarawak's first national hero. An important part in...
the RajofSarawak. In 1903, the General Council became the Council Negri (lit. 'State Council'), which lasted through the remainder of the Raj and continued...
the territory. Japanese immigrants had also been in the RajofSarawak since 1915, with some of them working as hawkers and some Japanese women working...
Africa The Principality of Hutt River[citation needed] The RajofSarawak. St Andrews, Fife The State of South Carolina on the wall of Edzell Castle, and spelled...
heir to the Raj, of the RajofSarawak until disinherited in favour of his younger brother, Charles. Born in South Stoke near Bath, the son of Francis Charles...
Patil (1986), Indian actress and wife ofRaj Babbar Karuna Yadav, first wife of Rajpal Yadav Kartini (1904), Promoter of gender equality in Indonesia Percha...
(Terengganu) Kuching (Sarawak) Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) Per government protocol, if a display contains the Jalur Gemilang and all the state flags of Malaysia: The...
present coat of arms ofSarawak is largely based on the second state coat of arms, which was granted on 31 August 1973. The current coat of arms was established...
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