Transfer by Pangeran Muda Hassim of the Government of Sarawak, 1841

This Agreement made in the year of the Prophet one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven at twelve o’ clock on Wednesday the thirtieth day of the month of Rejab showeth that with a pure heart and high integrity PANGERAN MUDA HASSIM son of the late Sultan Muhammad hereby transfers to JAMES BROOKE Esquire the Government of Sarawak together with the dependencies thereof its revenues and all its future responsibilities. Moreover he James Brooke Esquire shall be the sole owner of its revenues and will be alone responsible for the public expenditure necessary for the good of Sarawak.

Moreover James Brooke Esquire acting with the same integrity and pureness of heart accepts This Agreement as set forth and further undertakes from the date hereof to pay to the Sultan of Brunei one thousand dollars to Pangeran Muda one thousand dollars to the Petinggi three hundred dollars to the Bandar one hundred and fifty dollars and to the Temenggong one hundred dollars.

Moreover James Brooke Esquire undertakes that the laws and customs of the Malays of Sarawak shall for ever be respected since the country of Sarawak has hitherto been subject to the government of the Sultan of Brunei the Pangeran Muda and Malayan rajas.

Moreover should intrigues arise either within or without the State of Sarawak detrimental to its interests whether caused by peoples or princes or rulers who may be inimical to Sarawak the Sultan and his brother the Pangeran Muda shall uphold James Brooke Esquire as the lawfully appointed Ruler of Sarawak subject to no interference by any other person.

Moreover the Pangeran Muda and James Brooke Esquire do themselves make this Contract and the Pangeran agrees to relinquish all further activities in the Government of Sarawak except such as may be carried out by the consent of James Brooke Esquire and anything which they may severally or individually do in regard to the Government of Sarawak must be in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

Written in Sarawak on the night of Friday the second day of Shaaban 1257 at ten o’ clock.

Appointment by Sultan of Brunei of James Brooke to Govern as His Representative, 1842.

In the era of the prophet – God grant him peace! – the year one thousand two hundred and fifty-eight, the year Alip, the twenty-fourth day of Jamadalachir, the day being Monday and the time ten o’ clock: -

His Highness Sultan Omar Ali Saifu’d-Din son of the late Sultan Mahomed Jamalu’l-Alam appoints James Brooke Esquire to be his representative and in that capacity to govern the privince of Sarawak, and James Brooke Esquire covenants and undertakes to observe the orders, custom, laws and regulations of His Highness the Sultan. James Brooke Esquire is responsible for all the affairs of the province of Sarawak, and no one at all may interfere upon any pretext except on the express command of His Highness the Sultan. Regarding the affairs of the other districts within our coasts James Brooke Esquire is not to exercise authority or concern himself in any way, but only within the province of Sarawak. So it is agreed between His Highness and the Tuan Besar.

And with regard to the province of Srawak the Tuan Besar alone is appointed our representative to govern it, and no other European of any nationality may except only after submission to His Highness and Pangeran Muda Hassim, and only with their permission.

Regarding the revenues of the province of Sarawak the Tuan Besar undertakes to pay as tribute every year to His Highness one thousand dollars, to Pangeran Muda Hassim one thousand dollars, to the Patinggi three hundred dollars to the Bandar one hundred and fifty dollars to the Tumunggong one hundred dollars annually. If the trade of the province of Sarawak becomes flourishing and the province obtains a large revenue the Tuan Besar shall increase the tribute to be paid to His Highness and the Pangeran Muda Hassim.

Further with reference to the Sapang and Sambok Kongsies which have been working in the province of Sarawak taxation is to be in accordance with the size of their undertaking whether large or small for this is a matter which is excluded from the control of the Tuan Besar.

The above is the Agreement between His Highness and the Tuan Besar aforesaid and contained in this written contract for the province of Sarawak.

Siniawan Rebellion (Kebangkitan Siniawan)

Until the 1820’s, Brunei’s interest in Sarawak had been limited to the collection of annual tribute. It was the chance discovery of antimony ore by some Brunei pengirans on their way to Singapore in 1823 that  made Sarawak a focus of interest. Pengiran Indera Mahkota was appointed governor of Sarawak by the Sultan of Brunei who was anxious to obtain revenue from the export of antimony. Mahkota established a new capital at Kuching where a number of other Brunei pengirans also took up residence. One of these, Pengiran Usup, grandson of the Sultan, negotiated the sale of Sarawak to the brother of the Sultan of Sambas in about 1836. When Muda Hashim, then the effective ruler of Brunei, would not agree, Usup fomented a rebellion against Brunei authority by the Sarawak datus and the Bidayuh antimony miners. They were probably already disaffected due to the monopolization of the antimony trade by the pengirans . . .

It is interesting to note that the rebellion is not really an "us-versus-them" (read: nationalistic) story as painted in the textbook, but rather a "us-versus-us" situation: Datu Patinggi Ali and Indera Mahkota were both considered Malays, while Pangeran Usop and Indera Mahkota are both Bruneian royalty.

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After stopping the rebellion, James Brooke demands the position as the Sarawak Governor as promised by Muda Hashim. Indera Mahkota persuades Muda Hashim to stall on the promise, and James Brooke gets angry. Knowing how Indera Mahkota is standing in his way, Brooke was finally obliged to use naked force to achieve his ambition His yatch the Royalist was brought up the river to Muda Hashim’s palace and all guns were trained on it. Declaring vengeance on Pengiran Mahkota whom he accused of an attempt to poison him, Brooke forced Muda Mashim and his people to choose between himself and the Pengiran for their loyalty. Of course, they choose James Brooke to save their lives. Muda Hashim immediately ratifies the agreement (the 1841 agreement between Muda Hashim and James Brooke is attached in another post).

As Brooke recorded it,

“This demonstration tested public opinion, and two hundred of the natives immediately joined me, and not a single man joined Mahkota . . . henceforward I was to hold the government. I expounded my principles to them, and really believe they are well pleased.”

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1. Our Sarawak – Persatuan Kesusasteraan Sarawak, 1983

Pangeran Indera Mahkota

Pangeran Indera Mahkota was born Pangeran Mohd Salleh, in Sambas. Pangeran Indera Mahkota is actually his title given by the Sultan of Brunei, but was better known by his title than his name.

He was a well-educated man, educated in Batavia (Betawi in BM, present-day Jakarta), and furthered his studies in Holland. Around 1820, he was summoned back by the sultan and made governor of Sarawak. He first founded Kuching, at a site previously known as Lidah Tanah.

Indera Mahkota was said to be a man of outstanding talent and sophistication, an orator and a poet as well as a skillful politician.. James Brooke himself acknowledged this in his diary:

"His education has been more attended to than others of his rank. He both reads and writes his own language, and is well acquainted with the government, laws , and customs of Borneo."

"My greatest enemy I know to be Mahkota, who with a few other leading men, resists all my attempts to fulfil (Muda Hashim’s) engagements’." (On Muda Hashim’s delay of fulfilling the promise, largely due to pressure from Pengiran Mahkota who could probably see the long-term consequences.) 

Spenser St John, Brooke’s private secretary who later acted as British Consul-General in Brunei, thought that he was ‘the most talented man I met in Borneo’.

Indera Mahkota knew the promise between Muda Hashim and James Brooke (to cede Sarawak to Brooke) would weaken Brunei, and devised to get rid of James Brooke; he also convinced Muda Hashim to delay handing over official power to James Brooke, causing Brooke to attack the royal palace at Kuching and threatening to release all his cannons and guns unless he was ratified as the governor of Sarawak.

Pengiran Mahkota favoured increased trade but he could see the consequences of European territorial ambtion in Borneo. In his own way, Pengiran Mahkota was a Borneo patriot who had the gift of political foresight. Unfortunately, his vilification by the Brooke court historians continues to obscure his real achievement.

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1. https://historytothemax.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/pengiran-indera-mahkota-part-1/
2. Our Sarawak – Persatuan Kesusasteraan Sarawak, 1983

Pangeran Muda Hashim

Pangeran or Pengiran is a hereditary honorific prefix for those who have blood ties with the royal family who are married, and can be styled Prince or Princess. The crown price would carry the title Pengiran Muda Mahkota, while sons of the Sultan would carry the title Pengiran Muda.
(This would mean that the textbook is redundant in saying Pangeran Raja as they are both essentially the same title)

Pangeran Muda Hashim is therefore a rightful descendant of throne of Brunei, and was heir-apparent to the throne when he decided to instead let the title go to Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II and keep his position as the Bendahara of Brunei (Prime Minister equivalent), which he had served as during the reign of the previous sultan. Pangeran Muda Hashim is also the uncle to Sultan Omar. 

He was sent in 1838 to help Pangeran Indera Mahkota to end the rebellion in the Sarawak region by the sultan. Pangeran Muda Hashim made little progress, and was not on good terms with Indera Mahkota. 

"Around 1834 while Pengiran Indera Mahkota was ruling Sarawak Pengiran Muda Hashim arrived there to try to collect revenue. The reigning Sultan at that time was Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien II the nephew of Pengiran Muda Hashim.

Pengiran Muda Hashim’s arrival was not personally recieved by Pengiran Indera Mahkota. He only sent his officers to recieve him while he himself waited in his court. This act hurt Pengiran Muda Hashim’s feelings  and he accused Pengiran Indera Mahkota of not respecting him, an uncle of the Sultan. Pengiran Indera Mahkota’s justification was that since he was appointed by the Sultan surely he had the right to do what he thought was right. Since that day the conflict between the two started . . ."

He first sought help from the NNS governor in Singapore, but to no avail. He then proceeded to seek help from James Brooke upon his second arrival at Sarawak. He offered Siniawan and Kuching as well as the Governor of Sarawak position if Brooke managed to stop the rebellion. 

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_styles_and_titles#Brunei
2. http://story-of-sarawak.blogspot.my/2011/12/on-raja-muda-hashim.html
3. Sejarah Malaysia by Ruslan Zainuddin.

James Brooke

James Brooke was born in Bengal on 29th April, 1803. He grew up in India until he was 12, and was sent to England to continue his studies. In 1819, he returned to India to join the Bengal Army. He was involved in the First Anglo-Burmese War and was seriously injured in 1825 (about a year before the Burney Agreement), and was sent back to England to recover. He was asked to retire from his commission to the army, and was paid £70 a year for the rest of his life. He attempted to join SHTI but did not succeed.

His father was an English Court Judge of Appeal, and his father's death in 1833, James Brooke inherited £30,000 (equivalent to £1,484,700 today, or RM8.2m) and bought The Royalist (142-ton schooner) for the purpose of travelling and exploring East Indies (Indonesia today).

He arrived at Singapore in 1839, and was asked by the Governor of NNS (S.G. Bonham) to deliver a thank you letter to Pengiran Muda Hashim for saving some British sailors whose boat had capsized off the shores of Kuching. 

Upon his arrival in 15 August 1839, he found the place to be in a chaotic state, with piracy and local rebellion (details of rebellion will be explained in another post).

Brooke left to continue exploring South East Asia and China, but decided to stop by Sarawak once more before returning to England in 1840. This was when Pengiran Muda Hashim finally decided to request for Brooke's help to quell the rebellion.

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brooke
2. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/default0.asp#mid
3. Sejarah Malaysia by Ruslan Zainuddin.