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The Arrival of the Second Rajah of SarawakName Charles BrookeRelationship with Brooke

Nephew of James Brooke

Years reigned

Reigned from 1868 – 1917

Territories inherited

From Tanjung Datu to Tangjung Kerudong

Aim To obtain more lands from Brunei

Target of interest

Baram River

Background to his history with Brunei1st pressure He knew the value of Baram River and constantly

pressured Sultan Abdul Momin. Sultan Abdul Momin refused, calling Baram River

“the well from which our people drink water.” Sultan Abdul Momin asked help from the British

Government.2nd pressure Because he was not given Baram, he refused to pay the

annual payments to Sultan Abdul Momin. The British Consul-General of Labuan, Pope-Hennesy,

told the British Government that:o Charles Brooke planned to pick a fight with Sultan

Abdul Momin.o So that he could attack the Sultan and get both

Baram and Brunei. The British Government decided to ban Charles Brooke

from taking any territory for the next ten years.3rd pressure 18

74

The Kayans of Baram rebelled against Brunei’s oppressive rule.

Charles Brooke used this rebellion to seize Baram from Brunei.

1882

Peter Leys, the British Consul-General of Labuan forced Sultan Abdul Momin to lease Baram to Sarawak.

Sultan Abdul Momin realized that resisting was useless and surrendered Baram to Charles Brooke.

Terms Charles Brooke to receive $3,000 annually. Pengiran Temenggong Anak Hashim and the other two

Pengirans receive $2,000.

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The Formation of the British North Borneo (Charted) CompanyWhere:

North Borneo

North Borneo (Sabah) onthe map of Borneo

Map of North Borneo (Sabah)

Background Untouched by foreign powers before 1865Summary of its loss

Between 1865 to 1878, three foreign concessions were made.

These concessions made way for the formation of the British North Borneo Company in 1881.

Names of people involved in the loss of North Borneo

1. Sultan Abdul Momin from Brunei Darussalam.2. Charles Lee Moses from the USA.3. W. J. Torrey from the USA.4. Baron Overbeck from Austria.5. Alfred Dent from Britain.

Events leading to the Formation of the North Borneo (Charted)

Company

Char

les

Lee

Mos

es

Intro

duct

ion

- Charles Lee Moses was the appointed US Consul-General in Brunei in 1864.

- He built a consulate building for Sultan Abdul Momin.- He made promises to Sultan Abdul Momin.- Sultan Abdul Momin believed these promises and thought the

Americans would protect Brunei.

Leas

ing

- In 1865, Sultan Abdul Momin leased to Moses almost the entire North Borneo from Paitan Rivers to Sulaman for 10 years.

- The Sultan to receive: $4,500 annually.- Pengiran Temenggong Pengiran Anak Hashim was to be paid

$4,000 annually.

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Brea

king

of p

rom

ises

- Moses failed to carry out his promises to the Sultan.- The Sultan requested help from the British to help recover the

money but was ignored.- Moses promised to recover the money owed to the Sultan by the

China Steamship and Labuan Coal Company.- But he could not fulfill his promise and Moses made further

demands to own the Muara coalmines.- This led to more friction with Sultan Abdul Momin.- Moses then set fire to the consulate himself and tried to frame the

Sultan for it to get compensation.- The US Government cleared the Sultan of any blame and dismissed

Charles Lee Moses.

Portrait of Charles Lee Moses Lands leased to Charles Lee Moses in 1865

X

X

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The

leas

e w

as s

old

to W

. J. T

orre

y- Moses went to Hong Kong and sold his lease to

W. J. Torrey, an American businessman.- W. J. Torrey formed the American Trading

Company of Borneo.- Torrey went to Brunei to negogiate the lease

with Sultan Abdul Momin.- He was appinted as the Supreme Ruler and

Governor with the title of ‘Raja of Ambong and Marudu.’

- Here, he had the powers and the rights to exercise powers like a Sultan.

- However, his business failed and he did not pay the Sultan of Brunei the lease money.o His venture to develop Kimanis caused him

to lose a lot of money.o He did not pay the Sultan of Brunei the

money agreed upon for the lease.o Moses fell out with Torrey and requested

that the Sultan cancel the lease.

W. J

. Tor

rey

Baro

n O

verb

eck

- In January 1875, the Austriaan Consul-General in Hong Kong, Baron Overbeck, bought Torrey’s rights to lease almost the whole of North Borneo.

- In 1877, he went to Brunei to negogiate the lease with the Sultan of Brunei.

- He was appointed as the Maharaja of Sabah and Raja of Gaya and Sandakan.

- In return, Baron Overbeck had to pay $12,000 annually to the Sultan and $3,000 to the Temenggong.

- At the time, however, the Sultan of Sulu Kingdom claimed that some territories leased out to Overbeck belonged to the Sulu Kingdom.

- Hence, he also signed an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu and agreed to pay him $5,000 annually to protect his original lease.

Baro

n Ov

erbe

ck

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fred

Den

t

Alfred Dent BNBC's Board of Directors

- However, Overbeck did not receive any support from the Austrian Government for his activities.

- As a consequence, he had to sell the lease, to a British businessman, Alfred Dent.

- 1881: Dent and his associates obtained a Royal Charter from the Queen of Britain.

Establishment of the British North Borneo (Charted) Company

1881: The British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was formed.

In November 1881: They obtained the Royal Charter and renamed their company the British North Borneo (Charted) Company.

10 dollar note from BNBC

Advantages of the BNBC

Disadvantages of the BNBC

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Coins of BNBC

1. It had the support of the British government.

2. It was allowed to rule over territories beyond its lease.

3. It was allowed to buy more territories from other Pengirans in Brunei.

1. It restricted the BNBC’s sovereignity as its foreign relations was under British Government’s control.

2. There were clauses to protext the native population from exploitation

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Objections from the Spanish and Dutch over British control of North Borneo

Spanish objections Dutch objections They objected because some parts

over North Borneo belonged to the Sulu Kingdom which was under the Spanish control since 1878.

They sent warships into the Sandakan harbor.

Objected to the British North Borneo Company’s presence in North Borneo.

July 1912: An agreement was reached between the British and the Dutch defining their respective boundaries in Borneo.

But the British resident, W. B. Pryer refused to give in and the Spanish were forced to withdraw.

March 1885: The Spanish Government accepted British presence in North Borneo and the British recognized Spanish sovereignty in Sulu.

British territories in Borneo

Dutch territories in Borneo

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Activities of the British North Borneo (Charted) Company: Under the support of Britain, the BNBC later gained more territories

than what they were supposed to get in the original lease. Because of this, the BNBC and James Brooke began to compete with

each other to gain more Brunei territories. Brunei was now close to extinction.

Territories the BNBC gained

In 1884, the company obtained the Padas region. The BNBC had to pay Sultan Abdul Momin $3,000 annually.

Extra Reading:The Story of Padas region

Story of Padas Region taken from “A Historic Journey through Sabah” by Rozan Yunos (2011)“Beaufort was once an interesting place called Padas Damit. During the North Borneo Chartered Company days which then already controlled parts of North Borneo, the company wanted to own all the lands in Sabah including Padas which at that time still was still governed by the Brunei Sultan under the leadership of a Brunei noble named Pengiran Shahbandar Hassan.

The Bruneians living around that region protested and the North Borneo Company sent in its army. During that battle, the North Borneo army failed to defeat the Bruneians. Part of the reasons, it was said that around the Manggalela Fort, the defenders had put up a white cloth curtain as a shield against the army and bullets supposedly did not go through it. Legend has it the shield was considered as "magical" and "indestructible".However an interesting description of the battle named the "Padas Damit Battle" can be found in the Sabah local government homepage which described the battle. There was no mention of any magic bullet proof curtain but what was important was the building of a very strong fort made up of eight foot tall round wooden pillars at Kampung Galila which prevented the well armed British army from attacking. And what was also important was the bravery of the locals who were only armed with knives and swords as opposed to guns and cannons. 

It was a long drawn out battle and fought between the two sides from December 1888 to May 1889. The locals eventually lost when the British declared them as pirates and started to kill them one by one.The British eventually took over the area and renamed the whole area as Beaufort in 1895 after Governor Beaufort who was the British Governor based in Labuan then.”

X Padas region

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The Signing of the Oath of Amanat in 1885When was it signed?

1885

Territories taken by the British so far

The division of British territories ceased from Brunei on the map of Borneo.

Why was it signed?

The Shrinking size of Brunei: Sultan Abdul Momin realized that if the expansionist activities of

Charles Brooke and British North Borneo (Charted) Company continued, Brunei would no longer be a sovereign state and would be wiped out from existence.

To prevent further loss of Brunei’s territories to the Westerners.How was it signed?

Meeting Sultan Abdul Momin called for a meeting to take an oath. The people who signed the treaty were:

o The Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Abdul Momin.o The Wazirs, Manteris and local chiefs.o And Tulin rights holders.

The people who signed this oath made an agreement to not cede or lease any remaining territories in Brunei to foreign powers.

It was declared by Sultan Abdul Momin on 20th February 1885.Content of the Amanat

“Our successors and our generations, the Rajahs and after our demise, our successors who rule the country of Brunei shall on no account take over rivers being the private property or the inheritance of other people. And Crown slaves shall not be made private property – they must ever so remain wit their lawful owners and inheritors according to the customs of our forefathers.

Our successors shall abide by this resolution and shall on no

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account alter it, and it shall remain so for as long as the sun and moon exist.”

Why did it fail?

Brunei did not have the military power to enforce the Amanat. Charles Brooke and the BNBC had steam warships and more

powerful guns.

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CHAPTER 2.4: LOCAL REACTION TO WESTERN EXPANSION

Who and what is an expansionist?It is the policy and the practice of making one’s territories larger.

Methods used by James Brooke and Charles Brooke to gain more territories

1 Challenging the Sultan of Brunei’s authority2 Withholding lease money3 Financial attractions4 Negotiations5 Gunboat diplomacy6 Open aggression

How did the local people react to Western Expansion?1. Some locals resented the Western expansionist practices when James

Brooke began to interfere with Brunei’s internal affairs.2. The Sultan and the locals became more apprehensive when James Brooke

began occupying more territories in Sarawak with the help of the British government.

3. However, some people were supportive of the Western expansion.Method Why and HowCreating an anti-British movement

1. When James Brooke helped to reinstall Pengiran Muda Hashim as the Bendahara, Pengiran Usop felt insulted.

2. He became the leader of the anti-British faction.3. He also formed an alliance with Sharif Usman,

the powerful pirate leader who opposed Brunei’s treaty with the British to suppress piracy.

4. Pengiran Usop and Sharif Usman planned to attack Brunei together.

5. However, with the help from the British Royal Navy, James Brooke destroyed Pengiran Usop’s house.

6. This showed to the local people that it was useless to resist the British as they had better weapons and battleships.

A Malay pirate in the 1800s

Request for help

1. In 1860, Sultan Abdul Momin wrote a letter to the British Governor of Labuan, G. W. Edwardes asking for help.

2. But Edwardes was instructed by the British Government to not interfere with Brunei’s affairs.

3. The Sultan realized then it was useless to resist and so had to agree with Brooke’s demands for more territories.

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Pro-British movement

1. There were some local people who supported the Western expansion.

2. Among them were the Kayans of Baram and the people of Limbang.

3. They rebelled against Brunei’s rule because of it excessive oppression and taxation.

4. They believed that they would be better off under Western administration.

Kayan tribesman

CHAPTER 2.5: ISLAM’S RESPONSE TOWARDS WESTERN EXPANSION

Islam’s History in BruneiIntroduction to Islam

Islam came to Brunei from China in the 10th century when there was exchange of visits between Arab missionaries from China and Brunei representatives.

In 1368, Awang Alak Betatar (Sultan Muhammad Shah) converted to Islam and Brunei became an Islamic sultanate.

Chains of Muslim Sultans

Sultan Sharif Ali and Sultan Muhammad Hasan established a strong Islamic sultanate by introducing Islamic values and beliefs as a way of life in Brunei.

The Sultan was the head of religion and this protected the country from any other beliefs that went against the teachings of Islam.

Post-Castille War

In 1578, when the Spanish captured Brunei’s capital for 72 days, the Sultans realized that Spanish interest in Brunei was not only to trade.

But they were also interested in spreading Christianity in the Sultanate.

To prevent this from happening, the Sultans built more mosques, suraus and Islamic centres to strengthen the position of Islam.

Local Islamic scholars were sent to the Holy City of Mekah for in-depth study of Islam and upon their return, these Islamic scholars helped to spread the teachings of Islam more effectively.

Through these measures, the Muslim people of Brunei defended their faith against the influence of Christianity.

In the 18th century, during the Industrial Revolution in Europe, Western powers such as

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American Warship in the 1800s. They used coal to sail.

Germany, Britain, the United States, Netherlands, Spain and France came to the East.

They went to the East to obtain raw materials for their industries.

Among these raw materials, included coal.

Coincidentally, Brunei had plenty of coal in Muara and Labuan.

To prevent Brunei from being occupied, the Sultans of Brunei maintained friendly relations and

signed a number of Treaties of Friendship and Commerce with the Western powers.

However, the Westerners wanted more territories from Brunei.