kingdom · Maritime Southeast Asia

Raj of Sarawak

1841 CE – 1946 CE · capital Kuching

Kingdom in northern Borneo ruled for a century by an English family, the White Rajahs of the Brooke dynasty.

Origins

The English adventurer James Brooke helped the Brunei Sultanate put down a revolt of Malays and Bidayuh near Kuching in 1839 to 1841. As a reward the sultan made him Rajah of Sarawak in 1841. Brooke and his successors then took further river basins from Brunei until Sarawak far exceeded the sultanate in size.

Rule and society

The Brookes ruled personally, with a small European staff and Malay chiefs, and governed through longhouse headmen among Iban and other Dayak peoples. They suppressed piracy and headhunting, often with Iban levies, and limited European plantation companies. Chinese settlers grew pepper and mined gold. Charles Brooke ruled for nearly fifty years, and Sarawak became a British protectorate in 1888.

Decline and legacy

After Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945, Charles Vyner Brooke ceded Sarawak to Britain in 1946 despite strong local opposition, creating the Crown Colony of Sarawak. It joined Malaysia in 1963.

Lineage

Brunei Sultanate 1368 CE – presentRaj of SarawakCrown Colony of Sarawak 1946 CE – 1963 CE

Connections (2)

Raj of Sarawak was a protectorate of British Empire1888 CE – 1946 CE
Raj of Sarawak was conquered by Japanese occupation of British Borneo1941 CE – 1945 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Raj of Sarawak. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/raj-of-sarawak
MLA: “Raj of Sarawak.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/raj-of-sarawak. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Raj of Sarawak.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/raj-of-sarawak.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Raj of Sarawak’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/raj-of-sarawak (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻