Sarawak - A Brief History

Sultan Tengah

1598   - Sultan Muhammad Hassan of Brunei appointed his brother, Pengiran Muda Tengah Ibrahim Ali Omar Shah ( Raja Tengah ), as Sultan of Sarawak.

1599   - Sultan Tengah visited Pahang.  On his return, his ship wrecked and stranded in Sukadana ( Kalimantan, Indonesia ), and married Puteri Surya Kesuma.  Then, he left for Sambas River, where they landed at Kuala Bangun.

1630   - went to Matan ( Kalimantan, Indonesia ), married a Matan princesses.

1641   - went back to Sarawak.  Died and buried at Batu Buaya in Santubong, Sarawak.

Brunei Sultanate

For few century till 19^th century, Sarawak was under the loose control of the Sultanate of Brunei.

1839  - It was when Sarawak was chaotic and lawless, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II ( 1827-1852 ), the Sultan of Brunei, ordered Pangeran Muda Hashim to restore order.   Pangeran Muda Hashim asked for James Brooke’s assistance in the matter.

Brooke Dynasty ( 1841 – 1846 )

James Brooke ( 1841 – 1868 )

1841 – Appointed Governor of Sarawak.

1841, Sep 24^th - Kuching and Serian ceded to Brooke.  

1842, Aug 18^th - James Brooke officially Rajah of Sarawak.

1846, Aug 23^rd – Territory between Sadong and Oya Rivers ceded to Sarawak

1848 – Established S.P.G. Mission School in Kuching

1948, Sep 29^th – Sarawak Flag hoisted

1850, Apr 26^th – Rentap defeated and killed at Nanga Skrang

1850, Oct 24^th - USA recognized Sarawak sovereignty

1853 – Lower Rejang Basin ceded to Sarawak

1854 – British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace visited Sarawak

1856 – Borneo Company Limited registered

1858 – Sarawak Dollar introduced

1860, Apr 15^th – Sherip Masshor defeated at Igan

1861 – Kidurong ceded to Sarawak

1863 - British recognized Sarawak sovereignty

1865 – First meeting of Council Negri, the Sarawak legislature council

Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke ( 1868 – 1917 )

1868, Aug  3^rd - Charles proclaimed Rajah succeeding James Brooke

1869 – Sarawak postage stamps issued.

1870 - Charles built Astana

1870 – Sarawak Gazette published

1871 – Civil Marriage introduced

1971, Dec 15^th – First census

1872 - Found Sarawak Rangers

1873, Jun 1^st – Established First, Second and Third Divisions

1882, Jun 19^th  – Baram ceded to Sarawak

1883 – Abolishment of slavery

1885, Jan 3^rd -  Sg Trusan basin ceded to Sarawak

1885, Jul 28^th – Established Fourth Division ( Kidurong-Trusan )

1888, Jun 14^th  - Sarawak became a British Protectorate

1890, Mar 17^th – Limbang ceded to Sarawak

1891 - Established the Sarawak Museum.

1901 – Wong Nai Siong brought Foochows from China to Sibu.

1903 - founded Government Lay School, ( SMK Green Road )

1904, Nov 30^th – Adopted Straits Dollar

1905, Jan 5^th – North Borneo Company ceded Lawas to Sarawak

1910 – Oil discovered by Shell on Canada Hill in Miri

1914 - Shell built oil refinery

1915, Aug 18^th – Railroad opened in Kuching, Sarawak.

Charles Vyner Brooke ( 1917 – 1946 )

1917, May 24^th– -Vyner proclaimed Rajah of Sarawak

1924, Jun 1^st – Registration of motor car and drivers 

1924 – Sarawak Penal Code introduced.

1933, Mar 31^st – Sarawak Government Railway closed

1933, May 4^th – Fifth Division incorporated in the Fourth Division

1938, Sept 26^th – Kuching Airport opened.

1941 – Japan invaded Sarawak.

1946, Apr 15^th - Vyner resumed the administration of the state.

1946, Jul 1^st - Vyner ceded Sarawak to British as a crown colony.

Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke 

1937, Aug 25^th - Appointed Heir Apparent. 

1939 – 1940  - Administering Sarawak between in the absence of the Rajah. 

1940, Jan 17^th - Deprived as Heir Apparent 

1944 - Restored as Heir Apparent

1945, Oct 12^th – Deprived as Heir Apparent, again

1946 - Opposed the cession of Sarawak to British. 

1951 – Renounced any claim to the title of Rajah of Sarawak.

Japanese Occupation

1941, Dec 15^th -Japanese forces landed in Miri and Seria ( Brunei )

1941, Dec 23^rd - Japanese forces captured Santubong

1941, Dec 25^th - Japanese forces captured Kuching

1945, Jun 10^th - Australian Army landed in Labuan and Brunei

1945, Sep 10^th - Japanese surrendered

British Military Administration

1945, Sep 11^th – BMA established

1946, Apr 1^st – BMA ceased

British Crown Colony

1946, May 17^th – Sarawak’s Council Negri passed Act of Cession

1946, May 22^nd – British parliament passed Sarawak (Act of Cession )

1946, Jul 1^st – Sarawak become a British Colony

1949, Dec 3^rd – Sir Duncan Steward, 2^nd Governor assassinated in Sibu

1953 – Malaya And British Borneo Dollar introduced

1963 – Independence

Independence

1963, July 22^nd– Independent Commonwealth country

Malaysia

1961, May 27^th – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaya proposed formation of Malaysia

1962, Jan 17^th – commissioning of Cobbold Commission 

1962, Jun 21^st  – Cobbolt Commission recommended the joining of Sarawak along with Malaya, Singapre and North Borneo to form Malaysia

1962, Aug 14^th – 18-Point memorandum signed

1963, Jan 20th - Indonesia launched Konfrontasi 
1963, Jul 9^th – Malaysia Agreement signed at London

1963, Jul 31^st – Malaysia Act 1963 enacted

1963, Aug 8^th – Brunei rejected the proposal
1963, Sep 16^th – Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo formed Malaysia

1965, Aug 9^th – Singapore ceased to be a state of Malaysia

2012, Sep 16^th – Malaysia Day made Public Holiday