Sir James Brooke, Rajah[note] of Sarawak, was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868.
Portrait by Herbert Watkins, 1858
Attack by Illanun pirates on Brooke's Jolly Bachelor, T. Datu, 1843
Royalist 1834 - Royal Yacht Squadron - illus. 1909
James Brooke and Sir Edward Belcher negotiating with the Sultan of Brunei, Oct 1844 which eventually led to the signing of the Treaty of Labuan between the Brunei sultanate and the British delegation on 18 December 1846 at the Brunei palace, in which Labuan was ceded to Great Britain.
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.
James Brooke, the founder of the Raj
The Dayaks, who subsequently became Brooke followers and most loyal to the raj along with the local Malays of Sarawak
This sketch labeled Raja Muda Hashim in Captain Keppel's book is in fact Pengiran Indera Makhota according to James Brooke.
Iranun pirates attacking the 'Jolly Bachelor' a boat owned by Brooke in 1843