Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak

[Al-numbers]

To those of you who want to read the last update, it's on the previous page.

Not to mention that a kingdom called "Sarawak and Sabah" doesn't necessarily control all (or even any) of Sabah.

Besides that, what's to say that the parts of Sabah that Sarawak might control would want to stay united with it?

Err... You got the name wrong.

It's Keling Gerasi Nading. He was The Warrior-God. Kumang of Gelung was Goddess of Medicine(and hyperfast travel!), and his wife.

BTW, what happened to Balang @ Balai Nyabong? OTL he was Charles closest confidant until he was executed on baseless charges from his rivals. His innocence was only known after he was executed and in remorse, he willed that Balang's portrait be placed next to his. That's why at Brookes Memorial in Kuching there was a portrait of two warriors next to Charles's. One holding a spear and one brandishing a sword. The one with a sword was Balang.

This.

Oh, my bad! I'll edit that out. Thanks!

As for Balai Nyabong, I must confess: I didn't know this person existed beforehand but his life is really interesting to explore. I do wonder why did Resident Cruickshank decided to take Uggat's accusation at face value, especially considering the state of the Rajang area during that period. I feel there are some gaping holes in the story, and that the real truth is hidden in some way or another.

I can see Balang being captured but handed a trial in which he's declared innocent, but the jealousy of Unggau would still remain in the background and I wouldn't let it past that the latter to end his friction there. I can see a more accusations continuing until the late 1860's until either one is captured or something else happens. What do you think?

Keep it up, sketchdoodle!

Thank you!

I really want to see Italian Sabah to survive past 1904 up to decolonization at the very least.

....

*zips mouth shut*

Fascinating. I like the method to convey how big Sarawak is.

Hopefully the theater tradition will remain alive and well.

If there is no WWII-style invasion of Southeast Asia, then the regional theatre traditions would have time to cope with the social shifts. Unfortunately, we still have more than a century ahead of us.

And as for the country comparison, it is a good way to convey just how large Sarawak is ITTL, what with it owning the entire northwestern coast of Borneo and all.

I'm more worried and feel vulnerable for Sarawak being surrounded and their lack of population, development.

The fact that the Brookes have been far more interested in territorial expansion over the decades does leave a lot to be desired in domestic development, not to mention Charles Brooke's thoughts on development impacting the Dayak population. However, Sarawak would not stay stagnant during this decade (at this point, ITTL Sarawak has gone off the rails compared with it's OTL counterpart) and that might just be the nation's ticket to modernization and security.

 

[NickBana]

Oh, my bad! I'll edit that out. Thanks!

As for Balai Nyabong, I must confess: I didn't know this person existed beforehand but his life is really interesting to explore. I do wonder why did Resident Cruickshank decided to take Uggat's accusation at face value, especially considering the state of the Rajang area during that period. I feel there are some gaping holes in the story, and that the real truth is hidden in some way or another.

I can see Balang being captured but handed a trial in which he's declared innocent, but the jealousy of Unggau would still remain in the background and I wouldn't let it past that the latter to end his friction there. I can see a more accusations continuing until the late 1860's until either one is captured or something else happens. What do you think?

I see no problem with it.

 

[Unknown]

Lord Mountbatten is a historian ITTL?!?

More, more...

 

[Al-numbers]

Lord Mountbatten is a historian ITTL?!?

More, more...

Well, half-historian. With everything progressing ITTL, it won't be out of the ordinary for the Mountbatten lineage to continue past the British Empire.

I've already started writing 1880's Sarawak: "Part 2" but recent real-life projects have pushed that to the back burner, so it might take a few weeks before everything is done. I'll try to compensate this with a mega-informational update, though.

 

[Unknown]

Could we see...Sarawaks in space!!!!

(Sorry, couldn't help myself...)

 

[Germania09]

Maybe it’s because I had a long day and I’m tired as heck, but I wonder why was that the most favourite line in the update?

Yeah sorry for the vaguery but it's my favorite because stuff like that is more often than far more interesting than people would think.

 

[Al-numbers]

Could we see...Sarawaks in space!!!!

(Sorry, couldn't help myself...)

Maybe not for a century at the least, and that's not even counting global space politics in the far future. However, I can see the idea of Sarawak and it's inhabitants becoming a part of future Space Operas or science fiction, especially once decolonization arrives in Southeast Asia.

Yeah sorry for the vaguery but it's my favorite because stuff like that is more often than far more interesting than people would think.

Yeah, it's often just as interesting to study the men and women whom were involved in a Great Man's life as much as studying the Great Man himself (or herself). The Brookes had to rely on the local people, but that also means the locals could get involved in Charles and Margaret's private life, not to mention in the everyday workings of the Astana.

 

[Unknown]

I wonder how Sarawak's radio and TV industry is going to develop ITTL...

 

[RSY]

Ranee!!!

Oh no, you are butterflying away Ranee Sylvia!

Please make sure the future Ranee is at least more eccentric & scandalous than Sylvia! Perhaps if the kingdom become stronger they can even get an European princess as Ranee. Imagine an European princess wearing Malay sarong in 19th century...



Edit: Preferably not only Malay sarong but Dayak sarong as well. Later when Dorothy Lamour or other Hollywood actress starred in the sarong movies the character could be a white queen in Southeast instead of the cliche native South Sea girl.

 

[Al-numbers]

I wonder how Sarawak's radio and TV industry is going to develop ITTL...

That will depend on global events and global culture, but it'll be one that will make it's mark soon enough. Heck, people are already talking about Sarawak back in the 1880's IOTL, and it'll be even more so ITTL.

Oh no, you are butterflying away Ranee Sylvia!

Please make sure the future Ranee is at least more eccentric & scandalous than Sylvia! Perhaps if the kingdom become stronger they can even get an European princess as Ranee. Imagine an European princess wearing Malay sarong in 19th century...

Edit: Preferably not only Malay sarong but Dayak sarong as well. Later when Dorothy Lamour or other Hollywood actress starred in the sarong movies the character could be a white queen in Southeast instead of the cliche native South Sea girl.

The thing is, women like Sylvia are not the type of people Sarawak needed during the 20th century. With schooling and local culture developing much faster than OTL, it wouldn't be long before the locals - or at least those living around the coast - would think of power and rights as something different and intractable. It would take a steady hand to guide the kingdom during the 20th century and Ranee Sylvia - though an interesting person - would not be suitable for the role of monarch or consort ITTL.

With that being said, the Brooke family will not be free of scandal in this timeline. In fact, the relations between various family members will play a part in Sarawak's maturity ITTL.

 

[RSY]

That will depend on global events and global culture, but it'll be one that will make it's mark soon enough. Heck, people are already talking about Sarawak back in the 1880's IOTL, and it'll be even more so ITTL.



The thing is, women like Sylvia are not the type of people Sarawak needed during the 20th century. With schooling and local culture developing much faster than OTL, it wouldn't be long before the locals - or at least those living around the coast - would think of power and rights as something different and intractable. It would take a steady hand to guide the kingdom during the 20th century and Ranee Sylvia - though an interesting person - would not be suitable for the role of monarch or consort ITTL.

With that being said, the Brooke family will not be free of scandal in this timeline. In fact, the relations between various family members will play a part in Sarawak's maturity ITTL.

Will ATL Sarawak get a Rosmah-like Ranee who involves deeply in her husband administration & also as scandalous as Sylvia? This will help to facilitate a greater political awakening & possibly even a revolution! Before long the people will shout "Hidup Republik Sarawak!"

 

[Al-numbers]

Will ATL Sarawak get a Rosmah-like Ranee who involves deeply in her husband administration & also as scandalous as Sylvia? This will help to facilitate a greater political awakening & possibly even a revolution! Before long the people will shout "Hidup Republik Sarawak!"

That I cant say, but I will ask this: Why should the disruptive person be simply disruptive through involvement? And why should that person even be of the female gender?

 

[Kinny Riddle]

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=381015

I'm thinking of nominating this TL for the Before 1900 category of this year's Turtledove Awards, but I'm not sure what the POD is as it's not exactly in the first chapter and I couldn't be bothered to go through hundreds of post to find the exact POD. Care to please provide the exact year, sketch?

 

[Al-numbers]

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=381015

I'm thinking of nominating this TL for the Before 1900 category of this year's Turtledove Awards, but I'm not sure what the POD is as it's not exactly in the first chapter and I couldn't be bothered to go through hundreds of post to find the exact POD. Care to please provide the exact year, sketch?

The POD for the timeline is on Post #28: A pro-British faction of the Bruneian court managed to escape the capital during it's darker periods and the Malay chief of Kuching managed to live past his OTL death. Thanks for nominating my TL fr the awards!

And I think on that note, I need to make an announcement.

Firstly, I wanna say sorry for being off this TL for more than three months now. Things on my end of the internet have gotten more topsy-turvy than I can imagine, along with fact that I'm now in an internship that I really want to pass with flying colors. At the end of the day, I find myself simply being too tired to continue making consistent updates with this timeline. So from now until the end of March, I am putting Of Rajahs and Hornbills under temporary hiatus until I can at least finish my internship.

I'm not stopping this story. Even now I still have huge ideas as to what may happen next. I just hope this might get some closure as to why I left this hanging.

Stay curious, everyone.

 

[Some Bloke]

I'd be interested in seeing this through up to the present day.

 

[Al-numbers]

Thanks to those who nominated my timeline for the Turtledove Awards.

And on that note, I think it's time this tale is dusted off, shall we?

 

[Al-numbers]

Amarjit Kaur, Sarawak under Charles, (Lido Press, 1999)

…Following the Russo-Turkish War and the partition of Tunisia, many of the second-tier Great Powers began investing heavily in industrial and infrastructural projects as they sought to outclass one another in commercial and economic terms. The empires of Russia, Italy, the Ottomans, and Austria-Hungary all had imperial aspirations and were adamant in reversing their past mistakes.


This new drive for industrialisation quickly placed the colonies of Southeast Asia into greater prominence than before. Malaya by 1880 already supplied over 35% of the world’s tin. Sundaland as a whole grew nearly half of all the spices and pepper globally consumed. Borneo was providing the world with wild rubber and precious metals, and Sarawak gave the planet its sago crop. In fact, the market price for the starch nearly doubled between 1881 and 1885 and would remain so by the end of the decade. The kingdom also exported antimony, gold, silver, mercury, coal, timber, pepper, spices, and especially gutta-percha, all of which would see their prices rise to new heights during the 1880’s (though all the exports would suffer price falls in the coming decades due to the exploitation of the Congo and a market glut from South America).


For the frugally-inclined Sarawak government, the resulting increase in export tax revenues was an enormous boost. The kingdom had undergone an expansionary phase over in the far north against Italian Sabah. Because of this, Kuching found itself struggling to keep up with funding new infrastructural facilities there. Though the increased demand for raw materials wouldn’t be deeply felt until much later, there was enough of a quick cash flow from exports that allowed the Astana some breathing space to cope with the situation. Rajah Charles Brooke would re-invest the revenues in new infrastructure projects such as basic road construction, riverine transport improvement and procuring new vessels for the Sarawak Navy, as well as improving telegraph communications between the coastal towns and villages. Little by little, Sarawak was moving forward.


Also progressing during the 1880’s, though more slowly, were the incorporation of the new tribes and peoples Sarawak gained from the Sulu Affair and the Prang Sempadan. The addition of Western Sabah and its many islands brought the Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, and Sama-Bajau ethnic groups under the Brooke umbrella, and Rajah Charles sought to bind them together to the Sarawakian fabric. Promising warriors from the Dusun and Murut tribes were inducted to the Sarawak Rangers while exceptional sailors (or pirates) from the Sama-Bajau were encouraged to join the Royal Sarawak Navy. The consensus-bound local governance of the south was also transported northwards to ensure peace at the local level, ensuring the place of traditional laws and customs in everyday life…

David Hubenov, Six Degrees of Distance: Thee White Rajahs and the Wider World, (Journal of Asiatic Sciences, 2013)

…As people moved, so did trade and culture. With the incorporation of new lands, the traders of Kuching and Maling also moved northwards, expanding local fishing towns and turning Bandar Charles into a local trading hub. The Chinese-Iban porcelain trade, by now a frayed system due to last decade’s oversupply, found a new life as Malay and Dayak Sabahans sought new imports for practical, decorative, and spiritual purposes. From this, the rich trading Peranakan families of the south expanded their connections, marrying both into the nobility of Western Sabah and their trade counterparts in Dutch Borneo and southern Malaya. Finally, it is during this decade that the street language of Kuching acquired its Bajau and Murut loan words; from the steel ships and sailors’ docks, the tongue of Sarawak Creole was born…


However, Sarawak also went through the 1880’s accumulating deep problems. Though mostly pacified, the deep interior of Sarawak – especially the mountainous border regions– still brought refuge for the few Iban, Kenyah and Kayan tribes who resisted Brooke rule. Ambush raids were a constant threat to fort towns like Kapit, and the unexplored deep jungles of Borneo’s heart made for easy escapes beyond Brooke and Dutch expeditions, stymie-ng pacification efforts until the mid-20th century.


More troubling still was the kingdom’s international position. The fallout of the Sulu Affair and Brunei’s appeal to Italy has made London much more interested in restraining Rajah Charles’ influence. From 1884 onwards, the British Consul of Kuching would meet with the Rajah every week to ensure his respect for international law and the position of Brunei, lest the kingdom be paid a visit by meddlesome corporate interests or Royal Navy ironclads. And then there were the Italians in Eastern Sabah to watch about, whose actions during the decade would begin agitations amongst the locals there…

----------------------------------

Notes:

1. Bandar Charles = OTL Kota Kinabalu.

2. The Iban porcelain trade was explored before, but to catch-up: Many Iban villages believe in Chinese porcelain jars having material and spiritual significance. Thus, a porcelain trade grew and collapsed in Sarawak in the decades preceding this.

 

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Excellent, seeing this back.

 

[Herr Frage]

Its back, glorious.

And you came back with a great update. Detailing Sarawak's growth and international standing.

London will fond putting the Brooke Genie back in the bottle troublesome. London I think as only really been seen as the Brooke family's patron. And while as a dynasty the courts of Wuropes' likely find them odd or even ridiculous James is I expect already legendary to his people and Charles i proving a worthy heir.

Still London restraining Brooke expansionism may prove better in the long run. London does offer security, and the new wealth from the industrialization in Europe can be used to forge the Kingdom of Sarawak into the true jewel of Borneo. Perhaps when this Great War comes Sarawak will b able to dominate the situation on Borneo having been forced into internal improvements rather than further expansion?

And again rumbles of Italian disaster in Sabah. And lest we forget the Italians also have a protectorate over Brunei, one that is significantly larger than OTL.

 

[Al-numbers]

Excellent, seeing this back.

Its back, glorious.

Thanks for waiting. Thanks to everyone for waiting, too.

London will fond putting the Brooke Genie back in the bottle troublesome. London I think as only really been seen as the Brooke family's patron. [...] Still London restraining Brooke expansionism may prove better in the long run. London does offer security, and the new wealth from the industrialization in Europe can be used to forge the Kingdom of Sarawak into the true jewel of Borneo.

Well, patron and product buyer. A fair number of Sarawak's exports are sold to other parts of the Empire and the Brooke family still maintains it's connections to the Royal Navy (how else do they get their new gunboats on quick cash?). Still, the British are are very much concerned with the goings on in Borneo and it doesn't want any further complications to that part of the world. The Kuching Consul is their representative to the Brookes and his weekly meetings with Rajah Charles signifies how more attentive they are to the ruler's actions.

As for Charles, he is rankled, but he is adept enough at diplomacy to know when to run and cut his losses. Whether he can be satisfied with the current situation is another matter.

For modernization, take another look at the update. Commodity prices are increasing, but they won't last in the next decade. Still, Sarawak would have enough cashflow to put some things in order before the market drops, though becoming a Bornean Jewel would be out of reach for now.

And while as a dynasty the courts of Wuropes' likely find them odd or even ridiculous James is I expect already legendary to his people and Charles i proving a worthy heir.

Perhaps when this Great War comes Sarawak will b able to dominate the situation on Borneo having been forced into internal improvements rather than further expansion?

For their reputation, Rajah James Brooke is very widely seen as the founder and foundation-maker of the kingdom amongst locals and foreigners. Charles is more-off seen as a builder, crafting a true state from his predecessor's rule. Opinions do very from place to place though. The British public and downstream Ibans look to the family as kings; For the Italians and rebellious mountain Ibans, not so much.

As for the Great War, you'll see.

And again rumbles of Italian disaster in Sabah. And lest we forget the Italians also have a protectorate over Brunei, one that is significantly larger than OTL.

And don't forget Italian Papua too. Rome ITTL will be going through a case of "too much, too fast", and will soon discover that what works for one region may not work in another.