Directory_and_Chronicle_1939 — Page 1783

BRUNEI

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the golden age of Brunei. Her sovereignty extended over the whole of Borneo, Sulu, and the islands of Balabac and Palawan, and the Sultanates of Sulu and of Sambas, Pontianak, Banjermasin, Pasir Kotei and Balungan in Borneo were her vassals.

The first European account of Brunei is that of Pigafetta, Magellan's historian who sailed with him on his famous voyage round the world. Piga fetta visited Brunei in 1521 and was greatly impressed by the splendour of the Court and the size of the town, the population of which he estimated at 25,000 families. Further visits were paid by the Portuguese in 1526 and 1530, and a trading factory and Catholic mission were established at the beginning of the next century. Spain too, having taken possession of the Philippines, evincéd an active interest in Brunei affairs and twice attacked the capital, while the English and the Dutch in turn also made their appearance.

Towards the end of the sixteenth century the power of Brunei began to decline and the outlying territories gradually fell away. The Dutch, having established trading stations on the South-west, South and East of Borneo. rapidly extended their influence over the semi-independent but nominally vassal Sultanates, thus beginning the movement which lead to the ultimate consolidation of Dutch Borneo, and by the beginning of the nineteenth cea- tury the kingdom of Brunei had dwindled so as to include only what is now Sarawak and part of British North Borneo.

At this period the town itself seems to have degenerated to the condition of a slave market for the sale of captives of the Illanun and Sulu pirates. Anarchy was rife in the outlying districts, and in 1841 Sarawak proper was ceded to Mr. (later Sir James) Brooke in return for his services in quelling an insurrection at Kuching, and he was declared Rajah of Sarawak. In 1846 the island of Labuan was ceded to Great Britain as a base for anti- piracy measures, and in 1877 the whole of the northern portion of Borneo was ceded to form the nucleus of what was to become British North Bornec. At various later dates further cessions were made to the Rajah of Sarawak and to the British North Borneo Company till the territories of the State were eventually reduced to their present circumscribed limits.

In 1847 the Sultan entered into a Treaty with Great Britain for the furtherance of commercial relations and the mutual suppression of piracy. An additional clause provided for extra-territorial jurisdiction over British subjects in Brunei, which provision was modified by an Agreement of 1856. By a further Treaty made in 1888 Brunei was placed under the Protection of Great Britain, and the Sultan agreed that the foreign relations of the State should be conducted by Her Majesty's Government. Provision was also made for the setting up of Consular Courts with jurisdiction over British subjects and foreign subjects enjoying British protection. In 1906 a supple mentary Agreement was entered into whereby the Sultan undertook to accept a British officer to be styled Resident, who should be the agent and repre sentative of the British Government under the High Commissioner.

CLIMATE

The climate is of the tropical marine type, and is characterised by con- stant moist heat. The heat is usually tempered with a slight breeze, and, apart from the monotony, the climate is not unpleasant.

The rainfall is high and varies from 100 or more at the coast to over 200 inches in certain parts of the interior. There are no well marked seasons. but the rainfall is usually heaviest from October to the end of January during the period of the North-east monsoon, known locally as the landas.”

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GOVERNMENT

Brunei is a Sultanate, the present Ruler being His Highness Ahmad Ta judin Akhazu Khairi Wadin ibni Almerhum Sultan Mohamed Jemal-ul- Alam, who succeeded his father in 1921 at the age of eleven years. During

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