Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak

[Herr Frage]

EDIT: Still asking on what's the biggest/most decisive naval battle in the American Civil War, and how bad is the Union fleet at the end of it. There might be another Whte Rajah state coming soon, though no guarantees on how long it'll last.

Tough one, the CSA never had much naval power compared to the Union. Farragut was a southerner in the USN and he remained loyal to Washington, in fact i think he lead the naval invasion of New Orleans. It was not like the army, with the officer Corp being so divided and even if it was ships are harder to raise than regiments. And canon were likely believed better spent defending the Confederacy from Union armies.

The only famed naval engagement that comes to mind is the Monitor vs the Merrimack(CSS Virginia), a tactical draw but it stopped the Confederate Ironclad from tearing up the union squadron and may have contributed to it not being able to escape the Union armies prompting its destruction ob the Confederates. The ironclad as I recall was envisioned as a blockade breaker.

And Sarawak begins to move toward a way beyond absolutism. Still a bit too early for local representation to have too much teeth i think. Sarawak is still being formed as a nation to go with the state.

A new White Rajah state? Even if only brief that should prove interesting.

 

[Al-numbers]

I'm finally back!

Tough one, the CSA never had much naval power compared to the Union. Farragut was a southerner in the USN and he remained loyal to Washington, in fact i think he lead the naval invasion of New Orleans. It was not like the army, with the officer Corp being so divided and even if it was ships are harder to raise than regiments. And canon were likely believed better spent defending the Confederacy from Union armies.

The only famed naval engagement that comes to mind is the Monitor vs the Merrimack(CSS Virginia), a tactical draw but it stopped the Confederate Ironclad from tearing up the union squadron and may have contributed to it not being able to escape the Union armies prompting its destruction ob the Confederates. The ironclad as I recall was envisioned as a blockade breaker.

And Sarawak begins to move toward a way beyond absolutism. Still a bit too early for local representation to have too much teeth i think. Sarawak is still being formed as a nation to go with the state.

A new White Rajah state? Even if only brief that should prove interesting.

Hmm, so no decisive naval battles then, or at least very memorable ones. Hmm... this may change some things toward Borneo in the near future.

As for the absolutism bit, the Brooke family are still absolute rulers of Sarawak, only that necessity and unbalanced rule forced them to seek local counsel for the time being. Right now, the Council Negri is just an advisory gathering, and considering Brooke paternalism ITTL the status quo might change slowly or dramatically for representative rule. Still though, the nation is changing, and Sarawak in 1869 might be way different than back in 1862.

Culture update next, followed by a few international snippets during the mid-1860's, then back to Borneo and the East Indies for the reminder of the decade. (I may need an entire Italian update though).

EDIT: As for the new White Rajah state... well I did warn everyone that the Brookes and Dutch might find themselves blindsided.

 

[NickBana]

Well, considering that the next few updates may involve some places and towns off the beaten track, here's a mappity-map of Sarawak to orient ourselves, eh?

The dotted lines indicate unexplored stretches of rivers. The Batang Lupar River where James Brooke led his expedition to Sentarum is the one with Simanggang and Fort Leonora at it's sides.

And to think just ten years ago it was only this big. Grow Sarawak! Grow!

Alert!

Fort Emma was practically INSIDE Kanowit Town... It was about 700 meters from the mouth of Kanowit River...

 

[Al-numbers]

Alert!

Fort Emma was practically INSIDE Kanowit Town... It was about 700 meters from the mouth of Kanowit River...

Aaaaah, I knew I missed saying something while making that map! Back when I was placing the forts, I found overlaying both Kanowit and the fort together would look ugly so I placed the two separately while trying to keep them both as close as possible.

Chalk the map being ITTL inaccurate due to the cartographer employed wanting to make it look good and therefore make it inaccurate in places to go for overall style. However, his inaccurate map became reasonably popular and was enmeshed in early school textbooks up until the 1950's, when a new map of early Sarawak was compiled.

 

[NickBana]

Aaaaah, I knew I missed saying something while making that map! Back when I was placing the forts, I found overlaying both Kanowit and the fort together would look ugly so I placed the two separately while trying to keep them both as close as possible.

Chalk the map being ITTL inaccurate due to the cartographer employed wanting to make it look good and therefore make it inaccurate in places to go for overall style. However, his inaccurate map became reasonably popular and was enmeshed in early school textbooks up until the 1950's, when a new map of early Sarawak was compiled.

Meh. No problem.

As a resident Sarawakian, I approved this TL!!!

BTW, how about main Sea Dayak leader; e.g Orang Kaya Pemancha Dana(Bayang), Penghulu Manuk Manchal, Gerinang(Nitik), Pelima Mujah(Buah Raya), etc?

EDIT: Come to think about it, no Fort Buluh Betung?

 

[Al-numbers]

Meh. No problem.

As a resident Sarawakian, I approved this TL!!!

BTW, how about main Sea Dayak leader; e.g Orang Kaya Pemancha Dana(Bayang), Penghulu Manuk Manchal, Gerinang(Nitik), Pelima Mujah(Buah Raya), etc?

EDIT: Come to think about it, no Fort Buluh Betung?

Wow, I actually got a Sarawakian to actually read this! I hope I can make this TL contextually accurate and good for you and others.

As for the other Dayak leaders, the only one I know of truly well is Kaya Pemancha Dana His life is somewhat similar to his OTL counterpart, dying in 1854 of smallpox after a life of fighting the other Sea Dayaks (and the Sambas Sultanate on occasion) before finally submitting to the Sarawak government in his last decade. As for the others, I'm...still trying to find new info on them.

You mean Fort Lily? *checks sources* How did I missed that? . Okay, Fort Lily was built as per OTL, though the starting and finishing dates are different.

Also, for the next update, I like to thank this person for making beautiful shots of the next cultural group coming up.

 

[Al-numbers]

If I wrote anything offensive, I didn't mean it to be so.

“Lang Endang” (Kayangan Publishing: 1999)

Dayaks: More than just A Term

The Melanau​

When John Harrison released his historical movie epic Origin: Spirits of the East in 1989, he transformed the numerous cultures around the South China Sea from just a regional curiosity into a global phenomenon. Of particular note in the film was a specific clan of Dayaks which patrolled the seas against rapacious pirates and built incredible wooden forts against the antagonist and his army. When questioned in a follow-up interview on what culture gave him the inspiration for the clan, he said thus nonchalantly: "ever heard of the Melanau?"

Of the many Dayak subgroups that inhabit Borneo, so few are as dependant on the rivers and seas as the Melanau, or more mysterious. Their origins have been a source of debate for many anthropologists over the decades, and the term "Melanau" itself is not actually used by residents of the subgroup until recently. The term we use today was (as most Dayak terms) a foreign imposition that was placed upon them, though many people disagree as to who actually imposed it. The current prevailing theory posits that it was done by the Bruneian Sultanate during its heyday to denote the peoples that inhabit the deltas and coasts of central Sarawak.

Today, the Melanau range stretches from the Rajang Basin to the town of Bintulu with significant exclaves around major cities, primarily living near the river deltas, swamps and coasts of Sarawak. As with most Dayaks, they traditionally reside in large communal longhouses and, in a glance, share the same similarities with most other Dayak subgroups. However, as past insights into the Bidayuh and Iban have shown, such similarities are only skin deep on the island.

For starters, their architecture could arguably the most defensive and sophisticated of all the Dayak subgroups in Borneo. Their dependence on the sea and the river deltas meant that pirate attacks were an ever present threat and tribes from upriver viewed them as convenient pickings. Faced with such dangers, the Melanau built ever bigger defence complexes over the centuries to protect themselves, culminating with the large defence structure that is the Melanau tallhouse. With the living structure rising up to 40 feet above ground and equipped with covered windows, retractable trunk ladders and solid hardwood pillars, the Melanau tallhouses were arguably the epitome of defensive living quarters of Sarawak in the pre-Brooke era.

A preserved multi-storey Melanau tallhouse near Oya. Bear in mind that the nearby coconut palms are as high as ten men stacked together.​

Another notable feature of the subgroup is their diet and food staple. Unlike most Sarawak Dayaks which partake in swidden agriculture supplemented with fresh foods and meats, the Melanau diet mainly consist of sago palm and coconut, supplemented with captured hauls of the day from the rivers and coasts. The Melanau are in fact one of the few subgroups that choose palm sago over rice as a staple food, cultivating it in the river deltas and swamps before extracting the sago flour through a complicated process. The resulting produce is then either used in making Melanau dishes or traded with surrounding communities.

Besides the above, the Melanau also possess an alternate view of religion and faith which greatly sets them apart from most of the Bornean Dayaks. Unlike the Bidayuh and Iban subgroups, the coastal Melanau were more exposed to Islam during the golden age of Brunei Sultanate, and this showed greatly in their traditional beliefs. The old Melanau worldview is that the universe was created by Allah, though the Creator cares little for human affairs. In the world It created, humans share the environment with plants, animals, and spirits of many kinds from benevolent protectors to malevolent spectres. Every one of these beings has a proper place in the world, and overstepping boundaries brings about discord and disorder.

This order is encapsulated in the Melanau Calendar, a separate organizing system used by the subgroup to guide daily activities, as well as to celebrate the coming and going of the seasons and important events.

Printed Melanau calendar from Igan, circa 1935.​

Today, the Melanau are a more diverse subgroup with modern Islam and Christian believers living side by side with traditional practitioners. However, there are some traditions which are still practiced by the community as a whole, most notably being the Kaul festival which marks the start of the Melanau New Year. Held in March, the festival was originally held to appease the spirits of the surrounding environment, though nowadays it is mostly held as a family and community reunion instead. Offerings for spirits are placed in woven baskets before bring held up on bamboo poles and transported downriver to an estuary. Chants and music are often accompanied and the festival ends with the pouring of water over the offerings, washing away the misfortunes of the past year.

It is perhaps because of these differences that the early White Rajahs were so taken with the subgroup. James Brooke once remarked that the Melanau had "...agreeable countenances, with the dark, rolling, open eye of the Italians, and nearly as fair as most of that race." With their cultivation of valuable sago and expertise on the sea, the subgroup became especially favoured in the early Kingdom of Sarawak with their lands being protected from sale to the new influx of Chinese immigrants. Besides that, their knowledge and use of traditional boats made them useful sailors for the area, making them suitable candidates for Charles Brooke's modernization of the state...

​

The RSS Badruddin docking at Johor, Malaya in 1899.​

 

[Mercenarius]

What does RSS mean?

 

[Al-numbers]

What does RSS mean?

I'll explain it when the time comes.

 

[Silver]

I'll explain it when the time comes.

Does it mean Royal Sarawak Ship?

Also, will you be mentioning the Penan people in a future chapter?

Speaking of the Penan will you be including this particular person in a future chapter?

Please let me know. Thank you.

 

[chr92]

Thank you for this fascinating Melanau update. (No, Mr Harrison, I never had.)

 

[Some Bloke]

I know it's a bit late to ask but how are Flashman's adventures different ITTL, especially the events of the first half of Flashman's Lady?

 

[Al-numbers]

Does it mean Royal Sarawak Ship?

...no comment.

Also, will you be mentioning the Penan people in a future chapter?

Speaking of the Penan will you be including this particular person in a future chapter?

The Penans are in my sights for a culture update, along with the more smaller and migratory Dayaks of Sarawak. However, we may only see a few glances of them throughout the 19th century, as there will be a lot of happenings around Sarawak and the wider world until then. Rest assured though, their time will come.

As for Bruno Manser, with the way this TL is going I'd doubt if even his family would exist ITTL, and that's not just because ITTL Sarawak will be different. We may get an Alternate-timeline-relative of him exploring Borneo and fighting for the Dayaks, but maybe not the actual man in person.

Say... that gives me an idea.

Thank you for this fascinating Melanau update. (No, Mr Harrison, I never had.)

Actually, Mr Harrison is a TL character and he doesn't exist IOTL, nor does his movie (though there is an anime flick with almost the same name). One of my final aims for this TL is for the Dayaks to get much more known throughout the world, both sociopolitically - yes, I think that's a valid word - and culturally. Mr Harrison is the end result of that greater cultural knowledge, and so will a number of other people.

And thanks for taking an interest.

I know it's a bit late to ask but how are Flashman's adventures different ITTL, especially the events of the first half of Flashman's Lady?

Well, some of the later Flashman adventures are going to be different ITTL, particularly towards Africa. I'm trying to see if I can make my own world ITTL without the influence of Jonathan Edelstein's and Nasirissimo's timelines (of which I absolutely enjoy) and I have a few ideas to think of, but nothing concrete yet. I'll just say for now that Flashman might be sitting in England for a while till I sort everything out.

Nevertheless, I think Flashman's Lady (or an ATL version of the book) would look remarkably similar to it's OTL counterpart, except maybe with some more action in central Borneo due to the whole Sentarum Plains hoo-ha with the Dutch.

Some international snippets later this week. I'm trying to see what style should I use, and what OTL figures to put in, if at all. *taps metaphorical pencil around*

 

[Al-numbers]

*headdesk*

If you're all wondering just why did this TL went silent for almost a week, I take full responsibility. Moving to another neighborhood and back for four days, making trips to relatives, and all out procrastination sapped my writing skills for the whole week (and even now). Sorry for making you all wait.

Update later this week if I can get everything right!

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

What does RSS mean?

Raja's Sarawakan Ship?

 

[Al-numbers]

International snippets of the mid-1860's: part 1/?

Washington D.C , United States of America. 18 July 1863​

…all in all, while I am truly honoured to be chosen as the first Consul of the United States to Borneo, I am sorry to say that I decline this offer. While I do believe that this position would not be exercised until this current war is dealt with, I think that my time would be better served fighting and containing the troubles down south for the foreseeable future, instead of improving relations with native states abroad.

–Henry Danvers.​

U.S Secretary of State William Seward looked at the letter before him, rereading the short paragraph again with glum acceptance. There goes one candidate.

Putting the written piece of paper aside, the man wondered on how to tell his President of this new event. It was Seward that pushed the idea of a United States Consul to Borneo to Lincoln in the first place, noting that the government had already negotiated a commerce treaty with the polity of Brunei and realizing the implications of a friendly port in the East. However, with candidates early on refusing to participate in the venture – even with the caveat that the position would not start until the Civil War’s end – the idea of a Bornean Consul seemed more and more like a mirage.

It should have been expected, Seward mused as he reached for another letter from the stack on his desk. With the Civil War going on and the entire nation on full gear against the Confederacy, hardly anyone would think of going abroad and improve foreign relations with native states, particularly in such a distant part of the world as Borneo. Other than that, almost the entire world seemed to stand with the United States on the Civil War issue anyhow. Didn’t the Siamese king wanted to send elephants in support of the Union?

But we need to improve relations with the world, another voice rose in the Secretary’s mind as he opened the envelope, ...especially with the Trent Affair and Mexico showing how vulnerable this continent can be to outside interests. We can’t ignore the outside world anymore, especially if such a world could intrude on our affairs and create disturbances beyond our control. Our rivals have not, and neither can we.

Unfurling the paper, Seward imagined what type of reply to write back to the candidate before stopping in his thoughts. The opened letter in his hands was about the Bornean Consul issue, and this time… someone is interested.

**********

Translated excerpt of the journal of Celso Cesare Moreno, 3 August 1865 (Italian National Archives: obtained 1902)

August 3 – I arrived in Florence on the evening train, finally arriving home after a month's journey on land and sea. So far, I'm surprised at how far this place has changed; The Prime Minister did say that he would place train tracks all over Italy, but I never imagined that the government would place so much in such a short period of time.

In fact, a lot has changed in this peninsula since I first left it; we are now a single nation instead of many, we now have a single currency instead of multiple ones, and almost everyone I met believed that we would speak the same language soon, truly and fully Italian as a people. I can think of no better time for this nation to expand itself out of Europe and into the outside world.

If all goes well tomorrow, then I shall meet my stage in front of the government and plead for the Atjeh kingdom to be under our protection. I made a promise to the sultan before I left, and I am sure Italy could help him maintain his land's independence in some way. If nothing else, it could provide us with a port to the Far East.

Even now I still think of my beloved I left there. I hope I will see her soon.

**********​

Excerpt from the fifth page of the Lloyd’s London Weekly newspaper, 20 January 1863 (British Public Archives: obtained 1899)

__________

Footnotes:

1. According to the 1850 commerce treaty signed by the United States and Brunei, an American Consul was supposed to be placed in Bandar Brunei. However, 1850's U.S politics and the eventual Civil War halted this bit until around fifteen years later, though Secretary Seward did try to get some people on board IOTL.

2. King Mongkut of Siam really did offer President Lincoln elephants to be used in the Civil War. He declined.

3. Celso Cesare Moreno is an OTL person who had a very interesting history, second only to the people that ran Sarawak. In 1865, he really did plead before the Italian government and King Victor Emmanuel for Aceh to be an Italian protectorate.

4. Ahmad Rifaat Pasha was supposed to be the Egyptian Khedive, but downed in a car float accident in 1858. ITTL, that didn't happen.

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

Will the Consul to Borneo be the American consul to all the kingdoms and colonies on that island? If so, where will he be based? A diplomat with that broad a remit will have to juggle many interests, and it will be important for him to be seen as neutral, so he'll have to pick a base that won't get him accused of favoritism - but given recent events in TTL, I can't really see where that might be.

Aceh as an Italian protectorate could be interesting - might annoy both the British and the Dutch, though.

 

[chr92]

Love the new update. Thank you, and best wishes for your new home.

 

[Al-numbers]

Love the new update. Thank you, and best wishes for your new home.

Thanks.

Will the Consul to Borneo be the American consul to all the kingdoms and colonies on that island? If so, where will he be based? A diplomat with that broad a remit will have to juggle many interests, and it will be important for him to be seen as neutral, so he'll have to pick a base that won't get him accused of favoritism - but given recent events in TTL, I can't really see where that might be.

Oh no, the American Consul will not be one to all the kingdoms and colonies over there. In theory, the U.S consul to Borneo would officially be the American Consul to Brunei, stationed there to deal with American matters as per the commerce treaty. Of course, this is assuming that Sarawak, the British and the Dutch won't see him as the unofficial U.S consul for Borneo island and deal with him as such.

As for the consul's neutrality, that's one of things I'm keeping secret for now. He could be a neutral player, or someone whom everyone hates, or both. He could be a person truly working for U.S interests, or someone who enacts a renegade foreign policy under the U.S flag. The mid-1860's is going to be a landmark in Bornean history in more ways than one.

Aceh as an Italian protectorate could be interesting - might annoy both the British and the Dutch, though.

Oh yes. One thing Cesare Moreno forgot to mention was that Aceh's independence was guaranteed by the British at this point, so any colonial undertaking must require the consent (or at least the indifference) of London. The only question is whether or not Moreno and the Italian government knows about it, and if they could deal with it.

Raja's Sarawakan Ship?

...still no comment.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

4. Ahmad Rifaat Pasha was supposed to be the Egyptian Khedive, but downed in a car float accident in 1858. ITTL, that didn't happen.

A car float accident? What?