The White Rajahs

by Steven Runciman

The Sultan of Brunei gave the title of Rajah and sovereignty of Sarawak, a province of Borneo, to James Brooke in 1841 as a reward for helping to peacefully resolve an uprising in the region. Brooke established his reign over the area, and two further Brooke descendants ruled Sarawak as a British protectorate for the next hundred years until Japanese occupation during World War II followed by cession to Britain. Between the three Rajahs they expanded Sarawak territory, successfully squashed piracy and put in place a structured government and justice system that brought harmony to a diverse multicultural society that had long been in turmoil from clashing cultures, particularly with the widespread practice of headhunting. Published first in 1960 as Sarawak ceded to Malaysia, The White Rajah documents this unique and fascinating time made possible by the 'human sympathy, selflessness and a high integrity' of three generations of Brooke men.

Genres: History, British Literature

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 3, 1960

About the author

A King's Scholar at Eton College, he was an exact contemporary and close friend of George Orwell. While there, they both studied French under Aldous Huxley. In 1921 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge as a history scholar and studied under J.B. Bury, becoming, as Runciman later commented, "his first, and only, student." At first the reclusive Bury tried to brush him off; then, when Runciman mentioned that he could read Russian, Bury gave him a stack of Bulgarian articles to edit, and so their relationship began. His work on the Byzantine Empire earned him a fellowship at Trinity in 1927.

After receiving a large inheritance from his grandfather, Runciman resigned his fellowship in 1938 and began travelling widely. From 1942 to 1945 he was Professor of Byzantine Art and History at Istanbul University, in Turkey, where he began the research on the Crusades which would lead to his best known work, the History of the Crusades (three volumes appearing in 1951, 1952, and 1954).

Most of Runciman's historical works deal with Byzantium and her medieval neighbours between Sicily and Syria; one exception is The White Rajahs, published in 1960, which tells the story of Sarawak, an independent nation founded on the northern coast of Borneo in 1841 by the Englishman James Brooke, and ruled by the Brooke family for more than a century.

Reviews

[alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history of the Brooke rule in Sarawak written a little after the handover to Britain, and prior to the formation of Malaysia. It gives an insight into the primary British characters of that time, though much less so into the local individuals who also played a major part in the politics and administration of the area.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always thought of Runciman as a medieval historian, mainly because of his work on the Crusades and The Sicilian Vespers. This is a really good work on the history of Sarawak under the Brooke family. Very interesting, especially as I have a postal history collection covering Sarawak and Labuan.

[Hubert Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history of the white Rajahs is an important story which deserves to be told - but not by Runciman's error-strewn narration.

[James Woo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed account, from which I learned a lot. However, it was overall quite boring. Long stretches of the book simply recount detailed sequences of events, without providing an overview or analysis to color the story in any way. I'd recommend the book to anyone already interested in east-Asian or British history, but never to a general reader.