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 Sarawak
- People and History
Little is known
about the first inhabitants of Borneo. Human bones some 50,000 years old have
been found in Sarawak, but these almost certainly did not belong to the
ancestors of the present inhabitants. The indigenous peoples of Borneo speak
languages belonging to the Austronesian family. The original Austronesians,
perhaps originating in mainland Asia, became a maritime people who, several
thousand years ago, began to expand across the Pacific and Indian oceans. Over
time they founded hundreds of nations, and today their descendants can be found
on Taiwan and in Malaysia, in the Phillipines and New Zealand, on Madagascar and
Hawaii, and on countless islands in between.
Some three hundred
years ago the territory that is now Sarawak came under the dominion of the
Sultan of Brunei. Brunei was one of several Malay sultanates that had been
established on the coast of Borneo in the preceding centuries. Although these
small states contolled maritime trade and much of the coast, effective authority
did not extend far inland.
When James Brooke,
an English trader and adventurer, arrived in Brunei in the 1840's, the state was
in decline. Rebellion had broken out against the Sultanate. Brooke allied
himself with the Sultan, using his gunboat to suppress the revolt. In exchange,
the Sultan ceded to him a portion of his territory. Brooke become king, or
"Rajah", of Sarawak, and over the following decades, as Brunei continued to
decline, Sarawak annexed most of the Sultanate's remaining territory. Brooke
founded a dynasty that lasted until 1941. During this time, Sarawak was an
independent country ruled by a white monarchy. Although the Rajahs were British
citizens, Sarawak did not formally become a British colonial possession until
after World War II.
When Britain granted independence to Malaysia in 1963, Sarawak (along with
Sabah) were included in the new nation. With an area of 124,000 square
kilometres, Sarawak constitutes 38% of the national territory. But while
Malaysia has a population of 18 million, Sarawak is home to only 1.5 million
people.
The people of
Sarawak fall into 26 distinct ethnic groups or nations, each with its own
language. Most of these peoples are collectively referred to as "Dayaks". Among
these are the Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah, Kayan, Kedayan, Murut, Punan, Bisayah,
Kelabit, Berawan and Penan. Most of these Dayak peoples came to Borneo thousands
of years ago. Malays and Chinese, who arrived more recently, constitute a large
percentage of the coastal and urban population.
Most of the people
of Sarawak are sedentary farmers who live in communal longhouses and practice
swidden rice agriculture (shifting cultivation). Of the thousands of people who
still led a nomadic existence at the end of the nineteenth century, fewer than
two hundred Eastern Penan continue to live as wanderers. They are one of the
world's few surviving societies of nomads.
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