Episode Details
Back to EpisodesThe White Rajas - The Englishman Who Bought a Kingdom (Part One)
Description
In August 1839, a wealthy English adventurer sailed up a river in Borneo aboard his private schooner, carrying a letter of thanks and a few presents for a local prince. Just two years later, he was the ruler of Sarawak.
His name was James Brooke, and his extraordinary rise to power would establish a family dynasty that lasted more than a century.
But how does an Englishman with no official authority, a fortune in his pocket and a ship armed with cannon end up ruling a kingdom on the other side of the world?
In this first episode of a three-part series, we follow Brooke from the battlefields of Burma to the jungles of Borneo, where rebellion, political intrigue and an increasingly desperate Brunei prince present him with an opportunity he could never have imagined.
Along the way, we meet the Malay chiefs and Dayak communities whose support helped make his extraordinary rise possible, and the formidable Iban warriors who had absolutely no intention of surrendering their independence.
It's a remarkable story of ambition, adventure, unlikely alliances and the beginnings of a kingdom that would change the history of Sarawak forever.
And becoming a Rajah, as Brooke was about to discover, was considerably easier than remaining one.
Join me on Rearview Mirror Chronicles for Part One of The White Rajahs: The Englishman Who Bought a Kingdom.
For books written and published by Keith Hocton