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Category: History

China + Santubong Early Days

Editors Note: I became curious about what was going on in China from the Early Days to 1400 and how it might have related to Santubong. The book (see below) I consulted has the wrong title. It should be Early Days to 1368. Guangzoh (Canton) is one of China oldest

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March 10, 2021 No Comments

Brunei Titles and History

The Brunei Malays are coastal and riverine people. Only very rarely were they found very far inland or upland. Brunei culture exhibited considerable knowledge and skill in fishing, boat building, sailing and trading. Besides, the Bruneis harvested a variety of natural products. For centuries, they figured prominently in Brunei culture.

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March 3, 2021 No Comments

Iban Headhunting and Coastal Raiding 1775-1860

Coastal Raiding and the Iban 1775-1860 Editors note: Most of the below account was presented by western writers. St. John, Keppel, Pringle, Beccari, Kennedy and the Rajah Brookes plus the Singapore Inquiry of 1849 are the only voices we hear in this narrative. Nowhere do we hear the Iban side

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February 24, 2021 No Comments

Borneo plants used in medicine and ritual

Each plant description has an accompanying detailed drawing like the above. Now swept away by modern medicine, these plants were used by the Borneo  people. The indigenous groups and the coastal Malays  knew which plants to collect for a wide variety of illnesses. However, the plant is a fickle creature

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February 21, 2021 No Comments

Rajah Charles Tax Collectors

Tax Money for Rajah Charles I always wondered where the Rajah Brookes got their money. While going through past copies of the Sarawak newspaper, I noticed that Rajah Charles spent more time in England than he did in Kuching. Knowing transport was expensive, I could not figure out where he

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February 14, 2021 No Comments

Santubong Iron

Iron Work and Santubong The Santubong delta iron working industry began in 615 AD at the earliest and 900 AD at the latest and stopped around 1380 AD.  They used a single Carbon 14 date and  associated Chinese stoneware and coins and some religious artefacts of the Buddhists era to

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February 9, 2021 No Comments

Why So Many Ibans ?

Why so many Ibans? The author of this article attempts to explain why there are so many Ibans compared to other groups. He says the Ibans, relative newcomers to Sarawak, predominate in the State. Increase in children does not explain the phenomena. The Iban are below average in natural fertility.

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February 3, 2021 No Comments

The Missionaries

Probably one of the most hilarious stories I have read in the Sarawak Museum Journal, if that publication can ever be called hilarious, is an article by Barbra Harrison entitled “Near to Ngadju”.Here she relates the tales from the Rhinish Mission of Barmen Germany. The Rhinish missionaries were in search

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January 20, 2021 66 Comments

Melanau Healing

For many generations now, the healings of various dukuns, bohmohs, Chinese medicine men and others have been relegated to the antique shops and their cures to historians like myself. Modern doctors and nurses have taken their place as most everyone is within reasonable traveling distance to modern medical care. There

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January 20, 2021 No Comments

The Santubong Buddha

Probably the crown the jewel in the Sarawak Museum Collection is the Santubong Buddha found in the Bukit Maras part of Santubong area 1955. The 26 cm figure belongs to the Late Gupta (Sarnath School) classification of Buddhas where the robe is open, the right hand is down and the

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January 20, 2021 No Comments
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