Fort Vyner and Hugh Brooke Low: The Establishment of and Administrative Centre and Bazaar at the Confluence of the Belaga and Balui Rivers.

THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL
VOL LXXVI NO.97 DECEMBER 2016

Title :
Fort Vyner and Hugh Brooke Low: The Establishment of and Administrative Centre and Bazaar at the Confluence of the Belaga and Balui Rivers.

Author :
Jayl Langub

Abstract:

This paper is about a fort and a man. Fort Vyner was one of many forts built during the Brooke rule. It was located at the confluence of Belaga and Balui rivers. Hugh Brooke Low, Resident of Third Division, was the man who assembled a large number of people to build Fort Vyner. This paper looks at the historical events, during that period of Brooke rule, in the Rejang basin (Map , 1) and neighbouring areas. These events could have given rise for the need"to build a fort at this specific time, and at the geographically strategic location on the upper Rejang River populated by diverse ethnic minorities. As territory under the Brooke rule expanded, forts became useful for a number of reasons: European officers could be safely posted to outlying districts for longer periods of time, and the movement of people up and down major rivers could be monitored and controlled to maintain peace and order (Pringle 2010: 84). Once a fort was built, a small trading centre normally grew up there where traders could carry out their livelihood under the safety of the fort.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2016-9IKT-06

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How to cite:
Jayl Langub. (2016). Fort Vyner and Hugh Brooke Low: The Establishment of and Administrative Centre and Bazaar at the Confluence of the Belaga and Balui Rivers. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXXVI (97) : 121-164

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