A History of Democratic Institutions in Sarawak: The Origins of Supreme Council and Council Negeri.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
A History of Democratic Institutions in Sarawak: The Origins of Supreme Council and Council Negeri. |
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Author :
Sanib bin Haji Said |
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Abstract:
It is not always known to the world that Brunei was once of the dominant early empires in the Malay Archipelago.1 Perhaps from the 11th century Brunei had already became a huge empire chat straddled from Sambas in the southwest to Luzon in the northeast of the Malay Archipelago. Strong and famous the Brunei Sultanate had political and economic relations with China. The other parts of the Malay Archipelago came under the Indonesian empires of Srivijaya and Majapahit in the south while the northwest was verily under Melaka and Johor-Riau empires throughout its history until the advent of European powers in the 17th century. One of the Brunei Sultanate was the territory in the Sarawak river basin which was accordingly called Sarawak. Under the Brunei Sultanate administrative system Sarawak was classified as kerajaan, a territory directly under the reigning sultan. Administrative powers were given to the sultan, including the right to collect taxes and the discharging of laws. Since the reigning sultan was preoccupied with ruling the whole of the big empire local chieftains were normally appointed to administer Sarawak. Hence the sultan created local administration by the appointment of Datu Patinggi, Datu Bandar, Datu Iman and Datu Temenggong.
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| DOI: https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2004-IV21-01 |
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How to cite:
Sanib bin Haji Said. (2004). A History of Democratic Institutions in Sarawak: The Origins of Supreme Council and Council Negeri. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LX (81): 1-17 |
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