Can Brunei buy back Sarawak?

[miguelrj]

It's a little puzzling to me why the Sultan of Brunei awarded the vast majority of his lands to an English adventurer in 1841...

So a century later - after WW2 - the successor of that adventurer sold his kingdom to the British crown. Could the Sultan of Brunei make a bid for it?
- Was the Sultan of Brunei rich enough to do that then?
- Would the British object to this or would it be po-tay-to po-tah-to considering that Brunei was a British protectorate?
- Would the subjects of Sarawak welcome this?

 

[iori]

In short, no.

In reality Sarawak was'nt sold in the way we understand it, but a case of the established government being forced to cede the territory to Britain and the King getting compensation.

 

[miguelrj]

In reality Sarawak was'nt sold in the way we understand it, but a case of the established government being forced to cede the territory to Britain and the King getting compensation.

I didn't know that. So why were the British so eager to eliminate the Brookes as their middlemen? What did they gain from getting direct control of the colony for the last couple of decades of its existence?

 

[iori]

I didn't know that. So why were the British so eager to eliminate the Brookes as their middlemen? What did they gain from getting direct control of the colony for the last couple of decades of its existence?

Imperialism basically; by that point they already controlled Malaya and Sabah and had made Borneo a Protectorate, so Sarawak was the last piece; additionally the Brookes family, while paternalistic, did in general have the well being of their subjects at heart and went out of their way to prevent them being exploited, which obviously clashed with British economic interests.

 

[miguelrj]

Imperialism basically; by that point they already controlled Malaya and Sabah and had made Borneo a Protectorate, so Sarawak was the last piece;

But the Kingdom of Sarawak was already a British protectorate much like Brunei and most of the Malay Peninsula... Sarawak was already painted red in the British Empire map, what Britain purchased was the internal affairs ruling rights of the Brookes.

additionally the Brookes family, while paternalistic, did in general have the well being of their subjects at heart and went out of their way to prevent them being exploited, which obviously clashed with British economic interests.

Evildoers!

 

[Some Bloke]

Talking of Sarawak, one person on this board (Xhavnak I think) has been writing/planning a timeline where the British never "buy" Sarawak.

 

[iori]

But the Kingdom of Sarawak was already a British protectorate much like Brunei and most of the Malay Peninsula... Sarawak was already painted red in the British Empire map, what Britain purchased was the internal affairs ruling rights of the Brookes.

Yes, but it was an amicable Protectorate, as opposed to the other 'Protecotrates In Name Only' that acted as de facto colonies, in other words the British could'nt exploit it.