James Brooke

Sir James Brooke KCB or Raja James of Sarawak (29, April, 1803 - 11, June, 1868) was a British colonial administrator, cartographer, monarch, privateer, soldier, statesman and veteran of the First Anglo-Burmese War, the Anglo-Iban War, the Chinese Rebellion of 1857 in Borneo and the Anglo-Malay War. During his career, Brooke served as first Governor of the Island of Labuan. He founded the Kingdom of Sarawak on the island of Borneo and ruled as it's first monarch from 1841 until his death in 1868.

Brooke's administration adopted the fiat standard for currency circulation and production, deployed forces to central Sarawak during the Anglo-Iban War and the Anglo-Malay War, established the Supreme Council of the Kingdom of Sarawak, oversaw the construction of forts, military garrisons, roads and telegraph systems in Sarawak, prohibited enslavement, headhunting and the slave trade and utilized paramilitary forces throughout Borneo to suppress the slave trade.

Brooke's crew annexed the islands of Borneo and Labuan to the British Empire sanctioned by the authority of Empress Victoria, restored Sultan Omar Saifuddin II of Brunei to his throne and suppressed piracy operations near the coastal regions of Borneo, allowing British merchants and troops from the Colony of Singapore and the British Raj of India safe passage through the South China Sea.

Brooke personally commanded the crew of the Royalist during his anti-piracy campaigns near coastal Borneo and later his Austronesian subjects during the Anglo-Iban War and the Anglo-Malay War, developed the civil service of Sarawak, fought alongside the forces of the British East India Company during the First Anglo-Burmese War, co-founded the British North Borneo Company and the Kingdom of Sarawak, illustrated the first accurate map of the island of Borneo and lead the first expedition to traverse the interior of Borneo.

Trivia

 * Brooke was bilingual and fluent in English and Malay.