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| Brunei Darussalam Negara Brunei Darussalam | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Official languages | Malay |
| Demonym(s) | Bruneian |
| Government | Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy |
• Sultan and Prime Minister | Hassanal Bolkiah |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,765 km² |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 460,345 |
Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is an absolute monarchy in Southeast Asia which shares the island of Borneo with Malaysia and Indonesia, with the former splitting the country into two. Brunei is a member of ASEAN and the Commonwealth of Nations.
History[edit | edit source]
Precolonization[edit | edit source]
Pre-Sultanate Era[edit | edit source]
The single oldest known instance of archaeological evidence of human activity within Brunei is the Kota Batu archaeological site, where they found the remains of a thriving trade port city and settlement dating to the 6th to 7th centuries CE, with artifacts like Chinese coins and porcelain from the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. Kota Batu is Malay for “Stone Fort.” Despite the majority of the settlement being made of wood and bamboo, there were some stone remnants remaining. Remnants of the local cultures are diverse, including ancient timber and stone houses, old covered walkways, and the man-made island of Pulau Terindak.[1]
The site was continually occupied over centuries. Chinese records from 977 CE, specifically the Chu-fan-chi trade record, named Brunei “Pu-ni” and mentioned it was protected by timber walls, while European records from 1521 CE mention a city built on water with a stone-walled palace. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the area now had royal mausoleums, specifically the tombs of two sultans: Sultan Sharif Ali and Sultan Bolkiah.[2]
Limau Manis was a secondary port, or feeder, to Kota Batu in the pre-sultanate era. There are thousands of Chinese porcelain shards from both the Song and Yuan dynasties at the archaeological site, and carbon-dating places them around the 10th century to the mid-14th century CE. Limau Manis was a bustling, large riverine trading port. There were also local earthenware, iron slags, and beads.[3]
Over 50,000 ceramic shards from China during the Song and Yuan dynasties have been collected from the site, with fewer from the Ming and Qing periods, as well as from Thailand (Thai Sukhothai wares) and Vietnam (Annam wares). Due to the narrow Sungai Limau Manis river channel, there is a prevailing theory that large ships at that time anchored in the Brunei Bay area, and smaller local ships transported goods from there to the Limau Manis port.[4]
Brunei was a vassal state under the Srivijaya Empire, an Indonesian maritime empire that was the center and spreader of Buddhism in the region. Srivijaya was based on the island of Sumatra. It did not have direct control over Brunei and mainly expected it to pay tribute as a tributary state, as Srivijaya controlled the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda. Chinese records at this time call “Po-Ni” (Brunei) a wealthy kingdom with a fleet of warships to protect its trade. Despite the proximity to the Srivijaya Empire, Buddhism did not spread much in Brunei at that time.[5]
Due to Srivijaya being the center of Buddhism, specifically Mahayana Buddhism, and due to the vassalage of Brunei, this spread to Brunei on a small scale, blending with local traditions in small pockets. Srivijaya began facing constant conflicts, including a major invasion in 1025 CE by the Chola dynasty under Raja Raja Chola I, who captured the Srivijaya king, Sangrama Vijayottunggavarman.[6]
Srivijaya lost its influence over Brunei around the 13th century, due to the Chola invasion and shifting trade routes, which sealed the already fragile state of the empire. Brunei’s sovereignty lasted only for a short period, as in the 14th century it became a vassal of the Majapahit Empire according to the Nagarakretagama, a 14th-century Javanese text.[7]
In 1363 CE, Brunei’s ruler Awang Alak Betatar changed his name to Muhammad Shah and converted to Islam while establishing himself as the first sultan of Brunei and subsequently the Sultanate. Reasons for the conversion may have included contact with Muslim traders and his marriage to a Johor princess.[8]
Sultanate Era[edit | edit source]
LGBT Discrimination[edit | edit source]
Brunei has some of the worst conditions for LGBT people in the world with Equaldex ranking them the second worst country behind Afghanistan. In 2019 the punishment for homosexual acts was changed from ten years imprisonment to the death penalty for married men, 100 lashes for unmarried men, and ten years imprisonment for women.[9] Despite these human rights violations, Brunei still continues to receive support from imperialist powers who themselves claim to support LGBT rights.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Trails to Tropical Treasures – A Tour of ASEAN Cultural Heritage (1998).
- ↑ Antonio Pigafetta (1521). Brunei and Spain 1521 – Borneo History.
- ↑ Gabriel Y. V. Yong & Noor Hasharina Hassan (2022). Historical Geography of the Limau Manis Archaeological Site. [PDF]
- ↑ Asiyah Az-Zahra Ahmad Kumpoh, Stephen C. Druce, Nani Suryani Abu Bakar (2022). Brunei Historiography.
- ↑ Pierre-Yves Manguin. The Oxford Handbook of Early Southeast Asia: 'Srivijaya'.
- ↑ Fhadrul Irwan. Srivijaya : a Buddhist centre in maritime Southeast Asia (7th-11th Centuries).
- ↑ Suhadi, Machi. Masalah Negara Vasal Majapahit.
- ↑ Robert Nicholl (2011). Some Problems of Brunei Chronology.
- ↑ "LGBT Rights in Brunei" (2024). Equaldex.