Jacksal's Blog

About Sarawak

Interested to find out the most fascinating Sarawak travel destinations and tourist attractions? Want to know more about the hidden paradise of Borneo, a land where civilization coexists with the primitive?

If you do, then you have come to the right place. For the next few minutes, allow me to have the pleasure to be your travel guide to the absolutely intriguing paradise of Sarawak.

Sarawak, also known as “The Land of the Hornbills”, is the largest state in Malaysia and is located Northwest of the Borneo Island. It also shares its borders with Indonesia’s Kalimantan province in the South and Brunei and Sabah in the Northeast.

Sarawak has a long and interesting history. The history of Sarawak dates as far back as 45,000 B.C. where human fossils from that period were discovered near the Niah Caves.

Sarawak was formerly a dependency of the Brunei Sultanate. However, in 1841, the Sultan of Brunei relinquished control of the state to the British under the command of Sir James Brooke.

Later, Sir James Brooke proclaimed himself the King of Sarawak with the title “Rajah of Sarawak and for the next three generations, the white Rajahs, as they were called, reigned the state.

During World War 2, Sarawak was occupied by the Japanese, and when the Japanese surrendered in 1946, the British regained control over the state and Sarawak then became part of the British colony. In 1963, Sarawak, together with Sabah, Singapore and Malaya formed the Federation of Malaysia.

Today, Sarawak is developing state with a population of 2.3 million people made up of 27 ethnic groups. The main indigenous group here are the “Dayaks”, and they are made up of the Ibans (the Sea Dayaks) and the Bidayuhs (the Land Dayaks). The other ethnic groups are the Kenyah, Penan, Melanau and Kedayan. Each of these ethnic groups have their own unique culture and heritage.

Cities in Sarawak

Kuching
Bintulu
Sibu
Miri
Belaga
Sarikei
Sri Aman
Mukah
Kapit
Bintangor
Simujan

History of Sarawak

One of the stranger episodes in Malaysian history began in 1841 when James Brooke, an English adventurer armed only with a single ship (the Royalist) and diplomatic skills, was made Rajah of Sarawak by the Sultan of Brunei. James and his nephew and successor Charles expanded their private colony to cover much of the state. The third Rajah, Vyner, continued to develop the colony but fled from the invading Japanese in 1941, ending the Brooke dynasty after precisely 100 years. After the end of the Japanese occupation, Vyner returned to Sarawak in April 1946, but ceded the colony to the British in July of the same year. Sarawak joined together with Singapore, Federation of Malaya and North Borneo (today Sabah) to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

Sarawak festival categories into:

Culture

Even by Malaysian standards Sarawak has an extraordinary mix of peoples: the largest ethnic group is neither Chinese (26%) nor Malay (21%), but the Iban (29%), who gained worldwide notoriety as the fiercest headhunters on Borneo. Back in the bad old days, an Iban lad couldn’t hope for the hand of a fair maiden without the shrunken head of an enemy to call his own, and bunches of totemic skulls still decorate the eaves of many a jungle longhouse. Fortunately for visitors, headhunting hasn’t been practiced for a while, although some of the skulls date from as late as World War II when, with British support, Iban mercenaries fought against the occupying Japanese. Other tribes of note include the Bidayuh (8%) and the Melanau (5%), as well as a smattering of Kenyah, Kayan and a group of tiny tribes in the deep heartland known collectively as the Orang Ulu (Malay for “upriver people”).

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