ABSTRACT

The only full-length study of the Brunei Sultanate from the earliest times to the present. First published in 1994 and a sell-out success, RoutledgeCurzon is pleased to present this new edition, updated to the present. Saunders skilfully elucidates historiographical controversies over important events, persons and developments in Brunei's past which are still important issues in defining Brunei's identity and its political and social systems today. These controversies, over the antecedents of the Sultanate, the date of the conversion to Islam, the reigns of the early sultans, early contacts with Europeans and others, retain their relevance. Newly presented are interpretations of events since 1945 during the transition from protected state to full independence, and thence to the present Malay Islamic Monarchy.

part I|31 pages

From Earliest Times to the Creation of the Sultanate

chapter 1|18 pages

The Earliest Kingdoms

chapter 2|11 pages

Pre-Islamic Brunei

part II|34 pages

The Rise and Decline of the Brunei Thalassocracy

chapter 3|14 pages

The Early Muslim Sultanate to c. 1550

chapter 4|13 pages

A Century of Conflict, c. 1550–c.1650

chapter 5|5 pages

Stagnation and Decline, c.1650–c.1770

part III|31 pages

Brunei, the British, and the Brookes, c. 1770–1906

chapter 6|18 pages

The Struggle for Survival, c. 1770–1870

chapter 7|11 pages

Almost Terminal Decline, 1870–1906

part IV|40 pages

The Residency, 1906–19598

part V|64 pages

From Protected State to Full Independence

chapter 11|17 pages

Reluctant Independence, 1967–1984

chapter 12|14 pages

The First Decade of Independence

chapter 13|11 pages

Brunei to 2001