ABSTRACT
The case of the Iban in Sarawak shows the danger of a pacifying state relying on indigenous auxiliaries. The pacification of the Iban took place in three stages. The Iban on the coast supported the state of Sarawak after it had suppressed piracy. With the support of these Iban, the colonial state then pacified the Iban of the lower reaches of the rivers – traditional enemies of the coastal Iban – within 20 years in the second half of the 19th century. Since the state did not have sufficient military means of its own to rely on, it became dependent on the pacified Iban groups as auxiliaries, when it turned against the still-warlike Iban on the upper reaches of the rivers. This allowed those Iban who sided with the state to continue wars against their traditional and still-unpacified enemies, now as representatives of the state. Whenever the Iban from the upper reaches retaliated, the better-equipped Iban auxiliaries punished them militarily, on behalf of the pacifying state. This cycle of revenge and punitive expeditions considerably prolonged pacification of the Iban from the upper reaches, which eventually was accomplished at the beginning of the 20th century after about 40 years of struggle.
