1

In the context of history, the golden age means the period of time wherein a civilisation experiences great economic growth and own a stable society with the centres of knowledge at its peak and power at its zenith (Henish, 1994). Most countries have a period in their history which they call the golden age. The period of the 15th and 16th centuries is regarded as the Golden Age of Brunei. Brunei rose to prominence during the 15th and 16th century as its country became the superpower of the Malay Archipelago. During this time, it also became the centre for the spreading and teaching of Islam in Borneo and in the present-day Philippines (Saunders, 2002). Bruneis golden age centred around two remarkable leaders Sultan Bolkiah (14851524) and Sultan Muhammad Hassan (1582- 97). Below are pieces of history evident to the golden age of Brunei. Historians believe that Brunei started to flourish in the 15th century when its predecessor state, Po-ni, took advantage of the decline of Majapahit, which occurred around 1389 A.D. The book of Nagarakertagama, canto 14, written by Prapanca in 1365 mentioned Berune (Po-ni) as a vassal state of Majapahit (Ongkili, 2001). With the death of Hayam Wuruk, however, its allegiance and payment of tribute to Majapahit ceased. Nevertheless, Poni managed to maintain a relationship with China and obtain protection from it. Records of the Sung dynasty which mentions the state of Po-ni sending tributary missions to China first appeared in 977. By 1408, Po-ni ruler Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan(1402-08) died in China during a visit. Wright (1977) has mentioned that the sultan was buried in China with honours. Also around the same time, a Chinese admiral Zheng He visited Po-ni and found a large trading port with numerous Chinese traders making business transactions with the mainland. Although Po-nis relationship with the mainland ended in 1424 when the Hongxi emperor ended Chinas maritime program, the bond helped the Brunei kingdom to recover

Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam

from its Majapahit subordination and enabled the kingdom to work on its political, economic and cultural development.

Despite an obscure history of the later Po-ni, the mid-15th century Arab writers suggest that the sultanate grew yet again to be a thalassocracy - based on controlling trade rather than land (Ongkili, 2001). In the Brunei ports, were the flow of locally produced goods such as camphor, aromatic woods, rattans, gold, birds nests, mother-of-pearl and turtle shell. In exchange for these goods came the ironware, brassware, textiles of India, brocades, ceramics of China, and many more. Brunei was in a strategic location between China and the trading networks of Southeast Asia, therefore operated as an entrepot and became particularly powerful under the rule of the fifth sultan of Brunei, Sultan Bolkiah (Ongkili, 2001).

Under Sultan Bolkiahs rule (1485- 1524), the Brunei kingdom had extended control over the coastal regions of modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, the Sulu archipelago, and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo (Wright, 1977). Bolkiah's forces had also raided into the Philippines as far as Luzon, made the islands Cebu and Palawan its vassal states and left colonies of Brunei Malays on the shores of Manila Bay (Blair & Robertson, 1903). During his reign, the kingdom effectively solicited tolls on water traffic and Bolkiahs ecclesiastical title as sultan was respected (Saunders, 2002).

This is supported by the European sources which state that the king was a Moro whose powers radiate outward along the coasts, up rivers and along waterways. He directed trade into ports it controlled, where a local chief or a Brunei noble is appointed to authorize and tax the trade (Wright, 1977). Sultan Bolkiah also constantly allowed for Muslim missionaries to enter the territories it had captured. Therefore, the expansion of the kingdom had helped in the expansion of Islam around the region, too.
Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam

By 1511, the Brunei sultanate oversaw a gradual expansion of the states influence when Malacca fell into the Portugueses hands. Historical evidence indicate that the early Brunei kingdom had a close relationship with the Muslim kingdom of Malacca (Wright, 1977) and it was made clear that by the early sixteenth century, Brunei was patently a Muslim sultanate (Saunders, 2002). Therefore, when Malacca was captured, many of the Muslim merchants and traders who were forced to transfer to other ports, entrusted Brunei and carried on business activities at the trading port there. This gave the kingdom advances not only in its trading activities but made the Brunei kingdom a centre for propagating Islam, too. By the time the first Europeans have visited the kingdom, Brunei had reached its greatest extent of power and prosperity. Much of the documentary evidence describing Bruneis wealth and power is obtained from the writings of European voyagers who have travelled through or visited Brunei in the 16th century. The prosperous kingdom was described in the chronicles of Ferdinand Magellans circum-navigational voyage, written by Antonio Pigafetta. In the chronicle, Antonio Pigafetta described Brunei as an amazing city (Saunders, 2002). In July 1521, when they visited Brunei, they went to the kings palace mounted on elephants caparisoned in silk cloth and were given presents. From the governors house to that of the king, Pigafetta mentioned streets full of people armed with swords, lances and targets, who were there as the Sultan had so ordered. The chronicles described a wonderful palace with silk hangings, a large hall full of nobles dressed with gold-embroidered cloth and three hundred foot-soldiers with naked rapiers as the kings guards. The visitors were accommodated with a warm setting at the palace and were given ample food offerings served in porcelain. They were also amused by the spoons of gold as utensils. Pigafetta also wrote about the pomp and pageantry of the

king the ruler was served only by women who are daughters of chiefs, and individuals are
Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam

only allowed to speak with him through a tube. He also has scribes, called Xiricoles, who wrote down his deeds on very thin tree bark. Pigafetta also made reference to a rampart in front of the kings palace constructed of large brick walls, with barbacans in a manner of a fortress, on which are mounted fifty-six brass, and six iron cannon. (Wright, 1977). Moreover, 25,000 families living in wooden houses built on strong stilts were described.

Even after Sultan Bolikahs death, Brunei remained substantially powerful. Sultan Abdul Kahar (1524 -35), was able to increase Bruneis territories which included Palawan, Balayan, Mindoro, Bonbon, Balabak, Balambangi, Mantanai and Luzon. The Sultan propagated the teachings of Islam in these territories, too (Saunders, 2002). In the middle and later part of the 16th century, Brunei remained a formidable Muslim power, its ruler sending missionaries in the Philippines, Sulu and Champa. The kingdoms influence was so widely acknowledged that the governor of Manila during the time of the Spanish occupation in the Philippines, Francisco de Sande, wrote to the son of Sultan Abdul Kahar, Sultan Saiful Rijal (1535-81) imploring him not to send any more Muslim preachers to the Philippine islands. Another record giving evidence to Bruneis golden age was written by a Spaniard in about 1586. The Spaniard described Brunei before the Castille war in 1578. He called Brunei the Venice of Borneo and described the city as very large and rich its houses excellently constructed, the palace built in stone and is of huge size, and mentioned a sumptuous mosque with very interesting carvings (Nicholl, 1975). Despite the fact that Bruneis power was obviously challenged by the coming of European Christian powers, the event of The Castille War provide support that is worth mentioning of Bruneis golden age, too (Nicholl, 1975). With Sultan Bolkiahs legacy of wealth and glory in Brunei, the seventh sultan of Brunei, Sultan Saiful Rijal (1535-81) and his people managed to drive the Spanish forces out of Brunei after an occupation of only 72
Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam

days. The Spanish during the occupation, reported that the kingdom of Brunei had the cosmopolitan population of a port city, with people from China, Cochin-China, Cambodia, Siam, Patani, Pahang, Java, Sumatra, Aceh, the Moluccas, Celebes and Mindanao (Saunders, 2002). Historians state that after Bruneis defeat by the Spanish, the kingdom experienced a brief revival of power as Sultan Hassan succeeded the throne in 1582. In many of Bruneis history books, Sultan Hassans greatness was comparable to that of Sultan Bolkiah and Sultan Iskandar Muda of Acheh ( Saunders, 2002). Sultan Hassan was able to reunite the territories that have been lost or have broken away from Brunei during its defeat by the Spanish. Historic sources evidently mentioned the recovery of the suzerainty of Sulu that was conquered by the Spanish, as well as the territories lost in the south such as Sambas which had fallen to the Javanese state of Japara (Saunders, 2002). Sultan Hassan continued to spread Islam in the reunited regions, too.

One other thing to proclaim Sultan Hassans greatness is his formulation of Bruneis first written code of law known as the Hukum Kanun. Sultan Hassan, who in many respect an enlightened ruler, with a broader interests in the world and an interests of theological debate (Wright, 1977) fully developed the elaborate Royal Court structure. The law was based in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and its elements provide base to many constitutions of the modern Brunei. But as every great story comes to an ending, it was Bruneis misfortune when its empire and faith came into conflict with new (European) forces that had come into the region, and its internal affairs was plagued with conspiracy. By the early 17th century, Brunei had been much reduced in influence, having lost the many of the islands that all their great kings

Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam

have conquered (Saunders, 2002). The decline continued on to the 18th century and was hastened in the 19th century with the arrival of James Brooke (Heyward, 1963). The arguments presented above try to provide support to the claim that the period of 15th and 16th centuries was the golden age of Brunei. It cannot be told precisely when it started or when it ended because no history can be written without gaps. But it is good to hear that Brunei had once experienced a period of greatness on par with the great kingdom anywhere else in the world, giving a sense of pride in the modern-Bruneian identity. (1714 words)

References: 1) Henish, Jasper, Definition: The Golden Age. Oxford University Press, 1994; 2) Saunders, Graham. A History of Brunei. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002; 3) Ongkili, James P. "Ancient Chinese Trading Links." East Malaysia and Brunei. Ed. Wendy Hutton. Tuttle Publishing, 2001; 4) Wright, Leigh. "Brunei: An Historical Relic." Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 17 (1977); 5) The Philippine Islands: Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and their People, their History and Records of the Catholics Missions, as related in contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts. Vol. IV-1576-1582. Eds. Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson. Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903 6) Nicholl, Robert, Brunei Rediscovered, A Survey of Early Times, Brunei Museum Journal, Vol. 2, No. 6, 1975 7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brunei#Conversion_to_islam_and.22Golden_Age.22 8) http://www.worldrover.com/history/brunei_history.html

Madison Sheena Nazareno Vejerano(08B1904) AF 1106 Introduction to Brunei Darussalam Universiti Brunei Darussalam