White rajah / Nigel Barley.

A biography of Sir James Brooke (1803-1868), soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak and ruled as its first White Rajah from 1841 until his death. Resigning his commision from the Bengal Army, he unsuccessfully attempted to trade in the Far East before assisting the Sultan of Brunei to quash an uprising. In return for Brooke's assistance the Sultan awarded him the governorship of Sarawak. Complete sovereignty of Sarawak was ceded to Brooke in 1842. Brooke later presented the Island of Labuan to the British Government and became its governor and commander-in-chief in 1848. His reign was controversial with accusations of his excessive use of force against natives, under the guise of anti-piracy operations, leading to the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry in Singapore in 1854.