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Indian Colonies in Borneo

Early Indian Colonies in Borneo The earliest evidence, 400 A.D., of the Hindu colonisation in Borneo is furnished by four inscriptions. These were discovered in 1879 in the district of Koti (Kutei), at Muara Kamai on the Mahakam river, three days’ journey above Pelarang. The remains of a Chinese junk,

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December 5, 2025 No Comments

Writing History and AI

Writing History and AI About a year ago, I played around with AI but when I discovered they used Wikipedia as a source, I quit. Wikipedia can be written and posted by anyone anywhere without any research. I could write I came from Mars in a spaceship and they would

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December 1, 2025 No Comments

The Mystery of Ong Sum Ping of Brunei

Ong Sum Ping in Chinese Sources Ong Sum Ping lived in Brunei. He established a trading post and a Chinese settlement called Wicaya (from the Sanskrit meaning victory?) on or near the Kinabatangan River. He supported Sultan Muhammad Shah as the ruler, but he was never the ruler of Brunei.

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November 24, 2025 No Comments

All Creatures Great and Small #77

All Creatures #77 New Species Two new species of Mealy bugs have been discovered feeding on forest trees in Kalimatan. 89 species have been described worldwide and several are considered agricultural pests.  10.3897/zookeys.1249.159569 Book Chapter A chapter in the book The Making of Singapore as an Asian Regional Corridor entitled

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November 12, 2025 No Comments

Why preaching Christianity to the Malays in Kuching failed.

Why Preaching Christianity to the Malays in Kuching Didn’t Work The first Anglican missionaries set foot in Sarawak on 29 June 1848. At the time, Sarawak was a war-ridden and impoverished Raj. Why would the Borneo Mission send their clergy to Sarawak? James Brooke, the first white Rajah, appealed to

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October 25, 2025 No Comments

Brooke’s Sarawak Thinking

Brooke Colonial Thinking in Sarawak European powers were competing to take over lands in Asia that they saw as “empty” or “unclaimed.” They called these places terra nullius — meaning “nobody’s land” — and said that made them free to claim and rule. They didn’t care that people were already

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October 16, 2025 No Comments

All Creatures great and Small #76

All Creatures Great and Small #76 New Species A new species of pygmy grasshopper has been found near the Meligan River in Sabah. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5683.4.5 Sabah and Muslims This article examines the historical development of Islamic expansion and the emergence of Muslim converts (mualaf) in Sabah during the British colonial period.

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October 7, 2025 No Comments

Indian Muslims of Sarawak

Islam first enteredhe Malabar Coast of India soon after the elevation of the Prophet Muhammad, in ~621 AD. The Malabar coast was one of the first areas to embrace Islam. It was brought by Arab traders from Yemen, Oman and the Hadramawt, an area of Southeast Yemen. The Moplah Community

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October 1, 2025 No Comments

Sarawak Money

History of Sarawak Money There is no more boring reading than Sarawak’s (or anybody else’s) monetary policy. I fell asleep a couple of times trying to fathom this essay on the subject. I have condensed this article down to a page and a half from about 12 pages. If you

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September 21, 2025 No Comments

Battle Between Brooke Forces and the Dayaks in 1844

Here is an account of the battle between Brooke forces and the pirates of the Skrang river valley in 1844 This newspaper article, describes from the Brooke point of view, the expedition up the Sakarran River to capture Seriff Sahib the leader of a group of Dayaks thought to be

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September 14, 2025 No Comments
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