BRUNEI

BRIEF HISTORY

The early history of Brunei and its ruling dynasty is clouded in mystery, due not only to the paucity of records but also to attempts to construct an official Islamic version of history which blots out anything else. The officially published Royal genealogies are often at variance with verifiable foreign sources at certain periods in history, as well as with the national epic poem, the Syair Awang Semaun. Although parts of the latter have come to light, publication of the full text remains prohibited because it does not always confirm the published official texts.

According to the official version of events, Brunei was founded by a band of fourteen saudara (brothers and first cousins), who eventually settled in the Brunei river near the present capital and chose one of their number as the first ruler. Some known versions of the Syair Awang Semaun state that they were all the sons of Dewa Amas of Kayangan, a part supernatural being who descended to earth at Ulu Limbang in an egg. Discovered by the Sang Aji, he was married to that ruler's daughter by whom he fathered one son. He travelled to thirteen settlements in the region in search of an auspicious ox. At each of the villages, he fathered thirteen (or twenty-two) other sons by thirteen different aboriginal wives, daughters of the local penghulu. Official accounts attempt to Islamise his origins but several elements of the story clearly emanate from the Hindu concept of the cosmic egg, hiranyagarbha. The Islamised Silsilah Raja-Raja Brunei also mentions a ruler named Sang Aji. However, it is clear from the histories of other states in the region that Sang Aji is actually the title used by Hindu rulers in the region, not necessarily the name of any particular ruler.