The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

HISTORY OF BORNEO 21
brother of his own. He even sent an expedition
to Manila, and on the second attempt seized that
place. Tribute poured into his coffers from all
sides. His wife was a Javanese princess, who
brought many people to Bruni. These intermarried
with the Bisayas, and from them it is said are
sprung the Kadayans, a quiet agricultural folk,
skilled in various arts, but rendered timid by con-
tinual oppression. Some have settled recently in
the British colony of Labuan, and others in Sarawak
round the river Sibuti, where they have become
loyal subjects of the Rajah of Sarawak.
Nakoda Ragam's capital at Buang Tawa was on
dry land, but when he died, killed accidentally by
his wife's bodkin, the nobles quarrelled among
themselves, and some of them founded the present
pile-built town of Bruni. It was to this Malay
capital and court that Pigafetta paid his visit in
152 1 with the surviving companions of Magellan.
His is the first good account from European sources
of the place which he called Bornei, and whose
latitude he estimated with an error of less than ten
miles.^
It is easy to see from Pigafetta's narrative ^ that at
the date of his visit the effects of Nakoda Ragam's
exploits had not evaporated. The splendour of the
Court and the large population the city is said to
have contained were presumably the result of the
conquests he had made in neighbouring islands.
The king, like the princes of Malacca before
the conquest, had his elephants, and he and his
courtiers were clothed in Chinese satins and Indian
brocades. He was in possession of artillery, and
the appearance and ceremonial of his court was
imposing.
^ He puts the longitude 30° too far east ; but in his day, of course, there were
no chronometers.
2 Cited in full by Crawfurd, Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands.
Article, " Brunai."