When you take risks, you learn that there will be times when you succeed, and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.
– Ellen DeGeneres, American comedian
One factor against Rentap was that he had committed a ‘pemali’ or ritual prohibition by marrying a girl old enough to be his grandchild.
Charles realised that the chieftain was losing ground because he had become despot and couldn’t care less about the taboos.
Rentap, who was in his 70s, had taken a new wife, a young ‘Anak Umbong’ — traditionally a virgin kept secluded in the longhouse attic named Berinjan.
Charles noted: “The old fellow had lately married a second wife whom he fetched from far down the river, among many people who were particularly averse to the match. However, the lady ran off with him at night and mounted his eyrie unmolested by her own party; the old wife was discarded and the young one became the Ranee of Sadok.”
Rentap married Sawai after taking his first head in the early 1800s.
When they failed to have any children, they adopted a daughter named Tambong, who was raised by Sawai while Rentap often went on his headhunting excursions.
Bansang Isut, a fourth-generation descendant of Rentap, states that Sawai was furious with Rentap’s infidelity and decided to get even by burning all his talisman and charms which had protected him thus far.
She then fled from the enraged Rentap. It is said that Sawai finally ended up at Nanga Binyok (near Sibu), where she lived with her granddaughter, Subang who married a Saribas chief Munan Minggat, later to become Charles Brooke’s ‘Penghulu Dalam’ or key advisor.
During the late 1830s, Rentap continued to join OKP Dana of Saribas to launch joint raids against the Land Dayaks (Bidayuh) and villages on the west coast of Dutch Borneo.
No one was spared, including the Malay royalty from the ‘Keraton’ of Sambas and Pontianak as well as Chinese goldminers living in the Sambas-Pontianak region, namely Montrado, Sambas, Mempawah and Sungei Raya districts.
In October 1861, Charles Brooke and thousands of soldiers paddled up the river for one last attempt on Rentap’s fort at Bukit Sadok.
At 1am on October 28, Charles woke up to a cold and misty morning near the summit of Bukit Sadok in Betong.
Charles old adversary ‘Rentap Tanah Rentap Menua’ had promised to fight the White Rajahs till his last breath.
Rousing his party of restless warriors near his temporary quarters, Brooke’s army commander Abang Aing and men were ready to move forward under the cover of darkness.
After more than three hours they had hauled the massive ‘Bujang Sadok’ into position to do battle with Rentap’s smaller cannon ‘Bujang Timpang Berang’ (the one-armed trunnion) which belonged to the Dana of Saribas.
In his memoir ‘Ten Years in Sarawak’, Charles wrote: “At 4.30am we had it (the cannon) in position and patiently waited for daylight.
“Rentap’s house was not over 200 yards from us, and we were a living mass of expectation. At 7.30, the clouds commenced rising and as soon as his fortifications showed itself, we opened fire and rattled shot and grape through the planking.
“However, before five minutes were over, some of our party had crept through an aperture and they were speedily followed by others who yelled ‘Victory’.”
Charles said that one of Bujang Sadok’s shots had gone through a porthole killing Rentap’s principal gunner Ranjau.
Three other warriors had also been fatally wounded.
It is said that the gunner’s blood had soaked the gunpowder, which rendered the cannon useless.
According to the legend, after Rentap’s defence was breached, one of his men raised a white flag implying the enemy forces had surrendered.
This was when Brooke’s army made a bold attack and captured the fort.
In the meantime, the Bujang Sadok’s carriage split into two after firing its 17th round. By then it had served its purpose.
Inside the fortress the men seized the ‘Bujang Timpang Berang’ and an assortment of weapons that had been taken from the Brooke army during the killing of Alan Lee in 1853 as well as a large supply of ammunition belonging to Dimah, the widow of Saji.
The Sarawak Museum Journal said: “Rentap, seeing that the position was hopeless, and that damage done by the white flag was irreparable, took a beliong (adze) and pushing it into the hole of the gun, said ‘Saagi tusu bedil to, agi alit kitai anang ngelaban Raja’ (as long as this gun’s hole is still blocked, we will not fight the Raja). Rentap then left the fort before the Raja’s forces reached it.” (SG, March 31, 1972)
Charles wrote that when he arrived at the fort, Rentap had escaped.
He said: “The sly old fox, I fear, will get away among the holes and corners of his mountain which no one knows (as well) as he does.
“Bands went immediately in pursuit of him, the property in the house plundered. I walked through it when all was in a state of disorder and looked into Rentap’s room which was encased in thick plants quite impervious to musket or rifle shots.
“In looking from the platform which all the Dayaks have for the purpose of drying padi, a precipice gaped immediately below so steep and high that recovery after falling would have been impossible and death must have followed before reaching the bottom of the abyss.
“How a man and his family could have lived like for so many years on such a spot is marvellous, and nought but a most determined spirit of resistance could have supported him in such discomfort and danger.” (Brooke II, 1866: 148).
As dusk fell, Charles ordered his men to fire the Bujang Sadok twice before setting Rentap’s fortress on fire and in a show of power “it made a glorious conflagration upon this conspicuous site, and I was told afterwards that the whole surrounding country witnessed it.”
This was a warning that others willing to emulate the ‘Aki Rentap’ would have to face his wrath.
Looking down from the tanju (drying stage) platform down into the steep and gaping precipice below, Charles noted that if anyone had fallen from this spot “death must have followed before reaching the bottom of the abyss.”
Yet Charles could not help but admire Rentap and his Dayaks for their resolve and childish impetuousness, saying that he never tired of their misdeeds and their “desire to obtain my head and boil it in a cauldron.”
Relieved by the great victory, the Tuan Muda said: “My feeling was one of infinite satisfaction in having at length dislodged this old culprit although we all admired his resolution in having stood so long.
“I returned to my shed and felt as if something of great weight and importance had fallen from me, and a sensation of calm ease remained in its stead.” (Brooke II, 1866: 149)
Rentap and his men fled towards the Julau jungle, disappearing into the jungle. They went separate ways in order that they would not be easily followed by Brooke’s soldiers who would have been more than happy to bring back some of the prized heads.
From then on, Rentap would lead the life of a fugitive — never captured alive.
Charles marvelled at the old chief’s fortitude attributing it to “a most determined spirit of resistance”.
Rajah James Brooke was personally elated with the Charles’ victory at Sadok because he had finally defeated his greatest foe.
Five years later after the death of James, Charles became Sarawak’s 2nd White Rajah.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
