Black magic operates most effectively in preconscious, marginal areas. Casual curses are the most effective.
William S. Burroughs, American writer and visual artist
Sarawak’s Astana and its surroundings is a treasure trove of history going back to the days when it was the bastion of Brunei sovereignty.
It was “Raja Muda” Hashim, the heir-apparent to the Brunei sultanate and who had chosen to build his palace at Kuching when he was sent to Sarawak to quell a Malay rebellion in the early 1830s.
Hashim had sought the help of an English adventurer James Brooke who put down the rebellion and was named “Governor of Sarawak” on September 24, 1841.
James who gave himself the title “Rajah” built his first house at Sungei Bedil in the midst of an old Brunei graveyard.
Known as “Mr Brooke’s Residence” it was a simple kampung house built on raised posts, with a large sitting room with four rooms and a special section at the back of where he would meet the local chiefs on a daily basis.
In the days of rampant warring tribes who were creating untold problems through robbery and headhunting, the British navy intervened.
In the first expedition in 1844, the navy killed scores of Sea Dayaks (Iban)and burnt down numerous longhouse dwellings at Batang Lupar.
Five years later on July 31, 1849 the British navy crushed the Iban of Saribas in the infamous Beting Maru incident where between 500 and 800 warriors were killed or injured.
Brooke faced his first tragedy when on February 18, 1857 600 Chinese gold miners burnt down Brooke’s residence and Kuching town.
They killed and beheaded his valet, and four Europeans including a child who was thrown into a fire.
Immediately after the incident Rajah Brooke built a second residence on the same location and named it “Government House”; this time he built a fort-like tower where he could take refuge in the event of another attack.
But Brooke’s second residence also turned out to be unlucky as one of James’ nephews, Captain Brooke Johnson, lost five family members there — his first wife and son as well and a second wife to illness — within 40 months after occupying the building.
All the victims were buried in the Brooke burial ground by the river and close to the residence.
Heartbroken with the tragic events, James who had suffered several bouts of malaria was then stricken by smallpox.
Thanks to the “Datus” and the “Dukuns” — traditional medical practitioners — they nursed him back from the brink of death. But after that he never fully regained his health.
In 1861, James declared one of his two nephews Captain John Brooke Johnson as Rajah Muda — heir to the Sarawak throne.
But a conflict of opinion with his nephew in 1863 over the Brooke’s proposal to “sell” Sarawak led to a dramatic quarrel.
Brooke handed over the title of Rajah Muda to Captain Brooke’s younger brother Charles Antoni thus ushering in a new era.
James Brooke died at the age of 65 on June 11, 1868 and six months later his nephew Captain Brooke Johnson who was stripped of his title and lost three family members, also died a bitter man.
Apparently to break the streak of bad luck, Rajah Charles tore down Government House and built a new residence which he called “Astana”.
Charles returned to Kuching in 1870 with his young bride Margaret de Windt who described her new home as a “handsome brick structure…befitting the residence of the Rajah and worthy of the name Astana.”
However, it appears as if the curse continued after the Ranee’s first three children who were born at the Astana — Ghita and twins James and Charles — died from cholera during a voyage to see England in 1872.
Another tragedy was to follow suit when Margaret had a still-born child soon after returning to Kuching in 1873; the child was buried in a Muslim cemetery.
During the World War II when Prince Maeda of Japan, who occupied the Astana, apparently broke a local “taboo” when he ordered the removal of ivy plants covering the tower block.
Three days later the prince was killed when the plane in which he was travelling in crashed into the sea off Bintulu.
In December 1949, Colonial Governor Sir Duncan Stewart was assassinated by anti-British dissident Roslie Dhobie in Sibu.
Since then the Astana premises had enjoyed an aura of peace.
Thirty years have gone by and all the rumours of footsteps pacing the tower block and even the apparition of a stoic White Rajah pacing the ramparts, are slowly fading away.
In recent times, the Astana has undergone a face-lift — gone are remnants of the past as Sarawak ventures into the new millennium.
Hopefully the old Rajah can turn a blind eye to the changes and look at the new seat of the old kingship in a positive way!
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
