Origins, History and Social Structure in Brunei Darussalam

This wide-ranging book re-evaluates in detail the early history and historiography of Brunei Darussalam, the origins of the sultanate, its genealogical foundations and the structure and administration of Brunei society.Contributors draw on the seminal work of Donald E. Brown whose major monograph on the sultanate was published in 1970 and marked the beginnings of advanced sociological, anthropological and historical research on Brunei. Among the key issues addressed are status systems, titles and social stratification, Chinese sources for the study of Brunei, Malay oral and written histories and traditions, the symbolism, meanings and origins of coronation rituals, previously unknown sources for the study of Brunei history and the processes of incorporation of minority populations into the sultanate. Contributions by leading scholars of Brunei, Borneo and the wider Indonesian-Malay world, both from within Brunei Darussalam and beyond, address some central preoccupations which Brown raised and which have been the subject of continued debate in Austronesian and Southeast Asian studies.A novel contribution to the study of the history of Brunei Darussalam, this book will be of interest to scholars of Southeast Asian history, Asian history, Colonial and Imperial history and anthropology.

Victor T. King is Professor of Borneo Studies at the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Emeritus Professor of South East Asian Studies, University of Leeds, UK. He is the co-author of The Modern Anthropology of South-East Asia (Routledge 2006) and co-editor of the Routledge series Modern Anthropology of South-East Asia.Stephen C. Druce is programme leader in graduate studies and research at the Academy of Brunei Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He is the author of The Lands West of the Lakes: A History of the Ajattappareng Kingdoms of South Sulawesi, 1200 to 1600 CE (2009).