Editing Kuching (section)

==History==
{{Further|Sultanate of Sarawak}}[[File:James Brooke photo.jpg|thumb|left|Kuching was later established as the seat of Brooke government under the management of [[James Brooke]].]]
Sarawak was part of the [[Bruneian Empire]] since the reign of the first Sultan of Brunei, [[Muhammad Shah of Brunei|Sultan Muhammad Shah]]. Kuching was the third capital of Sarawak, founded in 1827 by the representative of the Sultan of Brunei, [[Salleh Sharifuddin|Pengiran Indera Mahkota]].<ref name="Chang1999">{{cite book |author=Pat Foh Chang |title=Legends and History of Sarawak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jDWHZwEACAAJ |access-date=13 July 2012 |year=1999 |publisher=Chang Pat Foh |isbn=978-983-9475-06-7}}</ref> Prior to the founding of Kuching, the two past capitals of Sarawak were Santubong, founded by [[Ibrahim Ali Omar Shah|Sultan Pengiran Tengah]] in 1599, and Lidah Tanah, founded by [[Datu Patinggi Ali]] in the early 1820s.<ref name="Chang1999" /> The founding of Kuching was spurred by the discovery of antimony ore at the upper Sarawak river in 1924, which was in high demand in the market of nearby Singapore.<ref name=lock/> A Dutch report mentioned that there lived about a hundred Malays and three houses of Chinese in the area shortly before the founding of Kuching.<ref name=lock>{{cite journal |last1=CRAIG A. LOCKARD |title=THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF KUCHING, 1820—1857 |journal=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=1976 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=107–110 |jstor=41492141 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41492141}}</ref> The arrival of Mahkota was not popular with the local Malay chiefs, whose autonomy was restricted by Mahkota's increasing tax and labour demands. The chiefs moved upriver, allied with Dayaks, and rebelled against Brunei. Neither side could gain an edge over the other until 1840 when Pengiran [[Prince Hashim of Brunei|Raja Muda Hashim]], the Bruneian Prime Minister, offered to hand over the governorship of Sarawak to British adventurer [[James Brooke]] to acquire his help to defeat the rebel chiefs.<ref name=lock/>

Pengiran Raja Muda Hashim later ceded the territory to James Brooke as a reward for helping him to counter the rebellion.<ref name="HazisHazis2012">{{cite book |author1=Faisal S. Hazis |author2=Mohd. Faisal Syam Abdol Hazis |title=Domination and Contestation: Muslim Bumiputera Politics in Sarawak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhAU_JcFNZ0C&pg=PA25 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2012 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-4311-58-8 |pages=5–25–26–29}}</ref> The rebellion was crushed in November 1840, and on 24 September 1841, Brooke was appointed as the [[Kingdom of Sarawak|Governor of Sarawak]] with the title of [[Rajah#Usage outside India|Rajah]].<ref name="HazisHazis2012"/> It was not announced until 18 August 1842, following [[Omar Ali Saifuddin II|Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II]]'s ratifying the governorship, and requiring Brooke to pay an annual sum of $2,500 to the Sultan.<ref name="HazisHazis2012"/> Since that time, Kuching became the seat of the Brooke government.<ref>{{cite book |title=Borneo. Ediz. Inglese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvXoC8F5Oq0C&pg=PA162 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2008 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1-74059-105-8 |pages=162–}}</ref>

[[File:Kuching, Sarawak; a square-towered building and the jail. Ph Wellcome V0037399.jpg|thumb|right|The Kuching state prison was situated beside the Square Tower building in 1896.]]
[[File:The National geographic magazine (Page 164) BHL40563162 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Children are pulled through the city's streets by a [[coolie]], {{circa|1919}}.]]
The administration was later continued by his nephew, [[Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak|Charles Brooke]]. As an administrative capital, it became the centre of attention and development.<ref name="RingWatson2012">{{cite book |author1=Trudy Ring |author2=Noelle Watson |author3=Paul Schellinger |title=Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=voerPYsAB5wC&pg=PT866 |access-date=18 July 2013 |date=12 November 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-63979-1 |pages=866–}}</ref> Improvements included a [[sanitation]] system.<ref name="RingWatson2012"/> By 1874, the city had completed several developments, including construction of a hospital, prison, [[Fort Margherita]], and many other buildings.<ref name="RingWatson2012"/>

Charles Brooke's wife, in her memoir ''(My Life in Sarawak)'', included this description of Kuching:
{{blockquote|The little town looked so neat and fresh and prosperous under the careful jurisdiction of the Rajah and his officers, that it reminded me of a box of painted toys kept scrupulously clean by a child. The Bazaar runs for some distance along the banks of river, and this quarter of the town is inhabited almost entirely by [[Chinese people|Chinese]] traders, with the exception of one or two [[Indian people|Hindoo]] shops....Groceries of exotic kinds are laid out on tables near the pavement, from which the purchasers make their choice. At the Hindoo shops you can buy silks from [[India]], sarongs from [[Java]], tea from [[China]] and tiles and porcelain from all parts of the world, laid out in picturesque confusion, and overflowing into the street.<ref name="RingWatson2012"/><ref>{{cite book |author=Margaret Brooke |title=My Life in Sarawak |page=62 |date=1913 |publisher=Methuen & Company, Limited}}</ref>|[[Margaret Brooke]], wife of [[Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak|Charles Brooke]].}}

The [[The Astana, Sarawak|Astana]] (Palace), which is now the official residence of the governor of Sarawak, was constructed next to Brooke's first residence. He had it built in 1869 as a wedding gift to his wife.<ref name="LedesmaLewis2003">{{cite book |author1=Charles De Ledesma |author2=Mark Lewis |author3=Pauline Savage |title=Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hS0_GehsGPwC&pg=PA414 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-094-7 |pages=414–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-last-goodbye/ |title=The last goodbye |author=Patricia Hului |publisher=The Borneo Post Seeds |date=16 September 2014 |access-date=31 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231005018/https://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-last-goodbye/ |archive-date=31 December 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Kuching continued to prosper under [[Charles Vyner Brooke]], who succeeded his father as the Third Rajah of Sarawak.<ref name="HazisHazis2012"/> In 1941, Kuching was the site of the Brooke Government Centenary Celebration.<ref>{{cite book |author=Steven Runciman |title=The White Rajah: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m4_O9GB4KBoC&pg=PA248 |access-date=18 July 2013 |date=3 February 2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-12899-5 |pages=248–}}</ref> A few months later, the Brooke administration came to a close when the [[Japanese occupation of Sarawak|Japanese occupied Sarawak]].<ref name="HazisHazis2012"/>

[[File:Kuching Town Street Scene (AWM 030346-01).JPG|thumb|left|A street scene of Kuching town shortly after the surrender of Japan, image taken on 12 September 1945.]]
[[File:Japanese Propaganda, Kuching, Sarawak (AWM 118699).JPG|thumb|right|A piece of [[Japanese propaganda during World War II|Japanese propaganda]] in [[Jawi script]] found in the town after the capturing of the town by the Australian forces.]]
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], six platoons of infantry from 2/15 [[15th Punjab Regiment|Punjab Regiment]] were stationed at Kuching in April 1941.<ref name="LimWong2000">{{cite book |author1=Patricia Pui Huen Lim |author2=Diana Wong |title=War and Memory in Malaysia and Singapore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADkiembZcLYC&pg=PA125 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2000 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-037-9 |pages=125–127}}</ref> The Regiment defended Kuching and Bukit Stabar airfield from being the destroyed by the Japanese.<ref name="LimWong2000"/> Defence was mainly concentrated on Kuching and [[Miri, Malaysia|Miri]].<ref name="LimWong2000"/> However, on 24 December 1941, Kuching was conquered by the Japanese forces. Sarawak was ruled as part of the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese Empire]] for three years and eight months, until the official Japanese surrender on 11 September 1945. The official surrender was signed on ''[[HMAS Kapunda]]'' at Kuching.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-kapunda |title=HMAS Kapunda |access-date=4 June 2014 |publisher=[[Royal Australian Navy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604111658/http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-kapunda |archive-date=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Ooi2004">{{cite book |author=Ooi |first=Keat Gin |author-link=Keat Gin Ooi |title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to Timor. R-Z. volume three |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-770-2 |pages=1177–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jackson |title=British Empire and 2ND Ww (E) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cghbp0WbhxAC&pg=PA445 |access-date=18 July 2013 |date=9 March 2006 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-0-8264-4049-5 |pages=445–}}</ref> From March 1942, the Japanese operated the [[Batu Lintang camp]], for [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] and civilian internees, {{cvt|5|km}} outside Kuching.<ref>{{cite book |author=Keat Gin Ooi |title=Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941 - 1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3t5OngEACAAJ |year=1998 |publisher=Ohio Univ. Center for Internat. Studies |isbn=978-0-89680-199-8 |pages=6–11}}</ref>

After the end of World War II, the town survived and was wholly undamaged.<ref>{{cite book |author=Yvonne Byron |title=In Place of the Forest; Environmental and Socio-Economic Transformation in Borneo and the Eastern Malay Peninsula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7BYEnHOQ8KkC&pg=PA215 |year=1995 |publisher=United Nations University Press |isbn=978-92-808-0893-3 |pages=215–}}</ref> The third and last Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke later ceded Sarawak to the [[Sarawak (British Crown colony)|British Crown]] on 1 July 1946.<ref>{{cite book |author1=James Stuart Olson |author2=Robert Shadle |title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire: A-J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-X-XYB_ZkIC&pg=PA200 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-29366-5 |pages=200–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Gerard A. Postiglione |author2=Jason Tan |title=Going to School in East Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HuE--CIdDuEC&pg=PA210 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33633-1 |pages=210–}}</ref> During the Crown Colony period, the government worked to develop and improve the infrastructure on Sarawak.<ref name="Ooi2004"/> Kuching was revitalised as the capital of Sarawak under the [[British Empire|British colonial government]].<ref name="Chang-1999">{{cite book |author=Pat Foh Chang |title=Legends and history of Sarawak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqJuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=1999 |publisher=Chang Pat Foh |isbn=978-983-9475-07-4}}</ref> When Sarawak, together with North Borneo, Singapore and the [[Federation of Malaya]], formed the Federation of Malaysia in 1963,<ref>{{cite book |author=Boon Kheng Cheah |title=Malaysia: The Making of a Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Owo39zRMQbwC&pg=PA93 |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=2002 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-175-8 |pages=93–}}</ref> Kuching kept its status as the state capital and was granted a [[List of cities in Malaysia|city status]] on 1 August 1988.<ref name="mbks">{{cite web |url=http://www.mbks.sarawak.gov.my/modules/web/page.php?id=153&menu_id=0&sub_id=116 |title=History |publisher=Council of the City of Kuching South |date=14 May 2014 |access-date=16 May 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140515164215/http://www.mbks.sarawak.gov.my/modules/web/page.php?id=153&menu_id=0&sub_id=116 |archive-date=15 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Kuching: towards a new horizon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dG4uAAAAMAAJ |access-date=18 July 2013 |year=1988 |publisher=Kuching Municipal Council}}</ref> Kuching experienced further development throughout the years as the state capital. On 29 July 2015, Kuching was declared as "City of Unity" by One Malaysia Foundation for racial harmony that existed in the city because of cross-racial marriages, multi-racial schools, fair scholarship distributions, and balanced workforce patterns.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kuching to celebrate new status as 'City of Unity' |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/07/31/kuching-to-celebrate-new-status-as-city-of-unity/ |access-date=31 August 2015 |newspaper=The Star (Malaysia) |date=31 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=Chen |title=Kuching to be declared world's first 'City of Unity' |url=http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/07/29/kuching-to-be-declared-worlds-first-city-of-unity/ |access-date=31 August 2015 |work=Free Malaysia Today |date=29 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822055206/http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/07/29/kuching-to-be-declared-worlds-first-city-of-unity/ |archive-date=22 August 2015}}</ref>