Editing James Brooke (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Sir James Brooke (1847) by Francis Grant.jpg|thumb|Painting of the Rajah of Sarawak in 1847 by [[Francis Grant (artist)|Francis Grant]]]]
During his reign, Brooke began to cement his rule over Sarawak: reforming the administration, codifying laws and fighting piracy, which proved to be an ongoing issue throughout his rule.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} Brooke returned temporarily to England in 1847, where he was given the [[Freedom of the City]] of [[City of London|London]],<ref>"The Literary Gazette and Journal of the Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c: Saturday, October 23, 1847 – Varieties". [https://books.google.com/books?id=C4RGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA757 ''The Literary Gazette A Weekly Journal of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts''.] London: Henry Silverlock, Wardrobe Terrace, Doctors' Commons. 1847. p. 757. Retrieved 22 April 2022. <q>The City of London, on the motion of Sir P. Laurie, has done itself honour by voting its Freedom in a gold box, to James Brooke, the rajah of Sarawak, and the regenerator of the Indian Archipelago</q></ref> appointed British [[consul-general]] in Borneo<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 July 1847 |title=The London Gazette |pages=2690 |issue=20757 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/20757/page/2690 |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> and created a [[Knight Commander]] of the [[Order of the Bath]] (KCB).<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 April 1848 |title=The London Gazette |pages=1655 |issue=20850 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/20850/page/1655 |access-date=22 April 2022}}</ref>

Brooke pacified the native peoples, including the [[Dayak people|Dayaks]], and suppressed [[headhunting]] and piracy. He had many Dayaks in his forces and said that only Dayaks could kill Dayaks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibancustoms.wordpress.com/iban-heroes/ |title=Iban Heroes |date=8 June 2009 |work=Iban Customs & Traditions |access-date=3 December 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Borneo and the Indian Archipelago.png|left|thumb|James Brooke's House in [[Kuching]], 1848]]

In 1851 Brooke was accused of using excessive force against the native people, under the guise of anti-piracy operations, leading to the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry in [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|Singapore]] in 1854. After an investigation, the commission dismissed the charges.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/29th-january-1910/40/the-rajahs-of-sarawak|title=The Rajahs of Sarawak|work=[[The Spectator]]|date=29 January 1910}}</ref>

Brooke wrote to [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] on leaving England in April 1853, "to assure Wallace that he would be very glad to see him at Sarawak."<ref>Raby, Peter. ''Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001, p. 87 {{ISBN?}}</ref> This was an invitation that helped Wallace decide on the Malay Archipelago for his next expedition, an expedition that lasted for eight years and established him as one of the foremost Victorian intellectuals and naturalists of the time. When Wallace arrived in Singapore in September 1854, he found Rajah Brooke "reluctantly preparing to give evidence to the special commission set up to investigate his controversial anti-piracy activities."<ref>Raby, p. 100.</ref>

During his rule, Brooke suppressed an uprising by [[Liu Shan Bang]] in 1857 and faced threats from Sarawak warriors like [[Sharif Masahor]] and [[Rentap]] and managed to suppress them.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sir James Brooke's personal narrative of the insurrection at Sarawak|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=18570731&id=ofFhAAAAIBAJ&pg=5107,4628782&hl=en|access-date=22 February 2017|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=31 July 1857}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Heidhues, MFS|year=2003|title=Golddiggers, farmers, and traders in the 'Chinese Districts' of West Kalimantan, Indonesia|publisher=SEAP Ithaca, New York|page=102}}</ref>