preface
Among the scattered southeast Asian islands, there is a small country, which is Brunei. It has an area of only 5,765 square kilometers, a population of less than a million, and even more pitifully, it is also divided in two by Malaysia.
However, such a small country, from the 14th to the 16th century, once ruled the entire island of Kalimantan and the south-central Philippines, establishing a powerful empire in Southeast Asia.
At this point, we can't help but wonder, what happened to Brunei? Why did the behemoth of the past become the small country of today? And listen to the waving ink jun one by one.
Rising independent empire
Kalimantan Island, where Brunei is located, has long formed a chieftaincy country with abundant resources in the rainforest. In China's historical materials, Brunei at that time was also known as the Bohai Country.
Because it was close to China, Ancient Brunei was deeply influenced by China, and even sent emissaries to Visit China at one time and took the initiative to make a good relationship. The Chinese rulers at that time were very impressed with Brunei and very rich.
According to the Old Book of Tang, the king of Brunei "wore a flower shape like a leather benton, dressed in pearls, and sat on a golden bed".
Occupying a rich land without matching strength led to Brunei being occupied and ruled by the kingdoms of Srivijaya and Majibacha for 500 years from the 9th century to the 14th century, and became vassals.
Later, with the development of trade, the Sultanate in Malacca took advantage of the rise, and the weak Brunei became a vassal of the Sultanate. Under the rule of the Sultanate, Brunei accepted a violent onslaught of Islamic culture.
However, the Sultanate soon fell into civil unrest, which also caused a large number of traders to flee to Brunei. With the wealth of merchants and sea routes, Brunei was finally freed from slavery and became an independent country.
However, the good times did not last long, located in the south-central Philippines, the Sulu State again set its sights on brunei this piece of fat, fortunately, the Ming Dynasty general Huang Senping, at the behest of Zhu Yuanzhang, went to sea to explore Borneo (that is, Kalimantan Island), and accidentally broke the siege for Brunei.
Huang Senping and others were forced to develop on the spot in the eastern part of Kalimantan Island, because they mastered the advanced technology of the Ming Dynasty, so they quickly developed into a force to be reckoned with. When the king of Brunei learned of this, he was ecstatic and hoped to get huang Senping's help.
The two countries had been in contact for a long time, and Huang Senping agreed to the marriage and alliance of the king of Brunei, and soon won the war with the Sulu State, while also allowing Brunei to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty.
Since then, Brunei has grown stronger, not only occupying the entire island of Kalimantan, but also incorporating the south-central Philippines into its pockets, making it an extremely powerful country in Southeast Asia.
A colonial power that is on the verge of collapse
During the feudal period, Brunei seized the opportunity to leap against the wind and become a powerful empire entrenched in Southeast Asia, but in the age of great navigation, Brunei fell into a more difficult situation.
The earliest was Portugal, which controlled the Malacca region in 1511, and the weak Portuguese chose to trade with countries such as Brunei and earned a lot of economic gains.
Then Spain, with its strong guns, took Manila and Sulu from Brunei, and later with Brunei's tenacious resistance, Spain's hegemony did not succeed, but it also caused Brunei's trade center status to begin to decline.
Later, the Brunei royal family fell into infighting, so the Dutch took advantage of the loophole and had to retreat to the north shore of Kalimantan. I thought that there was no trouble in this way, but after the rise of the Glorious Revolution, Britain set its sights on the land of Southeast Asia.
In the 19th century, the declining Brunei region discovered precious antimony mines in Sarawak and increased the proportion of taxes levied on the area, which triggered local riots.
Brunei sent minister Muda Hassim to quell the rebellion, but Hassim, aware of the dangers, sought British help, and it became clear that the rebellion was quelled and the British got sarawak as they wished.
In 1843, Brunei repented, and as a result, the capital was looted by British colonial troops, and Labuan, which was rich in coal mines. In desperation, Brunei cooperated with the United States, and as a result, the land lease in Sabah finally fell into the hands of the British.
Until 1888, Brunei was forced to sign the British Brunei Treaty to prevent the annihilation of the country, which made the country even weaker, not only lost diplomatic rights, but even the status inheritance had to be approved by the British government.
Since then, Brunei has been insurrection, the territory has been divided into two by Malaysia, the British mining Brunei oil, the Japanese invasion and destruction... By the end of World War II, Brunei was in ruins and plummeting.
A small country after liberation
After World War II, the British reoccupied Brunei, but the colonial liberation movement was on the rise. Brunei saw the liberation of Indonesia and followed suit, fighting for liberation, eventually gaining autonomy in 1959.
After that, there were several rebellions, and by 1984, Britain completely recognized Brunei's independence status and relinquished all colonial powers, and this colonial rule, which lasted for more than 300 years, finally came to an end.
At this time, Brunei had only 5765 square kilometers left.
epilogue
The rise of the feudal period to the decline of the colonial period, Brunei's transformation from a former Southeast Asian power to a small country today seems to be the inevitable result of history. In the face of the impact of the trend of the times, if a country cannot make the right choice, the result can only be to decline.
It is worth mentioning that after the complete liberation of Brunei, relying on the huge profits brought by oil, the national welfare is abundant. Health care and education are all free, which is one of the rising among many small countries.
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