List Of Sultans Of Brunei

The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates back to the 14th century. The Sultan of Brunei can be thought of as synonymous with the ruling House of Bolkiah, with generations being traced from the first sultan, Muhammad Shah, temporarily interrupted by the thirteenth sultan, Abdul Hakkul Mubin, who in turn was deposed by a member of the House of Bolkiah. The sultan's full title is His Majesty The Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

Sultans

His Majesty The Sultan’s Flight

The Sultan has had a private fleet of VIP aircraft since 1979https://www.Helios.com/database/org/Brunei-Government/ consisting of Boeing 747-8(V8-BKH) Boeing 767-200 (V8-MHB) and Boeing 787-8 (V8-OAS), as well as helicopters such as Sikorsky S70 and S76.

The aircraft fleet are not part of the nation’s Air Force. Other than the 747-8, the other two aircraft sport Royal Brunei Airlines colours.

Uncertainties

The earliest historical record of the Sultans of Brunei is not clearly known due to the poor early documentation of Brunei history. In addition there has been an effort to ''Islamise'' the history, with the "official history" not matching up with verifiable foreign sources The '' Batu Tarsilah'', the genealogical record of the kings of Brunei, was not started until 1807. Therefore, much of the interpretation of history relied on earlier Chinese sources and legends. It seems that the early Sultanate of Brunei was dependent on Chinese support, and perhaps early Sultans were of Chinese origin. Furthermore, the earliest Sultans may have been practicing the Hindu or Buddhist religions, with early names indicating this origin.

In recent years, Brunei's historiography has been reexamined due to the disparity between the official regnal years of the sultans and the historical facts that are currently available. An unnamed Tagalog trader who resided in Brunei before to 1590 made the first recorded attempt to document the country's history; John S. Carroll subsequently published his work. By claiming that the Bruneis were invaders who subjugated the indigenous Bisayahs, this merchant distinguished clearly between accepted customs and empirical evidence. Although traditional belief credited this migration to Sultan Yuso, who supposedly came in Brunei after orchestrating a major exodus from the Malay-speaking city of Cauin, he suggested that the Bruneians moved from the Mekong Delta in the late 17th century. The trader said that Sultan Yuso conquered the Bisayahs, found riches, and was then granted power by the Chinese Emperor. Even while his story is full with regional folklore, it also makes reference to actual monarchs like Sultan Soliman and Sultan Abdul Kahar, which helps establish him as a reliable historian.

The next important character in Brunei's history is Datuk Imam Ya'akub, who wrote between 1680 and 1690, under Sultan Aliuddin's rule. He put together a ''Silsilah'' that served as the foundation for the initial sections of two books that Amin Sweeney revised. Regretfully, these passages contradict each other, casting doubt on Ya'akub's actual identification of Sultan Ahmad and whether he was referring to the Chinese mandarin Ong Sum Ping or Sultan Muhammad's brother. This suggests that the text has been corrupted over time. Sir Hugh Low stands out among the European explorers of Southeast Asia due to his intense interest in history. Prior to Donald Brown's publication of his work in 1970, his 1880 submission to the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society was the first significant modern attempt to record Brunei's history. Despite having access to Pengiran Kasuma's ''Silsilah'' and other records, Low was unable to date Brunei's historical chronology since it lacked dates and allusions to outside events. Given the lengthy reigns of multiple sultans at that time, he surmised that the adoption of Islam and the founding of the dynasty most likely took place about 1403, but they may have happened earlier.

Due to differing opinions on the number of sultans mentioned in the ''Silsilah'', it has been difficult to determine the exact date of Muhammad Shah. This disparity calls into doubt not only the notable lack of documents from 1690 to 1790, but also co-reigning sultans, competing monarchs, and lesser-known individuals, like the newborn Olivier van Noort cited. Sweeney's critical edition of the London manuscripts of the ''Silsilah'' was supposed to further historical study in Brunei, but in the end, it didn't because the inconsistencies in the texts made researchers hesitant to conduct more in-depth research. A significant contribution was made in 1970 by Brown, who collected several historical views in his study ''Brunei: The Structure and History of a Bornean Malay Sultanate''. He brought up Paul Pelliot's association between Mahmud Shah and Ma-ha-mo-sha, implying that Muhammad Shah's rule may have begun as early as the 14th century. But Brown also cited P. Manuel Teixeira's analysis of 's correspondence, which suggested that there were two different Bruneis: a pagan and a Muslim. Local academics opposed this idea, arguing that Brunei was established as a Muslim kingdom under Muhammad Shah from the beginning, so confirming the idea that it has always been a shining example of Islam in Southeast Asia.

An inscription discovered in 1979 indicated that Abdul Majid Hassan, the son of Muhammad Shah, passed away in A.H. 440/ A.D. 1048. This would have placed Brunei as the first Muslim kingdom in Southeast Asia and dated Muhammad Muhammad's rule to the early 17th century. However, experts eventually refuted this notion. The release of an erroneous family tree that featured the fake Abdul Majid dashed hopes for a more academic study of Brunei's history, which had been raised by the establishment of the Brunei History Centre in 1984. A new history curriculum that mandated extensive textbooks in 1987 heightened the drive for clarity in Brunei's history and raised serious concerns about the reign of Muhammad Shah, Bendahara Sakam's accomplishments, and the circumstances surrounding Muhammad Aliuddin's death in 1690. In 1988, these important historical questions were still being debated.

See also

* Line of succession to the Bruneian throne
* Malay styles and titles

References

{{Monarchies

Sultans
Brunei