A Brief History of Bau

Introduction

Maybe it is not a well known fact, that, if it wasn't because of Bau, James Brooke, the first White Rajah, would never have come to rule Sarawak.
The name 'Bau', only came into being in the early 1857, after the abortive Bau Chinese Rebellion of 1857.
In the early 1800's, the old name of Bau District was 'Upper Sarawak'. There was no such place called Bau. The old name of Bau Town was 'Mau San' or 'Bukit Mau'. This Settlement was established in between 1820 - 1830 by Chinese Miners from Sambas, Indonesia, after the discovery of Gold and Antimony in the district.
History has shown that Bau is one of the oldest and richest (in term of mineral resources) districts in Sarawak. In the olden days, Bau was not only a well known mining district but also one of great historical importance.

Bau Native Rebellion of 1836.

(Installation of James Brooke as the first White Rajah of Sarawak.)

The discovery of gold and Antimony in Bau district in 1823, was the turning point in the history of Sarawak. Sarawak at this time was under the rule of Brunei.
Sarawak (present day Kuching/Samarahan Division) at that time was under a tyrannical Governor named Pengiran Mahkota.
In 1826, Pengiran Mahkota, forced the Land Dayaks (Bidayuhs) and Malays in the District to work in the Antimony Mines, with hardly any wages. To add salt to injury, he took away their padi and boats. He even took away and sold Land Dayak women and children as slaves.
After suffering for 10 years, the Land Dayaks and Malays rebelled against Pengiran Mahkota in 1836. The rebells headquarters was in Sinawan. The rebellion dragged on for some years because neither could defeat each other.
It was in 1839, at the height of the Civil War, that James Brooke, an English Adventurer, made his first visit to Sarawak. James Brooke became enchanted with the place and revisited Kuching in August 1840.
The Civil war was still going on. Pengiran Muda Hassim (an envoy of Brunei Sultan - send to quell the rebellion), promised Brooke, that, if he could assist him to settle the Civil War, the country of Upper Sarawak (Bau District) and Sarawak proper (Kuching) would be given to him and he would be granted the title of Rajah.
By this time, the Land Dayaks had been defeated due to starvation. Thus by the end of 1840, without much effort and a little intervention by Brooke, the war ended.
Peace was finally restored. James Brooke took control of the administration of Sarawak.
On 24th September 1841, James Brooke was installed as the first White Rajah of Sarawak. (Kuching/Samarahan Division only)

Bau Chinese Rebellion of 1857.

(How Bau got its name.)

The Chinese miners in 'Mau San' (Old Bau) was already well established since 1820. They were well contented in their free way of life due to loose control and poor administration by Brunei.
But after James Brooke was installed as Rajah of Sarawak in 1841, he imposed taxes, prohibited direct trading of opium and wine with foreign countries, prohibited direct export of gold and antimony. In 1856, the Rajah allowed the formation of the Borneo Company to mine gold in Bau.
The above factors caused the Chinese Miners to rebelled against the Rajah. Obeying the new rules of a White Devil was too much.
The rebellion started on 18th February 1857. 600 men paddled down Sarawak river from Pangkalan Bau to Kuching. They attacked Kuching and the Astana in the early morning of 19th February. Somehow, James Brooke manage to escape by swimming across the Sarawak river. The Chinese Miners burnt down the Astana, killed and beheaded 5 Europeans.
The rebellion was doomed to fail from the beginning. There was no proper planning, the Miners lacked weapons and proper military training. There was no support from the local community, especially the natives.
Thus when news came that, the Tuan Muda (Charles Brooke) with the aid of Iban warriors from second Division (Skrang) was coming to avenge the death of the Europeans, the Chinese Miners decided to retreat from Kuching to Bau.
On 22th February 1857, they retreated upriver. But at Jugan Sinawan they were attacked and defeated by the combined forces of Ibans and Malays loyal to Brooke. More then a hundred Miners were killed, including their leader. Dead and decomposed bodies were found everywhere. The place where this happened is now called 'Buso' (in malay, it means rotten/stink/decomposed).
The remaining 100 miners retreated to Bau, collected their families and belongings and escaped to Sambas, Indonesia. Most of them perished on the way.
The families that have lost their men and were unable to escape to Indonesia, hid in the Ghost Cave or fled into the jungle. There were no mercy for them. Each and everyone were hunted down and killed by the Rajah forces. Those who hid in the Ghost cave were burnt or suffocated to death.(a few hundred women and children). 'Mau San' Chinese Mining Settlement was set on fire on 25th February 1857. Total number of Chinese killed was about 2000.
The burnt bodies in Ghost caves and decomposed bodies around 'Mau San' produced bad smell for weeks. Because of the bad smell, it was believed that 'Bau' (it means bad smell/smelly in Malay) got its name.

Bidayuh Version of How Bau got its name.

The Chinese from Sambas, estabished their settlement in Mau San (now called Bau Lama), in the 1820's, near to the present Bau Town. It was centered around the goldmine. The Sarawak Kanan river (sungei Pedie) flow close by. The river was their source of water supply and transport. As the settlement grew, the Bidayuh living in the area started to barter trade with the Chinese and some even found employment in the mines. The Bidayuh started to call the settlement 'Kupuo Baauh' or New Village. To a non-Bidayuh it is hard to pronoun 'baauh' and the name was corrupted to 'Bau'. This is a more plausible origin to the name Bau. Nothing to do with bad smell.

'Shak Lo Moun'.

The Hakka Chinese name for Bau is 'Shak Lo Moun' meaning 'rock entrance' or 'cave door'. This is in reference to the many limestone caves found in the district.

Perhaps a history student should research about the origins of Bau. I would like to know whether some body has written a comprehensive history about the settlement of Bau.

Quop Contribution to James Brooke's Kingdom

(This input is from Ches. email address: ycorin@hotmail.com )

There's really lack of information on the Quop's Dayak involvement in the putting down of the Chinese rebellion in your articles. Bidayuh too (Biatah, Siburan) contribute a lot to help James Brooke . (see William Nais comment in the Malaysian Borneo magazine.)

It is undoubtedly that Bidayuh are James Brooke's earliest ally. Not only did James Brooke just crossed the Sarawak River when the rebellion started -- if not mistaken he tooke refuge in Quop. There he enlisted the help of the Quop people to help him going after the rebels.

Quop too used to have a longhouse -- Remin Betang except without the Panggah (or Baruk). Folks would normally balik kampong, sort of to the Rais, ie. the Up country Mother Village -- that was then.

Should there be any comments, corrections or additions to the above please email me.

Page mantained by: Paul Remek Date created : Saturday, March 30, 1996 Last Updated : Saturday, March 30, 1996

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