Often overlooked in today's post-colonialist era, James Brooke was in his own time thought to be the best fighting man at sea since Horatio Nelson. His achievements were notable; he established himself as the ruler of his own effectively independent state with little initial supplies and official dismay and occasional hostility of the British government. He also continued to war against the pirates that infested the area (and still do today), and provided both a stable government and protection for the indigenous cultures of Sarawak.

Brooke was born in 1803, the son of an East India Company civil servant. At the age of sixteen James Brooke joined the East India Company's Army. Wounded in 1825 while campaigning in Burma he went to England to recuperate, and was dismissed in 1830 from the Company's service when he returned to Madras, India, too late.

In 1835, his father died and left him £30,000, which he used as capital to purchase a ship, The Royalist. After setting sail for Borneo in 1838, he arrived in Kuching in August of the same year to find the settlement facing a Dayak uprising against the Sultan of Brunei.

The then-current sultan, Omar Ali, was feeble minded and the Muslim overlords in Sarawak ruled only to extort as much as the could from the indigenous peoples such as the gentle Land-Dyaks and Muruts and to a lesser extent from the fiercer tribes such as the Kayans and the much feared head-hunting Sea-Dyaks. Brunei's actual control over Sarawak was limited to a few forts and coastal outposts, with the interior mostly controlled by local warlords.

Offering his aid to the Sultan, Brooke and his crew helped bring about a peaceful settlement, aligning himself with the Sultan’s heir the Rajah Muda Hasim, who was also the Sultan’s regent in Sarawak. Hasim initially offered to invest him with the province of Sarawak and confer on him the title of Rajah, but later had second thoughts; in response Brooke sailed to Kuching, sighted his guns on Hasim’s palace, landed with a small force (all Brooke really had) and requested an immediate interview with the bewildered and frightened Regent. He managed to convey the impression he was capable of taking the country by force as a rebel leader. On November 24th 1841 in a long and elaborate ceremony Brooke was proclaimed Governor and Rajah of Sarawak.

As the ruler of Sarawak Brooke codified the law, fighting piracy and imposing an organized system of taxation along with a civil service. The response in England was less than enthused; Brooke was accused of being a pirate and an adventurer, charges that continued to haunt him despite the review by a royal commission in 1851.

Brooke returned to England for a brief visit in 1847, where he was given the freedom of the city of London and was created a KCB. Brooke continued to battle piracy until his death in 1868; he also kept out Christian missionaries, helping to preserve the indigenous culture of Sarawak (to an extent – he did suppress headhunting). He was succeeded as Rajah by his nephew, Charles Johnson Brooke. It was his nephew Charles who was the great builder, both in terms of public buildings, forts and extending the borders of the state. The Rajahs of Sarawak were eventually ranked by the English as being equal to the Rajahs of India.

James Brooke was, of course, not perfect. He did believe in the superiority of western civilization, and his rule was paternalistic, following the concept of the white man's burden. But overall the Brooke dynasty was well received by the locals, who might well be ruling today had not the Japanese invasion during World War Two driven the Brookes to Australia, where Charles Vyner Brooke, the third and final rajah, was persuaded to cede the isle to Britain. This was not entirely well-received on Sarawak. Anthony Brooke, the nephew and heir of Charles Vyner Brooke, initially opposed cession to the Crown along with a majority of the native members of the Council Negri, or parliament. Duncan Stewart, the second British governor to Sarawak, was subsequently assassinated in the resulting unrest. There were questions raised as to whether a majority of the peoples of Sarawak truly wished to be incorporated into Malaysia.

Although successive post-federation Malaysian governments have attempted to downplay and to a certain extent, denounce the Brooke Raj the period of their rule is generally thought of favorably on Sarawak. Modern Kuching still boasts many businesses and attractions which capitalize upon the era of the White Rajahs. The population of Sarawak is notably different from peninsular Malaysia, with far greater variation due to the large proportion of tribal peoples such as the Iban and Dyaks, as well as decendants of Chinese and Indian migration which was encouraged at various times by the Brookes.