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Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke

Sarawak raja

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Sir Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke was the third and final "white raja" of Sarawak, ruling from 1917 to 1946. He inherited the position from his father, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke, and his great-uncle, James Brooke, who had established the Brooke Raj dynasty in Sarawak in 1841.1

Under Vyner Brooke's rule, Sarawak saw gradual modernization, including the development of public services and the introduction of a penal code modeled on British India. Following World War I, economic booms in rubber and oil further integrated Sarawak into the global economy. In 1941, on the centenary of Brooke rule, a constitution was proclaimed to establish self-government, but Sarawak was subsequently occupied by the Japanese during World War II. After the war, Vyner Brooke decided to cede Sarawak to Great Britain, ending the Brooke rule on July 1, 1946, after a family dispute.1

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