Sir James Brooke (1803-1868) was a British empire builder and the first "white ruler" of Sarawak, Borneo. Founder of a dynasty, Brooke ruled with integrity, justice, and a sympathetic understanding of the indigenous population.

James Brooke was born on April 29, 1803, in Benares, India, son of Thomas Brooke, a judge of the High Court of India. At 15 James was sent to England for his schooling, and in 1819 he joined the armed forces of the East India Company. He was seriously wounded in the First Burmese War of 1824 and returned to England to recuperate. Upon his return to India in 1829, he resigned from the East India Company, and en route home again to England he visited China and Malaya.

Greatly impressed with the Malay Archipelago, Brooke invested in a yacht, the Royalist, and a trained crew, and in 1839 he arrived in northern Borneo to carry out scientific research and exploration...