UTS researchers document history of Kerajaan Banting

KUCHING: Efforts are underway to document the history of Kerajaan Banting through a book aimed at preserving its stories, figures and links to Sarawak’s wider past.

The Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Fauziah Mohd Sanusi received a delegation of academics from the University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) today (Sept 28) to review the book’s contents.

Titled ‘The Hidden Jewel of the Interior: A Story of Kerajaan Banting’, the book is being developed as a structured historical account based on available sources and research.

The UTS delegation was led by project leader and author Associate Professor Dr Muhammad Firdaus Abong Abdullah, together with researchers Nabella Holling and Esther Rachel Beruin.

During the three-hour session, Wan Junaidi and the researchers reviewed and exchanged information on various aspects of Kerajaan Banting’s history.

Among the subjects discussed were warriors Pahlawan Khamis, Pahlawan Janting and Pahlawan Ijau, as well as the era of Rajah James Brooke and Sultan Tengah.

The discussion also explored links with the histories of Brunei, Srivijaya and Majapahit.

Another area examined was Tengku Sayyid Akil Al Ben Yahya, who is also recorded as Sayyid Agil in a chart by the Brunei History Centre.

The researchers also discussed Wan Junaidi’s maternal lineage from the Al-Eydrus family and the possibility of historical sources, family documents and oral traditions that have yet to be formally recorded.

Wan Junaidi said documenting the history of Kerajaan Banting could help present and future generations better understand the origins and development of communities as well as Sarawak’s wider historical heritage.

He and Fauziah welcomed the research initiative and expressed hope that the project would produce a credible work that contributes to Sarawak’s historical and intellectual resources.

They also expressed appreciation to the three UTS academics for their research into Kerajaan Banting and related genealogical history.