From Raja to Prime Minister

Some twenty years after the Sultan of Brunei had bestowed upon the Englishman James Brooke the title of Rajah of Sarawak, giving him extensive authorities over a large tract of land, an American, Joseph William Torrey, United States consul in Brunei, gained the right to call himself Rajah of Marudu and Ambong. Though Torrey’s efforts failed to establish a profitable business in Sabah, they formed the root of the British North Borneo Company. Torrey probably was one of the last of his kind. Elsewhere in the Pacific, European and American residents and adventurers did not bother much about nativ... Mehr ...