White Rajahs

Rajah of Sarawak
Coat of arms
HH Sir James Brooke, 1st Rajah of Sarawak
Details
Style	His Highness
First monarch	James Brooke
Last monarch	Charles Vyner Brooke
Formation	1841; 183 years ago (1841)
Abolition	1946; 78 years ago (1946)
Residence	The Astana, Kuching
Appointer	Hereditary
Pretender(s)	John Brooke Johnson Brooke, Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke

The White Rajahs were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of British origin, the first ruler, James Brooke was granted the province of Kuching – which was known as Sarawak Asal (Original Sarawak) – by the Sultanate of Brunei for helping fight piracy and insurgency among the indigenous peoples in 1841 and received independent kingdom status.

Based on descent through the male line in accordance with the will of James Brooke, the White Rajahs' dynasty continued through Brooke's nephew and grandnephew, the latter of whom ceded his rights over Sarawak to the United Kingdom in 1946, which was made a Crown colony. His nephew had been the legal heir to the throne and objected to the cession, as did most of the Sarawak members of the Council Negri.