1803-1868. British administrator who became
rajah of Sarawak, on Borneo, 1841. Born near
Benares, he served in the army of the East
India Company. In 1838 he headed a private
expedition to Borneo, where he helped to
suppress a revolt, and when the sultan gave
him the title of rajah of Sarawak, Brooke
became known as the `the white rajah'. He was
succeeded as rajah by his nephew, Sir Charles
Johnson (1829-1917), whose son Sir Charles
Vyner (1874-1963) in 1946 arranged for the
transfer of Sarawak to the British crown.