Sarawak is ceded by the Sultan of Brunei in 1842 to the British adventurer James Brooke, whose successors will rule as the White Rajahs over an independent kingdom until 1946, when it will become a crown colony.

Disturbances had occurred in Sarawak during the reign of Brunei's Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II.

Brooke had arrived in Borneo in 1839, and had helped the Sultan put down this rebellion.

As a reward, he had become governor and later "White Rajah" of Sarawak and gradually expands the territory under his control.

Brooke will never gain control of Brunei, though he does attempt to.

He asks the British to check whether or not it will be acceptable for him to claim Brunei as his own; however, they come back with bad news—although Brunei is poorly governed, it has a definite sense of national identity and can therefore not be absorbed by Brooke.

In 1843 an open conflict between Brooke and the Sultan ends in the latter's defeat.

The Sultan recognizes Sarawak's independence.

In 1846, Brunei Town is attacked and captured by the British and Sultan Saifuddin II is forced to sign a treaty to end the British occupation of Brunei Town.

In the same year, Sultan Saifuddin II cedes Labuan to the British under the Treaty of Labuan.

In 1847, he signs the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the British and in 1850, he signs a similar treaty with the United States, which, after a series of events, results in the first consul of the U.S., Charles Lee Moses, burning down his consulate.