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Navy of Brunei
Navy of Brunei
Malay: Tentera Laut Brunei; Jawi: تنترا لاوت بروني
	Naval Flag of Bruneian Empire in 1601
Active	1408 – 1888 or 1904
Disbanded	1888 or 1904
Country	Brunei
Allegiance	Bruneian Sultan
Type	Navy
Size	100 boats (in 1521),; 50 boats (in 1578)
Part of	Military of the Bruneian Sultanate
Garrison/HQ	Kota Batu; Kampong Ayer
Equipment	Lanong, Kumpit, Jong, Prau, Penjajap and Garay
Engagements	Castilian War; Bruneian-Tundun War (landing force);
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Aki (early life)

The Navy of Brunei (Malay: Tentera Laut Brunei; Jawi: تنترا لاوت بروني) also known as the Bruneian Fleet (Armada Brunei; آرمادا بروني) and the Royal Bruneian Navy (Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei; تنترا لاوت ديراجا بروني), was the naval component of the military force of the Sultanate of Brunei. It lasted from 1408 to 1888.

History

Origin (1408–1485)

Following Brunei's independence from the Majapahit Empire in 1408, the Bruneian Navy was established in 1408 as the maritime counterpart of the Bruneian Army. Initially positioned at Kota Batu, its primary mission was to safeguard the capital from piracy. The new navy likely underwent training and staffing under Bajau officers, leveraging their expertise in handling boats. The Bajau people continued to play a crucial role in the navy throughout the Sultanate's existence.^{[citation needed]}

Golden Age (1485–1598)

in 1500, the Bruneian Royal Navy engaged in a conflict in Luzon, against Tondo, acting as a landing force. In 1521, Antonio Pigafetta documented that Brunei's navy had a fleet of over one hundred boats, these were involved in an attack with a faction in the south, possibly modern day Kalimantan.^[2] The noteworthy advancements occurred within the navy during Sultan Bolkiah's reign. To enhance Brunei's naval capabilities, forty Javanese blacksmiths were paid, potentially paving the way for the introduction of cannon casting. Sultan Bolkiah is credited as the first Bruneian sultan to ever utilise gunpowder, raises the possibility that the Javanese played a role in introducing cannon technology to Brunei.^[3]^: 10–11 On 15 April 1578, a Spanish armada comprising forty galleons^{[citation needed]} appeared off the coast of Brunei, following the Sultan's rejection of a treaty with the Spaniards in 1573. As soon as Francisco de Sande realised the Sultan of Brunei would not accept his demands, de Sande sent his fleet to attack the fifty Brunei's penjajap warships; the fifty Bruneian warships almost encircling de Sande. The strong ties between the sultanates of Brunei and Pahang were noted in Chinese accounts from 1573 to 1619, which related how, when Johor attacked Pahang, a Brunei sultan came to Pahang's aid and assisted in the city's victory. The sultan stated was likely to be Sultan Muhammad Hasan, due to the marriage relations established between the two sultanates' royal houses. When Sultan Abdul Ghafur of Pahang traveled to and stayed in Brunei with his wife, it was another indication of the close ties that exist between these two sultanates. The Pahang's legal code was copied from the Malaccan legal code; Sultan Muhammad Hasan was able to do so because of their strong bond. This line of reasoning, however, is disputed, because 21 out of the 50 clauses in the Brunei's legal code have similarities to the Malaccan Code.^[4]

Decline (1598–1888)

In 1673, Brunei denies the claim of never giving eastern Sabah to the Sulu Sultanate; as there is no written evidence of the transfer.^[5] Despite this, this traces the roots of the North Borneo dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines in the present day.^[6]^[7] The Sultanate was in a poor state by the 1880s. Both Sarawak, under Rajah Brooke, and the British North Borneo business had taken more territory.^[8] In 1888, the Sultanate of Brunei's navy was disbanded by Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin, and would later replaced by the modern day Royal Brunei Navy after independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984.

Structure

Much of the information about Brunei's naval structure in 1408 until 1888 is unknown.

Equipment

Big ships

Lanong^[9]

Medium ships

Kumpit^[10]

Trading ships and small ships

Uniforms

The uniforms of navy is unknown, but they probably used Baju Melayu, the standard clothing of the time.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ de Aganduru Moriz, Rodrigo (1882). Historia general de las Islas Occidentales a la Asia adyacentes, llamadas Philipinas (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Colección de Documentos inéditos para la historia de España, v.78–79.; Impr. de Miguel Ginesta.
^ Gin, Ooi Keat; King, Victor T. (29 July 2022). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-56864-6 – via Google Books.
^ Jalil, Ahmad Safwan (2012). Southeast Asian Cannon Making in Negara Brunei Darussalam (MA thesis). Flinders University.
^ Gin, Ooi Keat; King, Victor T. (29 July 2022). Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-56864-6.
^ Awang Asbol. Persejarahan Brunei (in Malay).
^ Wright, Leigh R. (1966). "Historical Notes on the North Borneo Dispute". The Journal of Asian Studies. 25 (3): 471–484. doi:10.2307/2052002. JSTOR 2052002. S2CID 154355668.
^ Marston, Geoffrey (1967). "International Law and the Sabah Dispute: A Postscript" (PDF). Australian International Law Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
^ Yunos, Rozan (17 October 2016). "Brunei in 1888 – the golden legacy". BruneiResources.blogspot.com. The Brunei Times. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
^ Abdul Majid, Harun (2008). Muslim Adventurers of the Eastern Seas (1618-1798). ISBN 9789812307573. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
^ Hawkins, Clifford W. (2009). Boats, Boatbuilding, and Fishing in Malaysia. the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. ISBN 9789679948448.
^ Francis Warren, James (1981). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State. NUS Press. ISBN 9789971693862.