Books by Stephen C Druce
Origins, History and Social Structure in Brunei Darussalam
Origins, history and social structures in Brunei Darussalam, 2021
This wide-ranging book re-evaluates in detail the early history and historiography of Brunei Daru... more This wide-ranging book re-evaluates in detail the early history and historiography of Brunei Darussalam, the origins of the sultanate, its gene-alogical foundations and the structure and administration of Brunei society. Contributors draw on the seminal work of Donald E. Brown whose major monograph on the sultanate was published in 1970 and marked the beginnings of advanced sociological, anthropological and historical research on Brunei. Among the key issues addressed are status systems, titles and social stratification, Chinese sources for the study of Brunei, Malay oral and written histories and traditions, the symbolism, meanings and origins of coronation rituals, previously unknown sources for the study of Brunei history and the processes of incorporation of minority populations into the sultanate. Contributions by leading scholars of Brunei, Borneo and the wider Indonesian-Malay world, both from within Brunei Darussalam and beyond, address some central preoccupations which Brown raised and which have been the subject of continued debate in Austronesian and Southeast Asian studies. A novel contribution to the study of the history of Brunei Darussalam, this book will be of interest to scholars of Southeast Asian history, Asian history, Colonial and Imperial history and anthropology. Victor T. King is Professor of Borneo Studies at the Institute of Asian Studies , Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Emeritus Professor of South East Asian Studies, University of Leeds, UK. He is the co-author of The Modern Anthropology of SouthEast Asia (Routledge 2006) and co-editor of the Rou-tledge series Modern Anthropology of SouthEast Asia.
Continuity and Change in Brunei Darussalam. London: Routledge, 2021
This book analyses the processes of social and economic change in Brunei Darussalam. Drawing on r... more This book analyses the processes of social and economic change in Brunei Darussalam. Drawing on recent studies undertaken by both locally based scholars and senior researchers from outside the state, the book explores the underlying strengths, characteristics, and uniqueness of Malay Islamic Monarchy in Brunei Darussalam in a historical context and examines these in an increasingly challenging regional and global environment. It considers events in Brunei's recent history and current socio-cultural transformations, which give expression to the traumatic years of decolonisation in Southeast Asia. A wide range of issues focus on foreign, non-Bruneian narratives of Brunei as against insider or domestic accounts of the sultanate, the status of minority ethnic groups in Brunei and the concept of 'Brunei society', as well as changes in the character and composition of the famous 'water village', Kampong Ayer, as the cultural heartland of Brunei Malay culture and the socio-cultural and economic effects of the resettlement of substantial segments of the population from a 'life on water' to a 'life on land'. A timely and very important study on Brunei Darussalam, the book will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists, historians, geographers, and area studies specialists in Southeast Asian Studies and Asian Studies.
In 2012, the Communist Party of China (CPC) inaugurated the Xi Jinping era when it elected him to... more In 2012, the Communist Party of China (CPC) inaugurated the Xi Jinping era when it elected him to be the General Secretary of the CPC. The following year Xi was elected President of the People’s Republic of China. The Xi Jinping era has seen a remarkable transformation of Chinese foreign policy, which has been adjusted to facilitate the achievement of what Xi has proclaimed as “the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.” Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative has become a major element of Chinese economic diplomacy, while the Chinese military-industrial complex under his leadership has strengthened China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea with reclamation works and the installation of military facilities on its occupied islands. This edited volume will focus on the countries of Southeast Asia and examine how their relations with China have been transformed in the Xi Jinping era.
Orality, writing and history: The literature of the Bugis and Makasar of South Sulawesi, ed. Stephen C. Druce, International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2016
1.Orality, Writing and History: The literature of the Bugis and Makasar of South Sulawesi (Introd... more 1.Orality, Writing and History: The literature of the Bugis and Makasar of South Sulawesi (Introduction to Special Issue), by Stephen C. Druce
2.Christian Pelras and His Work, by Campbell Macknight
3.Orality and Writing among the Bugis (trans. Campbell Macknight), by Christian Pelras
4.The Media of Bugis Literature: A Coda to Pelras, by Campbell Macknight
5.Transmitting the past in South Sulawesi: The hikajat Sawitto and other Bugis and Makasar Historical Works, by Stephen C. Druce
6.Family Matters: Bugis Genealogies and their Contribution to Austronesian Studies, by Ian Caldwell and Kathryn Wellen
7.The Inside View on Makassar's Sixteenth to Seventeenth Century History: Changing Marital Alliances and Settlement Patterns, by David Bulbeck
8.The Pau-paunna Indale Patara: Sufism and the Bugis Adaption and Transformation of the hikayat Indra Putera, by Nurhayati Rahman
9.Narratives of Sexuality in Bugis and Makasar Manuscripts, by Muhlis Hadrawi
The period 1200-1600 CE saw a radical transformation from simple chiefdoms to kingdoms (in archae... more The period 1200-1600 CE saw a radical transformation from simple chiefdoms to kingdoms (in archaeological terminology, complex chiefdoms) across lowland South Sulawesi, a region that lay outside the ‘classical’ Indicized parts of Southeast Asia. The rise of these kingdoms was stimulated and economically supported by trade in prestige goods with other parts of island Southeast Asia, yet the development of these kingdoms was determined by indigenous, rather than imported, political and cultural precepts. Starting in the thirteenth century, the region experienced a transition from swidden cultivation to wet-rice agriculture; rice was the major product that the lowland kingdoms of South Sulawesi exchanged with archipelagic traders.
Stephen Druce demonstrates this progression to political complexity by combining a range of sources and methods, including oral, textual, archaeological, linguistic and geographical information and analysis as he explores the rise and development of five South Sulawesi kingdoms, known collectively as Ajattappareng (the Lands West of the Lakes).
The author also presents an inquiry into oral traditions of a historical nature in South Sulawesi. He examines their functions, their processes of transmission and transformation, their uses in writing history and their relationship to written texts. He shows that any distinction between oral and written traditions of a historical nature is largely irrelevant, and that the South Sulawesi chronicles, which can be found only for a small number of kingdoms, are not characteristic (as historians have argued) but exceptional in the corpus of indigenous South Sulawesi historical sources.
The book will be of primary interest to scholars of pre-European-contact Southeast Asia, including historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists and geographers, and scholars with a broader interest in oral tradition and the relationship between the oral and written registers.
Articles/Chapters by Stephen C Druce
Leangleang Maros: Gerbang Peradaban Purba Dunia, edited by Muhlis Hadrawi, Hasanuddin, Yadi Mulyadi and Dedy Irfan, 2026
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei, 2023
The chapter discusses the development of the writing of Brunei history over the last six decades.... more The chapter discusses the development of the writing of Brunei history over the last six decades. The review of the historiographic production generally highlights the range of debates, approaches, major themes and issues that scholars have focused upon and how this relates to the important role history plays in modern Brunei. In the 1960s and 1970s, the writing of Brunei history significantly reflected Brunei’s relationship with Britain, with the notable exception of Donald Brown (1970)’s ‘peerless monograph’ that solely focuses on local dimensions and the internal dynamics of the sultanate. In the 1980s, a growing body of studies by local scholars spurred the emergence of national history. Many of the studies were produced by archaeologists, historians and intellectuals affiliated with the Brunei History Centre, the Brunei Museum and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). The utilisation of traditional manuscripts and oral sources equally contributed to the expansion of an autonomous historiography, as such sources increasingly gained currency and acceptance as a vital form of indigenous history. In surveying the writings on modern Brunei, we identified the ascendancy of Brunei political history that subsequently established a major and firm niche within the broader context of Brunei historiography. Moreover, in the 1980s, there was a new historiographical trend on non-political themes, focusing in particular on previously unexplored socio-economic developments of the country. All these historiographic developments, while offering valuable historical insights into the country’s past, led to some re-examination of earlier works, particularly those that utilised Chinese sources in the reconstruction of early Brunei. The 1962 rebellion was also revisited, as the controversial nature of this topic had significantly limited its inclusion in national history writing from the 1960s to 1980s. The multiplicity of historical themes and approaches gradually emerging from the 1990s and 2000s have been further enhanced by multidisciplinary approaches resulting not only in important publications but also works derived from sophisticated analytical and interpretive knowledge.
The Literature of Brunei, 2025
The Syair Awang Semaun and the La Galigo are major works of literature that remain relatively lit... more The Syair Awang Semaun and the La Galigo are major works of literature that remain relatively little-known outside of small groups of specialists and the people to whom they belong, namely, the Brunei-Malays and the Bugis of South Sulawesi. The Syair Awang Semaun is a long Brunei Malay poem that was created from various oral traditions that, at some point, were used to create a new oral and poetic work that sets out Brunei’s foundation myth and the exploits of its founders, in particular, Awang Semaun. It was probably first written down on paper in the Jawi script in the nineteenth or early twentieth century. Composed in segments of five syllables, the La Galigo provides a Bugis creation myth in the form of a cycle of stories contained in hundreds of handwritten manuscripts that relate the adventures, wars, and deeds of the founders and their descendants, many of which centre around the great Bugis culture hero, Sawerigading. These stories appear to have been transferred from the oral register to the Bugis script from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. While neither work can be described as a historical text and are clearly more ideological and literary expressions, they do represent the values of those who created and shaped them during their transmission through time and remain important to their respective societies in the twenty-first century. This chapter attempts an initial comparative analysis of these two major works, focusing in particular on culture heroes, the divine and supernatural, and the broader indigenous Austronesian ideas that they convey.
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei, 2023
This chapter presents a comprehensive outline of the main themes in Brunei history from early tim... more This chapter presents a comprehensive outline of the main themes in Brunei history from early times until independence in 1984 placed within a regional and global context. The chapter aims to provide readers with a background setting of Brunei’s historical development that will further serve to complement understanding of subsequent chapters. The themes covered include prehistory; Brunei and the Asian sea trade boom of the tenth to thirteenth centuries; conversion to Islam; Brunei in the ‘Age of Commerce’; conflict with the Spanish in the sixteenth century; Brunei’s progressive decline in a changing world from the seventeenth century; the relationship with James and Charles Brooke in Sarawak; Brunei on the brink of extinction; the establishment of a British Residential system and the origins of modern Brunei; the Japanese occupation; the role of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien; the 1959 Anglo-Brunei Agreement and the subsequent Brunei Constitution; the 1962 rebellion; the Malaysia Federation; and reluctant independence.
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei, 2023
As a British protectorate for almost one hundred years, it is only since full independence in 198... more As a British protectorate for almost one hundred years, it is only since full independence in 1984 that has seen the formation and development of modern Brunei diplomacy and foreign relations. Within the context of small state diplomacy, the chapter examines how the sultanate has managed its relations with the wider world over the last thirty-six years and current issues, such as the implications of regional geopolitical changes, the South China Sea and the relationship between Brunei’s economic diversification drive and foreign policy. Since independence membership of regional and international bodies, such as the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have been of fundamental to Brunei’s success as a small state. At the same time, strategic bilateral ties for both economic advantage and security have been central to Brunei international relations. Since 2011, stronger bilateral ties linked to economic diversification have been developed with China, which has become the largest financial investor in the sultanate. Particular attention is given to the rise of China and the related implications this has for Brunei and the ASEAN region.
Asia in Transition, Springer, 2025
This chapter uses an institutionalist approach to present an assessment of the key issues Brunei ... more This chapter uses an institutionalist approach to present an assessment of the key issues Brunei Darussalam currently faces in relation to its pressing need for economic diversification. Given that institutional arrangements can hinder or enhance economic growth, the institutional approach has been central in explaining policies associated with economic growth and development in various countries. The approach also offers a wealth of literature that can be used to explain Brunei's difficulties in reducing its long-standing dependency on hydrocarbons, the extent to which institutions play a role in its economic development and in understanding the complexity of Brunei's political economy. The discussion does not claim to provide a solution to Brunei's economic diversification problem but rather offers some contextualisation that can be of benefit to scholars and policymakers in understanding its symptoms. The chapter also addresses current geopolitical issues and the increasing interconnectivity between Brunei's international relations and economic diversification as it attempts to attract more foreign direct investment.
Origins, History and Social Structure in Brunei Darussalam, eds Victor T. King and Stephen C. Druce, 2021
In several papers published in the 1970s, Donald Brown explored the relationship between rank, et... more In several papers published in the 1970s, Donald Brown explored the relationship between rank, ethnic homogeneity and indigenous historiography in Brunei. His main argument is that the hereditarily closed ranking system of Brunei’s dominant ethnic group produced, or at least perpetuated, ethnic diversity and the development of an invented historiography in relation to ethnic origins to support the position of the dominant group. Similar relationships between rank, or status, and origins are found throughout much of the Austronesian-speaking world. In most of these societies origins are of fundamental social and political importance, often expressed through complex traditions that through recourse to origins function to establish social difference between individuals, social or ethnic groups in order to justify claims of precedence: a priority, seniority or superiority that can relate to rights over resources, political offices or the political or ritual ascendancy of one group over another. Drawing on data from the wider Austronesian world, particularly ideas of ‘origin and precedence’, this chapter presents a comparative analysis of various Brunei origin traditions, supplemented by historical, archaeological and linguistic data. While not uncritical of Brown’s earlier studies, the chapter aims to both build and expand upon his work in understanding the relationship between social structures and history in Brunei.
Continuity and Change in Brunei Darussalam, eds Victor T. King and Stephen C. Druce, 2021
This chapter addresses some of the major issues facing Brunei in the post-Second World War era. T... more This chapter addresses some of the major issues facing Brunei in the post-Second World War era. The historical contextualisation of modern Brunei and the ideology of the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) is provided, the trauma of the 1962 rebellion is discussed and the interaction between the dominant Brunei Malay population and the ethnic minorities is considered. The chapter also provides an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book. The book explores the underlying strengths, characteristics and uniqueness of Malay Islamic Monarchy in a historical context. It provides the context for Brunei’s pathway to an uncertain, post-Second World War future. The book explores, through an ethnolinguistic study, the status of minority ethnic groups in Brunei. It examines ‘water villages’ in Borneo, including Kampong Ayer and its iconic status in the global imaging of the Brunei sultanate.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2020
The Darul Islam rebellion against the central Indonesian government in the immediate post-indepen... more The Darul Islam rebellion against the central Indonesian government in the immediate post-independence period was largely dependent on charismatic leaders who came to prominence during the struggle against the Dutch. The charismatic leader of this rebellion in South Sulawesi was Qahhar Mudzakkar (also spelt "Kahar Muzakkar"), whose conflict with the central government and army began in 1950 when he was overlooked as commander of a special Sulawesi brigade and many of the Sulawesi guerrillas who had fought against the Dutch were discarded as the Indonesian Army restructured. Qahhar led the men into the jungle and began a rebellion that would last for 15 years. In 1953, he proclaimed an Islamic state, thus joining the Darul Islam movement. Important factors in the rebellion's genesis and momentum were bitterness at the perceived injustice and rejection of Qahhar and the Sulawesi guerrillas by the central government and army and increasing Javanese hegemony in the region. Other causal factors debated include Islam, various political ideas, and several South Sulawesi cultural concepts. What seems clear is that Qahhar had developed ideas that were seemingly incompatible with "traditional" notions of South Sulawesi culture. He preached a form of "Islamic socialism," aimed to implement strict shari'ah law, eradicate aristocratic titles, pre-Islamic rituals, and Sufi orders. Forty-eight years after his death, Qahhar Mudzakkar continues to divide opinion and inspire new generations. The paper focuses on three main aspects of Qahhar Mudzakkar and his legacy. The first examines traditional leadership in South Sulawesi, including the cultural characteristics expected of leaders and draws comparisons
This book analyses the processes of social and economic change in Brunei Darussalam. Drawing on r... more This book analyses the processes of social and economic change in Brunei Darussalam. Drawing on recent studies undertaken by both locally based scholars and senior researchers from outside the state, the book explores the underlying strengths, characteristics, and uniqueness of Malay Islamic Monarchy in Brunei Darussalam in a historical context and examines these in an increasingly challenging regional and global environment. It considers events in Brunei's recent history and current socio-cultural transformations, which give expression to the traumatic years of decolonisation in Southeast Asia. A wide range of issues focus on foreign, non-Bruneian narratives of Brunei as against insider or domestic accounts of the sultanate, the status of minority ethnic groups in Brunei and the concept of 'Brunei society', as well as changes in the character and composition of the famous 'water village', Kampong Ayer, as the cultural heartland of Brunei Malay culture and the socio-cultural and economic effects of the resettlement of substantial segments of the population from a 'life on water' to a 'life on land'. A timely and very important study on Brunei Darussalam, the book will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists, historians, geographers, and area studies specialists in Southeast Asian Studies and Asian Studies.
Borneo and Sulawesi: Indigenous Peoples, Empires and Area Studies, 2019
Most academic writing on James Booke has focused on his remarkable exploits in Sarawak while his ... more Most academic writing on James Booke has focused on his remarkable exploits in Sarawak while his six month sojourn in Sulawesi, which he undertook before becoming ‘the white raja’, is largely confined to brief references and footnotes. Sulawesi and Borneo were Brooke’s two main destinations when he set out for the Indonesian-Malay Archipelago in 1838. While Brooke was genuinely interested in the scientific exploration of the two islands, the probable reason he chose them is that he considered them to offer the greatest potential in advancing the Raffles inspired aims set out in his prospectus, namely to try and extend benevolent British influence in the archipelago that would both save its inhabitants from the Dutch and their corrosive practices, and further British interests, free trade and advance native interests. In particular, the Bugis appear to have captured Brooke’s imagination and from the outset he seems to have looked upon them as potential allies in his endeavour. At the time of Brooke’s visit to Sulawesi the Bugis were divided into numerous kingdoms that remained virtually independent but acknowledged themselves as nominal Dutch vassals in a relationship that reflected local conceptions of tributary-kingdom relations. Brooke travelled widely in South Sulawesi and the shrewd observations and information he recorded in letters and journals represents valuable data on mid-nineteenth century Bugis society. He took particular interest in Bugis politics and political systems and considered their institutions the most politically advanced in the east in that they alone had ‘arrived at the threshold of recognised rights’ and were the only people in Asia to have ‘emancipated themselves from the fetters of despotism’. Characteristically, Brooke viewed these institutions to be in a state of decline and decay as a consequence of European, namely Dutch, influence. He was also frustrated that the Bugis seemed more concerned with wars and quarrels amongst themselves than uniting together against the Dutch. The chapter presents an analysis of Brooke’s observations, attitude and conduct in Sulawesi and, within the context of his broader political aims, attempts to relate these to his actions in Borneo.
The Archaeology of Sulawesi: Current Research on the Pleistocene to the Historic Period, 2018
The early historical South Sulawesi site Allangkanangnge ri Latanete is reputed to be the locatio... more The early historical South Sulawesi site Allangkanangnge ri Latanete is reputed to be the location of the palace of the legendary Bugis kingdom of Cina. This vanished kingdom arose in the 13th century AD and disappeared in the 16th century. The Allangkanangnge ri Latanete site is dated to between the 13th and 17th centuries based on Carbon-14 determinations and imported stoneware and porcelain sherds recovered through survey and excavation. The material cultural remains excavated at the site are dominated by earthenware sherds: their frequencies indicate light occupation during the 13th century, a main period of habitation between the 14th and 16th centuries, and a decline during the 17th century. Excavated earthenware vessel forms reflect a range of functions including food preparation and storage. There is evidence of ironworking from iron slag debris, earthenware sherds identified as crucibles rims and local oral history. The excavated area near the summit of the hill is characterised by old Islamic graves, said to be those of the rulers of Cina. However, there is no evidence here for burials older than the 16th century; in earlier centuries, the area on the summit, which is protected by a low stone wall, may have been the location of a wooden palace. Some dozens of stone arrangements scattered over the eastern slope may possibly be associated with marking the burials of cremated remains in jars. The site displays a partially coastal orientation, both in terms of physical proximity and subsistence debris during the 13th and 14th centuries followed by a greater focus on wet-rice production during the 14th to 17th centuries.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2016
The central focus of this article is the hikajat Sawitto (hS), a 12-page typed text in the Latin ... more The central focus of this article is the hikajat Sawitto (hS), a 12-page typed text in the Latin script and Malay language constructed in the 1930s from mainly oral Bugis sources. The hS provides an important insight into how the past was transmitted in South Sulawesi and the relationship between orality and writing. Discussion of the hS is framed within this broader context and begins with an overview of Bugis and Makasar 2 historical prose works, focusing mainly on the few longer written compositions dating from the 17th, to the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and the factors that influenced their creation. Central to the article is the argument that these written works are not representative of Bugis and Makasar historical sources and that orality played the primary role in transmitting the past. The article further demonstrates how the hS was constructed from independent sources and what these sources can reveal about the history of Sawitto. An annotated translation of the hS is presented within the article and the original appended.
Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 2016
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2016
The Bugis and Makasar peoples are the two largest ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, num... more The Bugis and Makasar peoples are the two largest ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, numbering about 4 million and 1.7 million respectively. Many people think of them as sailors and adventurers who traded and settled throughout the Indonesian-Malay Archipelago. While this is true of some Bugis and Makasar, such activities were undertaken by a relatively small number of individuals and no earlier than the 17th century. As Christian Pelras (1996: 3-4) remarks, the Bugis have long "been among the most imperfectly known of the Insulindian peoples," while the Makasars have been identified mainly with inhabitants of the port city, Makassar. 1 However, most Bugis and Makasar are farmers, and for centuries the organised cultivation of wet-rice has played a central role in their economic and cultural lives. The Bugis and Makasar did not convert to Islam until the early 17th century, and while Islam is an important part of their cultural identity, both groups have retained significant elements of their indigenous, pre-Islamic heritage. Both also have a rich literature, some of which contains historical information dating from about 1400 CE and records the development by these two Austronesian-speaking peoples of large agrarian kingdoms based on indigenous cultural and political precepts.
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Books by Stephen C Druce
2.Christian Pelras and His Work, by Campbell Macknight
3.Orality and Writing among the Bugis (trans. Campbell Macknight), by Christian Pelras
4.The Media of Bugis Literature: A Coda to Pelras, by Campbell Macknight
5.Transmitting the past in South Sulawesi: The hikajat Sawitto and other Bugis and Makasar Historical Works, by Stephen C. Druce
6.Family Matters: Bugis Genealogies and their Contribution to Austronesian Studies, by Ian Caldwell and Kathryn Wellen
7.The Inside View on Makassar's Sixteenth to Seventeenth Century History: Changing Marital Alliances and Settlement Patterns, by David Bulbeck
8.The Pau-paunna Indale Patara: Sufism and the Bugis Adaption and Transformation of the hikayat Indra Putera, by Nurhayati Rahman
9.Narratives of Sexuality in Bugis and Makasar Manuscripts, by Muhlis Hadrawi
Stephen Druce demonstrates this progression to political complexity by combining a range of sources and methods, including oral, textual, archaeological, linguistic and geographical information and analysis as he explores the rise and development of five South Sulawesi kingdoms, known collectively as Ajattappareng (the Lands West of the Lakes).
The author also presents an inquiry into oral traditions of a historical nature in South Sulawesi. He examines their functions, their processes of transmission and transformation, their uses in writing history and their relationship to written texts. He shows that any distinction between oral and written traditions of a historical nature is largely irrelevant, and that the South Sulawesi chronicles, which can be found only for a small number of kingdoms, are not characteristic (as historians have argued) but exceptional in the corpus of indigenous South Sulawesi historical sources.
The book will be of primary interest to scholars of pre-European-contact Southeast Asia, including historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists and geographers, and scholars with a broader interest in oral tradition and the relationship between the oral and written registers.
Articles/Chapters by Stephen C Druce