Travel in Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei - Asia - History

The history of the capital extends back to the 7th century; at which time there appears to have been a water village (Kampong Ayer) close to the present location of Kampong Kota Batu and the National Museum building. Since then, the growth and development of the capital has been linked to various locations on Sungai Brunei that provided a base for the trading, fishing and other marine activities of the Brunei Malays. The development of the Bandar Seri Begawan area, as the records state, has undergone three changes in site First, it was at Kota Batu, then to Kampong Ayer. The final location is the present site of Bandar Seri Begawan.

By the 16th century, Antonio Pigafetta indicated that the number of families as many as 25,000; generally considered to be unlikely but does nonetheless suggest a very substantial settlement. He also indicated that Brunei Town (a water town, or rather the water village) was populous, which was surprisingly around 100,000, powerful and wealthy (Brown, 1970; Ibrahim, 1971; Nicholl, 1975). The town was probably the largest when Brunei controlled the whole of Borneo and most of the Philippines. Since then its population has changed as a result of war and migration to the interior.

The development of the land-based city centre began in 1906, after the first British Resident, Mc Arthur, encouraged a movement of people: a movement onto the reclaimed land on the left bank of Sungai Brunei. The Sultan himself moved his residence in 1909 and the Chinese shopkeepers followed in 1910. The Municipal Board was established in 1921, and a new mosque and new Istana built on land in 1922. By late 1920s all government buildings, a number of shop houses and many private houses began to dot the new settlement.

Since its declaration as the Municipal Area and the Capital of Brunei Darussalam in 1920, the perimeter of Bandar Seri Begawan had changed five times. In 1931, 1936, 1940, 1949, and finally in 1956.