Empire of Brunei

Empire of Brunei Bruneian Sultanate
Negara Brunei
1368–1888
Flag
The extent of the Bruneian Empire in the 15th century
Capital		Kota Batu Kampong Ayer Brunei Town
Languages		Brunei Malay, Old Malay, Old Tagalog, Arabic and Bornean languages
Religion		Sunni Islam
Government		Monarchy
Sultan (until last empire)
•	1368–1402	Sultan Muhammad Shah
•	1425–1432	Sultan Sharif Ali of Mecca
•	1485–1524	Sultan Bolkiah
•	1828–1852	Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II
•	1885–1906	Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin
Historical era		Golden Age
•	Sultanate established	1368
•	Became protectorate of British	1888
Currency		Barter, Cowrie, Piloncitos and later Brunei pitis
Preceded by Succeeded by History of Brunei#Before the Sultanate Sultanate of Sulu Spanish East Indies Dutch East Indies Kingdom of Sarawak Crown Colony of Labuan North Borneo Brunei
Today part of		Brunei  Malaysia  Philippines  Indonesia

The Bruneian Empire or Empire of Brunei /bruːˈnaɪ/, also known as Sultanate of Brunei or Negara Brunei, was a Malay sultanate, centred in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo island in Southeast Asia. The kingdom was founded in the early 7th century, started as a small seafaring trading kingdom ruled by a native pagan or Hindu king known by the Chinese as Po-Li or Po-Ni (渤泥). Bruneian kings converted to Islam around the 15th century, when it grew substantially since the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, extending throughout coastal areas of Borneo and the Philippines, before it declined in the 17th century.

Understanding the history of the Bruneian Empire is quite difficult since it is hardly mentioned in contemporary sources of its time, as well as there being a scarcity of evidence of its nature. No local or indigenous sources exist to provide evidence for any of this. As a result, Chinese texts have been relied on to construct the history of early Brunei.Boni in Chinese sources most likely refers to Borneo as a whole, while Poli 婆利, probably located in Sumatra, is claimed by local authorities to refer to Brunei as well.

The earliest diplomatic relations between Boni (渤泥) and China are recorded in the Taiping Huanyu Ji (太平環宇記) (978).

In 1225, a Chinese official, Zhao Rugua, reported that Boni had 100 warships to protect its trade, and that there was a lot of wealth in the kingdom.

In the 14th century, Brunei seems to be subjected to Java. The Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama, written by Prapanca in 1365, mentioned Barune as the vassal state of Majapahit, which had to make an annual tribute of 40 katis of camphor. In 1369, the Sulus attacked Po-ni, looting it of treasure and gold. A fleet from Majapahit succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but Po-ni was left weaker after the attack. A Chinese report from 1371 described Po-ni as poor and totally controlled by Majapahit.