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The Astana, Sarawak

Field	Value
name	The Astana
image	Astana Sarawak.JPG
caption	Front view of the building from the Kuching Waterfront
location	Kuching, Sarawak
coordinates
status	Completed
start_date
completion_date
building_type	Official residence
elevator_count	None
floor_count	1
current_tenants	Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak
location_country	Malaysia

The Astana (Malay: Astana Sarawak) is a palace in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the north bank of the Sarawak River, opposite the Kuching Waterfront. It is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak (Governor of Sarawak). The name is a variation of 'istana', meaning 'palace'. It was built in 1870 by the second White Rajah, Charles Brooke, as a wedding gift to his wife, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt. The palace is not normally open to the public, although the landscaped gardens are, which can be reached by a boat ride across the Sarawak River. It is part of the Kuching Heritage Trail.

History

The Astana, then called Government House, was built in 1870 by the second White Rajah, Charles Brooke, as a wedding gift to his wife, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt. The couple married at Highworth, Wiltshire on 28 October 1869 and she was then raised to the title of Ranee of Sarawak with the style of Her Highness. Ranee Margaret arrived in Sarawak in 1870, and the royal couple then occupied The Astana as their main home. She later reminisced about life in The Astana and colonial Borneo in her memoir My Life in Sarawak, which was published in 1913. Brooke is said to have cultivated betel nut in a small plantation behind The Astana, so that he could offer fresh betel nut to visiting Dayak chiefs.

File:Kuching, Sarawak; the Astana, a partly castellated building. Wellcome V0037394.jpg|The Astana in 1896 File:The front of Astana Sarawak in 1959.jpg|The Astana in 1959 File:The Governor's office, Astana Sarawak in 1959.jpg|The Governor's office in 1959 File:Ranee's bedroom, Astana Sarawak in 1959.jpg|Ranee's bedroom in 1959

Architecture

The residence was originally three separate buildings, which were interconnected by short and narrow passageways. The Astana has since undergone major renovations and alterations befitting it as the official residence of the governor of Sarawak.

References

Tamara Thiessen. (2008). "Bradt Travel Guide - Borneo". Bradt Travel Guides.
Graham Land. (2018). "Kuching’s colonial heritage". Asian Correspondent.
Sam Bedford. (29 May 2018). "The Astana: Kuching's Palace of the White Rajahs". Culture Trip.
"Old Kuching Heritage Trail". Sarawak Tourism.
(2007-06-02). "The girl who would be queen".
Margaret Brooke (Ranee of Sarawak.). (1913). "My Life in Sarawak". Methuen.
Alan Teh Leam Seng. (8 October 2017). "Home of the White Rajahs". New Straits Times.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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