PROFILE MDB 2
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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BIDAYUH BUNG BRATAKS<br />
On 1 May 1837, the Skrang Ibans invaded the Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh<br />
settlement on top of Bratak Peak, killing over 2,000 Jagoi-Bratak<br />
Bidayuh men and taking 1,000 women captive. Panglima Kulow, head<br />
of Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh community, and a handful of his followers<br />
survived the massacre.<br />
In 1841 James Brooke, who was then the newly installed White Rajah<br />
of Sarawak, was able to rescue some of the women taken captive. Each<br />
year on 1 May, descendants of the survivors of the 1837 massacre hold<br />
Jagoi-Bratak Day on top of Bratak Peak in Bau in memory of their<br />
ancestors. A memorial stone was erected on 1 May 1988, to mark the<br />
day.<br />
According to the Bidayuh elders of Jagoi/Bratak group, Bung Bratak<br />
was their one and only original home in the old days, after the first<br />
migration out of “Gunung Sungkung“, perhaps a thousand years ago.<br />
For hundreds of years, the well-fortified and well-guarded Bung<br />
Bratak provided peace and security to the settlers. It was a rather<br />
prosperous settlement for the time, with lots of rice stock and valuable<br />
gongs and jars. This must be the reason why outsiders attacked the hill<br />
several times, but failed except once in May 1837.<br />
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