BUNG BRATAK

• BUNG BRATAK
  
  
  On top of Bung Bratak (Bratak Peak), was where a settlement was located. The settlement was mentioned by both Sarawak's White Rajahs in their writings in the 1800s and the Dutch in Sambas in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuhs were said to have settled at Bung Bratak from Gunung Sungkong in Kalimantan in the year 1000. It was often attacked by hostile predators from other areas before it finally fell to the Skrang Ibans. The settlement, strategically located at a hill shoulder and plateau, was considered prosperous with large stock of padi and was well-known throughout Borneo. It was the envy of the people from other areas. After days of intense attack, the settlement collapsed in the early hours of May 1, leaving the survivors to flee into the jungle. All the longhouses and the baruk were set ablaze by the attackers.
  On May 1, 1837, the Skrang Ibans invaded the Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh settlement on top of Bratak Peak, killing over 2,000 Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh men and taking 1,000 women captive. Panglima Kulow, head of Jagoi-Bratak Bidayuh community, and a handful of his followers survived the massacre. In 1841 Sir James Brooke, who was then the newly-installed White Rajah of Sarawak, was able to rescue some of the women taken captives
  
  
  
  
  
                  Panglima Kulow
  
  
      By 1841, when Sarawak experienced greater peace and order, the people of Bung Bratak under Panglima Kulow moved down to the surrounding lowlands. Today, from Kampung Selampit in Lundu District to Kampung Sirikin and Kampung Staas in Bau District, as well as those in the Jagoi Babang area in kalimantan Barat and Kampung Bowang in Penrissen area of Kuching District, the villagers trace their original ancestry to and at Bung Bratak. Over 40 Bidayuh villages recognise Bung Bratak as their "original home".
      The last group of Bidayuhs who left Bung Bratak are those now at Kampung Tembawang Sauh and Kampung Jugan in Bau District, who become the nearest guardians/custodians of the ancient settlement.
  Each year on May 1, descendants of the survivors of the 1837 massacre hold Jagoi-Bratak Day on top of Bratak Peak in Bau in memory of their ancestors. A memorial stone was erected on May 1, 1988, to mark the day.
  There is a belief that the water from a spring at Bung Bratak has healing powers. Bidayuhs and also non Bidayuh going there will take them home in bottles to bathed and treat their children of cold and flu.