evidence: Although its early history is obscure, Brunei was known to be trading with and paying tribute to China in the 6th century ce. It then came under Hindu influence for a time through allegiance to the Majapahit empire, based in Java. When the ships of the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan anchored off Brunei in 1521, the fifth sultan, the great Bolkiah, controlled practically the whole of Borneo, the Sulu Archipelago, and neighbouring islands. Toward the end of the 16th century, however, the territory was torn by internal strife. Brunei’s power subsequently declined through the 19th century, notably with the cession of Sarawak in northwestern Borneo to the English adventurer James (later Sir James) Brooke in 1841, the expansion of Sarawak by additional grants to Brooke, the cession to Great Britain of the island of Labuan in Brunei Bay, and the final loss of what is now Sabah, East Malaysia, in northeastern Borneo. [...] Ooi Jin Bee Pushpa Thambipillai Mohamad Yusop DamitSultanate [...] At independence in 1984, Brunei’s relations with neighbouring Malaysia were strained over boundary and territorial disputes in Sarawak. Ties between the two countries gradually improved, as most of the border issues were resolved, but Brunei still claimed the Limbang region of Sarawak between the two portions of Brunei. In 2009 an agreement was reached by which Brunei would drop its claim on Limbang and Malaysia would forgo its claim to oil-rich areas in the South China Sea that the two countries had contested. However, the two countries would jointly exploit any reserves found there.