Linggir

Linggir belonged to the Saribas Iban, one of the major riverine Iban groups of western Borneo during the era of the White Rajahs of Sarawak. During the early Brooke period, communities in the Saribas and Skrang river basins were frequently involved in coastal raiding and upriver warfare, which brought them into conflict with the expanding Brooke government. ^[1]

By the 1850s, internal divisions emerged among Iban groups regarding whether to resist or cooperate with the Brooke administration. Although some Upper Skrang and Saribas groups followed leaders such as Rentap in resisting Brooke authority, others chose to ally with the government.^[1] Linggir became one of the most prominent Saribas Iban leaders to support the Brooke cause.^[1] He is recorded as taking part in allied Iban forces during Charles Brooke’s upriver campaigns.^[1] These forces were drawn from multiple regions, including the Lower Skrang and Saribas, and assisted Brooke in operations aimed at suppressing Iban groups opposed to his rule.^[1]

Linggir and his followers joined the Brooke-aligned Iban contingents mobilized in the campaigns against the Upper Skrang fortifications of the Iban leader Rentap, particularly during the mid‑1850s operations that preceded the major assaults on Bukit Sadok.^[1] Although the initial expeditions of 1854 did not succeed in capturing Rentap, they laid the groundwork for later campaigns in which other Brooke‑allied Iban leaders, including those from Saribas and Skrang, played key roles in isolating Rentap's supporters and restricting their movement.

Sources note that Linggir was one of several Iban leaders who cooperated closely with Charles Brooke during this period. Others included the Entanak chief Dana and his sons Aji, Luyoh, and Nanang.^[1] His alliance with these leaders and with Brooke indicates the pragmatic political choices made by some Iban communities seeking security, trade access, and autonomy under the new Sarawak administration.