Fort Hose is a historical fort situated in

Marudi Marudi is a town in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and is a part of the division of Miri. It is the seat of Marudi District, and is located on the banks of Baram River, about upstream from the river mouth. Marudi was the administrative cent ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It was built in 1898 by Charles Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak, to safeguard government activities in the area, and now serves as a museum.

History

Fort Hose, strategically located on a hill overlooking the

Baram River The Baram River () is a river in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. The river originates in the Kelabit Highlands, a watershed demarcated by the Iran Mountains of East Kalimantan, which form a natural border with Sarawak. Geography The Baram ri ...

in the town of Marudi in northern Sarawak, is named after

Charles Hose Charles Hose FRGS. FLS (12 October 1863 – 14 November 1929) was a British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist. Life and career He was born in Hertfordshire, England, and was educated at Felsted in Essex. Admitted to Clare Colle ...

, a British colonial administrator and ethnologist, and nephew of

George Hose George Frederick Hose (3 September 1838 – 26 March 1922) was an Anglican clergyman, Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1881 to 1909. Hose was born on 3 September 1838 in Brunswick Place, Cambridge, the son of Frederick Hose, a clerk, and his wi ...

, Bishop of Sarawak and Labuan. Hose entered the Sarawak civil service as a cadet in 1884, was assigned to the newly created eastern Baram District, recently ceded by the

Sultan of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...

to Charles Brooke, the second Raja of Sarawak, and was later promoted to

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...

of Baram in 1891. Hose had the fort built in 1898 as an administrative centre, and as a means to control rebellions against the Brooke administration and to safeguard government activities. It also served as accommodation for the Resident. In 1899, a peace accord was held at the fort between local ethnic tribes orchestrated by Hose. In 1994, the fort was destroyed by fire and reconstructed at the same location as a replica of the original fort. On completion in 1996, the fort was converted into a museum.

Baram District Museum

Known as the Baram District Museum, its collection includes photographs and exhibits relating to the cultural heritage of various local communities including the Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and

Penan The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such p ...

people. The building has been gazetted as a cultural heritage site under the Sarawak Cultural Heritage Ordinance (SCHO) 1993.

References

Forts in Malaysia Museums in Sarawak Tourist attractions in Sarawak {{Malaysian historical architectures and sites