Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

created by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

author

Emilio Salgari Emilio Salgari (, but often erroneously ; 21 August 1862 – 25 April 1911) was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction. In Italy, his extensive body of work was more widely read than that of Dante ...

. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known throughout the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

as the "Tiger of Malaya".

Sandokan series

wrote several novels telling the adventures of Sandokan and Yanez, two of his most legendary creations. They are introduced in ''

The Tigers of Mompracem ''The Tigers of Mompracem'' (original title: ) is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1900. It features his most famous character, Sandokan. It was adapted into a 1970 film '' The Tigers of Momprace ...

'', which portrays their struggle against Dutch and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

. In many sequels, they fight against

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

, a white-skin adventurer, self-appointed as

Rajah Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long ...

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 ...

; they also move to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to smash down the Thugs, a notorious band of stranglers devoted to the goddess

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

The original series

* ''

The Mystery of the Black Jungle ''The Mystery of the Black Jungle'' () is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1895. It features two of his most well-known characters, the hunter Tremal-Naik and his loyal servant Kammamuri, and intr ...

'' (''I Misteri della Jungla Nera'', 1895) * ''

The Pirates of Malaysia ''The Pirates of Malaysia'' () is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1896. It features his most famous character, Sandokan, and is a sequel to '' The Tigers of Mompracem''. Synopsis Sandokan and Yan ...

''(''I Pirati della Malesia'', 1896) * ''

''(''Le Tigri di Mompracem'', 1900) * ''

The Two Tigers ''The Two Tigers'' (original title: ''Le due tigri'') is the fourth adventure novel in the Sandokan series written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1904. Plot summary India, 1857. Just when Tremal-Naik's life was getting back to ...

''(''Le due Tigri'', 1904) * ''

The King of the Sea ''The King of the Sea'' (original title: ''Il re del mare'') is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1906. It features his most famous character, Sandokan. Plot introduction Malaysia, 1868. A mysteri ...

''(''Il Re del Mare'', 1906) * ''

Quest for a Throne ''Quest for a Throne'' (original title: ''Alla conquista di un impero'') is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1907. It features his most famous character, Sandokan. Plot introduction Sandokan and ...

''(''Alla conquista di un impero'', 1907) * '' Sandokan to the Rescue'' (''Sandokan alla riscossa'', 1907) * ''Return to Mompracem ''(''La riconquista del Mompracem'', 1908) * ''The Brahman'' (''Il Bramino dell'Assam'', 1911) * ''An Empire Crumbles'' (''La caduta di un impero'', 1911) (published posthumously) * ''Yanez' Revenge ''(''La rivincita di Yanez'', 1913) (published posthumously)

Follow-up works

Other Sandokan adventures were written by Italian novelist Luigi Motta, Emilio Fancelli, and by Salgari's son, Omar. Paco Ignacio Taibo II has published a recent "Sandokan" novel entitled ''The Return of the Tigers of Malaysia''. Gianni Padoan has edited a series of novels that are declaredly a sci-fi reinterpretation of the Tigers of Malaysia series by Emilio Salgari: ''I misteri della stella nera'' (Mondadori 1978), ''I pirati della galassia'' (Mondadori 1978), ''Le tigri di Moonpracer'' (Mondadori 1979), ''Alla conquista di Rigel'' (Mondadori 1980).

Fictional biography

Sandokan is the son of Kaigadan, the last Prince of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, whose parents were killed by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

in a bid to seize the throne. Having sworn revenge, Sandokan gathers a group of rebels and pirates, the Tigers of Mompracem (now Pulau Kuraman), to regain his Princedom, and adopts the nickname of "Tiger of Malaysia". Stranded in

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

, Sandokan is recovering of his wounds in the house of Lord James Guillonk, where he meets Marianna, the Lord's niece, aka the "Pearl of Labuan", whom he falls in love with. Sandokan escapes, but reunites with Marianna, and later marries her. After his defeat, Sandokan set his men free from jail, and apparently gives up piracy, and escapes to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

with his wife. Actually, Sandokan and his friend, Yanez De Gomera, keep on help their friend Kammamuri to fight James Brooke, the "Exterminator", the White Rajah of Sarawak, and finally to free Tremal-Naik. Sandokan later has to help Tremal-Naik again, when his daughter is kidnapped by Thugs, Kali-yug's worshippers, a sect of killers commanded by Suyodhana, the "Tiger of India". Following many battles over a period of years, Sandokan defeats all of his enemies and retires as

rajah Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long ...

of Kini Balù ( Ambong and Marudu). His friend Yanez is appointed rajah of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Characteristics

Sandokan character is inspired by the Spanish naval captain Carlos Cuarteroni Fernández. He is depicted by Salgari as a gallant pirate. He is described as tall, charming, very muscular, slender, and attractive, with cold, black eyes, a fierce and severe look, and a big turban on his head. Unlike his troops, who are described as mostly half-naked, Sandokan always wears fine oriental clothes, generally red silk with embroidered gold, and long, red, leather boots. Sandokan is a formidable fighter, brave, and ruthless with his enemies, but kind, generous, and faithful to his friends. He has absolute leadership over his men, and is often shown as having no fear, with Yanez playing as a sort of counterweight to his impulsive nature.

Related characters

* Sandokan, also known as the Tiger of Malaysia, a Bornean prince turned pirate * Lady Marianna Guillonk, also known as the Pearl of Labuan, Sandokan's Italian- English wife * Yanez De Gomera: Sandokan's loyal friend and comrade, Portuguese, Goan * James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, their worst enemy * Lord James Guillonk, Marianna's uncle, eager to kill Sandokan * Tremal-Naik, Indian from

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

* Kammamuri, Tremal-Naik's servant

Films

The first Sandokan films were made in 1941 in Italy with

Luigi Pavese Luigi Pavese (25 October 1897 – 13 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Asti, Pavese started his career in 1916 working as a silent film actor at 19 years of age. He then began his theatrical debut in 1 ...

as Sandokan. * '' Pirates of Malaya'' (''I pirati della Malesia'') (dir. Enrico Guazzoni) * ''

'' (''Le due tigri'') (dir.

Giorgio Simonelli Giorgio Simonelli (14 November 1901 Birth name: Giorgio Simonelli. – 3 October 1966), was an Italian film director, editor, screenwriter and journalist. Life and career Born in Rome, Simonelli got a high school diploma in business studies, ...

) A series of Italian-made films with American leads were filmed in 1964 and released internationally. * '' Sandokan the Great'' (''Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem'') (1964), starring Steve Reeves (dir.

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unre ...

) * '' Sandokan - The Pirate of Malaysia'' (''I pirati della Malesia'') (1964) ''Pirates of the Seven Seas'', starring Steve Reeves (dir. Umberto Lenzi) * '' Sandokan to the Rescue'' (''Sandokan alla riscossa'') (1964) ''Sandokan Fights Back'', starring Ray Danton (dir. Luigi Capuano) * '' Sandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak'' (''Sandokan contro il leopardo di Sarawak'') (1964) ''Return of Sandokan'' , starring Ray Danton (dir. Luigi Capuano) A pair of Italian films featuring a character named "Sandok" were filmed based on the character by Salgari. * '' Temple of the White Elephant'' ( ''Sandok, il

Maciste Maciste () is one of the oldest recurring characters of film, cinema, created by Gabriele d'Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone. He is featured throughout the history of the cinema of Italy from the 1910s to the mid-1960s. He is usually depicted as a ...

della giungla'') with Mimmo Palmara as Sandok (1964, dir. Umberto Lenzi) * ''The Mountain of Light'', '' Jungle Adventurer'', with Richard Harrison (1965, dir. Umberto Lenzi) A 1970 Italian-Spanish film ''

'' was made with Ivan Rassimov as Sandokan

TV miniseries

In 1976, Indian actor Kabir Bedi played the lead in ''

Sandokan Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian people, Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the hero of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known ...

'', a six-part miniseries for European television directed by

Sergio Sollima Sergio Sollima (17 April 1921 – 1 July 2015) was an Italian film director and script writer. Biography Sollima graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 1935. During World War II he was in the Italian Resistance. After th ...

. Carole André was cast as Lady Marianna Guillonk,

Philippe Leroy Philippe Marie Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (15 October 1930 – 1 June 2024) was a French actor. He appeared in over 150 films between 1960 and 2019, and worked extensively in Italian cinema, as well as in his native country. After an early career as ...

played Sandokan's trusted friend and lieutenant Yanez De Gomera. The role of the main antagonist James Brooke was performed by Adolfo Celi. In 1977, Kabir Bedi reprised his role in the film '' La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa!'' (''The Tiger Lives Again: Sandokan to the Rescue!''). The TV series theme song, "Sandokan", was composed by Oliver Onions (a pseudonym of the De Angelis brothers), and made the top 10 in many European countries, albeit mostly in the translated English version. A 2004

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Sandokan's Adventure'', detailed the making of the series. Two further television series were made '' The Return of Sandokan'' in 1996 and '' The Son of Sandokan'' in 1998, with Kabir Bedi again reprising his role. A new series is in the works at Lux Vide for

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...

with

Can Yaman Can Yaman (born 8 November 1989) is a Turkish actor. He received a Golden Butterfly Award for Best Actor in a Romantic Comedy in 2018 for his role in ''Erkenci Kuş'' as well as Murex d'Or in 2019. In 2020, he received an international PRODU202 ...

in the role of Sandokan.

Animated series

''Sandokan'' the animated series was released in 1992 by Spanish animation studio BRB International, and broadcast in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on RTE Two. It was later repeated in the UK on certain ITV regions in 1996. This children's animated show, script written by

Doug Stone Doug Stone (born Douglas Jackson Brooks; June 19, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He debuted in 1990 with the single " I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)", the first release from his 1990 self-titled debut album for Epi ...

and

Dave Mallow Dave Mallow (October 19, 1948 – March 11, 2025) was an American voice actor. Life and career Mallow was born on October 19, 1948. His father worked in radio and television and was a 30-year on-air veteran at Chicago's WGN. After graduating ...

, is loosely based on Salgari's novels. In the show, Sandokan (here an anthropomorphized tiger) is an usurped prince, who travels the seas as a pirate seeking to reclaim his rightful throne from the Rajah of Sarawak. The first nine episodes of the series are available in three

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

volumes in the United Kingdom. A condensed version of the series was released as an animated movie, ''The Princess and the Pirate'', in 1995. The swashbuckling story concerns the tale of the deposed prince turned pirate, Sandokan, as he battles the evil maharajah, who killed his parents. In the midst of this local struggle, Sandokan falls in love with Mariana (here an anthropomorphized deer), who is the daughter of a European power, who has naval influence over the area. Another animated series was released in 1998 from a coproduction among RAI on 1993−94, SEK Studio, and Mondo TV and broadcast in Italy on

. This series was composed into three parts: (''Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia'', produced in 1998); (''Sandokan, the Tiger roars again'', 2000); and (''Sandokan, The Two Tigers'', 2004). The adventures of this 26-episode cartoon series are based on the stories of Emilio Salgari. The story takes place in the second half of the 19th century, and is situated in the Malaysian archipelago, Borneo, and India.

References

External links

Watch some episodes of the Sandokan animated series on Roh PressRead the first three chapters of Sandokan: The Tigers of MompracemThe Tiger of Malaysia, Barga NewsRead a review of Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem at SBTB.com.Sandokan, the Tiger of Mompracem. Article by Alessandra Madella
{{Pirates Literary characters introduced in 1883 Fictional characters from the 19th century Novels by Emilio Salgari Italian novels adapted into television shows Television shows based on Italian novels Fictional sea pirates Adventure film characters Italian children's animated television series Spanish children's animated television series Fictional tigers Anthropomorphic tigers Fictional princes Works about rajas Fictional Malaysian people Channel 4 animated television series Italian adventure novels Characters in Italian novels category:Adventure characters Male characters in literature Epic novels Piracy in the South China Sea