Qualla: Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank

Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0. It cost seven thousand Brunei dollars to build. The wooden structure rose on the banks of the Kedayan River in 1947, green and brown timbers shaped into the distinctive steep angles of traditional Malay architecture. Four years before the grand Istana Darul Hana would be completed on its hilltop, and nearly four decades before the billion-dollar Istana Nurul Iman would claim the title of largest residential palace on Earth, this was where the royal family of Brunei lived. On July 15, 1946, before the palace was even finished, a boy was born here to Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III. They named him Hassanal Bolkiah. He would become the twenty-ninth Sultan of Brunei and one of the wealthiest people in the world.

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Image: Yu Chu Chin | CC BY-SA 4.0

Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank: Timber and Concrete on the Kedayan

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Istana Darussalam stands on the banks of the Kedayan River at Jalan Darussalam in Kampong Sumbiling Lama, in the Brunei-Muara District. Construction began in the 1940s with local timber -- the palace was first built entirely from wood, an expression of indigenous Malay craftsmans...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank: A Cradle for Royalty

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Before Hassanal Bolkiah's birth in 1946, the palace was already serving as the private residence of his father, Omar Ali Saifuddien III. Two more royal children followed in quick succession: Prince Mohamed Bolkiah on August 29, 1948, and Princess Masna on September 6 of the same ...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank: The End of an Era Under One Roof

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III abdicated the throne in 1967, passing it to the son who had been born in this riverside palace two decades earlier. But Omar Ali's connection to Istana Darussalam endured. On September 7, 1986, the former sultan died at the palace, bringing the stor...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Istana Darussalam: Where a Sultan Was Born on a Riverbank: Heritage on the Riverbank

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Today Istana Darussalam falls under the protection of the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act, administered by the Museums Department. It has become a tourist attraction -- though a modest one, befitting the scale of the building itself. Visitors come to see what a Brunei royal re...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0