Annabel Teh Gallop ‘Brunei Through the Silsilah, Adat, Hikayat and Syair: Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei Reconsidered’ In: Origins, History and Social Structure in Brunei Darussalam, ed. Victor T. King and Stephen C. Druce. London and New York: Routledge, 2021; pp. 73-110 [A Festchrift for Donald Brown] Final proof, with page numbers from published version; text in red represents corrections of the published text. [p. 73] Introduction The Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei (SRRB), ‘The genealogy of the rulers of Brunei’, is the premiere work of Brunei historiography. First brought to attention in English translation by Hugh Low in 1880, it was only with the publication in 1968 by Amin Sweeney of an article entitled Silsilah Raja-raja Berunai, presenting a diplomatic edition of two manuscripts held in London, that the full Malay texts became accessible. And yet it was Donald Brown (1984: 11) who, in his article ‘Brunei through the Sha’er and the silsilah,’ first articulated a sense of unease probably also felt by many others, when he wrote about the two London manuscripts: ‘Actually, “silsilah” is a slightly misleading title in the case of the manuscript [sic] published by Sweeney; each begins with a silsilah, but then continues with texts of different natures.’ Responding to Brown’s observation, this chapter will explore and document all known manuscript copies of Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei, including some which can no longer be located and may not even have survived, and then attempt to trace the evolution of the very varied texts that all share the title Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei (henceforth SRRB). Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei: a survey of sources Sir Hugh Low Hugh Low (1824-1905) first visited Sarawak in 1843 on a botanical tour which lasted for two years. He then served in a variety of posts in the colonial service in Labuan from 1848 to 1877, when he moved to the Malay Peninsula as the third British Resident of Perak. Low was also involved in the negotiations for the British treaty of protection with Brunei in 1888, the year before he retired (Sadka 1954: 7). In his various writings on Borneo, Low documents the existence of a number of manuscripts of SRRB. The earliest such report, published in 1848, related to manuscripts in the possession