Brunei

 Officially Negara Brunei Darussalam (Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace)

According to national mythology, the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei was born at the end of the fourteenth century with the appearance, as a messenger of heaven, of the founder of the dynasty who converted the people to Islam and becoming the first Sultan. 

In the early centuries, Sultan had eminently executive and religious duties. 

The fifth Sultan, Bolkiah (1485-1521), succeeding in developing the Brunei the hub for sorting goods between China, India and European countries. He also succeeded in extending his domains throughout northern Borneo and even the Philippines.
  

Portuguese and British became the main trade partners, while the Sultanate fought long with Spain following the loss of the Philippines. 

In the seventeenth century the Sultanate of Brunei was transformed into an absolutist sense, and the Council of Princes, which was dissolved. 

In the eighteenth century the Sultans made important pacts with the British, opting for their protection. 

The Sultanate was always jealous of its autonomy and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it was always careful not to be excessively included in Malaysian affairs, particularly safeguarding its function as an Islamic outpost in Asia. 

During World War II, Brunei was occupied by the Japanese and used as a naval base and suffering from the lack of food and medicines. 

In 1959 the Protectorate established a constitution that proclaimed complete internal autonomy and, in the sixties, refused to become part of the newly formed Federation of Malaysia, maintaining the autonomous Protectorate.
In 1967 the sultan abdicated in favor of the eldest son, Hassanal Bolkiah, current Sultan (29th from the foundation of the Sultanate) who in 1984 proclaimed full independence in the British Empire.

My stamps of Brunei