Why Did Syarif Kassim Kill Captain Sadler at Mempawah in 1795?

The English country trader Thomas Sadler disappeared while trading at the West Borneo port of Mempawah in 1795. Events surrounding this incident are described and the role of the ruler of Mempawah, Sayid Kassim, examined. The domestic, political and economic conditions of Mempawah are of critical importance in any interpretation of events. Contemporary and later accounts which refer to Sadler's death are analysed, and what is a relatively minor incident in the history of Malay-British relations is placed in the context of the changing, broader, political situation of the time, which saw the British playing a more dominant role in the archipelago.