Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Astana is a palace in Kuching, Sarawak, on the north bank of the Sarawak River, opposite the Kuching Waterfront. It is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak, the Governor of Sarawak. The name is a variation of ''istana'', meaning ''palace''. The Astana, then called the Government House, was built in 1870 by the second White Rajah, Charles Brooke, as a wedding gift to his wife Margaret. The royal couple then occupied it as their main home. She later reminisced in her book My Life in Sarawak .