Borneo History

According to ancient Chinese, Indian and Javanese manuscripts, western coastal cities of Borneo had become trading ports, part of their trade routes, since the first millennium.[3] In Chinese manuscripts, gold, camphor, tortoise shells, hornbill ivory, rhinoceros horn, crane crest, beeswax, lakawood (a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick liana, Dalbergia parviflora), dragon's blood, rattan, edible bird's nests and various spices were among the most valuable items from Borneo.[4] The Indians named Borneo as Suvarnabhumi (the land of gold) and also Karpuradvipa (Camphor Island), which includes the western part of the island shared with Sumatra. The Javanese named Borneo as Puradvipa, or Diamond Island. Archaeological findings in the delta river of Sarawak reveal that the area was once a thriving trading centre between India and China from the 6th century until about 1300 AD.[4]

One of the earliest evidence of Hindu influence in Southeast Asia were stone pillars which bears inscriptions in the Pallava script found in Kutai along the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan dated around the second half of the 4th century.[5]

Dayaks, the natives of Borneo in their traditional war dress. Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture.

In the 14th century, almost all coastal parts of Borneo were under the control of Majapahit kingdom as is written in the Javanese Nagarakretagama document (ca. 1365) and it was called Nusa Tanjungnagara. The name of a trading port city in Borneo is Tanjungpura in the Nagarakretagama; the same name written in another Javanese Pararaton document (ca. 1355).[4]

In the 15th century, the Majapahit rule exerted its influence in Borneo. Princess Junjung Buih, the queen of the Hindu kingdom of Negara Dipa (situated in Candi Agung area of Amuntai) married a Javanese prince, Prince Suryanata, and together they ruled the kingdom which is a tributary to the Majapahit Empire (1365). In this way, it became a part of Nusantara. Along the way, the power of Negara Dipa weakened and was replaced by the new court of Negara Daha. When Prince Samudra (Prince Suriansyah) of Negara Daha converted to Islam and formed the Islamic kingdom of Banjar, it inherited some of the areas previously ruled by the Hindu kingdom of Negara Daha.

The Sultanate of Brunei, during its golden age from the 15th to the 17th centuries, ruled a large part of northern Borneo. In 1703 (other sources say 1658), the Sultanate of Sulu received North Borneo from the Sultan of Brunei, after Sulu sent aid against a rebellion in Brunei. During the 1450s, Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab born in Johor, arrived in Sulu from Malacca. In 1457, he founded the Sultanate of Sulu; he then renamed himself "Paduka Maulana Mahasari Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bakr". Subsequently HM Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram (1863–1881), the 29th reigning Sultan of Sulu, leased North Borneo in 1878 to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representing the British North Borneo Company[6] in what is now the Malaysian state of Sabah. The company also exerted control on inland territories that were inhabited by numerous tribes. In the 19th century coastal areas ruled by the Sultanate in the west of the island were gradually taken by the dynasty of James Brooke dynasty.[7] The Brooke dynasty ruled Sarawak for a hundred years and became famous as the "White Rajahs".

By the 18th century, the area from Sambas to Berau were tributaries to the Banjar Kingdom, but this eventually shrunk to the size of what is now South Kalimantan as a result of agreements with the Dutch. In the Karang Intan Agreement during the reign of Prince Nata Dilaga (Susuhunan Nata Alam) (1808–1825), the Banjar Kingdom gave up its territories to the Dutch Indies which included Bulungan, Kutai, Pasir, Pagatan and Kotawaringin. Other territories given up to the Dutch Indies were Landak, Sambas, Sintang and Sukadana.

In the early-19th century, British and Dutch governments signed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 to exchange trading ports under their controls and assert spheres of influences, in which indirectly set apart the two parts of Borneo into British and Dutch controlled areas. China has had historical trading links with the inhabitants of the island. Some of the Chinese beads and wares found their way deep into the interior of Borneo. The Malay and Sea Dayak pirates preyed on maritime shipping in the waters between Singapore and Hong Kong from their haven in Borneo.[8] In 1849 James Brooke and his Malays attacked the Sea-Dayaks and wiped out 800 of the 4,000 pirates.

Moreover in the 19th century, the Dutch admitted the founding of district kingdoms with native leaders who were under the power of the Dutch (Indirect Bestuur). The Dutch assign a resident to head their rule over Kalimantan. List of the residents and governors of Kalimantan:

1. C.A. Kroesen (1898), resident

2. C.J. Van Kempen (1924), resident

3. J. De Haan (1924-1929), resident

4. R. Koppenel (1929-1931), resident

5. W.G. Morggeustrom (1933-1937), resident

6. Dr. A. Haga (1938-1942), governor

7. Pangeran Musa Ardi Kesuma (1942-1945), Ridzie

8. Ir. Pangeran Muhammad Noor (1945), governor

Since 1938, Dutch-Borneo (Kalimantan) was one administrative territory under a governor (Governor Haga) whose seat was in Banjarmasin. In 1957 following the independence of Indonesia, Kalimantan was divided into three provinces: South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. In 1958 the province of Central Kalimantan separated from South Kalimantan as its own territory.

During World War II, Japanese forces gained control of Borneo (1941–45). They decimated many local populations and Malay intellectuals, including the elimination of the Malay Sultanate of Sambas in Kalimantan.[9] During the Japanese occupation the Dayaks played a role in guerilla warfare against the occupying forces, particularly in the Kapit Division where headhunting was temporarily revived towards the end of the war.[10] Borneo was the main site of the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia between 1962 and 1966, as well as the communist revolts to gain control of the whole area. Before the formation of Malaysian Federation, the Philippines claimed that the Malaysian state of Sabah in north Borneo is within their territorial rights based on historical facts of the Sultanate of Sulu's leasing agreement with the North Borneo Company, is presently an unresolved claim against Malaysia. Several other territorial claims such as Sipadan were resolved at The Hague international courts.

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