Slavery and Piracy in North Borneo

Slavery and Piracy in North Borneo

By : Justin Sunam Wong

I was reading A Decade in Borneo, written by Ada Pryer or Ada Blanche Locke. She is the wife of the first Resident of the British North Borneo Chartered Company (BNBCC) in Sandakan and in North Borneo, Mr William Burges Pryer. It was published in 1893; fourteen years after the founding of Elopura or Sandakan and about six year prior to the demise of William B. Pryer on 11 Januay 1899 at age 54 *1. Sandakan was founded by Mr Pryer on 21 June 1879 *2.

Pryer's monument in Sandakan. Souce : http://www.aboutsabah.com.my/?p=2549

It is an interesting book because it gives a glimpse to the past, North Borneo or Sabah of old. At the time of this writing, I do not know how long Mr Pryer stayed in North Borneo, perhaps 10 years as what the title of the book suggests and why he left North Borneo? Health issue? Politics? One thing is certain though, Mr Pryer brought law and order and medicine to North Borneo. In my opinion, if it were not for him, the present Sabah would be a much different place, not for the better I would imagine.  

The writing by his wife intrigued me. For example, who were the Buludupies? She said they lived in Labuk, Segama and Kinabatangan and was almost extinct because of piracy and slave trading. The Buludupies she said, had round eyes, Caucasion features and loathed violence. She also mentioned that the North Borneo Armed Constabulary (NBAC) was formerly formed in May 1882. Present Darvel Bay used to be known as Looc Sabahan[sic]. I think she meant Lok Sabahan. Lok is Bajau word for Bay.

She also mentioned Dato Kurunding, the pirate chief of the Illanuns who reside in Tuncu (Tungku). I googled Dato Kurunding and stumbled upon this gem! ; a news article,

                                                From the Daily Times, October 29^th.

                                                            Piracy In Borneo

The following communication on the prevalence of piracy along the coast of Borneo, with which we have been favoured, is deserving of a careful perusal and consideration. The writer is one who is entitled to speak with authority, and we believe he has been prompted to take up the pen by reason of remarks that lately appeared in our columns concerning the cruise of Her Majesty's ship Kestrel along the shores of Borneo :-

For many generations past the Illanuns have been known as a tribe almost entirely devoted to piracy. In the year 1845 their villages on the North West Coast of Borneo were attacked and destroyed by Sir Thomas Cockrane. On this account, which, according to M. St. John, they broke up their communities and most of them who are addicted to piracy retired to the North East Coast to Tungku and the neighbouring rivers; those that remained in Tampassak long bore an ill name but now under the able management of the Resident, they are rapidly being reformed, and show considerable promise of some day taking high rank amongst the inhabitants of this important land. Those that went to Tungku however still retained their old propensities, and have continued their raids down to the present time, their Chief Dato Kurunding, boasts that with one cruise he has murdered 120 people on piratical expeditions; for the last year or two nothing has been heard against this man and it was hoped that the Tungku people were giving up their former evil ways. The Illanun expeditions have usually been amongst the Philippine island and down the Straits of Celebes. In the year 1872, I myself was in a village, not above a hundred or fifty miles South of Manali, that had just before been burnt by them, several of the people and much more valuable property carried off, and in another village there were 2 men who had escaped from them and returned home, their tongues had been cut out so that they should not give any information as to the pirates haunts; on one occasion not so very many years ago the Spaniards were challenged to meet them at a certain place but did not go, and the seas were virtually in their possession for some time. The following extract from Professor Bickmori's travels in the East Indian Archipelago will give on account of the proceedings of the Illanuns to the South East :-

“Piracy is described in the earliest Malay romances, and spoken by these natives not as a failing of their ancestors but as an occasion for glorifying in their brave deeds. They continue to infest the Sulu sea and the Southern part of the Philippines; they came down here in the middle of the Western monsoon so as to have fair wind both ways. The Illanuns are now the most daring pirates in these seas. Last year the man-of-war on this station had the good fortune to surprise five boats, one of them carrying as many as sixty men. At first they attempted to escape by means of their oars, but her shot and shell soon began to tear them to pieces, they then pulled in towards the shore and jumped overboard, but by this time they had come near a village and the natives at once all turned out with their spears, the only weapons they had, and scoured the woods for these murderers until not one of them was left alive. They seldom attack European vessel, but when they do and succeed, they take revenge for the severe punishment their countrymen receive from the Dutch warships, and not one white men is left to tell the tale of capture and massacre. They prey chiefly on the small schooners commanded and manned by Mestizoes by which most of the trade between the Dutch ports in these parts is carried on. One of these vessels was taken last year. While I was at Kema two Malays appeared; while they were fishing they had been captured by a fleet of pirates but escaped by jumping overboard and swimming. They applied for food and as such cases are specially provided for by the Dutch Government their request was immediately granted. A few years ago these pirates sent a challenge to the Dutch fleet at Batavia to come and meet them in the Straits of Macassar and several officers assured me that five ships were sent. To the Dutch almost exclusively belong the honor of having rendered the navigation of these sea so comparatively safe as it now is.”

Large parties of Illanuns such as are spoken of here usually came from the Southern Coast of Magindanao.

The Baligninis are another tribe of freebooters. Formerly their expeditions were carried down as far as the vicinity of Singapore itself, and there is now in Campong German (Sandakan) a Singapore Lingeabo, and a man named Armie of Meimbong. Proceeding with the utmost treachery, the division under Otto made a complete haul of a lot of Bajaus collecting trepang off the Paitan river, murdering most of the adult males, and bearing the females and children into captivity. Tuan Imaum, one of the Chiefs of the Bajaus here, supplied the names of 27 people, his immediate friends and relations, who were thus dealt with. By proceeding almost alone, and pretending friendship, he being known to most of them, and then bringing the pirates up quietly at night, Otto managed to get nearly every Bajau in those parts. But the following is an illustration of the usual mode of proceeding of these pirates. 4 men, 2 Bajaus and 2 Lingeabo people were asleep in a boat, a pirate depong stole up and her men suddenly jumping on board, killed two of them before they could stir, the other two managed to escape into the mangrove, and the pirates then carried off the boat and all its contents.

Several times pirates have been reported as being off the coast and more particularly I was informed by a man named Hiranee, one of the three in company had been taken by them, (5 sail strong) under Armie, 2 men who escaped were slightly wounded by gun shots and 3 others, in the depong that was captured, were carried off. Armie called out that he was coming in another month with forty depongs to raid this Bay, and also he is the man that fired his gun which wounded one of the men.

On leaving immediately after this occurrence the “Far East” came across two depongs at the entrance of the harbour, one of which was identified as the identical boat captured by the pirates, and now turned into a cruiser by them. She was full of men, who had 7 rifles amongst them; the other a larger one, with a fort in it, made of ironwood, was said to be under charge of the Capitan Laout himself. The “Far East” retook the first with a loss to the pirates, it was said, of 2 men killed and 1 wounded, the remainder escaping into the bush in Balhalla. On the next morning one or two Balignini shields were found, and a parang besides one of the original men of the depong who had escaped from the pirates during the previous night. The sail of the depong had been changed for a Balignini one with a private signal in the centre of it.

After finishing at Paitan the pirates are said to have crossed to Pongutaran, capturing on the way a Labuan bound prahu belonging to Cagayan Shefiff, murdering him and all the Crew, and at Pongutaran they are said to have captured or murdered another lot of some people. Since then they have made their appearance in many places capturing and murdering whenever they could find an opportunity. The original lot of captures are all said to have been taken to Tungku in the early part of June and from there were sent down South for sale. I think it not unlikely some of them may be found at Seeganan but doubtless the major part were taken to Booloongan.

The last information I have about the pirates is that having disposed of their captives and bought fresh supplies of arms, ammunition with the proceeds, they are busy making preparations for operations on a larger scale and challenge any one that may come saying that, whether English of Spanish, they will not seek protection of their walls and forts, but come to sea and “mine mine” there (have a dance). This is probably merely an idle boast, as it is quite at variance with their character, as far as I have been able to learn, for from what I gather I should consider them a set of sneaking, cowardly rascals, who take the greatest care to avoid the slightest chance of endangering their own skins. It would be bad enough if the slaves sold there were acquired even in accordance with the very bad laws of these parts, by being bought amongst the islands or simply sent there for sale by their masters; but the matter is far worse, as , it present stands. Encouragement is given to piracy, murder and kidnapping, on a scale it is almost incredible should in exist the latter part of the nineteenth century in any part of the world moreover by the slave being bartered for arms and ammunition, the pirates are fitted out for the committal of further atrocities. It is also said as if all these horrors were not enough, that a good many of the slaves, sold in Booloongan, are bought by the headhunters (Sagais) for the purpose of being butchered in the most cold blooded manner that their murderers, may have possession of a head, without the possession of one of which, it is, I am informed almost impossible for any man to find favour in the eyes of the females of those parts.

I have read somewhere that oral tradition of the Rungus suggest that Dato Kurunding was actually Aki Kulindod. Kulindod was a Rungus warrior that opposed the BNBCC and to prevent his family being targeted as retribution for his aggression, he asked his people to tell the British that he was not one of them and that he passed by the village (his village) for business. It was said that Kulindod was mistaken to be an Illanun because during the time of his capture or execution (cannot be certain at this juncture), he was pictured wearing an Illanun clothing.

However, until documentary proof could be produced to back this claim, I am inclined to think that this was perhaps a case of mis-identity. Nothing in Mrs Pryer's writing suggested that Dato Kurunding was captured by the British. In page 53 of the book, she mentioned that the old Dato Kurunding had died and that his son, Dato Baginda Putih  had taken up his position.

As mentioned in the above news article, Dato Kurunding had boasted that he had murdered 120 people on piratical expeditions. From what I have read about all the Rungus oral tradition, they were traditionally an enemy to all pirates. They had protected the northern part of North Borneo's coastal areas against pirates. Simpang Mengayau is said to be their "watch tower".

Photo : Sabah Tourism Board

For a community that loathed pirates, I hardly think that Kulindod would associate himself with such murderous bunch. But then again, the book was written by the wife of the Resident. Hence, she might be biased in her information.

A Decade in Borneo is available for download, legally and for free. Just google the word. Happy reading.  

*1 Source : Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser 
*2 Source : British North Borneo - An Account of its History, Resources and Native Tribes by Owen Rutter

http://nbhe.blogspot.com/2012/01/slavery-and-piracy-in-north-borneo.html#more

How places got their names

The following is collected from the collective memories of NBHE members. It's not much but I thought it would be a waste not to share it.  

Api Api was what Kota Kinabalu used to be known before the name was changed to Jesselton and later to Kota Kinabalu. Some Hakka still refer KK as Ya Pi. There are at least 2 accounts on how the settlement came to be known as Api Api. 1) Named after a big fire caused by rebels in 1897 which razed down the Pulau Gaya settlement. 2) named after some kind of plants which were plentiful in KK.

Karamunsing in Kota Kinabalu was named after a type of plant/tree used to be abundant in the area, which in local dialect was known asKaramunceng or Karamunsheng tree.

Keningau used to be known as Kaningau.  Oscar Cook in 'Borneo the Stealer of Hearts' mentioned it as such. The town got its name from a type of cinnamon tree known as Kaningau in local dialect which grow/grew abundantly there.

Kota Belud was derived from Sama words, which directly translates to Hill Fort, or rather, Fort on the Hills. It was one of Mat Salleh's strongholds during the 1897-1900 uprising against the (British) Chartered North Borneo Company.

Labuan got it's name from the "Malay" word for anchorage i.e. Labu-an. In Sama language labu' means drop and labu-an is to drop, in this case dropping achor. A Bruneian would have pronounced it as Labu-han. A small village in Kota Belud shares both the name and the role as an achorage, albeit on a small river for small sampans.

Lok Kawi is named after Cowie. Lok is bay in Bajau language and Kawi is the Malaynised Cowie

Manggatal is the correct name not Menggatal, some overzelous outsider coined this Menggatal. The name was derived from a mango tree which  found abound near the present river, the type of mango "kambasang" which is quite coarse and it irritates your throat hence gatal in Malay. The place has a lot of these species of mango, hence Manggatal was born.

Sandakan was said to have acquired its name from the word Sanda-kan, where Sanda means  pawn off/sell off. This word is common among the peoples living in the area and Southern Philippines, as well as the Iranun people in Kota Belud. Obviously this refers to the British North Borneo Company (later chartered) acquisition/lease of the area from the Sulu Sultanate in the early 1870's.

Tenghilan named after a large Manggilan tree where people used to do their daily sustenance activities

Taun Gusi, a major village in Kota Belud got it's name after a major flood decades ago accidentally unearthed many ancient Chinese jars, similar to the ones that are very popular among many tribes in Sabah. The words Taun Gusi literally translates to Jungle of Jars in Sama language.

Hand in Hand,

Remember this Song? Hand in Hand, we welcome you...

Early Chinese Settlement in North Borneo

Early Chinese Settlement in North Borneo

By : Justin Wong

In 1894, Mr. P. Brietag, the manager of a tobacco estate from Kampung Batu Putih in the Kinabatangan area, led the first expedition to Agop Batu Tulug, a limestone cave systems found in Sabah or North Borneo then. In 1965, Mrs. Barbara Harrison of the Sarawak Museum and a group from Sabah Museum started an archaeological study of the caves.

Source : http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Malaysia/East/Sabah/Kinabatangan/photo317934.htm

What they found inside the caves were human bones, more than 100 carved coffins believed to be 200 - 250 years of age, gongs, blowpipes, Chinese artefacts, ceramics and personal ornaments. There is a school of thought that these sites might be the former burial sites of an early Chinese settlement found in the Kinabatangan area.

There are scholars who believe that China had been trading with the inhabitants of Borneo as early as 900 AD, based on Chinese texts. Chinese junks trading with the Sulus in the Philippines referred to a kingdom or area south of the Philippines named Puni in 1252. In 1292, it is said that Kublai Khan sent an expedition to Borneo.

The indigenous Orang Sungai who inhabits the area along the Kinabatangan River since time immemorial has an oral tradition as to how the river got its name. They used to call the river, "Cina Batangan" or Chinese River. They say a Chinese adventurer sailed from China, through the Sulu Sea and came to the river mouth of the Kinabatangan River. He established a few settlements namely Mumiang, Sukau and Bilit along the 560 kilometre long river. These towns are still in existence today.

Source : http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/slideshow-photo/kinabatangan-river-in-the-morning-mist-by-travelpod-member-cawleyadventure-bilit-malaysia.html?sid=10340832&fid=tp-2

The jungle of the Kinabatangan area was bountiful! The Chinese found and traded edible bird's nests, rhinoceros horns, elephant ivories, hornbill casques, hardwood resins, damar, flexible rattan vines, beeswax, fragrant wood and oil rich illipe nuts with the Chinese emperor and wealthy mandarins.

Source : http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5586036

Eventually, the Chinese adventurer and his followers became a powerful group in the Kinabatangan area and the natives even started calling him a "Raja".  Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei or Genealogy of The Brunei Kings, seems to validate the existence of these early Chinese settlements in Kibatangan. It identified the leader as Ong Sum Ping.

Ong Sum Ping is also known as Wong Song Ping and Huang Senping. However, he is better known by his Hokkien name in Brunei. Some suggested that he was from the Fujian province of China. In the late Yuan Dynasty, Ong together with his sister and followers, fled China to avoid the social unrest.

In another oral tradition, it is said that when Ong Sum Ping and his party reached the river mouth of the Kinabatangan River, they were exhausted after facing a shipping crisis. So exhausted were they that one of them dropped their arms into the river. Hence, the area had since then been called "Kina Batangan" - The place that the Chinese lost their arms. The natives, particularly the Dusuns, called the Chinese "Kina", quite similar to the malay word "Cina".

Chinese texts said that Ong Sum Ping went to Brunei in 1375. Sultan Muhammad Shah (1363 - 1402), whom was the first Sultan of Brunei, apparently welcomed him with open arms. He married off his daughter, Princess Ratna Dewi, to Ong Sum Ping and gave him the title Pengiran Maharaja Lela and Chief of Kinabatangan.

The Sultan also arranged to have his brother, Pengiran Bendahara Ahmad to marry Ong Sum Ping's sister and gave her the title Puteri Kinabatangan or Princess of Kinabatangan. Pengiran Bendahara Ahmad would later rule Brunei as Sultan Ahmad from 1408 to 1425.

Brunei was a fledgling power during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Shah and was under constant threat of a Sulu invasion. However, with the cooperation of these two regional powers i.e. Brunei and Kinabatangan, they managed to repel the Sulus. Brunei would go on to become a regional power culminating to its "Golden Age" between late 15th and early 16th century.

Ong Sum Ping would continue to expand his power base. Some credited him to having opened more Chinese towns and villages in what is now present day Kota Kinabalu. Ong Sum Ping is the only Chinese who has a street named after him in Brunei, "Jalan Ong Sum Ping".

There is an oral tradition of the Kadazandusun of their first encounter with the Chinese from the Kinabatangan and Labuk areas. One of the Chinese "heroes" asked for the hand of the Chief's daughter in marriage. The dowry was said to be seven huge jars plus copper and silverwares. During this encounter, the Kadazandusun was still living at their legendary place of origin, Nunuk Ragang. I am sure this is not the only example of inter-marriages between the natives and the early Chinese settlers.

These early Chinese settlers integrated themselves well into the local community. For example, if one is to go to Kuala Penyu during Chinese New Year, you would find some Dusun Tatana celebrating the festivity. Their houses would be decorated with lanterns and some houses would have altars. When I was young, I had always wondered about this but most of the people I asked simply said that their family had been doing this longer than they could remember. It is possible that their ancestors could have been part Chinese.

Interesting enough, the olden Chinese in Sabah who inter-married with the natives did not give Chinese names to their offspring. They named them for example, Bulangang, Sanagang, Manak etc. Why they did this? Well, I will find out next when there is a gathering of elders.

Why do I make the assumption that some of the natives in Kuala Penyu could have inter-married with some of these early Chinese settlers? Kuala Penyu was one of the early conquests of Sultan Muhammad Shah, it is a coastal area and would have been subject to attacks by the Sulu. It would be plausible that Ong Sum Ping could have sent some of his men there to reinforce the Sultan's men in defense of the area. Old folks recall the days when "Lanun Suluk" or Suluk Pirates would land on their shores to replenish their drinking water and food supply. They said, generally they wouldn't harm them if they co-operated. These old folks' encounters happened sometime in the late 19th century, long after Ong Sum Ping's era in 14th century but it serves to demonstrate that the area was accessible to the Sulu raiders.

Ong Sum Ping is also said to be a muslim even before he married into the royal household. He could have played a role in the spreading of Islam to the Orang Sungais whom are predominantly Muslims these days, in the Kinabatangan area.

Oral traditions is of course not the best source of factual information but it is interesting to note that some of them seem to corroborate with historical facts.  I hope I have entertained you with my piece which is not to be taken seriously but I hope it will make you curious enough to research Sabah's past on your own, if you happen to be a Sabahan reading this.

I leave you with the following suggested must read:

1. British North Borneo: An Account of its History, Resources and Native Tribes by Owen Rutter

2. Headhunting and the Social Imagination in Southeast Asia by Janet Hoskins

3. The Sulu Zone, 1768 - 1898 : The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery and ethnicity in the transformation of a Southeast Asian maritime State by James Francis Warren