Edited By Kumis Kumis
1. INTRODUCTION
North Borneo occupies the northern portion of the Island of Borneo and was a British-Protected state administered under Royal Charter by the British North Borneo Company.
Borneo, with an area of 284,000 square miles, is the largest island in the East Indian Archipelago and the third largest in the world. On the 4th century, migration of ancient peoples from Formosa or Indo China to North Borneo, Kinabatangan, Kimanis and moved to the interior via the river.
On the 5th century, Borneo was known as "Ye Po Ti" based on writing by a Chinese Buddha Monk traveler named "Fa Hsien". By the 6th century, Borneo was known as "Po Li" a Hindu Kingdom and King Pin Ka governed 136 district and send letter, gifts and golden mats to the Chinese Emperor. During 7th and 8th century, King Hu Lan Na Po and King Hu Lan Na Po of "Po Li" a Hindu Kingdom with a country population of 10,000 that governed 14 territory send emissaries and gifts to the Chinese Emperor.
Borneo known as "Po Ni" a Hindu Kingdom by the 10th and 11th century with King Hiang Ta send emissaries namely Pu Ya Li, Shih Nu, Qadhi Kassim and Pu Lu Hsieh and King Sa Li Mah Lui (Sri Madja or Seri Maharaja) send emissaries and gifts to the Chinese Emperor.
In 1264, Chinese Emperor send an envoy by the name of "Pu" to "Po Ni" Kingdom and in 1292 Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta wrote that "Po Ni" was a strong and rich Hindu Kingdom with gold produce."Po Ni" Hindu Kingdom exist until 14th Century when it was later known as Muslim Kingdom and on the 15th century known as "Bo Ni" Kingdom.
It remained unvisited by European until early in the 16th century; in 1521 Magellan’s companions, after their captain had been killed by natives in the Philippines, touched at Brunei, then a flourishing city. Following this visit by the Spanish the Portuguese maintained a trade with the island – at first from Malacca, which they lost to the Dutch in 1641 and later from Macao. Dutch colonization dates from the early part of the 17th century, when they established settlements in the south-west.
At the
turn of the 20th century, somewhat more than two-thirds of the whole island belong to the Dutch, the remainder, comprising the States of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei was under British protection. North Borneo and Sarawak together contained nearly half the whole population of the island.
2. HISTORY
Comparatively little is known precisely of the details of early history of North Borneo. To a very great extent the history of Borneo is veiled in obscurity in view of the lack of early local manuscript or documents. It was apparent known to the Arabs many centuries ago, and by them was recognized as a land rich in precious stones, gold and spices. Evidence exists of Chinese influence extending over a very long period, and tradition assigns to the thirteenth century an invasion by the Mogul ruler Kublai Khan founded by Genghis Khan followed by the establishment of a Chinese colony in North Borneo. The traditions of Brunei and Sulu show that about this period there was established a Chinese province somewhere in the Northern part of the island, very probably in the neighborhood of the Kinabatangan river, and that the province had dominion over the islands of the Sulu Archipelago.
Indications of early contact with Chinese civilization still exist. Jars, of which the Chinese origin is beyond dispute are used and revered by all the aboriginal tribes of the North of Borneo, and the agricultural methods of some of the tribes are undoubtedly of Chinese origin.
It is known that the sister of a Chinese prince, probably the Governor of this colony, journeyed from the Kinabatangan River to marry the second Sultan of Brunei, from this couple originated the royal family of Brunei to the present day and who introduced Islam to his subjects. This story is also repeated in the Sulu history which fixes the date at 1375.
It is probable that the first visit that to the island of Borneo by Europeans were made by Spaniards and Portuguese. The companion of Magellan, after the death of their chief in the Philippines, called at Brunei in 1521, and their historian Pigafetta, left it on record that this city was then considered importance and contained no less than 25,000 families.
The Portuguese also visited Brunei in 1526 and 1530. At that time they were well established in Malacca and no doubt kept up a regular trade with Borneo until they lost Malacca to the Dutch in 1640. It seems fairly certain that the Portuguese had a trading station in Brunei itself; undoubtedly trade between that town and their settlement at Macao in China was maintained up to the end of the 18th century.
In 1565 the Philippines were conquered by the Spaniards, who soon after established relations with Brunei, and succeeded in placing upon the throne of that State of Malay Sultan of their own choice; the usurper was, however, before long expelled. It is also recorded that, as a punishment for piratical acts against her colonies in the Philippines, Spain sent an expeditionary force on two occasions to Brunei, the last resulted in the total destruction of the town. A Dutchman visited Brunei in 1600, and the Dutch founded establishment in Borneo about that time.
The first Englishman to set foot in North Borneo seems to have been Captain Cowley, who in 1665 “visited a small island which “lay near the north end of Borneo”. Dampier mentions that a Captain Cowley was in the island in 1686.
A little more than a century afterward, The island and all the north east promontory of Borneo had been granted by the Sultan of Sulu to Alexander Dalrymple in 1762 and the East India Company (having concluded certain treaties with the Sultan of Sulu and obtained from him in 1769 a grant of territory) founded station on Balambangan, an island off the north coast.
In 1773, the East India Company founded a station at Balambangan, an island to the north of Marudu bay now comprised in the British North Borneo Company's territory.
In 1775 the little settlement was attacked by Sulus and Ilanuns and the garrison, taken by surprises, were force to take refuge in their boats leaving booty to the value of half a million pounds. Some of the survivors fled to Brunei, where the East India Company had a factory, while others settled at Labuan. In 1803 the company re-opened the station at Balambangan, but in the following year abandoned it as well as the factory at Brunei.
The Dutch, who had established themselves in Borneo within the century after its discovery by Magellan in 1521, had extended their sway, acquiring control of the whole island except in the north and north west of Borneo.
By the beginning of the 19th century the north and west had relapsed into a condition of lawlessness and decay. Here the Sultan of Brunei and Sulu exercised a nominal control and farmed out the rights of collecting revenue to natives of rank ; these farmers settled at the mouth of rivers, levied taxes on passing traders and plundered the inhabitants. On the coast there was a loose system Mohammedan Law ; in the interior native settled their own disputes according to tribal custom. Head hunting was rife, disease ravaged the country and pirates ranged the sea.
Intercourse with China ceased, piracy increased to alarming dimensions, and the unhappy inhabitants – plundered, enslaved, and ground down by extortionate taxation – were reduced to a state of misery.
But deliverance was at hand. In the year 1840 James Brooke, then in Borneo waters in his ship the “Royalist”, was prevailed upon by Rajah Muda Hasim of Sarawak to assist in the suppression of a rebellion. After a series of engagements the rebels tendered their submission, but only on condition that Brooke became Rajah. He was so installed in 1841.
The foremost aim of the new Rajah was the suppression of piracy. The principal piratical races at the time were the Ilanuns, the Balanini, The Bajaus and the Sulus. Their vessels were of large size, sometimes reaching a burden of 60 tons and a length of 90 feets and they were heavily armed. Their cruising grounds were extensive, covering the coasts of the Philippine Islands, Borneo, the Celebes, Sumatra, Java, the Malay peninsula and even the Bay of Bengal. They had settlements of considerable size in Marudu, in North Borneo and towns along the west and east coasts. Their chief in Marudu at this time was Usman, who, in addition to piracy, made profit by supplying others with ammunition, payment being made in slaves.
His appeals to the British Government for help were eventually answered by the dispatch of warships. The task was under-taken with the characteristic thoroughness of the Navy, and in the years 1843 to 1846 many pirate strongholds were destroyed. In these operations H.M.S.”Dido” played a prominent part; her captain, the Hon. Henry Keppel (later Admiral Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B.), was in after years one of the group of distinguished public men who interested themselves in the creation of the State of North Borneo. The activities of H.M. gunboats sounded the death-knell of piracy in Borneo waters, but some years elapsed before the last pirate lair at Tunku on the east coast was disposed by H.M.S.”Kestrel” and the seas were finally cleared of this menace to the security of life and property.
Almost from the outset the British naval campaigned salutary effect on trade and commerce, which began steadily to revive. On May 27th, 1847, a “Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" was concluded between the British Government and the Sultan of Brunei, their desire as expressed in the preamble being to encourage commerce between Her Majesty’s subjects and the subjects of the independent princes of the eastern seas, and to put an end to piracies which have hitherto obstructed that commerce. Under Articles 10 the Sultan confirmed the cession, already spontaneously made by him in 1845, of the Island of Labuan.
It is generally accepted that the modern history of North Borneo commenced with the acquisition of Labuan by the British Government in 1847. Labuan, which became a Crown Colony, was considered to be important as a naval station, with its fine harbour and coal mines.
Sir James Brooke, who was the Rajah of the neighboring State of Sarawak, was made the first governor of Labuan. He was also appointed the British Counsul-General. The Lieutenant Governor was William Napier, a close friend and adviser of the Ruler of Johor. The Lieutenant Governor was dismissed by Sir James in 1849 because of allegation that he was involved in trading.
A series of allegation was made against Sir James Brooke by his opponents in Britain. It was alleged that he was unable to rule Labuan properly and he had abused his authority as the representative of the British Government. He was accused of attacking peaceful natives of Borneo in various punitive expeditions against the pirates. The Royal Navy under the command of Captain the Honorable Henry Keppell (now a member of the Court of Directors of the British North Borneo (Chartered) Company), assisted Rajah Brooke in these successful expeditions and also to restore peace and order in the interior of Borneo. The British Government sent two officers to investigate and to make a report on Sir James Brooke. The Governor decided to resign late 1853 before the two officers arrived in Singapore.
No permanent amelioration of conditions in North Borneo could, however, be looked for while the political situation remained so confused. Authority was divided between the Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of Sulu, each whom claimed to be sovereign ruler. The dispute engendered bitter controversies, impaired the prestige of both Sultans, and encouraged an independent attitude among the chiefs and people.
Moreover the Sultan of Sulu had long been at enmity with Spain, by whom he was regarded as a vassal.
In 1871 the Spanish authorities thought fit to proclaim an embargo on foreign vessels entering Sulu ports for “commercial” or “other purposes”. This misguided action provoked a series of incidents – including the seizure by Spanish gunboats of three German vessels and the detention of a British vessel – which brought Spain into collision with Great Britain and Germany. Sharp remonstrance were made at Madrid, the British Government holding that the “so-called blockade” was “entirely inefficient and consequently illegal”, and that “blockade is a belligerent right only to be exercised against State with which blockading power is at war”.
Among the venturesome spirits who ran the gauntlet of the Spanish blockade” was a young Scotsman, Mr. W.C. Cowie. In October, 1872, the steamer “Far East”, commanded by Mr. Cowie, proceeded on a voyage to the Sulu Islands. After she had been lying at Jolo, the capital, for a fortnight discharging and taking in cargo, a Spanish gunboat appeared on the scene, her commander informing Mr. Cowie that Sulu was a Spanish possession not open to trade, and giving him three hours to clear out. Cowie was not a man to be easily intimidated and the same night, under cover of the darkness, he contrived to elude the gunboat by hiding up a creek. After waiting until the Spanish ship left Jolo he returned and finished loading his cargo. Shortly after this incident Spain, not content with attempting to suppress foreign commercial intercourse with the Sulu Islands, commenced hostilities against the Sultan. The campaign was carried on with ruthless severity; large number of Sulu fishing and trading craft were destroyed, the coast villages were fired upon, and the town of Jolo was twice bombarded.
Undeterred by the Spanish campaign of “frightfulness”, Mr. Cowie obtained from the Sultan permission to erect in Sandakan Bay on a site not far from the present day capital of North Borneo, a transshipment depot for use as a trading base. The followed the formation of the Labuan Trading Company of which Cowie as Manager. The company's steamer piled regularly between Sandakan and Sulu carrying cloth, tobacco etc. and receiving pearl shells in return. The venture though entailing risks proved profitable one. Commander Buckle (H.M.S. Frolic) who in January, 1875, was sent by H.M. Government to investigate the Spanish proceedings in the Sulu Islands referred to the operations of the Labuan Trading Company under the management of Mr W C Cowie, established itself in Sandakan. This company chief partners were Mr Carl Schomburgk and Mr JD Ross, carried on a lucrative trade for three years when its business was taken over by Mr Cowie in conjunction with the Sultan of Sulu, whose chiefs were in possession of the whole of the north east coast of Borneo from Marudu Bay to Sibuku as being “of the utmost importance. This Company is doubtless opening a most valuable and growing trade (a). Mr. Cowie’s enterprise marked the beginning of the sequence of events which led to the permanent British occupation of North Borneo.
Note (a) The Labuan Trading Company was later on wound up. Its business being taken over by Mr Cowie in conjunction with the Sultan of Sulu.
The Spanish embargo was lifted in 1877, in consequence of the repeated protests of Great Britain and Germany; and on the 11th March, 1877, a Protocol was signed at Madrid having for its object the maintenance of the freedom of commerce and navigation in the Sulu Archipelago.
Although the Sultan of Sulu’s authority prevailed at Sandakan and elsewhere on the north-east coast, his chiefs being in occupation, the Sultan of Brunei had always claimed a superior right of sovereignty over the whole of North Borneo. But the effective exercise of that right was a different matter; little could be expected from the Government of Brunei which, freed from the necessity of guarding against the incursions of the pirates, sank lower and lower in administrative weakness and corruption. Its power eventually became limited practically to the districts in the immediate neighborhood of the capital, Brunei. Foreign commercial interest had, however, by this time definitely established contact with this long-neglected part of the world; Great Britain and America had both appointed consular representative at Brunei; and it was inevitable that sooner or later North Borneo should come under more stable and enlightened government. Schemes for the acquisition of territory from the Sultan of Brunei were evolved. How the initiative passed from foreign into British hands until finally North Borneo was won for the Empire is a fascinating story and its told below.
In 1865 the Sultan of Brunei and his Prime Minister (b) made three territorial grants to Mr.C.Lee Moses, then officiating as United States Consul at Brunei, the grants being in the form of ten year leases renewable, and being issued in consideration of certain annual payments. They were transferred by Mr.Moses to the American Trading Company of Borneo (c) the affairs of which were presided over by Mr.J.W.Torrey. On 24th November, 1865, the Sultan signed a Commission, conferring on Mr.Torrey sovereign rights and appointing him “Rajah of Ambong and Marudu”. The American Company proceeded to form a settlement on the Kimanis River, now the site of a prosperous rubber estate in North Borneo. The Company’s capital was, however, inadequate and after a few years of experimental planting and shipbuilding, with no attempt at real government, its operations became restricted to occasional trading ventures on the coast and the settlements at Kimanis was abandoned.
Mr.Torrey’s business headquarters were at Hongkong. The Austrian Consul-General at that port, Baron Gustavus De Overbeck (who were employed with the British merchant firm of Dent and Company, Hongkong,came to hear of Mr.Torrey’s interest in Borneo, and realised that although the American Trading Company was moribund, the sovereign and territorial rights in Borneo held by Mr.Torrey - by this time the sole surviving partner – were of considerable potential value. Having ascertained from Mr.Torrey, to whom the American Trading Company had left large heritage of debt, that he was prepared to negotiate for the sale of his rights, Baron Overbeck came to England, and succeeded in interesting Count Montgelas, Secretary of the Austro-Hungary Embassy in London, and Mr.A.B.Mitford (later Lord Redesdale) in a scheme for acquiring Torrey’s rights. Articles of agreement were signed on 11th July 1874, whereby the three parties subscribed to, and became jointly interested in “the adventure of acquiring a certain territory in the East “Indian Archipelago”. Returning to the East, Baron Overbeck concluded an agreement with Mr.Torrey, date 19th January, 1875, for the sale and transfer of the latter’s rights; Mr.Torrey under-taking to obtain from the Sultan of Brunei a renewal of the concessions and to settle with the Sultan of Sulu whatever claim that ruler might have to any part of the territories concerned.
Baron Overbeck’s next step was to proceed, in May 1875, to Brunei with Torrey in order to satisfy himself that the Sultan and his chiefs recognised the validity of the leases and that the latter had been made “after friendly negotiation; freely; without “pressure or coercion, and for good pecuniary considerations”. He then returned to Europe, but his funds having become exhausted and his associates, Count Montgelas and Mr.Mitford, being unwilling to subscribe further capital, it became necessary for him to look elsewhere for financial assistance. Fortunately he found a ready listener in Mr.Alfred Dent, with whose business house he had formerly been connected in Hongkong. Mr.Dent was quite prepared to further the project, but only on terms that he should be entrusted with “the chief control and management” of the matter, while Baron Overback was to be entrusted with the conduct of affairs in the far east.
Notes :
(b) Two grants were made by the Sultan and one by his Prime Minister, the Pangeran Tumongong.
(c) The American Trading Company of Borneo was formed with a capital of 7,000 dollars (Hongkong), under a deed of partnership entered into at Hongkong on 25th October 1865. The partners consisted of two Americans : J.W.Torrey (who was appointed “President”) and C.Bradley Harris; and two Chinese merchants. The object of the partnership was “to carry on “a general trading business between the island of Borneo “and Hongkong”. Mr.Harris who acted as Secretary, died at Kimanis in May, 1866. The two Chinese partners assigned their interest to Mr.Torrey in February,1867.
Behind the events from 1877 onward which culminated in the grant of the British North Borneo Company's Charter was the powerful directing intelligence of Mr Alfred Dent. In later stages, Mr Edward Dent and Mr John Dent gave much needed financial support; the former remained actively interested in North Borneo for fifty years i.e. until 1928 when owing to his advanced age he felt obliged to tender his resignation as a Director of the Chartered Company.
After Mr. Alfred Dent's accession to the adventure, events rapidly progressed towards a satisfactory denouement. Baron Overback again sailed for the East an on arrival at Singapore, he and his staff of three Englishmen were joined by Mr Torrey. A steamer, The America, having been chartered for the purpose, the party proceeded to North Borneo to negotiate with the Sultan of Brunei. They arrived at Labuan on the 16th December 1877, where they interviewed the British Consul-General, Mr. (later Sir)W.H. Treacher. The negotiations which followed with the Sultan were completely successful, and on the 29th December, 1877, four grants were signed conferring on Mr. Dent and Baron Overbeck territorial rights in North Borneo, the Sultan also signing a Commission nominating Overbeck as Supreme Ruler of the cede territories. The American concessions were cancelled, and the Sultan received the sum of $5,000 in settlement of all claims arising from those concessions.
It was now necessary to come to terms with the Sultan of Sulu. In their mission to Sulu the Baron and his party were joined by Mr. Cowie who, owing to his longstanding friendship with the Sultan, was able to render invaluable assistance in the negotiations. Consul-General Treacher also lent his support on January 22nd, 1878, the Sultan signed a territorial grant and also a Commission similar to that conferred on Baron Overbeck by the Sultan of Brunei.
As regards Spain, the hope that the Protocol of 1877 would remove all grounds of further friction had been rudely dispelled in 1878 by the news that Spain has compelled the Sultan of Sulu to recognise Spanish sovereignty over the whole of the Sulu Archipelago and its dependencies which, according to the Spanish contention included north-east Borneo; and that attempts had been made to hoist the Spanish flag in the territory occupied by Mr. Dent's agents. The British Government, who had consistently refused to recognise the Spanish claims to sovereignty in Borneo, energetically protested at Madrid, but several years elapsed before the dispute was finally settled by the Madrid Protocol, signed on the 7th of March, 1885. Under that instrument Spain renounced all claims/sovereignty over the mainland of Borneo and the islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawalle, as well as all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast; Spain also engaged to carry out the provisions of the previous Protocol of 1877. On their side Great Britain and Germany recognised the sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Islands.
A long diplomatic correspondence was conducted by the British Government in disposing of the objection of other European powers. The Netherlands Government contended that the grant of the Charter was incompatible with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, which in their view precluded the formation of any British settlement in Borneo. This construction had, however, never been accepted by the British Government, who moreover emphasized that Great Britain had not herself assumed sovereign rights over North Borneo- an assurance which seems to have dispelled the Dutch misgivings.
As the result of these negotiations Mr.Alfred Dent and his associates became possessed in perpetuity of the ceded territories subject to certain annual payments to the Sultans North Borneo had been definitely won for British interests. It remained to set up an effective administration, to enlist the support of the British Government, to obtain - if possible - a Charter from the British Crown, and to form a Chartered Company to govern and develop the newly-acquired territory.
Following the negotiations with the Sultans, the "America" proceeded straight to Sandakan, where the Dent's house-flag was hoisted alongside of the British flag. One of the Baron's staff, Mr.W.B.Pryer, was left in charge of Sandakan with two or three police to represent the new government; another Mr. Pretyman, who left at Tempasuk for a like purpose. A third British officer, Mr. H.L.Leicester, was put in charge at Papar.
At Sandakan the transformation was indeed complete. Mr. Pryer had found conditions indescribably bad when he assumed charge in 1878. Slavery and robbery were rampant, there was no security for life or property, and "the rich soil of the "country was all but entirely uncultivated". Two years later he was able to report that slavery and crime were non-existent, that "the Chinese do not even require to fence their kitchen-gardens;" and that "the now hard-working Sulus are "beginning to clear away the forest for farms".
In the same year, 1878, Mr. Alfred Dent visited North Borneo and on his return to England, considerable interest was soon evinced in the novel venture, notably by Sir Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B., Admiral the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B. (who years previously had materially assisted in consolidating the power of Rajah Brooke in Sarawak), Admiral R.C. Mayne, C.B., the Hon W.H. Read, M.L.C. of the Straits Settlement, and Mr Robin Martin, M.P..
Mr Alfred Dent prepares a "Statement and Application" for presentation to Lord Salisbury, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The purpose of this documents which was issued on December 2nd, 1878, over the signatures of Alfred Dent and Baron Overbeck, was to acquaint the British Government with the history of the negotiations with the Sultans and to apply for the grant, to a proposed new company, of a Royal Charter incorporation whereby the company would submit to certain restrictions on the exercise of the sovereign rights acquired. In return for the benefits it would derived from its status as a chartered company.
Some time elapsed, however, before H.M. Government came to a decision in the matter of the proposed Charter. During the interval of waiting much useful work was accomplished in introducing settled government in the ceded territories. Courts were established and the new administration was so far welcomed that at one place the natives built a court-house at their own cost. In March 1880, the Commander-in-Chief of the China Station (Admiral Coote) reported to the Admiralty that he had visited North Borneo and had been "very favorably impressed with the influence for good" exercised by the British agents over the natives, who seemed "most willing to be "led by them into the paths of industry and commercial "enterprise".
At length, on December 16th, 1880, the British Government intimated to Mr.Dent that they were disposed to recommend H.M.the Queen to grant a Charter; (A) - Three months previously Count Montgelas, Mr. Mitford and Baron Overbeck had ceased to be connected with the enterprise, transferring their rights and interests to Mr. Dent.
Note A ; curiously enough it was a Liberal Cabinet, presided over by Mr. Gladstone (who had often declared himself against Great Britain adding to the burden of her over-seas responsibilities) which eventually decided in favor of the issue of the instrument
Note ; In an animated debate which took place in the House of Commons on March 17th, 1882, Mr. Gladstone vigorously defended the grant of the Charter, pointing out that no question of annexation by Great Britain was involved and that the instrument, while imposing restraints, conferred no privileged. "There is not a single privilege", he said, "given to the Company by the Charter over and above what is has already acquired by title, sufficient to enable it to enter into a proper exercise of its power".
The next step was the formation, in March 1881, of the "British North Borneo Provisional Association Limited" to present to Her Majesty a formal Petition of the Charter and to administer the concessions pending the grant of the Charter and the incorporation of the new company. The Association, whose eighty members included several influential public men, appointed as the first Governor of North Borneo Mr.W.H.Treacher, (previously H.M's Consul-General for Borneo), who assumed duty in August 1881. The number of stations with European officers in charge was increased to seven. Chinese immigration was inaugurated under the direction of Sir Walter Medhurst and regular steam and mail communication was established between ports in the territory and Singapore.
The Charter was granted on November 1st, 1881, whereupon the British North Borneo Company was formed in May 1882. Inter alia provided that the new company should always be British in character; prohibited the transfer, wholly or in part, of the benefits of the grants and commissions without the consent of the Secretary of State; forbade the grant of any general monopoly of trade and invested the Secretary of State with certain power of supervision over the Company's proceedings, including the appointment of its principal representative in Borneo. The company undertook to abolish slavery, to administer justice with due regard to native customs and laws, and not to interfere with the religion of the inhabitants. Thus armed and authorized, it took over all the rights, territorial and sovereign, conveyed in the original grants of the two Sultans, and proceeded as a corporate body, under a Royal Charter, to organize a service for the administration of the territory and the development of its resources.
The territories acquired from the Sultans in 1878 and 1879 comprised an area of about 20,000 square miles. In subsequent years the Chartered Company acquired further territory including a number of independent enclaves, the existence of which hampered the administration by reason of the asylum the afforded to disaffected elements of the population and fugitives from justice.
The company further acquired the Putatan River (1st May 1884) ; the Padas District (November 1884), including the important river of Padas and Klias, the Tawaran and Bangawan Rivers being included in the same deed of cession; the Kawang River (21st February 1885). Mr W H Treacher, CMG, the first Governor of the Company's territory, negotiated these concession.
In 1888, the British Government conferred on Borneo the boon of British protection. The Protectorate Agreement, signed on the 12th May, 1888, recognised that "all rights of sovereignty" over the said territories" (in North Borneo)"are stated in the British North Borneo Company". It provided that North Borneo should continue to be governed as an independent State; that relations with foreign states should be conducted through H.M. Government; that H.M. Government should have the right to establish Consular officers; that British subjects, commerce and shipping should enjoy 'cost-favoured-nation treatment'; and that the cession of any part of North Borneo should be made to any foreigner or foreign State without the consent of H.M. Government. The protection of Great Britain was not, however, to confer any right on H.M. Government to interfere with the internal administration of North Borneo otherwise than as provided by the Charter.
In recognition of Mr. Alfred Dent's work as founder of the Chartered Company Queen Victoria conferred in him in 1888 the honor of knighthood.
For fifteen years, viz. from 1890 to 1905, the island of Labuan, a Crown Colony, was administered by the Government of North Borneo. This arrangement ceased as from the 1st January, 1906, the British Government having decided that it was necessary on grounds of Imperial policy that Great Britain should resume direct responsibility for the administration of the Colony.
Considering the lawlessness which prevailed prior to the British occupation, North Borneo under the regime of the Chartered Company has been remarkably free from serious unrest.
During the year 1894 to 1900 a series of revolts headed by Mat (Mahommed) Salleh caused some anxiety to the administration; the rebel fortress at Tambunan. A rebellion of the Murut tribes in 1915 was quelled in the same year, since when the territory has enjoyed unbroken tranquility.
By this means the many enclaves which had existed and which being the resort of the disaffected inhabitants of the country, had been a source of continuous annoyance and trouble to the company's administration.
More recently (30th March 1898), as the outcome of the Mat Salleh rebellion, Mr W C Cowie successfully completed arrangements whereby the Sultan of Brunei transferred to the Company all his sovereign and other rights over the districts of Mengkabong, Menggatal, Api Api, Sembulan, Napas, Membakut and Kwala Lama and all lands, seas, bays, rivers and others in North Borneo lying north of the Padas river which had hitherto bee in the Sultan possession.
By the absorption of these additional strips of territory, its became valuable possession of the company and enabled it to consolidate its territory into one compact whole.
STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS THE FORMATION OF MALAYSIA
