Knowledge Base Wiki

Search for LIMS content across all our Wiki Knowledge Bases.

Type a search term to find related articles by LIMS subject matter experts gathered from the most trusted and dynamic collaboration tools in the laboratory informatics industry.

North Borneo
Borneo Utara
1881–1942
1945–1946
Badge
Motto: Latin: Pergo et Perago[1]
(I persevere and I achieve)[1]
Anthem: God Save the Queen (1881–1901)
God Save the King (1901–1942; 1945–1946)
Map of North Borneo, 1903
Map of North Borneo, 1903
StatusProtectorate of the United Kingdom
CapitalKudat (1881–1884);
Sandakan (1884–1945);
Jesselton (1946)
Common languagesEnglish, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Lundayeh, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc.
GovernmentChartered company, Protectorate
Monarch 
• 1881–1901
Victoria (first)
• 1936–1942, 1945–1946
George VI (last)
Governor 
• 1881–1887
William Hood Treacher (first)
• 1937–1946
Charles Robert Smith (last)
Historical eraNew Imperialism
• North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd
26 August 1881
• Granted royal charter
1 November 1881
May 1882
• Protectorate
12 May 1888
2 January 1942
10 June 1945
• Ceded to the Crown colony
15 July 1946
CurrencyNorth Borneo dollar
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Bruneian Empire
Sultanate of Sulu
Sultanate of Bulungan
Crown Colony of Labuan
Japanese occupation of British Borneo
British Military Administration (Borneo)
Crown Colony of North Borneo
Today part ofMalaysia

North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo)[2] was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo was originally established by concessions of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu in 1877 and 1878 to a German-born representative of Austria-Hungary, businessman and diplomat, Gustav Overbeck.

Overbeck had recently purchased a small tract of land on the western coast of Borneo in 1876 from American merchant Joseph William Torrey, who had promoted the territory in Hong Kong since 1866. Overbeck then transferred all his rights to Alfred Dent before withdrawing in 1879. In 1881, Dent established the North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd to manage the territory, which was granted a royal charter in the same year. The following year, the Provisional Association was replaced by the North Borneo Chartered Company. The granting of a royal charter worried both the neighbouring Spanish and Dutch authorities; as a result, the Spanish began to stake their claim of northern Borneo. A protocol known as the Madrid Protocol was signed in 1885 to recognise Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, in return establishing the definite border of Spanish influence beyond northern Borneo. To avoid further claims from other European powers, North Borneo was made a British protectorate in 1888.

As the population was too small to effectively serve the economy, the British sponsored various migration schemes for Chinese workers from Hong Kong and China to work in the European plantations, and for Japanese immigrants to participate in the economic activities of North Borneo. The start of World War II with the arrival of Japanese forces brought an end to protectorate administration, with the territory placed under a military administration and then designated as a Crown colony.

History

Foundation and early years

Alfred Dent, the founder of North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd (later replaced by the North Borneo Chartered Company) was the key player to the establishment of solid British presence in northern Borneo.

North Borneo was founded in 1877–1878 through a series of land concessions in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Brunei and Sulu to an Austrian-German businessman and diplomat, Gustav Overbeck.[3][4][5] A former American Trading Company of Borneo territory on the western coast of northern Borneo had already passed to Overbeck,[6] requiring him to go to Brunei to renew the concession of the land he bought from Joseph William Torrey.[7][8][9] William Clark Cowie played an important role as a close friend of the Sultanate of Sulu in helping Overbeck to buy additional land on the eastern coast of Borneo.[10][11][12] Meanwhile, the Sultanate of Bulungan's influence also reached Tawau on the south-eastern coast,[13] but came under the influence of the more powerful Sultanate of Sulu.[14]

Following his success in leasing large tracts of land from both the western and eastern parts of northern Borneo, Overbeck went to Europe to promote the territory in Austria-Hungary and Italy as well as in his own country of Germany, but none showed any real interest.[6][15] Only Great Britain, which had sought to control trade routes in the Far East since the 18th century, responded.[16][17][18] The interest of the British was strengthened by their presence in the Crown Colony of Labuan since 1846.[19][20][21] As a result, Overbeck received financial support from the British Dent brothers (Alfred Dent and Edward Dent) and diplomatic and military support from the British government.[5][17][22] Following the support from Britain, a clause was included in the treaties that the ceded territories could not be sold or given to another party without the permission of the British government.[3]

Unable to attract the interest of the governments of Austria, Italy and Germany, Overbeck withdrew in 1879; all his treaty rights with the Sultanates were transferred to Alfred Dent, who in 1881 formed the North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd with the support of countrymen Rutherford Alcock, Admiral Henry Keppel, Richard Biddulph Martin, Admiral Richard Mayne, and William Henry Read.[23][24][25] The Provisional Association then applied to Queen Victoria for a royal charter, which was granted on 1 November 1881.[6][26][27] William Hood Treacher was appointed as the first governor,[28] and Kudat at the northern tip of Borneo was chosen as the Provisional Association administration capital.[29][30] The granting of the royal charter had worried both the Dutch and the Spanish, who feared that Britain might threaten the position of their colonies.[31]

In May 1882, the Provisional Association was replaced by the newly formed North Borneo Chartered Company, with Alcock acting as the first President and Dent becoming the company managing director.[32] The administration is not considered a British acquisition of the territory, but rather a private enterprise with government guidelines to protect the territory from being encroached upon by other European powers.[33] Under Governor Treacher, the company gained more territories on the western coast from the Sultanate of Brunei.[34] The company subsequently acquired further sovereign and territorial rights from the Sultan of Brunei, expanding the territory under their control to the Putatan River (May 1884), the Padas district (November 1884), the Kawang River (February 1885), the Mantanani Islands (April 1885) and additional minor Padas territories (March 1898).[note 1]

At the early stage of the administration, there was a claim in northern Borneo by the Spanish authorities in the Philippines, and an attempt to raise the Spanish flag over Sandakan was met with interference by a British warship.[18] To prevent further conflict and to end the Spanish claim to northern Borneo, in 1885 an agreement known as the Madrid Protocol was signed in Madrid between the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, recognising the Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago.[27][35] As the company did not wish to be involved in further foreign affairs issues,[31] North Borneo was made a British Protectorate on 12 May 1888.[36][37] In 1890, the Crown Colony of Labuan was incorporated into the administration of North Borneo, before returning to direct British rule in 1904.[38] There were several local insurrections from 1894 to 1900 by Mat Salleh and by Antanum in 1915.[39] The First World War did not greatly affect the territory, and logging business grew during the interwar period.[40]

World War II and decline

Japanese military movement throughout the Malay Archipelago from 1941 to 1942

During World War II, the Japanese invasion of Borneo began with the unopposed landing of the Japanese forces at Miri and Seria on 16 December 1941, with the objective of securing oil supplies.[41] On 1 January 1942, the Japanese navy landed unopposed in Labuan.[42] The next day, the Japanese landed at Mempakul in North Borneo. After negotiations with the Officers-in-charge of Jesselton for its surrender, while they were waiting for troop reinforcements, Jesselton was occupied by the Japanese on 8 January. Another Japanese army detachment arrived from Mindanao and began to land on Tarakan Island, before proceeding to Sandakan on 17 January.[43] The Japanese arrival was met with no strong resistance, as the protectorate mainly relied on the Royal Navy for defence. Although North Borneo had a police force, it never had its own army or navy.[44] By the end of January, North Borneo was completely occupied by the Japanese.[45] It was administered as part of the Empire of Japan, with the officers of the chartered company being allowed to continued administration under Japanese supervision.[46]

The arrival of the Japanese forces to Borneo and the fall of Anglo-Japanese Alliance had already been predicted by revelation through secret telegrams that Japanese ships docked regularly at Jesselton were engaged in espionage.[47] Many of the British and Australian soldiers captured after the fall of Malaya and Singapore were brought to North Borneo and held as prisoners of wars (POWs) in Sandakan camp where they were then forced to march from Sandakan to Ranau.[48][49] Other POWs were also sent to Batu Lintang camp in neighbouring Sarawak. The occupation drove residents in the coastal areas to the interior in search of food and to escape the brutality of the war period,[50] which led to the creation of several resistance movements; one of the such movement known as the Kinabalu Guerrillas which was led by Albert Kwok and supported by indigenous groups in North Borneo.[51][52]

As part of the Allied Campaign to retake their possessions in the East, Allied forces deployed to Borneo under the Borneo campaign to liberate the island. The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) played a significant part in the mission,[53] with the force being sent to Tarakan and Labuan islands to secure eastern and western Borneo.[54] The Allied Z Special Unit provided intelligence and other information from the Japanese that facilitated the AIF landings,[54] while US submarines were used to transport Australian commandos to Borneo.[55] Most of the major towns of North Borneo were heavily bombed during this period.[56] The war ended on 15 August 1945 following the Japanese surrender and the administration of North Borneo was undertaken by the British Military Administration (BMA) from September.[57] The company official administration returned to administer the territory but, unable to finance the reconstruction cost after the war, ceded administration of the protectorate to the crown colony government on 15 July 1946.[1][58][59]

Government

1899 photograph of the British administration building in Sandakan, capital of North Borneo from 1884 to 1945

The Chartered Company's system of administration was based on standard British colonial empire administrative structure, with the land divided into Residencies, and sub-divided into districts. Initially, there were only two Residencies: East Coast and West Coast, with Residents based at Sandakan and Jesselton respectively. Each Residency was divided into provinces, later known as districts, which were run by district officers.[60] By 1922, there were five Residencies to accommodate new areas that were opened up for development. These were the West Coast, Kudat, Tawau, Interior and East Coast Residencies. These Residencies were in turn divided into 17 districts. Under this system, British held top posts, while native chiefs managed the people at lower levels. This was not a conscious attempt by the British to instill indirect rule but a convenient arrangement for the district officers who were unfamiliar with local customs and politics.[61]

The company administration established a foundation for economic growth in North Borneo by restoring peace to a land where piracy and tribal feuds had grown rampant. It abolished slavery and set up transport, health and education services for the people, and allowed indigenous communities to continue their traditional lifestyles.[62] The British North Borneo Constabulary, the territory's police force, in 1883 comprised 3 Europeans, 50 Indians (Punjabis and Pashtuns), 30 Dayaks, 50 Somalis and 20 Malays.[63] Constables trained at depot an average of three days per week.[64] In 1884 the force had a total of 176 members,[63] which increased to about 510 over three years.[64] While under the protectorate, international relations were managed by the British government, internally North Borneo was governed by the North Borneo Chartered Company as an independent state with British protection.[2] The treaty signed on 12 May 1888 stipulated:

North Borneo, 1888
North Borneo, 1888
Agreement between the British Government and the British North Borneo Company for the establishment of a British Protectorate —Signed at London, 12 May 1888[2]


I. The State of North Borneo comprises the territories specified in the said Royal Charter, and such other territories as the Company have acquired, or may hereafter acquire, ‘under the provisions of Article XV of the said Charter.
It is divided into nine Provinces, namely:

Province Alcock;
Province Cunliffe;
Province Dent;
Province Dewhurst;
Province Elphinstone;
Province Keppel;
Province Martin;
Province Mayne;
Province Myburgh.

II. The State of North Borneo shall continue to be governed and administered as an independent State by the company in conformity with the provisions of the said Charter; under the protection of Great Britain; but such protection shall confer no right on Her Majesty's Government to interfere with the internal administration of the State further than is provided herein or by the Charter of the Company.
III. The relations between the State of North Borneo and all foreign States, including the States of Brunei and of Sarawak, shall be conducted by Her Majesty's Government, or in accordance with its directions; and if any difference should arise between the Government of North Borneo and that of any other State, the Company, as representing the State of North Borneo, agrees to abide by the decision of Her Majesty's Government, and to take all necessary to give effect thereto.
IV. Her Majesty's Government shall have the right to establish British Consular officers in any part of the said territories, who shall receive exequaturs in the name of the Government of North Borneo. They shall enjoy whatever privileges are usually granted to Consular officers, and they shall be entitled to hoist the British flag over their residences and public offices.
V. British subjects, commerce, and shipping shall enjoy the same right, privileges, and advantages as the subjects, commerce, and shipping of the most favoured nation, as well as any other rights, privileges, and advantages which may be enjoyed by the subjects, commerce and shipping of North Borneo.
VI. No cession or other alienation of any part of the territory of the State of North Borneo shall be made by its Government to any foreign State, or the subjects or the citizens thereof, without the consent of Her Majesty's Government; but this restriction shall not apply to ordinary grants or leases of lands or houses to private individuals for purposes of residence, agriculture, commerce, or other business.

Economy

The opening of the North Borneo Railway Line on 3 February 1898 to transport commodity in the west coast area

With the beginning of planned economic activities under British administration, the North Borneo authorities began to open land for agriculture, and native land rights began to be formed.[65][66] The government however felt that the native population was too small and unsuited to meet the requirements of modern development, so they began to sponsor various schemes for the migration of Chinese workers from Hong Kong and China.[67][68] In 1882, the North Borneo authorities appointed Walter Henry Medhurst as Commissioner for Chinese Immigration with the mission of attracting more businessmen to invest in North Borneo by providing a workforce.[69] Medhurst's efforts were costly and unsuccessful; however, the Hakka, not part of the plan, began to migrate to North Borneo where they formed an agricultural community.[69]

Bond Street in Jesselton with Chinese shoplots, c. 1930
Tobacco estate in Lahad Datu, 1899

Since the 18th century, tobacco was North Borneo's foremost planting industry.[70] The logging history in North Borneo can be traced since the 1870s.[71] From 1890s, hardwood exports increased,[72] with logging expanding during the interwar period.[40] In the 1900s, North Borneo joined the rubber boom. The completion of North Borneo Railway Line helped to transport the resources to a major port on the west coast. By 1915, around 34,828 acres (14,094 ha) of land, in addition to Chinese and North Borneo smallholdings, had been planted with rubber tree.[69] In the same year, the Governor of North Borneo, Aylmer Cavendish Pearson invited Japanese emigrants to participate in the economic activities there. The Japanese government received the request warmly and sent researchers to discover potential economic opportunities.[73]

At the early stage, the Japanese encouraged their farmers to go to North Borneo to cultivate rice, as their country depended on rice imports. With increasing economic interest from the Japanese, they purchased a rubber estate owned by the North Borneo government.[73] By 1937, North Borneo exported 178,000 cubic metres of timber, surpassing Siam, which exporting 85,000 cubic metres of timber.[72] Many of the privately owned Japanese estates and companies had been involved in the economic sectors of North Borneo since being invited by the British.[74] With the increasing numbers of Japanese investments, many Japanese also migrated with their family to the east coast of North Borneo, primarily to Tawau and Kunak.[75]

Currency

One North Borneo dollar, 1940

The original monetary unit of North Borneo was the Mexican dollar. The dollar was later matched to the Straits dollar and rated at 9 Straits dollars (equal to 5 US dollars at the time).[76] Different notes were issued throughout the administration, with backgrounds featuring the Mount Kinabalu or the company arms.[77]

Society

Ethnic composition map of the natives of North Borneo and the neighbouring Raj of Sarawak, 1896
1911 specimen stamps of North Borneo

Demography

In 1881, 60,000 to 100,000 indigenous people lived in North Borneo.[67] The people on the coast were mainly Muslims, with the aborigines mostly located inland.[76] The Kadazan-Dusun and Murut were the largest indigenous group in the interior, while Bajau, Bruneian, Illanun, Kedayan and Suluk dominated the coastal areas.[78] Following various immigration schemes initiated by the British, the population increased to 200,000 in 1920,[79] 257,804 in 1930,[76] 285,000 in 1935,[64] and 331,000 in 1945.[80] Under company rule, the government of North Borneo not only recruited Chinese workers but also Japanese immigrants to overcome the shortage of manpower in the economic sectors.[81] From 1911 until 1951, the total of Chinese population increased from only 27,801 to 74,374 which is divided between Hakka (44,505), Cantonese (11,833), Hokkien (7,336), Teochew (3,948), some Hailam (Hainan) (3,571) and other Chinese groups (3,181).[82]

Public service infrastructure

North Borneo was connected to the Singapore-Hongkong submarine cable by a link from the island of Labuan to Menumbok. The first message from the Borneo mainland to London was sent on 19 May 1894. A few days later, the work on a telegraph line from the West Coast to Sandakan was started. It took three years and exacted a heavy toll in human life to push the line through the almost uninhabited interior territory, until on 7 April 1897 a congratulatory message from the Governor in Sandakan for transmission to the Court of Directors in London was successfully transmitted from Sandakan to Labuan. In the early 1910s the technical and financial problems with the telegraph line prompted the company to venture into the construction of a wireless network, based on the quench-spark system of the German Telefunken Company. The first stage of this network comprised stations in Sandakan, Jesselton, Tawau and Kudat. The first wireless communication was established on 24 October 1913 between British North Borneo and Jolo on the Philippine Islands. Inland communication was effected on 14 January 1914 between Sandakan and Jesselton.[83][page needed]

The North Borneo Railway opened to the public on 1 August 1914 as the main transportation facility for west coast communities.[84] Postal service was also available throughout the administration.[85]

Media

The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (since 1820) and British North Borneo Herald (since 1883) held a significant amount of records regarding North Borneo before and during the British administration.

See also

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Great Britain. Colonial Office 1956, p. 6.
  2. ^ a b c Great Britain. Foreign Office 1888, p. 238.
  3. ^ a b Pryer 2001, p. 11.
  4. ^ Wright 1988, p. 107.
  5. ^ a b Doolittle 2011, p. 32.
  6. ^ a b c Ooi 2004, p. 265.
  7. ^ Pryer 2001, p. 10.
  8. ^ Wright 1988, p. 143.
  9. ^ Saunders 2013, p. 87.
  10. ^ Press 2017, p. 61.
  11. ^ Great Britain. Colonial Office 1958, p. 164.
  12. ^ Kratoska 2001, p. 282.
  13. ^ Trost 1998, p. 234.
  14. ^ Magenda 2010, p. 42.
  15. ^ Press 2017, p. 150.
  16. ^ Fry 2013, p. 15.
  17. ^ a b Fitzgerald 2016, p. 70.
  18. ^ a b Barbara Watson & Leonard Y 2016, p. 193.
  19. ^ Hong Kong Daily Press Office 1912, p. 1504.
  20. ^ Webster 1998, p. 130.
  21. ^ McCord & Purdue 2007, p. 220.
  22. ^ Webster 1998, p. 200.
  23. ^ British North Borneo Chartered Company 1886, p. 113.
  24. ^ Hilton & Tate 1966, p. 82.
  25. ^ de Vienne 2015, p. 85.
  26. ^ Doolittle 2011, p. 173.
  27. ^ a b Olson 1991, p. 92.
  28. ^ Tregonning 1965, p. 13.
  29. ^ Great Britain. Colonial Office 1958, p. 172.
  30. ^ Yong 1965, p. 25.
  31. ^ a b Olson & Shadle 1996, p. 192.
  32. ^ Welman 2017, p. 163.
  33. ^ Pryer 2001, p. 12.
  34. ^ Wright 1988, p. 185.
  35. ^ Chamber's 1950, p. 448.
  36. ^ Dahlhoff 2012, p. 1133.
  37. ^ Panton 2015, p. 90.
  38. ^ Olson & Shadle 1996, p. 645.
  39. ^ Welman 2017, p. 153.
  40. ^ a b Jones 2013, p. 12.
  41. ^ War Intelligence Telegram UK High Commissioner Australia to Dominions Office, 2 January 1942; CO 968/9/6, p. 95.
  42. ^ Tregonning 1965, p. 216.
  43. ^ Rottman 2002, p. 206.
  44. ^ Tregonning 1960, p. 14.
  45. ^ Lines 1991, p. 193.
  46. ^ Evans 2012, p. 16.
  47. ^ Saya & Takashi 1993, p. 54.
  48. ^ Bickersteth & Hinton 1996, p. 19.
  49. ^ Braithwaite 2016, p. 347.
  50. ^ Lim 2008, p. 36.
  51. ^ Evans 1990, p. 50.
  52. ^ Kratoska 2013, p. 124.
  53. ^ Ooi 2010, p. 201.
  54. ^ a b Heimann 1998, p. 174.
  55. ^ Feuer 2005, p. 27.
  56. ^ Ooi 2013, p. 77.
  57. ^ Ooi 2010, p. 208.
  58. ^ Jeffreys et al. 2011, p. 13.
  59. ^ Welman 2017, p. 159.
  60. ^ Lovegrove 1912, p. 545–554.
  61. ^ Cai 2020, p. 52.
  62. ^ Skutsch 2013, p. 679.
  63. ^ a b Adams 1929, p. 310.
  64. ^ a b c Northwestern University 1935, p. 28.
  65. ^ Cleary 1992, p. 170.
  66. ^ Colchester 2011, p. 87.
  67. ^ a b Danny 1999, p. 134.
  68. ^ Wordie 2016.
  69. ^ a b c Tarling 2003, p. 215.
  70. ^ John & Jackson 1973, p. 88.
  71. ^ Ibbotson 2014, p. 116.
  72. ^ a b Dixon 1991, p. 107.
  73. ^ a b Akashi & Yoshimura 2008, p. 23.
  74. ^ Robertson 1979, p. 64.
  75. ^ Sabah Museum and State Archives Department 1986, p. 16–22.
  76. ^ a b c Lane 2010, p. 51.
  77. ^ Judkins 2016, p. 149.
  78. ^ Herb & Kaplan 2008, p. 1215.
  79. ^ Hose, McDougall & Haddon 1912, p. 28.
  80. ^ Vinogradov 1980, p. 73.
  81. ^ Jude 2016.
  82. ^ 林開忠 2013, p. 67.
  83. ^ Aranas 2018.
  84. ^ Lajiun 2017.
  85. ^ Armstrong 1920, p. 32.

References

  • British North Borneo Chartered Company (1886). Handbook of British North Borneo. W. Clowes & Sons, Limited.
  • Great Britain. Foreign Office (1888). British and Foreign State Papers. H.M. Stationery Office.
  • Hong Kong Daily Press Office (1912). The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Sian, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c: With which are Incorporated "The China Directory" and "The Hong Kong List for the Far East" ... Hong Kong Daily Press Office.
  • Hose, Charles; McDougall, William; Haddon, Alfred Cort (1912). The pagan tribes of Borneo: a description of their physical, moral and intellectual condition, with some discussion of their ethnic relations. Macmillan and co., limited.
  • Lovegrove, Leonard (1912). "British North Borneo". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 60 (3099): 545–554. JSTOR 41340115.
  • Armstrong, Douglas Brawn (1920). British & colonial postage stamps: a guide to the collection and appreciation of the adhesive postal issues of the British empire. Methuen.
  • Adams, W. C. (1929). "The Constabulary of North Borneo". The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles. 2 (2). SAGE Publications: 310–315. doi:10.1177/0032258X2900200211. S2CID 149341169.
  • Northwestern University (1935). "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, etc. (Colonies, Protectorates and Mandated Territories)" (PDF). Northwestern University.
  • Chamber's (1950). Chamber's encyclopaedia. Vol. 2. G. Newnes.
  • Great Britain. Colonial Office (1956). Annual Report on North Borneo. H.M. Stationery Office.
  • Great Britain. Colonial Office (1958). Annual Report on North Borneo. H.M. Stationery Office.
  • Tregonning, K. G. (1960). North Borneo. H.M. Stationery Office.
  • Baker, Michael H. (1962). North Borneo: The First Ten Years 1946–1956. Malaya Publishing House.
  • Tregonning, K. G. (1965). A History of Modern Sabah (North Borneo, 1881–1963). University of Singapore. treacher.
  • Yong, Leng Lee (1965). North Borneo (Sabah): A Study in Settlement Geography. Eastern Universities Press.
  • Hilton, P. B.; Tate, Donna J. (1966). The modern world. Oxford University Press.
  • John, David W.; Jackson, James C. (1973). "The Tobacco Industry of North Borneo: A Distinctive Form of Plantation Agriculture". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 4 (1): 88–106. doi:10.1017/S002246340001643X. S2CID 163137161.
  • Robertson, Eric (1979). The Japanese File: Pre-war Japanese Penetration in Southeast Asia. Heinemann Asia.
  • Vinogradov, A.G. (1980). The population of the countries of the world from most ancient times to the present days: Demography. WP IPGEB. GGKEY:CPA09LBD5WN.
  • Sabah Museum and State Archives Department (1986). Sabah Museum and Archives Journal. Sabah Museum and State Archives Department.
  • Wright, Leigh R. (1988). The Origins of British Borneo. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-213-6.
  • Evans, Stephen R. (1990). Sabah (North Borneo): Under the Rising Sun Government. Tropical Press.
  • Olson, James Stuart (1991). Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-26257-9.
  • Dixon, Chris (1991). South East Asia in the World-Economy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31237-0.
  • Lines, William J. (1991). Taming the Great South Land: A History of the Conquest of Nature in Australia. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07830-7.
  • Cleary, M. C. (1992). "Plantation Agriculture and the Formulation of Native Land Rights in British North Borneo c. 1880-1930". The Geographical Journal. 158 (2): 170–181. doi:10.2307/3059786. JSTOR 3059786.
  • Saya, Shiraishi; Takashi, Shiraishi (1993). The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia. SEAP Publications. ISBN 978-0-87727-402-5.
  • Olson, James Stuart; Shadle, Robert (1996). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29366-5.
  • Bickersteth, Jane; Hinton, Amanda (1996). Malaysia & Singapore Handbook. Footprint Handbooks. ISBN 978-0-8442-4909-4.
  • Heimann, Judith M. (1998). The Most Offending Soul Alive: Tom Harrisson and His Remarkable Life. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2199-9.
  • Webster, Anthony (1998). Gentleman Capitalists: British Imperialism in Southeast Asia 1770-1890. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-86064-171-8.
  • Trost, R. Haller (1998). The Contested Maritime and Territorial Boundaries of Malaysia: An International Law Perspective. Kluwer Law International. ISBN 978-90-411-9652-1.
  • Danny, Wong Tze-Ken (1999). "Chinese Migration to Sabah Before the Second World War". Archipel. 58 (3). Persée: 131–158. doi:10.3406/arch.1999.3538.
  • Pryer, Ada (2001). A Decade in Borneo. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-7185-0197-6.
  • Kratoska, Paul H. (2001). South East Asia, Colonial History: Empire-building in the nineteenth century. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-21541-1.
  • Rottman, Gordon L. (2002). World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-military Study. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31395-0.
  • Tarling, Nicholas (2003). Imperialism in Southeast Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-57082-9.
  • Ooi, Keat Gin (2004). Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-770-2.
  • Feuer, A. B. (2005). Australian Commandos: Their Secret War Against the Japanese in World War II. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3294-9.
  • McCord, Norman; Purdue, Bill (2007). British History 1815-1914. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-926164-2.
  • Herb, Guntram H.; Kaplan, David H. (2008). Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview [4 volumes]: A Global Historical Overview. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-908-5.
  • Lim, Regina (2008). Federal-state Relations in Sabah, Malaysia: The Berjaya Administration, 1976–85. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-981-230-812-2.
  • Akashi, Yōji; Yoshimura, Mako (2008). New Perspectives on the Japanese Occupation in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-1945. NUS Press. ISBN 978-9971-69-299-5.
  • Magenda, Burhan Djabier (2010). East Kalimantan: The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy. Equinox Publishing. ISBN 978-602-8397-21-6.
  • Ooi, Keat Gin (2010). The Japanese Occupation of Borneo, 1941-45. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-96309-4.
  • Lane, Roger Dewardt (2010). Encyclopedia Small Silver Coins. Roger deWardt Lane. ISBN 978-0-615-24479-2.
  • Doolittle, Amity A. (2011). Property and Politics in Sabah, Malaysia: Native Struggles Over Land Rights. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-80116-2.
  • Colchester, Marcus (2011). Divers Paths to Justice: Legal Pluralism and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Southeast Asia. Forest Peoples Programme. ISBN 978-616-90611-7-5.
  • Jeffreys, Andrew; Grimsditch, Peter; Herrero, Laura; Kuncinas, Paulus (2011). The Report: Sabah. Oxford Business Group. ISBN 978-1-907065-36-1.
  • Dahlhoff, Guenther (2012). Bibliographic Set (2 Vol Set). International Court of Justice, Digest of Judgments and Advisory Opinions, Canon and Case Law 1946 - 2011. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-23062-0.
  • Evans, I. H. N. (2012). The Religion of the Tempasuk Dusuns of North Borneo. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-64603-2.
  • Skutsch, Carl (2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1.
  • Jones, Geoffrey G (2013). The Multinational Traders. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-68001-6.
  • Saunders, Graham (2013). A History of Brunei. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-87394-2.
  • Fry, Howard T. (2013). Alexander Dalrymple and the Expansion of British Trade. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-136-60694-6.
  • Ooi, Keat Gin (2013). Post-war Borneo, 1945-50: Nationalism, Empire and State-Building. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-05803-7.
  • 林開忠 (2013). 客居他鄉-東南亞客家族群的生活與文化 [Living in a hometown - the life and culture of the Southeast Asian Hakka family]. 客家委員會客家文化發展中心 [Hakka Committee, Hakka Cultural Development Centre]. ISBN 978-986-03-7668-5.
  • Kratoska, Paul H. (2013). Southeast Asian Minorities in the Wartime Japanese Empire. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-12506-5.
  • Ibbotson, Ross (2014). The History of Logging in North Borneo. Vol. 87. Opus Publications. pp. 116–118. doi:10.1353/ras.2014.0011. ISBN 978-983-3987504. S2CID 160334993.
  • Panton, Kenneth J. (2015). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8108-7524-1.
  • de Vienne, Marie-Sybille (2015). Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century. NUS Press. ISBN 978-9971-69-818-8.
  • Barbara Watson, Andaya; Leonard Y, Andaya (2016). A History of Malaysia. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-60515-3.
  • Judkins, Maggie (2016). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues, 1368-1960. F+W Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4402-4707-1.
  • Jude, Marcel (2016). "Japanese community in North Borneo long before World War II". The Borneo Post – via PressReader.
  • Epstein, Mortimer (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1943. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-27072-5.
  • Braithwaite, Richard Wallace (2016). Fighting Monsters: An Intimate History of the Sandakan Tragedy. Australian Scholarly Publishing. ISBN 978-1-925333-76-3.
  • Fitzgerald, Robert (2016). The Rise of the Global Company: Multinationals and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-84974-6.
  • Wordie, Jason (2016). "From settlers to snorkelling, Hong Kong has long had links to Sabah". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017.
  • Welman, Frans (2017). Borneo Trilogy Volume 1: Sabah. Booksmango. ISBN 978-616-245-078-5.
  • Lajiun, Jenne (2017). "Sabah's first railway station proposed as historical heritage site". The Borneo Post. Archived from the original on 19 July 2017.
  • Press, Steven (2017). Rogue Empires: Contracts and Conmen in Europe's Scramble for Africa. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-97185-1.
  • Aranas, Uwe (2018). The History of Wireless Telegraphy in British North Borneo. Department of Sabah Museum, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. ISBN 978-983-9638356.
  • Cai, Y. (2020). Staging Indigenous Heritage: Instrumentalisation, Brokerage, and Representation in Malaysia. Routledge Studies in Culture and Development. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-429-62076-8.

Further reading