Editing Borneo (section)

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:Dayaks in their war dress.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Dayak people|Dayak]], the main [[indigenous people]] of the island, were feared for their [[headhunting]] practices.]]

In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known [[Figurative art|figurative art painting]], over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of [[Lubang Jeriji Saléh]] on the island of Borneo.<ref name="NYT-20181107-cz">{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |title=In Cave in Borneo Jungle, Scientists Find Oldest Figurative Painting in the World - A cave drawing in Borneo is at least 40,000 years old, raising intriguing questions about creativity in ancient societies. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/science/oldest-cave-art-borneo.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/science/oldest-cave-art-borneo.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited |date=7 November 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=8 November 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="NAT-20181107">{{cite journal |author=Aubert, M.|display-authors=et al |title=Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo |date=7 November 2018 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=564 |issue=7735 |pages=254–257 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0679-9 |pmid=30405242 |bibcode=2018Natur.564..254A |s2cid=53208538 }}</ref> It has been proposed, based on house construction styles, linguistic and genetic evidence, that Madagascar may have been first populated from southern Borneo.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

According to ancient Chinese (977),<ref>{{cite book|last=Cœdès|first=George|author-link=George Coedès|title=The Indianized States of South-East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDyJBFTdiwoC|year=1968|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1}}</ref>{{rp|129}} Indian and Japanese manuscripts, western coastal cities of Borneo had become trading ports by the first millennium AD.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Trade in Lakawood Products Between South China and the Malay World from the Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries AD|author=Derek Heng Thiam Soon|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|volume=32|issue=2|pages=133–149|date=June 2001|doi=10.1017/S0022463401000066|s2cid=162474082}}</ref> In Chinese manuscripts, gold, [[camphor]], [[tortoise]] shells, [[hornbill ivory]], [[rhinoceros]] horn, [[Crane (bird)|crane crest]], [[beeswax]], [[lakawood]] (a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick [[liana]], ''Dalbergia parviflora''), [[dragon's blood]], [[rattan]], edible [[bird's nest soup|bird's nests]] and various spices were described as among the most valuable items from Borneo.<ref name="Broek1962">{{cite journal|title=Place Names in 16th and 17th Century Borneo|author=Jan O. M. Broek|journal=Imago Mundi|volume=16|year=1962|pages=129–148|jstor=1150309|doi=10.1080/03085696208592208}}</ref> The [[demographics of India|Indians]] named Borneo ''Suvarnabhumi'' (the land of gold) and also ''Karpuradvipa'' (Camphor Island). The [[Javanese people|Javanese]] named Borneo ''Puradvipa'', or Diamond Island. [[Archaeological]] findings in the Sarawak river delta reveal that the area was a thriving centre of trade between India and China from the 6th century until about 1300.<ref name="Broek1962"/>

[[File:Brunei territorial lose (1400–1890).gif|thumb|right|Territorial loss of the [[thalassocracy]] of the [[Bruneian Empire|Sultanate of Brunei]] from 1400 to 1890 due to the beginning of [[Western imperialism]]]]

Stone pillars bearing inscriptions in the [[Pallava script]], found in [[Kutai]] along the [[Mahakam River]] in [[East Kalimantan]] and dating to around the second half of the 4th century, constitute some of the oldest evidence of [[Hindu]] influence in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives|publisher=E Press, The Australian National University|chapter=(Chapter 15) The Earliest Indic State: Kutai|url=http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/austronesians/mobile_devices/ch15s02.html|year=2006|access-date=1 October 2009|isbn=978-1-920942-85-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225113933/http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/austronesians/mobile_devices/ch15s02.html|archive-date=25 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 14th century, Borneo became a [[vassal state]] of [[Majapahit]] (in present-day Indonesia),<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter SkalnÃk|title=Outwitting the State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddj7FIkxFu0C&pg=PA41|date=1 January 1989|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-3041-6|pages=41–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Ooi |first=Keat Gin |author-link=Keat Gin Ooi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjqvCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 |title=Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1350–1800 |author2=Hoang Anh Tuan |date=8 October 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-55919-1 |pages=90–}}</ref> later changing its allegiance to the [[Ming dynasty]] of China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/68001/1/015101.pdf|title=Malaysia-Philippines Territorial Dispute: The Sabah Case|author1=Mohammad Al-Mahdi Tan Kho|author2=Hurng-yu Chen|publisher=NCCU Institutional Repository|work=[[National Chengchi University]]|date=July 2014|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509133532/http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/68001/1/015101.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pre-Islamic Sulu, then known locally as [[Lupah Sug]], stretched from Palawan and the Sulu archipelago at the Philippines; to [[Sabah]], [[East Kalimantan|Eastern]], and [[North Kalimantan|Northern Kalimantan]] in Borneo.<ref>[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228735802.pdf Reading Song-Ming Records on the Pre-colonial History of the Philippines] By Wang Zhenping Page 258.</ref> The Sulu empire rose as a rebellion and reaction against former Majapahit Imperialism against Sulu which Majapahit briefly occupied. The religion of [[Islam]] entered the island in the 10th century,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/08/25/islam-arrived-in-sabah-in-10th-century/|title=Islam arrived in Sabah in 10th century|author=Mariah Doksil|newspaper=The Borneo Post|date=25 August 2014|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711125321/http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/08/25/islam-arrived-in-sabah-in-10th-century/ |archive-date=11 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> following the arrival of Muslim traders who later converted many indigenous peoples in the coastal areas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Islam In Indonesia. A resource of Islam in the archipelago|url=https://islaminindonesia.com/life-style/|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707075222/https://islaminindonesia.com/life-style/|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Sultanate of Brunei declared independence from Majapahit following the death of the Majapahit emperor in the mid-14th century. During its golden age under [[Bolkiah]] from the 15th to the 17th century, the Bruneian sultanate ruled almost the entire coastal area of Borneo (lending its name to the island due to its influence in the region) and several islands in the Philippines.<ref name=history/> During the 1450s, [[Sharif ul-Hāshim of Sulu|Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr]], an Arab born in [[Johor]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=K. S. Nathan|author2=Mohammad Hashim Kamali|title=Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, Social and Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8d6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|date=January 2005|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-282-3|pages=62–}}</ref> arrived in Sulu from Malacca. In 1457, he founded the [[Sultanate of Sulu]]; he titled himself as "Paduka Maulana Mahasari Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bakr".<ref>{{cite book|author=Shinzō Hayase|title=Mindanao Ethnohistory Beyond Nations: Maguindanao, Sangir, and Bagobo Societies in East Maritime Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEGBAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-971-550-511-6}}</ref> Following its independence in 1578 from Brunei's influence,<ref>{{cite book|first1=Trudy|last1=Ring|first2=Robert M|last2=Salkin|first3=Sharon|last3=La Boda|title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA160|date=January 1996|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-04-6|pages=160–}}</ref> Sulu began to expand its [[thalassocracy]] to parts of the northern Borneo.<ref name=thalassocracy/><ref name="Hussainmiya2006">{{cite book|author=Bachamiya Abdul Hussainmiya|title=Brunei: revival of 1906 : a popular history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7UuAQAAIAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Brunei Press|isbn=978-99917-32-15-2}}</ref> Both the sultanates who ruled northern Borneo had traditionally engaged in trade with China by means of the frequently-arriving Chinese [[junk (ship)|junk]]s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Keat Gin Ooi|title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA271|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-770-2|pages=271–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Eric Tagliacozzo|author2=Wen-chin Chang|title=Chinese Circulations: Capital, Commodities, and Networks in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMLnmRa0zEC&pg=PA236|date=13 April 2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-4903-7|pages=236–}}</ref> Despite the thalassocracy of the sultanates, Borneo's interior region remained free from the rule of any kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ranjit Singh|title=The Making of Sabah, 1865–1941: The Dynamics of Indigenous Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9xuAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=University of Malaya Press|isbn=978-983-100-095-3}}</ref>

===British and Dutch control===
{{main|British Borneo|Dutch East Indies}}
[[File:Ceremony of Hoisting the British Flag on the island of Labuan, N. W. Coast of Borneo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Union Jack|British flag]] hoisted for the first time on the island of [[Labuan]], on 24 December 1846.]]

After the [[Capture of Malacca (1511)|fall of Malacca]] in 1511, Portuguese merchants traded regularly with Borneo, and especially with Brunei from 1530.<ref name="Lach1994">{{cite book|author=Donald F. Lach|title=Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume I: The Century of Discovery.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0x1Io6VOuAIC&pg=PA580|date=16 April 1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-46732-0|pages=580–}}</ref> Having visited Brunei's capital, the Portuguese described the place as surrounded by a [[stone wall]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=P. M. Holt|author2=Peter Malcolm Holt|author3=Ann K. S. Lambton|author4=Bernard Lewis|title=The Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 2A, The Indian Sub-Continent, South-East Asia, Africa and the Muslim West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y99jTbxNbSAC&pg=PA129|date=21 April 1977|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29137-8|pages=129–}}</ref> While Borneo was seen as rich, the Portuguese did not make any attempts to conquer it.<ref name="Lach1994"/> The Spanish had sailed from Spanish America and conquered the Brunei's provinces in the Philippines and incorporated it into the Mexico-Centered [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]]. The Spanish visit to Brunei led to the [[Castilian War]] in 1578. The British began to trade with [[Sultanate of Sambas|Sambas]] of southern Borneo in 1609, while the Dutch only began their trade in 1644: to Banjar and Martapura, also in the southern Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia|url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticjournala30unkngoog|year=1816|publisher=Parbury, Allen, and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/asiaticjournala30unkngoog/page/n568 561]–}}</ref> The Dutch tried to settle the island of [[Balambangan Island|Balambangan]], north of Borneo, in the second half of the 18th century, but withdrew by 1797.<ref name="Dutch Borneo">{{cite web|url=http://www.san.beck.org/20-11-Indonesia1800-1950.html|title=Indonesia and the Dutch 1800–1950|author=Sanderson Beck|publisher=San.Beck|year=2007|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524100635/http://www.san.beck.org/20-11-Indonesia1800-1950.html|archive-date=24 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1812, the sultan in southern Borneo ceded his forts to the [[British East India Company]]. The British, led by [[Stamford Raffles]], then tried to establish an intervention in Sambas but failed. Although they managed to defeat the sultanate the next year and declared a blockade on all ports in Borneo except Brunei, [[Banjarmasin]] and [[Pontianak, Indonesia|Pontianak]], the project was cancelled by the British governor-general [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto|Lord Minto]] in India as it was too expensive.<ref name="Dutch Borneo"/> At the beginning of British and Dutch exploration on the island, they described the island of Borneo as full of [[headhunting|head hunters]], with the indigenous in the interior practising [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]],<ref name="Dutch and British explorations">{{cite web|url=http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=forum|title=British and Dutch Perceptions of Cannibalism in Borneo, 1882–1964|author=Adrienne Smith|publisher=[[California Polytechnic State University]]|year=2012|access-date=24 May 2017|page=5|format=PDF}}</ref> and the waters around the island infested with [[piracy|pirates]], especially between the north eastern Borneo and the southern Philippines.<ref>{{cite book|author=Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, R.N.|title=The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the Suppression of Piracy|url=https://archive.org/details/expeditiontobor04broogoog|year=1846|pages=[https://archive.org/details/expeditiontobor04broogoog/page/n238 214]–|publisher=Chapman and Hall}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=P. Boomgaard|title=A World of Water: Rain, Rivers and Seas in Southeast Asian Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1EEgIi8Mf-YC&pg=PA141|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610173855/https://books.google.com/books?id=1EEgIi8Mf-YC&pg=PA141|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 June 2020|date=January 2007|publisher=KITLV Press|isbn=978-90-6718-294-2|pages=141–}}</ref> The [[Malay race|Malay]] and [[Iban people|Sea Dayak]] pirates preyed on maritime shipping in the waters between Singapore and Hong Kong from their haven in Borneo,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fullbooks.com/Wanderings-Among-South-Sea-Savages-And-in3.html|title=Wanderings Among South Sea Savages And in Borneo and the Philippines|author=H. Wilfrid Walker|publisher=Full Books|access-date=23 May 2017|pages=3/3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609213932/http://www.fullbooks.com/Wanderings-Among-South-Sea-Savages-And-in3.html|archive-date=9 June 2008|url-status=live}} [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2564/2564-h/2564-h.htm Alt URL]</ref> along with the attacks by [[Illanun]]s of the [[Moro pirates]] from the southern Philippines, such as in the [[Battle off Mukah]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sarawak/sketches1882/16.html|title=Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak (Chapter XVI. Illanun Pirates)|author=Harriette McDougall|work=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; E. & J. B. Young|location=[[London]], [[New York City|New York]]|publisher=[[Project Canterbury]], Anglican History|year=1882|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:British and Dutch Borneo, 1898.png|thumb|right|Map of the island, divided between the British and the Dutch, 1898. The present boundaries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei are largely inherited from British and Dutch colonial rules.]]

The Dutch began to intervene in the southern part of the island upon resuming contact in 1815, posting ''[[resident (title)|resident]]s'' to Banjarmasin, Pontianak and Sambas and ''assistant-residents'' to Landak and Mampawa.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Cribb|title=Historical Atlas of Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ki8COnr7H0MC&pg=PA129|date=1 February 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-78057-8|pages=129–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=J. R. V. Prescott|title=Political Frontiers and Boundaries (Routledge Library Editions: Political Geography)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjyvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA288|date=3 October 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-60199-9|pages=288–}}</ref> The Sultanate of Brunei in 1842 granted large parts of land in Sarawak to the British adventurer [[James Brooke]], as a reward for his help in quelling a local rebellion. Brooke established the [[Raj of Sarawak]] and was recognised as its rajah after paying a fee to the sultanate. He established a monarchy, and the Brooke dynasty (through his nephew and great-nephew) ruled Sarawak for 100 years; the leaders were known as the [[White Rajahs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://borneo.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=63 |title=Part 2 – The Brooke Era |work=The Borneo Project |publisher=Earth Island Institute |access-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524171139/https://borneo.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=63 |archive-date=24 May 2013  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/flyingcarpet00hall |url-access=registration |last=Halliburton |first=Richard |date=1932 |publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |title=The Flying Carpet |pages=297–312}}</ref> Brooke also acquired the island of [[Labuan]] for [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] in 1846 through the [[Treaty of Labuan]] with the sultan of Brunei, [[Omar Ali Saifuddin II]] on 18 December 1846.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/life/2008/09/07/loss_of_labuan_a_former_brunei_island|title=Loss of Labuan, a former Brunei island|author=Rozan Yunos|newspaper=The Brunei Times|date=7 September 2008|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428182303/http://www.bt.com.bn/life/2008/09/07/loss_of_labuan_a_former_brunei_island|archive-date=28 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The region of northern Borneo came under the administration of [[North Borneo Chartered Company]] following the acquisition of territory from the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu by a German businessman and adventurer named [[Gustav Overbeck|Baron von Overbeck]], before it was passed to the British Dent brothers (comprising [[Alfred Dent]] and Edward Dent).<ref name="Hussainmiya2006"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb102-ms283792|title=British North Borneo Papers|work=School of Oriental and African Studies|publisher=Archives hub|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> Further expansion by the British continued into the Borneo interior.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jatswan S. Sidhu|title=Historical Dictionary of Brunei Darussalam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msOhDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|date=20 December 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-6459-5|pages=51–}}</ref> This led the 26th sultan of Brunei, [[Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin]] to appeal the British to halt such efforts, and as a result a Treaty of Protection was signed in 1888, rendering Brunei a British protectorate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muslimmuseum.org.uk/treaty-of-protection-1888-brunei/|title=Treaty of Protection 1888 – Brunei|publisher=Muslim Museum Initiative|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

[[Image:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Dayak tijdens het erau feest (een cultureel festival) in Tenggarong TMnr 10005749.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Dayak people]] during an [[Erau]] ceremony in [[Tenggarong]]]]

Before the acquisition by the British, the Americans also managed to establish their temporary presence in northwestern Borneo after acquiring a parcel of land from the Sultanate of Brunei. A company known as [[American Trading Company of Borneo]] was formed by [[Joseph William Torrey]], [[Thomas Bradley Harris]] and several Chinese investors, establishing a colony named "Ellena" in the [[Kimanis]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northborneohistory.com/ellena-americas-lost-colony-in-kimanis-of-north-borneo/|title=Ellena – America's Lost Colony in Kimanis of North Borneo|author=Richard Ker|publisher=North Borneo Historical Society|date=26 August 2012|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521072223/https://www.northborneohistory.com/ellena-americas-lost-colony-in-kimanis-of-north-borneo/|archive-date=21 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The colony failed and was abandoned, due to denials of financial backing, especially by the US government, and to diseases and riots among the workers.<ref>{{cite book|author=James W. Gould|title=The United States and Malaysia|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmala0000goul|url-access=registration|year=1969|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-92615-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmala0000goul/page/63 63]–}}</ref> Before Torrey left, he managed to sell the land to the German businessman, Overbeck.<ref>{{cite journal|title=American Activity in North Borneo, 1865–1881|journal=Pacific Historical Review|author=K. G. Tregonning|volume=23|issue=4|date=November 1954|pages=357–372|doi=10.2307/3634654|jstor=3634654}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Germans under William Frederick Schuck were awarded a parcel of land in northeastern Borneo of the Sandakan Bay from the Sultanate of Sulu where he conducted business and exported large quantities of arms, [[opium]], textiles and tobacco to Sulu before the land was also passed to Overbeck by the sultanate.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Francis Warren|title=The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UyVI5IxcjIC&pg=PA114|year=1981|publisher=NUS Press|isbn=978-9971-69-004-5|pages=114–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Emrys Chew|title=Arming the Periphery: The Arms Trade in the Indian Ocean During the Age of Global Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnSVPcnreBsC&pg=PA205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219163513/https://books.google.com/books?id=rnSVPcnreBsC&pg=PA205|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2021|date=12 June 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-35485-2|pages=205–}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ontvangst bij de sultan van Pontianak West-Borneo TMnr 10001596.jpg|thumb|Arab-Malay [[Pontianak Sultanate|Sultan of Pontianak]] in 1930]]

Prior to the recognition of Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, a protocol known as the [[Madrid Protocol of 1885]] was signed between the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain in [[Madrid]] to cement Spanish influence and recognise their sovereignty over the Sultanate of Sulu—in return for Spain's relinquishing its claim to the former possessions of the sultanate in northern Borneo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/SabahLaws/Treaties/Protocol%28Madrid%29.pdf|title=British North Borneo Treaties. (British North Borneo, 1885)|author=British Government|publisher=Sabah State Government (State Attorney-General's Chambers)|year=1885|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195606/http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/SabahLaws/Treaties/Protocol%28Madrid%29.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Paul J. Carnegie|author2=Victor T. King|author3=Zawawi Ibrahim|title=Human Insecurities in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZ3vDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|date=21 September 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-981-10-2245-6|pages=74–}}</ref> The British administration then established the first railway network in northern Borneo, known as the [[North Borneo Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searail.malayanrailways.com/Borneo/NBR2013.htm|title=North Borneo Chartered Company: North Borneo Railway; The first train in North Borneo|author=Dr. Johnstone; A. J. West (Officers of the Company)|work=British North Borneo Chartered Company: Views of British North Borneo, Printed by W. Brown & co., limited, London, 1899|publisher=Malayan Railways|date=3 February 1898|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/borneo.htm|title=The North Borneo Railway Project|author=Rob Dickinson|publisher=The International Steam Pages|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328052920/http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/borneo.htm|archive-date=28 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> During this time, the British sponsored a large number of Chinese workers to migrate to northern Borneo to work in European plantation and mines,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chinese Migration to Sabah Before the Second World War|journal=Archipel|author=Danny Wong Tze Ken|year=1999|volume=58|issue=3|pages=131–158|doi=10.3406/arch.1999.3538}}</ref> and the Dutch followed suit to increase their economic production.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geert Oostindie|title=Dutch Colonialism, Migration and Cultural Heritage: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfFjAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA292|date=1 January 2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-25388-9|pages=292–}}</ref> By 1888, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei in northern Borneo had become British [[protectorate]].<ref name="PrescottTriggs2008">{{cite book|author1=Victor Prescott|author2=Gillian D. Triggs|title=International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HW-wCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA380|date=25 June 2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-3364-4|pages=380–}}</ref> The area in southern Borneo was made Dutch protectorate in 1891.<ref name="Dutch and British explorations"/> The Dutch who already claimed the whole Borneo were asked by Britain to delimit their boundaries between the two colonial territories to avoid further conflicts.<ref name="PrescottTriggs2008"/> The British and Dutch governments had signed the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824]] to exchange trading ports in [[Malay Peninsula]] and [[Sumatra]] that were under their controls and assert spheres of influence. This resulted in indirectly establishing British- and Dutch-controlled areas in the north (Malay Peninsula) and south (Sumatra and Riau Islands) respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muslimmuseum.org.uk/anglo-dutch-treaty-of-1824-malaysia-and-indonesia/|title=Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 – Malaysia and Indonesia|publisher=Muslim Museum Initiative|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

In 1895, [[Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted|Marcus Samuel]] received a concession in the Kutei area of east Borneo, and based on [[oil seep]]ages in the [[Mahakam River]] [[river delta|delta]], Mark Abrahams struck oil in February 1897. This was the discovery of the [[Sanga-Sanga, Kutai Kartanegara|Sanga Sanga]] Oil Field, a refinery was built in [[Balikpapan]], and discovery of the [[Samboja]] Oil Field followed in 1909. In 1901, the Pamusian Oil Field was discovered on [[Tarakan]], and the [[Bunyu]] Oil Field in 1929. [[Royal Dutch Shell]] discovered the [[Miri, Malaysia|Miri]] Oil Field in 1910, and the [[Seria oil field]] in 1929.<ref name=dy>{{cite book |last1=Yergin |first1=Daniel |title=The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-79932-8 |pages=114–116}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sorkhabi |first1=Rasoul |title=Borneo's Petroleum Plays |url=https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2012/12/borneo-s-petroleum-plays |website=Exploration Asia |publisher=GEO ExPro |access-date=23 July 2020 |date=2012 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830054141/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2012/12/borneo-s-petroleum-plays |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History of Shell in Indonesia |url=https://www.shell.co.id/en_id/about-us/who-we-are/history-of-shell-in-indonesia.html#vanity-aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2hlbGwuY28uaWQvZW4vYWJvdXRzaGVsbC93aG8td2UtYXJlL2hpc3RvcnkvY291bnRyeS5odG1s |publisher=Shell |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref>

===World War II===
{{See also|Japanese occupation of British Borneo|Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies}}
[[File:Japanese Troops, Labuan (AWM 127908).JPG|thumb|right|Japanese troops march through the streets of [[Crown Colony of Labuan|Labuan]] on 14 January 1942.]]
[[File:American Support Craft (AWM 108818).jpg|thumb|right|American [[Landing craft|support craft]] moving towards [[Victoria, Labuan|Victoria]] and Brown beach to assist the landing of members of the Australian [[24th Brigade (Australia)|24th Infantry Brigade]] on the island during [[Operation Oboe Six]], 10 June 1945.]]

During World War II, Japanese forces gained control and occupied most areas of Borneo from 1941 to 1945. In the first stage of the war, the British saw the Japanese advance to Borneo as motivated by political and territorial ambitions rather than economic factors.<ref>{{cite book|author=Takashi Shiraishi|title=The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mfCzrbOn80C&pg=PA54|date=January 1993|publisher=SEAP Publications|isbn=978-0-87727-402-5|pages=54–}}</ref> The occupation drove many people in the coastal towns to the interior, searching for food and escaping the Japanese.<ref name="Lim2008">{{cite book|author=Regina Lim|title=Federal-state Relations in Sabah, Malaysia: The Berjaya Administration, 1976–85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM4HifRARgYC&pg=PA36|year=2008|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-812-2|pages=36–84}}</ref> The Chinese residents in Borneo, especially with the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War]] in [[Mainland China]] mostly resisted the Japanese occupation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Danny Tze-Ken Wong|title=The Transformation of an Immigrant Society: A Study of the Chinese of Sabah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L81uAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Asean Academic|isbn=978-1-901919-16-5}}</ref> Following the formation of resistance movements in northern Borneo such as the [[Jesselton Revolt]], many innocent indigenous and Chinese people were executed by the Japanese for their alleged involvement.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Malcolm Joseph Thurman|author2=Christine Sherman|title=War Crimes: Japan's World War II Atrocities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1D5wKKZDHoC&pg=PA123|year=2001|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-56311-728-2|pages=123–}}</ref>

In Kalimantan, the Japanese also killed many Malay intellectuals, executing all the Malay sultans of West Kalimantan in the [[Pontianak incidents]], together with Chinese people who were already against the Japanese for suspecting them to be threats.<ref name=threats/> Sultan Muhammad Ibrahim Shafi ud-din II of [[Sultanate of Sambas|Sambas]] was executed in 1944. The sultanate was thereafter suspended and replaced by a Japanese council.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Syafaruddin Usman Mhd|author2=Isnawita Din|title=Peristiwa Mandor berdarah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDbFjJBQgm8C&pg=PA137|year=2009|language=id|publisher=Media Pressindo|isbn=978-979-788-109-2|pages=137–}}</ref> The Japanese also set-up ''Pusat Tenaga Rakjat'' (PUTERA)<ref>{{cite book|author=Muhammad Abdul Aziz|title=Japan's Colonialism and Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-aFyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-011-9233-0|pages=214–}}</ref> in the Indonesian archipelago in 1943, although it was abolished the following year when it became too nationalistic.<ref name="Meyer2000">{{cite book|author=Milton W. Meyer|title=Asia: A Concise History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbQcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA305|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-585-11423-1|pages=305–}}</ref> Some of the Indonesian nationalist like [[Sukarno]] and [[Mohammad Hatta|Hatta]] who had returned from Dutch exile began to co-operate with the Japanese. Shortly after his release, Sukarno became president of the Central Advisory Council, an advisory council for south Borneo, [[Celebes Islands|Celebes]], and [[Lesser Sunda Islands|Lesser Sunda]], set up in February 1945.<ref name="Meyer2000"/>

After the [[fall of Singapore]], the Japanese sent several thousand of British and Australian [[prisoners of war]] to camps in Borneo such as [[Batu Lintang camp]]. From the [[Sandakan camp]] site, only six of some 2,500 prisoners survived after they were forced to march in an event known as the [[Sandakan Death March]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Philip Towle| author-link1 = Philip Towle |author2=Margaret Kosuge|author3=Yoichi Kibata|title=Japanese Prisoners of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktCv32ysz0AC&pg=PA47|year=2000|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-85285-192-7|pages=47–}}</ref> In addition, of the total of 17,488 [[Javanese people|Javanese]] labourers brought in by the Japanese during the occupation, only 1,500 survived mainly due to starvation, harsh working conditions and maltreatment.<ref name="Lim2008"/> The Dayak and other indigenous people played a role in [[guerrilla warfare]] against the occupying forces, particularly in the [[Kapit Division]]. They temporarily revived headhunting of Japanese toward the end of the war,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/09/opinion/edheiman.php|title=Guests can succeed where occupiers fail|author=Judith M. Heimann|newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=9 November 2007|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621024405/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/09/opinion/edheiman.php|archive-date=21 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> with Allied [[Z Special Unit]] provided assistance to them.<ref>{{cite book|author=A. B. Feuer|title=Australian Commandos: Their Secret War Against the Japanese in World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sw--Ujt09cwC&pg=PA27|date=November 2005|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-3294-9|pages=27–}}</ref> Australia contributed significantly to the liberation of Borneo.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northborneohistory.com/brief-history-on-how-the-australians-liberated-borneo-during-wwii-video/|title=Brief History on How the Australians Liberated North Borneo during WWII [Video]|author=Richard Ker|publisher=North Borneo Historical Society|date=7 November 2013|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523075019/https://www.northborneohistory.com/brief-history-on-how-the-australians-liberated-borneo-during-wwii-video/|archive-date=23 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] was sent to Borneo to fight off the Japanese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searail.malayanrailways.com/Borneo/Australian%20invasion.htm|title=Australian invasion of Borneo in pictures.|publisher=Malayan Railways|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> Together with other Allies, the island [[Borneo campaign (1945)|was completely liberated]] in 1945.

===Recent history===
[[File:Sukarno with adat people in West Kalimantan, Bung Karno Penjambung Lidah Rakjat 252.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sukarno]] visiting [[Pontianak]], West Kalimantan, in 1963.]]

In May 1945, officials in Tokyo suggested that whether northern Borneo should be included in the proposed new country of Indonesia should be separately determined based on the desires of its indigenous people and following the disposition of [[British Malaya|Malaya]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Tarling|title=A Sudden Rampage: The Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia, 1941–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udqp4PzvCLEC&pg=PA192|year=2001|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-584-8|pages=192–}}</ref> Sukarno and [[Mohammad Yamin]] meanwhile continuously advocated for a [[Greater Indonesia]]n republic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Adrian Vickers|title=A History of Modern Indonesia|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri|url-access=registration|date=3 November 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-44761-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri/page/150 150]–}}</ref> Towards the end of the war, Japan decided to give an early independence to a new proposed country of Indonesia on 17 July 1945, with an Independence Committee meeting scheduled for 19 August 1945.<ref name="Meyer2000"/> However, following the [[surrender of Japan]] to the Allied forces, the meeting was shelved. Sukarno and Hatta continued the plan by unilaterally declaring independence, although the Dutch tried to retake their colonial possession in Borneo.<ref name="Meyer2000"/>

The southern part of the island achieved its independence through the [[Proclamation of Indonesian Independence]] on 17 August 1945. The southern part saw [[Kalimantan Physical Revolution|guerrilla conflicts]] followed by Dutch blockades to cut supplies for nationalist within the region.<ref>''Post-war Borneo, 1945-50: Nationalism, Empire and State-Building''</ref> While nationalist guerrillas supporting the inclusion of southern Borneo in the new Indonesian republic were active in Ketapang, and to lesser extent in Sambas where they rallied with the red-white flag which became the [[flag of Indonesia]], most of the Chinese residents in southern Borneo expected to be liberated by [[National Revolutionary Army|Chinese Nationalist troops]] from mainland China and to integrate their districts as an overseas province of [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]].<ref name="Heidhues2003">{{cite book|author=Mary F. Somers Heidhues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WK2s2ogHEAC&pg=PA211|title=Golddiggers, Farmers, and Traders in the "Chinese Districts" of West Kalimantan, Indonesia|publisher=SEAP Publications|year=2003|isbn=978-0-87727-733-0|pages=211–}}</ref> Meanwhile, Sarawak and Sabah in northern Borneo became separate British crown colonies in 1946.<ref name="Porritt1997">{{cite book|author=Vernon L. Porritt|title=British Colonial Rule in Sarawak, 1946–1963|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pBwAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-983-56-0009-8|access-date=7 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="cc">{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95540217 |title=British North Borneo Becomes Crown Colony |pages=1 |work=[[Kalgoorlie Miner]] |publisher=[[Trove]] |date=18 July 1946 |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Queen's Own Highlanders searching for enemies during a patrol.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons)|Queen's Own Highlanders]] 1st Battalion conduct a patrol to search for enemy positions in the jungle of Brunei.]]

In 1961, Prime Minister [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]] of the independent [[Federation of Malaya]] desired to unite Malaya, the British colonies of [[Crown Colony of Sarawak|Sarawak]], [[Crown Colony of North Borneo|North Borneo]], [[Crown Colony of Singapore|Singapore]] and the protectorate of [[Brunei]] under the proposed [[Malaysia|Federation of Malaysia]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bosheng Chen|author2=Leong Sze Lee|title=A Retrospect on the Dust-laden History: The Past and Present of Tekong Island in Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCRqDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|year=2012|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4365-96-3|pages=66–}}</ref> The idea was heavily opposed by the governments in both Indonesia and the Philippines as well from communist sympathisers and nationalists in Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|author1=United States. Dept. of State. International Information Administration. Documentary Studies Section|author2=United States Information Agency. Special Materials Section|author3=United States. International Communication Agency|title=Problems of Communism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AY4qAQAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Special Materials Section, United States Information Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ramses Amer|title=Conflict Management and Dispute Settlement in East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEg3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|date=23 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-16216-2|pages=52–}}</ref> Sukarno, as the president of the new republic, perceiving the British trying to maintain their presence in northern Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, decided to launch a military infiltration, later known as the ''[[Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation|confrontation]]'', from 1962 to 1969.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karl DeRouen, Jr.|author2=Uk Heo|title=Civil Wars of the World: Major Conflicts Since World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrN077AEgzMC&pg=PA431|date=10 May 2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-919-1|pages=431–}}</ref> As a response to the growing opposition, the British deployed their armed forces to guard their colonies against Indonesian and communist revolts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Tuck|title=Confrontation, Strategy and War Termination: Britain's Conflict with Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUg3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|date=23 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-16210-0|pages=208–}}</ref> Australia and [[New Zealand]] also participated in these measures.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19640907&id=MUBVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6843,1157289|title=Aggression Must be Deterred|newspaper=The Age|date=7 September 1964|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/confrontation-in-borneo|title=Confrontation in Borneo|work=NZ History|publisher=Government of New Zealand|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

The Philippines opposed the newly proposed federation, claiming the eastern part of North Borneo (today the Malaysian state of Sabah) as part of its territory as a former possession of the [[Sultanate of Sulu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/01/28/philippine-claim-to-north-borneo-vol-i-i-north-borneo-claim/|title=I. North Borneo Claim (Excerpt from President Diosdado Macapagal's State-of-the-Nation Message to the Congress of the Philippines)|work=Philippine Claim to North Borneo (Sabah), Vol. II|publisher=Government of the Philippines|date=28 January 1963|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308124634/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/01/28/philippine-claim-to-north-borneo-vol-i-i-north-borneo-claim/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Philippine government mostly based their claim on the Sultanate of Sulu's [[cession]] agreement with the British North Borneo Company, as by now the sultanate had come under the jurisdiction of the Philippine republican administration, which therefore should inherit the Sulu former territories. The Philippine government also claimed that the heirs of the sultanate had ceded all their territorial rights to the republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1962/04/24/cession-and-transfer-of-the-territory-of-north-borneo-by-his-highness-sultan-mohammad-esmail-kiram-sultan-of-sulu-acting-with-the-consent-and-aprroval-of-the-ruma-bechara-in-council-assembled-to/|title=Cession and transfer of the territory of North Borneo by His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, acting with the consent and approval of the Ruma Bechara, in council assembled, to the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=Government of the Philippines|date=24 April 1962|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810015148/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1962/04/24/cession-and-transfer-of-the-territory-of-north-borneo-by-his-highness-sultan-mohammad-esmail-kiram-sultan-of-sulu-acting-with-the-consent-and-aprroval-of-the-ruma-bechara-in-council-assembled-to/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of the North Borneo Federation.svg|thumb|left|The proposed flag of the [[North Borneo Federation]], an attempt to establish a sovereign state by unifying North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak by [[A. M. Azahari]]]]

The Sultanate of Brunei at first welcomed the proposal of a new larger federation.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mohd. Jamil Al-Sufri (Pehin Orang Kaya Amar Diraja Dato Seri Utama Haji Awang.)|author2=Mohd. Amin Hassan|title=Brunei Darussalam: The Road to Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=87cuAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brunei History Centre, Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports}}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Brunei People's Party]] led by [[A.M. Azahari]] desired to reunify Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo into one federation known as the [[North Borneo Federation]] ({{langx|ms|Kesatuan Negara Kalimantan Utara}}), where the [[List of sultans of Brunei|sultan of Brunei]] would be the head of state for the federation—though Azahari had his own intention to abolish the Brunei monarchy, to make Brunei more democratic, and to integrate the territory and other former British colonies in Borneo into Indonesia, with the support from the latter government.<ref>{{cite journal|title=British counterinsurgency in Brunei and Sarawak, 1962–1963: developing best practices in the shadow of Malaya|journal = Small Wars & Insurgencies|volume = 27|issue = 4|pages = 702–725|author=Alexander Nicholas Shaw|date=19 June 2016|doi=10.1080/09592318.2016.1190052|s2cid = 147835844|url = http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/99950/3/ShawBritish%20Counterinsurgency%20in%20Brunei%20.pdf|doi-access = free}}</ref> This directly led to the [[Brunei Revolt]], which thwarted Azahari's attempt and forced him to escape to Indonesia. Brunei withdrew from being part of the new Federation of Malaysia due to some disagreements on other issues while political leaders in Sarawak and North Borneo continued to favour inclusion in a larger federation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Karl Hack|title=Defence and Decolonisation in Southeast Asia: Britain, Malaya and Singapore, 1941–1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUxWCLNxODMC&pg=PA278|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7007-1303-5|pages=278–}}</ref>

With the continuous opposition from Indonesia and the Philippines, the [[Cobbold Commission]] was established to discover the feeling of the native populations in northern Borneo; it found the people greatly in favour of federation, with various stipulations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12304211|title=Report of the Commission of Enquiry, North Borneo and Sarawak, 1962 (Cobbold Commission)|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]|date=January–December 1962|access-date=25 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-cobbold-commission-giving-people-a-voice/|title=THE COBBOLD COMMISSION: Giving people a voice|author=Patricia Hului|newspaper=The Borneo Post|date=16 September 2014|access-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105221/http://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-cobbold-commission-giving-people-a-voice/|archive-date=25 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The federation was successfully achieved with the inclusion of northern Borneo through the [[Malaysia Agreement]] on 16 September 1963.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Great Britain. Colonial Office|author2=Malaysia|author3=Great Britain. Office of Commonwealth Relations|title=Malaysia: agreement concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gs-AQAAIAAJ|year=1963|publisher=H. M. Stationery Office}}</ref> To this day, the area in northern Borneo is still subjected to attacks by Moro pirates since the 18th century and militant from groups such as [[Abu Sayyaf]] since 2000 in the frequent [[Cross border attacks in Sabah|cross border attacks]]. During the administration of Philippine president [[Ferdinand Marcos]], Marcos made some attempts to destabilise the state of Sabah,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20000402&id=P1M1AAAAIBAJ&pg=2032,892348&hl=en|title=Marcos order: Destabilize, take Sabah|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=2 April 2000|access-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> although his plan failed and resulted in the [[Jabidah massacre]] and later the [[Moro conflict|insurgency in the southern Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/jabidah.html|title=The Corregidor Massacre - 1968|author=Paul F. Whitman|publisher=Corregidor Historic Society|year=2002|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913012739/http://corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/jabidah.html|archive-date=13 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rommel Banlaoi|title=Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi_NBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|date=13 October 2009|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4398-1551-9|pages=49–}}</ref>

In August 2019, Indonesian president [[Joko Widodo]] announced a [[Capital of Indonesia#Move to Nusantara|plan to move the capital of Indonesia]] from [[Jakarta]] to a newly established location in the [[East Kalimantan]] province in Borneo.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lyons|first=Kate|date=27 August 2019|title=Why is Indonesia moving its capital city? Everything you need to know|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/27/why-is-indonesia-moving-its-capital-city-everything-you-need-to-know|access-date=13 September 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>