North Borneo Federation

Former proposed political entity

This article is about a historical proposed political entity. For the Indonesian province, see North Kalimantan.

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Federation of North Borneo

Kesatuan Kalimantan Utara (Malay)

Flag

The territory of the proposed federation

Status| Proposed federation states
Capital| Brunei Town (de facto)
Recognised regional languages| Malay
Religion

| Sunni Islam
Membership|  Brunei
Sarawak
North Borneo
Government| Constitutional monarchy

• Sultan

| Omar Ali Saifuddin III

• Prime Minister

| A.M. Azahari
Historical era| Brunei revolt

• Established

| 1961

• Disestablished

| 1962
Currency| Malayan dollar
Part of the
Formation of Malaysia

Events
|  Malaysia Bill|

|

Cobbold Commission|
• 18-point agreement|
• 20-point agreement|
Singaporean referendum|
Sarawak communist insurgency|
North Borneo dispute|
• Cross border attacks in Sabah|
• Moro conflict|
• Piracy in Sulu & Celebes|
Brunei revolt|
• North Borneo Federation|
Konfrontasi|
Manila Accord|
Maphilindo|
Sarawak Self-governance|
Malaysia Act 1963|
North Borneo Self-governance|
Proclamation of Malaysia|
Operation Claret|
1964 race riots in Singapore|
MacDonald House bombing|
PAP–UMNO relations|
Proclamation of Singapore|
UN Security Council Resolution 213|
Singapore Agreement|
South Thailand insurgency|
Double Six Tragedy|
Pedra Branca dispute|
2019 failed constitutional amendment|
2021 constitutional amendment|
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The North Borneo Federation, also known as North Kalimantan (Malay: Negara Kesatuan Kalimantan Utara, lit. 'Unitary State of North Kalimantan'), was a proposed political entity which would have comprised the British colonies of Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as the Malaysian state of Sabah) and the protectorate of Brunei.

## Attempts for the establishment

[edit]

In 1956, the governments of Sarawak, North Borneo and the State of Brunei announced that they would abandon the Malayan dollar and adopt a common currency of their own,[1] but that never came into being.

The idea of the North Kalimantan was proposed by Brunei's People Party President, A. M. Azahari, who had forged links with Sukarno's nationalist movement, together with Ahmad Zaidi, in Java in the 1940s. The idea supported and propagated the unification of all Borneo territories under British rule to form an independent leftist North Kalimantan state. Azahari personally favoured Brunei's independence and merging with British North Borneo and Sarawak to form the federation with the Sultan of Brunei as the constitutional monarch.

However, the Brunei People’s Party was in favour of joining Malaysia on the condition it was as the unified three territories of northern Borneo with their own Sultan, and hence was strong enough to resist domination by Malaya, Singapore, Malay administrators or Chinese merchants.[2]

The North Borneo (or Kalimantan Utara) proposal was seen as a post-decolonisation alternative by local opposition against the Malaysia plan. Local opposition throughout the Borneo territories was primarily based on economic, political, historical and cultural differences between the Borneo states and Malaya, as well as the refusal to be subjected under peninsular political domination. Joining to form Malaysia was seen as a new form of colonialism under Malaya.

The basic concept behind the formation of a union of British Borneo was partly based upon the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in Southern Africa. After the defeat of the revolutionaries in the Brunei Revolt, the idea was put to rest. Had the federation been formed, the capital city would probably have been chosen from Kuching (capital of Sarawak), Jesselton (present-day Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah) or Bandar Brunei (present-day Bandar Seri Begawan, capital of Brunei and the historical capital of the region).

The Sultanate of Brunei has traditionally opposed such a federation. When it was first proposed during the 1960s the Sultan of Brunei favoured joining Malaysia, though, in the end, disagreements concerning the nature of such a federation, and also disputes over oil royalties stopped this from happening.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ G.M. Watson and S. Caine, Report on the Establishment of a Central Bank in Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, 1956), 1
2. ^ Pocock, Tom (1973). Fighting General – The Public and Private Campaigns of General Sir Walter Walker (First ed.). London: Collins. p. 129\. ISBN 978-0-00-211295-6.

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History of East Malaysia

Common
history1|

* Bruneian Sultanate (1368–1888)
* Japanese occupation
* Battle of Borneo (1941–1942)
* Borneo campaign
* British Military Administration
* Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
* Malaysia Agreement
* Proclamation of Malaysia
* 2019 federal constitution amendment (on hold) ★ first tabling
* 2020 Malaysia coronavirus pandemic
* 2021 federal constitution amendment (passed) ★ second tabling

History of
Sabah|

* Brunei Civil War
* Sultanate of Sulu
* Austrian colony
* North Borneo Chartered Company
* North Borneo
* Antanum
* Mat Salleh
* Madrid Protocol
* Jesselton revolt
* Sandakan camp
* Sandakan Death Marches
* Battle of North Borneo
* Crown Colony of North Borneo
* Self-government of North Borneo
* Cobbold Commission
* 20-point agreement
* Keningau Oath Stone
* Double Six Crash
* Cross border attacks from the Philippines
* 1985 Lahad Datu ambush
* 2000 Sipadan kidnappings
* 2013 Lahad Datu standoff
* 1986 Sabah riots
* 1991 Sabah political arrests
* Project IC
* Sabah State Water Department corruption probe
* 2020 Sabah coronavirus pandemic

History of
Sarawak|

* Sultanate of Sarawak
* Raj of Sarawak
* Rentap
* Liu Shan Bang
* Syarif Masahor
* Crown Colony of Sarawak
* Anti-cession movement of Sarawak
* Communist insurgency in Sarawak
* Self-government of Sarawak
* Cobbold Commission
* 18-point agreement
* 1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis
* 1987 Ming Court Affair
* 1997 Sarawak HFMD outbreak
* Sarawak rabies outbreak (2017–present)
* 2020 Sarawak coronavirus pandemic

History of
Labuan|

* Crown Colony of Labuan
* North Borneo Chartered Company
* North Borneo (1890–1904)
* Straits Settlements (1907–46)
* Battle of North Borneo
* Battle of Labuan
* Colony of Singapore (1946)
* Crown Colony of North Borneo (1946–63)
* Cobbold Commission
* 20-point agreement
* Sabah (1963–84)
* Federal territory (1984–)

1 Covers the three territories

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