Sejarah Sulu

Sejarah Awal Semporna.

'Tong Talun' adalah merupakan nama asal bagi daerah Semporna yang bererti "Hujung Hutan" dalam istilah Suku Kaum Bajau. Orang yang bertanggungjawab untuk menamakan Tong Talun ialah Panglima Uddang, Panglima Sallehangni dan Panglima Sakti dari keturunan Bajau Kubang. Ini kerana pada ketika itu daerah Semporna diliputi/diselubungi oleh hutan belantara di awal penemuannya. Kemudian, Tong Talun telah ditukar dengan nama SEMPORNA yang membawa pengertian "Tempat Yang Aman atau Damai" sehinggalah sekarang.

Daerah Semporna berada di bawah jajahan takluk Kesultanan Sulu, sebuah kuasa politik yang dominan pada suatu masa dahulu. Jajahan takluknya meliputi sebahagian Filipina (sebelah selatan) dan Borneo Utara. Pada 1876 kawasan yang dikenali dengan Borneo Utara ini telah diperintah oleh Syarikat 'British North Borneo Chartered Company' yang dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh Kerajaan British. Bermula dari itu, Sultan Sulu telah menyerahkan Sabah secara "untuk selamanya dan berkekalan" kepada syarikat ini sebagai wilayah kuasa urus-tadbir mereka.

Kuasa lain yang pernah cuba menakluk Semporna termasuklah Belanda, namun mereka gagal berbuat demikian kerana kehadiran syarikat British disini. Pada tahun 1963, Sabah telah bersatu dengan Persekutuan Malaya untuk membentuk Malaysia.

Pulau Umaral (Omadal), sebuah pulau kecil di perairan Semporna merupakan titik penting sejarah Semporna. Ini kerana Pulau Omadal merupakan tempat asal suku kaum Bajau yang mendiami Semporna. Orang Bajau Pulau Omadal merupakan pelaut/ nelayan yang gigih dan aktif dalam perdagangan hasil laut dan seringkali berurusan dengan lain-lain kepulauan termasuklah tanah besar Semporna. Bukti-bukti terhadap kenyataan ini dapat diperhatikan menerusi ukiran/tulisan di batu nisan dan lain-lain artifak yang jelas menandakan mereka ini beragama Islam.

Daerah Semporna juga adalah kawasan kediaman suku kaum nomad (orang-asli) laut yang dikenali dengan 'Palauh'. Kaum ini masih wujud di Semporna hingga kini dan boleh dilihat di perairan Semporna. Mereka tinggal di bot-bot tradisi di laut dan sentiasa berpindah-randah dari satu pulau ke pulau yang lain. Kaum palauh hanya akan singgah ke tanah besar Semporna jika memerlukan barangan harian atau sebab kematian. Kini sesetengah mereka telah berubah kepada kehidupan yang moden.

Brief History Of Semporna.

Semporna was founded soon after the British North Borneo Company established Sandakan, and initially settled by Chinese traders. The name Semporna, means place of rest, and was given after the British quelled resistance from the local Bajaus in the mid-1880s.

'Tong Talun' was the original name of Semporna. The disrict of Semporna was initially part of the Sulu Sultanate, a ruling power that had its grasp on parts of Philippines and North Borneo. In 1876 and for nearly a century, the area known as North Borneo came under the governance of the British North Borneo Chartered Company.

The Dutch came by Semporna in June 1876 but never actually defeated the British to attain the island. Then in 1963 after a referundum, the state of Sabah joined the independent Fedetarion of Malaya, what is now Malaysia. Chinese traders played an important role in building up the economy of this coastal town. Marine products from back then were the main sources of livehood for the local inhabitants. A wide range of pearls are still now produced for the local and international market. Seaweed farming and clam cultivation are some of the other ventures.

Pulau Umaral (Omadal), a small island south east of Semporna is home to the first established settlement. Umaral, also known to some as Omadal is where the original Bajau tribe existed. These expert seafarers eventually established themselves in neighboring islands and on the mainland. Inscriptions of Quadratic verses on old gravestones and traditional culture steeped with the teachings of Islam point to the muslim religion amongst the Bajau.

Living here also are the sea gypsies known as the 'Palauh' who have retained their drifting seafaring lifestyle. The traditional nomads of this kind still skim the waters in their boathouses, using the reef in their forage for food. It is not an unusual sights to see the caravans of the sea gypsies in transit from reef to fishing ground.

Today, the local population include a colourful mix of local Bajau, Chinese, Philippino and Indonesian all who bring with them their individual culture, language and dialects. These people who do not often meet foreigners make some of the friendliest, unassuming people ever.

The Foundings Of Semporna - By K.P. Tabrett.

Anyone who has visited Semporna would have surely been struck by the beautiful and idyllic surroundings and scenery of the area. Nearly 120 years ago the district was described in enthusiastic terms :-

"The most romantic of the British North Borneo Company's possessions is doubtless thet lying between Silam in Darvel Bay and Batu Tinagat in Sibuco Bay. Here turquoise blue seas are dotted with innumerable fantastic shaped islands, spotted with verdure and fringed with white sandy beaches, and coral reefs bearing Pearls, Pearlshells, Beche-de-Mer and other valuable sea products are seen lying fathoms deep in its pellucid waters".

The writer, having lived at Bakapit and Silam for 20 years, ranging all over Dravel Bay in that time, can testify to the accuracy of the above observations. It is indeed a beautiful area.

But all was not perfect in this apparent paradise in those far off days. Very few people actually lived on these coasts, and the reason was not far to seek. Fierce pirates and marauders infested the seas, kidnapping, raiding and killing from time immemorial. Action by Sir James Brooke, and the nearby Dutch and Spanish authorities earlier in the century had reduced the power and range of the pirates, so much so that upon the advent of the Chartered Company in the early 1880s only one pirate stronghold remained, at Ommadal, and this was cut out and cauterised by HMS 'Zephyr' in 1886.

By mid 1887 an opportune moment had arrived for the opening of a trading station on the southern side of the entrance to Darvel Bay. Pirates having recently destroyed the settlement of Maimbun in Sulu, some of the Chinese merchants there, including one Toonah, a veritable patriarch among the Sulus where he had resided with his three wives for 23 years, had asked permission to settle in the Company's territory, under the rule of law and its attendant advantages.

Acting Governer W.M. Crocker, accompanied by Captain Beeston, Commandant North Borneo Constabulary, therefore proceeded in the Government Steam Lunch 'Kimanis' from Sandakan to Silam on 8th May 1887, and picked up Messrs Callaghan and Robertson the following day. Reaching Ommadal on the morning of the 10th May 1887 and finding it bereft of inhabitants, the Bajaus having fled to Sulu, without further ado the party headed for Trusan Treacher, at 5.30 p.m. Reaching a spot close to the Darvel Bay entrance of the Trusan. Here the party landed on a wide flat bank of land some 50 feet above high water mark, with excellent soil and a nearby water supply of good quality. His Excellency at once fixed upon it as the site for the new station which the Chinese trader Toonah would inaugurate forthwith. W.M. Crocker then christened the place "Simporna, meaning a place of rest", and the Sikh escort fired three volleys and gave three hearty cheers for the new settlement. The party left for Silam the next day, 11th May, and His Excellency arrived back in Sandakan by 6 p.m. On 12th May.

Governor Crocker returned to Semporna on 22nd June with a party including Alexander Cook, Dr. J.H. Walker, Captain Beeston, Mr. A. Walker, Mr. C.W. Flint and Mr. J. Hayman, and with a large amount of cargo for the settlement. Substantial buildings were already under construction by Toonah, who was also building a long wharf out from the shore where steamers would be able to berth in three fathoms at low water. Some 23 houses had already been built since the founding of the settlement just six weeks before. Over six tons of local produce was loaded out on the Governor's vessel, and fenced gardens of tapioca were already appearing. Surely if anyone deserves a memorial in modern Semporna, there should be a Jalan Toonah as one of the town's main thoroughfares. Much pleased with the progress of the new settlement, the Governor left on 23rd June, stopping over at Silam and regaining Sandakan in the afternoon of 25th June 1887.

As this story tells, in a brief sunset ceremony in 1887 the Semporna we know today was founded and named. Its subsequent history has at times been turbulent, but its setting is still one of great beauty.