The American Trading Company of Borneo was a chartered company formed by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley Harris together with several Chinese investors shortly after the acquisition over a parcel of land in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Brunei. [1] The first American settlement in the area soon was named "Ellena", [2] although it was abandoned later due to financial difficulties, diseases and riots among the workers. [3]
In 1850, the United States and Brunei signed a commercial treaty, which was activated in 1865. Out of this agreement, C.L. Moses, the then US First Consul to the sultanate, was able to secure a lease of a large territorial concession in North Borneo. [4] The grant was made in an effort by the Sultan, who still had to address internal power struggle, [5] to solve the problems of rebellion and piracy in North Borneo. [6] Moses concessions were immediately sold to Torrey, a Hong Kong merchant. Together with his associates, Torrey founded American Trading Company in their attempt to develop plantation agriculture at Kimanis in 1865. [4] This group then sold the lease to Austria's consul in Hong Kong. [6]
Together with Torrey and Harris, the American Trading Company of Borneo features prominently in the North Borneo Dispute as well as in the history of Sabah, a region now part of Malaysia. The region has seen various territorial disputes, including one between Malaysia and Philippines over claims over the territory. The concessions obtained by Torrey and Harris that led to the formation of American trading Company of Borneo were eventually sold to Gustav Overbeck who signed a concession agreement with the Sultan of Sulu in 1978.
To this day, the 1978 agreement written in Jawi and its interpretation forms the basis of an international dispute between Malaysia and the purported heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu empire.
The claimants filed an arbitration appeal, demanding Malaysia pay $32 billion for exploitation of resources of Sabah, claiming the 1878 agreement underscored that the territory had only been leased. [7] Malaysia maintains that the region surrendered its rights once it agreed to join the Malaysian federation in 1963.
In February 2022, Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa awarded an almost $15 billion settlement in favor of the claimants, which Malaysia challenged at various legal forums. [8] [9] [10] The International Court of Justice eventually struck down the award in 2023. [11]
North Borneo was a British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is 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, a businessman and diplomat, Gustav Overbeck.
The Sultanate of Sulu was a Sunni Muslim state that ruled the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in the today's Philippines, alongside parts of present-day Sabah, North and East Kalimantan in north-eastern Borneo.
The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo. The territory became a protectorate of the British Empire in 1888 but the company remained involved with the territory until 1946 (1941), when administration was fully assumed by the Crown colony government.
The North Borneo Federation, also known as North Kalimantan, was a proposed political entity which would have comprised the British colonies of Sarawak, British North Borneo and the protectorate of Brunei.
The North Borneo dispute, also known as the Sabah dispute, is the territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines over much of the eastern part of the state of Sabah. Sabah was previously known as North Borneo prior to the formation of the Malaysian federation.
In international relations, a concession is a "synallagmatic act by which a State transfers the exercise of rights or functions proper to itself to a foreign private test which, in turn, participates in the performance of public functions and thus gains a privileged position vis-a-vis other private law subjects within the jurisdiction of the State concerned." International concessions are not defined in international law and do not generally fall under it. Rather, they are governed by the municipal law of the conceding state. There may, however, be a law of succession for such concessions, whereby the concession is continued even when the conceding state ceases to exist.
Kimanis is a town and also a parliamentary constituency in Papar District, West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located approximately 45 kilometres south of the city of Kota Kinabalu, halfway between Papar and Beaufort.
Jamalul ibni Punjungan Kiram III was a former self-proclaimed Sultan of the Sulu Sultanate who claimed to be "the poorest sultan in the world". He was known as an unsuccessful candidate for senator in the Philippine general elections in 2007. In 2013, Kiram III sparked a controversy when he revived a dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia by leading an intrusion into the eastern part of Sabah. His daughter is Princess Jacel Kiram, a proponent of the Sabah claim of the Philippines in 2016.
The Madrid Protocol of 1885 was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain to recognize the sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Archipelago as well as the limit of Spanish influence in the region. Under the agreement, Spain relinquished all claim to Borneo.
The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the
territories of the continent of Borneo, which belong, or which have belonged in the past to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), and which comprise the neighbouring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those comprised within
a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which form part of the territories administered by the Company styled the "British North Borneo Company".
The Malaysia–Philippines border is a maritime boundary located in the South China, Sulu and Celebes Seas. It separates the Malaysian state of Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo, and the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines.
The history of Sabah can be traced back to about 23–30,000 years ago when evidence suggests the earliest human settlement in the region existed. The history is interwoven with the history of Brunei and the history of Malaysia, which Sabah was previously part of and is currently part of respectively. The earliest recorded history of Sabah being part of any organised civilisation began in the early 15th century during the thriving era of the Sultanate of Brunei. Prior to this, early inhabitants of the land lived in predominantly tribal societies, although such tribal societies had continued to exist until the 1900s. The eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the former helping a victory over Brunei enemies, but many sources stated it had not been ceded at all. By the late 19th century, both territories previously owned by Sultan of Brunei and Sultan of Sulu was granted to British syndicate and later emerged as British North Borneo under the management of the North Borneo Chartered Company. Sabah became a protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1888 and subsequently became a Crown colony from 1946 until 1963, during which time it was known as Crown Colony of North Borneo. On 16 September 1963, Sabah merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia.
Sharif ul-Hashim was the regal name of Sharif Abubakar Abirin Al-Hashmi. He was an Arab-Muslim explorer and the founder of the Sultanate of Sulu. He assumed the political and spiritual leadership of the realm, and was given the title Sultan, and was also the first Sultan of Sulu.
Gustav Overbeck from 1867 von Overbeck, in 1873 Baron von Overbeck, in 1877 Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan, was a German businessman, adventurer and diplomat.
The Crown Colony of North Borneo was a Crown colony on the island of Borneo established in 1946 shortly after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. The Crown Colony of Labuan joined the new Crown Colony during its formation. It was succeeded as the state of Sabah through the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.
William Clark Cowie was a Scottish engineer, mariner, and businessman who helped establish British North Borneo and was Chairman of the British North Borneo Company.
Jamalul Kiram II was the sultan of Sulu from 1894 to 1915. During his long reign, he signed treaties with several nations. He served under both Spain and America.
Col. Joseph William Torrey, Rajah of Ambong and Marudu, was an American merchant, president of the American Trading Company of Borneo and co-founder of the American colony "Ellena" together with Thomas Bradley Harris on the island of Borneo. He was known as "Yankee Rajah" and served as a U.S. vice-consul to Siam.
Thomas Bradley Harris was an American businessman and co-founder of the American colony of "Ellena" together with Joseph William Torrey on the island of Borneo.
The Lahad Datu District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Tawau Division which includes the districts of Kunak, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Tawau. The capital of the district is in Lahad Datu Town.
The Malaysia Sulu case refers to an arbitration case which involving the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu and the government of Malaysia in the Spanish and later French court system.
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