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History edit

Little is known about the history of Sandakan before the arrival of European settlers in the 1870s. Before this time the area that now makes up Sandakan was controlled by the Sultanate of Sulu.[1] The first European to estalish a settlement here was a Scottish arms dealer named William Clark Cowie.[2] Cowie received permission from the Sultan of Sulu to settle on Pulau Timbang near Sandakan bay in order to continue his business with the Sulu. It was Cowie who gave Sandakan its name from the Suluk word Sanda and the suffix kan. The name can be roughly translated to mean "the place that was pawned." The settlement later came to be known as Kampung German because of the large number of Germans who visited here.[1]

The settlement was later relocated to the area known as Buli Sim-Sim in 1879.[2] Because of the beauty of the surrounding area, Cowie determined at this time to rename the settlement Elopura meaning "Beautiful City." The name would later, however, revert to Sandakan once again.

History edit

 
William B. Pryer, British Resident of Sandakan.[3]

Beginning in the early 1870s, the east coast of Sabah was under the control of the Sultanate of Sulu.[1] The first European settlement was built by a Scottish arms smuggler named William Clarke Cowie who named the settlement "Sandakan," which in the Suluk language means roughly "the place that was pawned."[1] The settlement was soon renamed Kampung German, due to the presence of several German bases there.[1] In 1878, the settlement, along with the entire territory of North Borneo was sold to the Austro-Hungarian consul Baron von Overbeck, who had signed a concession contract with the Sultan of Sulu.[1] This early settlement was burnt down on 15 June 1879 and was never thereafter rebuilt.[4] The British Resident, William B. Pryer, moved to the settlement on 21 June 1879 to a residence in what is today known as Buli Sim Sim near Sandakan Bay. It was Pryer who gave the settlement the name Elopura meaning "Beautiful City." Several years later the settlement was again renamed Sandakan.[5] The name Elopura, however, is still used for some local government functions of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly, including elections.[6]

 
A street scene of the town in 1939 just before the beginning of World War II.
 
Sandakan was heavily damaged by bombing from Allied forces in 1945. The bombing was intended to flush out the Japanese who occupied the city during this period. The heavy damage to the city eventually led the British move the capital of British North Borneo to Jesselton.

Japanese occupation edit

During the Japanese occupation of Sandakan, the Japanese had restored the name Elopura to the town. It was during this period that the Japanese established a labor camp which would later serve as the starting point for the Sandakan Death Marches. Thousands British and Australian soldiers lost their lives during this forced march in addition to Javanese labourers from Dutch East Indies.[7][8] Only six Australian soldiers survived from this camp, all of whom had escaped. Sandakan was completely destroyed both by bombing from Allied forces and the Japanese occupation.[9][10][11]

Original names edit

After the settlement been moved, the first name for the new town were Elopura which means "Beautiful City".[12] The name was given by the British Chartered Company but the locals persisted to use the old name which later it was changed back to Sandakan.[11][13][12] Beside Elopura, the town also called as Little Hong Kong due to a strong presence of ethnic Chinese from Hakka majority in the town.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ a b c d e f James Francis Warren (1981). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State. NUS Press. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-9971-69-004-5. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b "The history of Sandakan"
  3. ^ "Founding of Sandakan". Sabah State Government. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  4. ^ Albert C. K. Teo; Junaidi Payne (1992). A Guide to Sandakan Sabah, Malaysia. the author. ISBN 978-983-99612-2-5. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  5. ^ Ranjit Singh (2000). The Making of Sabah, 1865-1941: The Dynamics of Indigenous Society. University of Malaya Press. ISBN 978-983-100-095-3. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  6. ^ "AHLI DEWAN UNDANGAN NEGERI". Sabah State Government. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  7. ^ Paul Ham (2012). Sandakan: The Untold Story of the Sandakan Death Marches. Random House Australia. ISBN 978-1-86471-140-0. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  8. ^ Michele Cunningham (30 July 2013). Hell on Earth: Sandakan - Australia's greatest war tragedy. Hachette Australia. pp. 193–. ISBN 978-0-7336-2930-3.
  9. ^ Tash Impey (1 June 2011). "Tracing Sandakan's deadly footsteps". ABC News. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. ^ Charles de Ledesma; Mark Lewis; Pauline Savage (2003). Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Rough Guides. pp. 548–. ISBN 978-1-84353-094-7.
  11. ^ a b Wendy Hutton (November 2000). Adventure Guides: East Malaysia. C. E. Tuttle. pp. 86–. ISBN 978-962-593-180-7.
  12. ^ a b Vern Bouwman (2004). Navy Super Tankers. Trafford Publishing. pp. 270–. ISBN 978-1-4120-3206-3.
  13. ^ James Alexander (2006). Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. New Holland Publishers. pp. 378–. ISBN 978-1-86011-309-3. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  14. ^ Tamara Thiessen (2008). Borneo. Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 199–. ISBN 978-1-84162-252-1.
  15. ^ Danny T.K. Wong. "KEBUN CINA : AN EARLY CHINESE SUBURBAN SETTLEMENT IN SANDAKAN". Sandakan Rainforest Park. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  16. ^ Wendy Hutton (1 January 2004). Sandakan: History, Culture, Wildlife, and Resorts of the Sandakan Peninsula. Natural History Publications (Borneo). ISBN 978-983-812-084-5.
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