The interior and the east of Sabah: the headwaters of the Padas and the Murut hills (Tenom, Keningau, Pensiangan), the Kinabatangan and Segama river country, and the coast from Sandakan to Tawau on the Sulu Sea.
The peoples are later known as Murut, Orang Sungai, Idahan and Tidong, with Sama-Bajau on the coast and islands. Its trade faces the Sulu Sea, so this coast is in the orbit of the Sulu boats rather than of Po-ni.
Who holds it
- Title
- No overall chief: village or longhouse headmen, elders and war leaders, each answering for their own people
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Nothing is written about the rulers or headmen of this country for 1200. The structure is read from geography and from ethnography of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
What it holds
- River villages on the Kinabatangan and the Segama
- The hill villages of the Padas headwaters
- The Sulu Sea landings
- Gomantong cave chambers
Allies and rivals
The Kinabatangan port headmen (Kinabatangan headmen) and the Sama-Bajau (Sama-Bajau).
How things stand that morning
Not described for 1200; the villages are presumed to be farming, fishing and selling what the rivers and forests give.
Wealth
Rattan, damar, gaharu, wax, sea products; no figures.
Military
Not known; boats, spears, shields and blowpipes in the later record. No numbers.
Threats
- Feuds and raiding between villages
- Flood, drought or fire
- A change in the trade that comes by sea
Places of note
- Sukau: Lower Kinabatangan (position approximate).
- Sandakan: Bay on the Sulu Sea (a later name).
- Lahad Datu: Coast town (a later name).
- Tawau: South-east coast town (a later name).
- Gomantong: Cave country.
Where the sources disagree
- The ethnic names used here (Dayak, Kayan, Kenyah, Iban, Ngaju, Banjar and the rest) are later outsiders' or ethnographic names; the ethnic map of 1200 is not known and differs from the modern one.
Evidence: Geography and later ethnography only; no text of the period describes this country.
On the map: A rough outline of the people's country; the real extent of any village group in 1200 is not known, and nothing here is a border.
Sources and studies
- Background knowledge of Southeast Asian history (Wolters; Hall; Bellwood; Scott; Junker; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass
- The OMNIA board (September 2026) note for this place: a lead only, not a source
- The isa regional brief (ISA_BRIEF.md) and assignment ise.txt
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.