The south coast of Borneo is a line of small river mouths (Katingan, Sampit or Mentaya, Seruyan, Kotawaringin), each the outlet of its own interior of swamp forest and upriver longhouse country.
Each mouth has its headman, who lives by passage and exchange: rattan, resin, gaharu, wax and gold go out, iron, cloth and Chinese stoneware come in. Javanese and Malay boats work this coast along the Java Sea. The 1365 list is the first time anyone writes the names; for 1200 nothing is written.
Who he is
- Title
- Headmen of the small river-mouth ports of the south Bornean coast (Sampit on the Mentaya is the campaign board's centre)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Katingan, Sampit, Seruyan and Kotawaringin appear as names in the Nagarakretagama of 1365; no earlier text names them.
What it holds
- River mouths and landings
- Exchange with the upriver Ngaju and Ot Danum side (later names)
- Pilotage along the Java Sea coast
Allies and rivals
Java Sea shipping; the Barito mouth to the east is the larger port. No quarrel is recorded.
How things stand that morning
Not described for 1200.
Wealth
Forest goods and gold; no figures.
Threats
- Raiding
- Shifting river channels
Places of note
- Sampit: Mentaya river mouth town.
- Kumai: Kotawaringin-side river mouth (position from the gazetteer).
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry id sampit-mentaya (-2.53, 112.95) stands for the whole line of mouths.
Evidence: A 1365 name list and the geography; the campaign board marks it 'likely'. The ethnic names used here (Dayak, Kayan, Kenyah, Iban and so on) are later outsiders' or ethnographic names; the ethnic map of 1200 is not known and differs from the modern one.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Drawn as seeded blocks; no boundaries are known.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Nagarakretagama' (read in this pass): the cantos 13 and 14 lists of Borneo and the eastern islands, written 1365
- The OMNIA board (September 2026) note for this place: a lead only, not a source
- Background knowledge of Southeast Asian history (Wolters; Hall; Bellwood; Scott; Junker; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.