2 - Historical Background: The Partitioning of the Malay Archipelago

Summary

Introduction

This chapter explores the coming of European powers to Southeast Asia and how, from 1529 to 1824, they parcelled out the region into the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and English spheres of control. By 1824, the Dutch and the English had basically partitioned the Malay world between themselves; the Spanish had entrenched themselves in the Philippines, while the Portuguese still retained some outposts in the region.

The chapter then goes on to give special attention to the partitioning of Borneo as this has a direct bearing on the theme and topic of this work. The cutting-up of the huge island was in fact started by the indigenous powers, especially Brunei and Sulu. Later, Spain, the Netherlands and Britain continued the process and established their own spheres of control. In expanding their territorial possessions in Borneo, the European powers also inherited the problem of undefined boundaries and overlapping territorial jurisdiction from local powers. Such a situation was bound to create conflict, a reality that the powers concerned had to face in the 1880s.

A large section of the chapter is devoted to the entrenchment of British influence in North Borneo as well as the establishment of the British North Borneo Company (BNBC). This emphasis is given as elements of British Paramountcy and BNBC administration in North Borneo became vital evidence for determining the question of sovereignty over the two islands of Sipadan and Ligitan by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) later on.

The Creation of European Spheres of Influence in Southeast Asia, 1529–1824

Some of the territorial and boundary disputes between the independent nations of Southeast Asia that emerged in the postcolonial era, such as the Philippines’ claim to Sabah (1962) and later the issue of sovereignty over the Sipadan and Ligitan Islands between Malaysia and Indonesia (1969), had their roots in both the precolonial and colonial periods. Western colonialism, especially, led to the eventual partitioning of Southeast Asia into spheres of influence and territorial empires basically between Spain, Holland, Britain, France and the United States. European colonial expansion began in the late fifteenth century and was pioneered by two countries, Spain and Portugal. As they were both Catholic states, the Pope wished to avoid conflict between them and so he divided the world into two parts along a line west of the Azores by the Papal Bull of 1493.