The Sultanate of Bulungan (Jawi: کسلطانن بولوڠن) was a former independent sultanate and later a princely state of Indonesia located in the then existing Bulungan Regency (at that time covering all the territory that now comprises the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia) in the east of the island of Borneo.
Due to the poor quality of life on the region, they moved downstream of a large river called the Kayan.
[1][2] At the end of her life, Lahai Bara mandated her children that her "lungun" or coffin be placed downstream of the Kipah river.
[1] Simun Luwan's departure was caused by a dispute with her own brother, at that time it was the beginning of the migration of the Kayan tribes, leaving their ancestral home on the Payang River to the Kayan River, and settling not far from Tanjung Selor City, the current capital of Bulungan Regency.
[1][2] Datuk Mencang's proposal to Asung Luwan was rejected, unless the prince from Brunei was able to present a dowry in the form of the head of Sumbang Lawing, the killer of Sadang, his own brother.
Datuk Mencang ruled Bulungan from 1555 until 1595 with his capital located at Busang Arau (Kuala Sungai Pengian).
[3] During this period, vessels began travelling to Sulu, Tarakan, and thence into the interior of Bulungan, to trade directly with Tidung.
During this period, the jurisdiction of Bulungan extended all the way towards Tawau, entering into a dispute with the Sultan of Sulu, who also had a claim in the region.
Dutch rule over the Bulungan remained nominal in practice not until after the discovery of oil and natural rubber in eastern Kalimantan in the late 19th century.
In 1909, Bulungan fell under the open-ended provisions of the Korte Verklaring (short declaration), with its financial affairs being managed by the Dutch East Indies government through the landschapkassen (state treasuries), as well as selling its de facto power over the interior.
[6] Around the same year, the Sultan helped put down a Dayak rebellion led by Panembahan Raja Pendeta (Sapu) in the Tidung lands.
[3] In 1911, the Dutch government began to be posted into interior Apo Kayan region after an officer was permanently placed in Longnawan.
However, the intervention remained superficial and the Apo Kayan under the leadership of Oema Tow maintained a high degree of autonomy.
The government imposed measures to incite an anti-Muslim sentiment among the interior tribes as an effort to encourage the recent influx of Christian missionaries in the area.
[6] On 17 February 1913, the Dutch and the British signed a border agreement, finalizing the boundary in North Borneo between the two jurisdictions, which was confirmed by a later treaty in 28 September 1915.
[10] In December 1914, with the Dutch increasing taxes regarding oil-related transactions, a rebellion led by the Datu Adil who was the self-proclaimed Raja of Tarakan and his brother Datu Djamalul erupted in Peningki and Salimbatu, urging the people to refuse paying taxes to the colonial government.
[3] After the recognition of Indonesian independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1945, Bulungan was incorporated into an autonomous constitutional unit called the Federation of Kalimantan Timor as a self-governing entity still under the sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies on 4 February 1948 before joining Indonesia on 17 August 1949.
[2] On the dawn of Friday, 3 July 1964, a troop of Brawijaya 517 soldiers led by Lieutenant B Simatupang under the orders of Brigadier General Soepardjo quickly swooped in the Bulungan Palace, kidnapping its aristocrat inhabitants while burning the rest of the palace grounds which lasted for 2 days and nights on Friday 24 July 1964.