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About Mat Salleh

Mat Salleh is a famous rebel against British rule in colonial Sabah between 1894 and 1900. Mat Salleh, whose full name is Datu Muhammad Salleh, was an influential local chief from the Bajau and Suluk tribes. He was the son of the leader of Inanam, and was married to a Sulu princess.

In 1895, Mat Salleh got into a dispute with the British North Borneo Company, which was ruling Sabah - then called British North Borneo - at that time. Mat Salleh was unhappy over the Company imposing new rules in the Sugud River region, where he was governor, while the Company was unhappy that he was collecting taxes without their approval. Soon after, the Company burned down Mat Salleh's village, and in 1897, he retaliated by during down the Company's harbour at Pulau Gaya.

At the conflict escalated, Mat Salleh had a fort constructed in Ranau. After failing to capture the fort, the Company resorted to burning it down. Subsequent skirmishes in Pulau Gaya, Inanam and Menggatal forced Mat Salleh to retreat to the hinterland. Eventually, the Company made peace with him, and granted him control of Tambunan, where he built a fort still standing today. However, the truce with the Company so outraged his own people that he was forced to flee Tambunan. On 31 October 1900, he was shot dead in Kampung Toboh, Tambunan, bringing his rebellion to an effective end.

Today "Mat Salleh" is a colloquial expression in Malaysia to mean a Westerner. How that expression comes about is unknown, and may have nothing related to Mat Salleh the rebel.





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