Harmonious Kunak Part 2: Cheng Ho's Delegation

Bahasa Melayu

The Idahans

The Madai Caves and its bird nests is probably the most well-known site in Kunak District today, though more often than not it is linked with Lahad Datu rather than Kunak.

It is somehow incomplete to talk about the Madai Caves without mentioning the Idahans, a native of Kunak. They are believed to be the discoverer of the valuable bird nests in those caves back in the 15^th century.

The Idahan clan is a Bumiputera ethnics who collectively claim themselves descendants of a legendary ancestor, Besai, who was said to have originated from Kinabatangan river.

Although the Idahan comprises of only a small percentage of the population of Kunak, it is fair to give more space on subjects pertaining to this community. Apart from being the founder of the bird nests in Madai they are also said to have played a major part in the introduction of Islam to North Borneo in 1408, particularly in the east coast.

It is related by the Idahans that in the old days their ancestors had traded with some powerful group of Chinese traders who came to the east coast of Sabah. It is presumed that the group mentioned was the delegation of the Muslim Chinese Admiral, Cheng Ho, who made his first voyage to Sulu region around 1405 A.D.

Admiral Cheng Ho and his fleet
(Image as seen at: Cheng Ho)

At first, bird’s nests have very little commercial value until the Idahan ancestors showed them to Chinese traders. The Cinese were already familiar with the product which they previously knew from elsewhere. They asked if more could be gathered and promised they would return regularly to trade for them with Chinese goods.

Upon realizing that the Chinese had a keen interest on the nests, the Idahan ancestors were quite cautious about disclosing the exact locations of the nesting caves, but assured them of a continuous supply if the Chinese agreed to wait at the coast.

A Village in Madai 1960
(More stories at: semuakunak.blogspot) 

Personally, I believe that the story of trade with Chinese traders in the old days is quite authentic, for in 1998 I came across an area in an oil palm plantation in Silabukan, literally littered with fragments of Chinese porcelain which (to me) had the distinctive features of that from the Ming Dynasty.  The site is only a few hundred meters from shore.

I was then the Assistant Manager of that plantation. The plantation workers also mentioned about some sort of spears and canons, apart from other relics, had also been discovered in that particular site and procured by authorities of Sabah Museum.  Stories also went around the plantation that on extreme low tide, structures that resemble the mast and hull of a ship could be seen not far from the shore.

The present day Idahan population are mainly in Lahad Datu District. Nevertheless, there are still several families who remained in Kunak, particularly in kampongs not far from Madai Hills. Also, there are some Idahans who built a second houses within the vicinity of the caves, which they only occupy during harvesting seasons.

Generally, the Idahan population in Kunak has blended well and inter-married with other ethnics and not easy to distinguish them from other bumiputeras. 

ON TRAIL OF THE HISTORY OF KUNAK - PART 6

Thousands of stone tools had been excavated from Madai caves. The tools were mostly made from local river pebble chert, of an industry similar to that of Baturong. Mortars that were used by the prehistoric people of Madai for grinding food, cracking shells or ochre preparations were also found.

The presence of abundant shells in Madai Caves indicates that the inhabitants frequented the shores to gather seafood from the beaches. Hunting of animals continued. The hunted animals include large animals such as seladang and two species of rhinoceros, i.e., javanese rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and sumatran rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sumatrensis). Today, javanese rhino no longer exists in Sabah.

Around 5,000 BC the Madai Caves were abandoned. There are no detail studies yet to determine the reason for the inhabitants to leave or where they had gone.

However, with their skill in manufacturing many types of stone tools for any particular purpose, the Madai Tribe must had tools for cutting trees and woods. With the warmer climate, they did not need the caves for shelters against the cold nights. Human nature to continue in search of comfort and wellbeing had driven the tribe to move closer to the easy source of food. They had found easy source of food from the beaches that assure them that their family need not go through hunger anymore at times when the hunters returned home empty-handed.

Obviously, there were no reasons for the Madai Tribe to continue living and sharing the damp, dark caves with bats and swiftlets. They were fed up with the thickening guanos on the cave floor. Thus, the tribe left the cave and moved out closer to the beaches.

With their skill in manufacturing stone tools for any particular purpose, they had no problem in making tools specially for cutting trees and woods. They began to build shelters from small timbers, barks, vines, rattans, and palm leaves. Hence, in 5000 BC the foundation of kampongs began in the District of Kunak, Sabah.

BEST TIME TO HARVEST SWIFTLET'S NEST

One of the reasons for the dwindling of swiftlets nest production in Madai Caves could have been lack of Good Animal Husbandry Practices (GAHP). If this is the case, then the people who held the rights to the Madai Caves birds’ nests have something to learn from former Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Karim Bujang.

          The New Sabah Times (3rd June 2009) quoted Datuk Karim as explaining that harvesting (of the birds’ nests) must be conducted in adherence to GAHP and only at suitable times.

“The best time to harvest is when the nests are empty, and not when there are eggs or young birds in them,” said Karim.

          A few years back Datuk Karim built a three-storey building in Kimanis specially for swiftlets to colonize but he had to wait for at least two years before any swiflets decided to set up home there.  He had been patient and once a wallet or two started building nests, more will flock in to the building.  

Now he has a few hundred “wallet” birds in his building but he is not in a hurry to harvest the nests just yet. He wants them to continue building the colony. He also does not want to disrupt the birds’ environment at this moment as the birds might just leave for good if the peaceful environment is disrupted.

The population of wild swiflets also decreased due to the destruction of their habitat.

ON TRAIL OF THE HISTORY OF KUNAK - PART 5

We pick up from our last story that took place around 16,000 BC when the Tingkayu Lake drained out. The tribe scattered to other parts of South East Asia. Some might even met other tribes, their cousins, who had been there earlier.

 That time the sea level was up to 300 or 400 feet lower than today so that the group that travelled south through Balikpapan would come to the shore where they can clearly see the highland of Mamuju in Sulawesi. 

The water that separated them from the land that looked so rich and green was only a few kilometers distance. Being adventurous and curious, some took up to the sea with rafts and crossed over to settle in Sulawesi. It is thus not surprising that later on the people of Sulawesi emerged as one of the most prominent seafarers. Their ancestors are the pioneers of sea travel. 

Back in the nearby Baturong Caves, the remaining tribe continued with their usual life as in Tingkayu. However, they did not stay for long. Around 10,000 BC the shelter at Baturong was in turn abandoned. It was the end of the Ice Age. The massive blocks of ice that had covered most part of Europe and Northern Asia melted and flowed down, the sea level rose separating Borneo from mainland Asia, Palawan, Sumatra and Java. Borneo found its present shoreline and the coastal environment moved significantly towards the Madai-Baturong region. 

Coastal resources were laid within an easy day’s walk from the Madai Caves. To get closer to the new resources, the people of Baturong moved in to two of the large caves at Madai, Agop Atas and Agop Sarapad. Archaeological studies proved that the two shelters were intensely inhabited during the early Holocene, between 10,000 and 5,000 BC.