Tanjungpura Kingdom

Tanjungpura was a Malay kingdom on the southwestern coast of Borneo, in what is now Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan. Its name derives from the tanjung tree, and the realm was known in Javanese sources as Bakulapura. The kingdom's centre shifted repeatedly: from Negeri Baru to Sukadana after its rulers adopted Islam, then to Sungai Matan and Indra Laya as piratical raids and dynastic disputes pressed the court inland. At its height Tanjungpura controlled the coast between Tanjung Dato and Tanjung Sambar; the island of Borneo was conventionally divided among Brunei, Sukadana and Banjarmasin, and Majapahit claimed the region in the fourteenth century. Trade in forest produce, gold and pepper sustained the court, while Malay, Bugis and Javanese influences shaped its culture. In the nineteenth century Dutch colonial expansion reduced the kingdom's independence. The last sultan, Muhammad Jamaluddin, died in 1830; three years later the territory was incorporated into the colonial administration, though branches of the dynasty continued to hold ceremonial authority in Simpang and Matan.