The Ranau District () is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuaran.
The capital of the district is in Ranau Town. The landlocked district bordering the Sandakan Division to the east until it meets the Interior Division border. Ranau sits east of Kota Kinabalu "Location Background of Ranau". Ranau Education Office. Retrieved 6 February 2012. and west of Sandakan."Distance from Ranau to Sandakan". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 February 2012. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the district was 94,092, an almost entirely Dusun ethnic community.
Ranau is noted for its hilly geographical structure and is the largest producer of highland vegetables in the state of Sabah."Ranau meteorological station to start operations in January". The Borneo Post. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2012. Tourism and highland agriculture are the major industries, as the district is at an altitude of 1,176 m above sea level."Destinations: Places To Go - Ranau" . Sabah Tourism Board. Retrieved 6 February 2012. Its many tourist destinations attracted half a million tourists in 2009. "More Than Half A Million Tourists Visited Ranau Last Year" . Kadazandusun Cultural Association. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2012. These include Mount Kinabalu, Kinabalu Park, Poring Hot Springs, Kundasang War Memorial, Death March Trail, Mesilau, and Sabah Tea Garden. Ranau's diverse flora ranges from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations and particularly abundant in species with examples of flora from as far as China, Australia and the Himalayas, as well as pan-tropical flora.
Kinabalu Park has been recognised by UNESCO as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia. In December 2000, the Kinabalu Park was designated by UNESCO as Malaysia's first World Heritage Site."Kinabalu Park". World Heritage Centre, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 6 February 2012.
Ranau was home to the largest mining project in Malaysia, the Mamut Copper Mine, before it ceased operations in 1999.Chiew, Hilary. 2 October 2007. "Poisonous wasteland" . The Star, Retrieved 6 February 2012. At the peak of its mining activity, Ranau was transformed into a thriving township. The mining company constructed the Ranau Bridge across Liwagu River, the Ranau Golf Course, and also made donations to school building funds, buses, and bus shelters.
History Toponymy The origin of the name "Ranau" comes from the Dusun word , which means paddy fields. The Dusun people who live in the highland grow mountain rice on the hills (called ), where the mountain rice is called in Dusun. The people in the lowlands of Ranau use traditional water-filled paddy fields for rice cultivation. Over time, "Ranahon" was shortened to "Ranau." As the central district administration is nearer to the lowland, the name "Ranau" was adopted as the official name for the district.
Early references
Allusions to a place in Ranau, the Mount Kinabalu, had appeared in sources from China. Wang Dayuan mentioned a mountain called Long shan when he described the country of Bo ni (勃泥 bó ní) in his book, Description of the Barbarians of the Isles (島夷誌略 dǎo yí zhì lüè) written between 1330 and 1350.Nicholl, Robert. (1980), "Notes on Some Controversial Issues in Brunei History", Archipel 19: 27-28 Long shan (龍山 lóng shān) means Dragon Mountain and it was linked to Mount Kinabalu because there were dragon legends associated with Kinabalu.Ling Roth H., Native of Sarawak & British North Borneo, 1, London (1896) & Singapore (1968): 304-305Sweeney, Amin. (1968), Silsilah Raja-raja Berunai, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 41(2): 52 Another Chinese source, a nautical compendium called Fair Winds for Escort (順風相送 shùn fēng xiāng sòng) composed circa 1430, described a voyage from Siam to Mindanao via the west coast of Borneo, where the Chinese ships passed Sheng shan (聖山 shèng shān).Mills, J.V.. (1979), "Chinese Navigators in Insulinde about A.D. 1500", Archipel 18: 81 Sheng shan which means Holy Mountain, was identified as Mount Kinabalu.Mills, J.V.. (1979), "Chinese Navigators in Insulinde about A.D. 1500", Archipel 18: 79
References to Mount Kinabalu had also appeared in old maps of the East Indies made by Europeans cartographers under the names of Mount St. Pedro or Mount St. Pierre. The name Mount St. Pedro was used by map makers such as Gerardus Mercator in his India Orientalis map published around 1595,"India Orientalis", Goetzfried Antique Maps, Retrieved 18 February 2012. Nicolaes Visscher II in Indiae Orientalis map published in the early 17th century,"Indiae Orientalis". Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 18 February 2012. and several other cartographers."Borneo Insula". Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.. Retrieved 18 February 2012."De Agtste Oostindize Reys voor d'Engelze Maatschappie onder Kapitein Ioan Saris, gedaan ne Iava, de Moluccos en Iapan". Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.. Retrieved 18 February 2012."Les Isles De Sonde". Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.. Retrieved 18 February 2012."A General Map of the East Indies and that Part of China where the Europeans have any Settlements or Commonly any Trade". Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.. Retrieved 18 February 2012."Isole Filippine, Ladrones, e Moluccos o Isole della Speziarie come anco Celebes &c.". Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.. Retrieved 18 February 2012. In some maps, for example, the 1710 Ottens's Map of Southeast Asia by Joachim Ottens, the mountain was called Mount St. Pierre."Le Royaume de Siam avec Les Royaumes Qui Luy sont Tributaries & c. - La Royaume de Siam avec les royaumes qui luy sont Tributaires, et les Isles de Sumatra, Andemaon, etc. Et les Isles Voisine Aven les Observations des Six Peres Jesuites Envojez par le Roy en Qualite de Ses Mathe : maticiens dans les Indes, et a la Chine ou est aussi Tracee. La Route Qu'ils ont teniie par le Destroit de la Sonde Jusqu a Siam". Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 18 February 2012. However, John Pinkerton's East India Isles map from 1818 labelled the mountain as St. Peter's Mountain."East India Isles".Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
Old geographers believed that there was a great lake at the peak of the mountain on account of the natives's stories. During the Ice age about 100,000 years ago, the mountain was covered with ice sheets and glaciers moved slowly down its slopes. Only the summit peaks were very noticeable above the ice. The natives's oral history may have had its roots from the folk memory of these glistening sheets of ice. However, the earliest documented expeditions to ascend Kinabalu in March 1851 and in 1858, led by Sir Hugh Low and Sir Spenser St. John, revealed that there was no lake.
Later maps, as evident in the maps by Archibald Fullarton & Co."Indian Archipelago Compiled From the Various Surveyas of the British & Dutch Governments And Other Materials In The Possession of the Royal Geographical Society". David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Retrieved 18 February 2012. and J. Rapkin,"Malay Archipelago, Or East India Islands". David Rumsey Historical Map Collection. Retrieved 18 February 2012. suggested that a lake existed south of the mountain. With further assertions from the Kiau people (of Kota Belud district) that they had done trading business with villagers who lived near the lake shore, St. John viewed that the lake had probably existed southeast below Kinabalu, where the Ranau plain is situated today. The Dusun word () is used to describe a wet field of lowland rice and it was plausible that floods had submerged the plain, thus giving a lake-like view when seen from the highlands. Notwithstanding, explorers William B. Pryer and Captain Francis Xavier Witti concluded that there was no lake near Mount Kinabalu when they explored the Ranau plain in the early days.
Under British North Borneo Company
During the British North Borneo Company administration beginning in the 19th century, Ranau was governed under the Province Dent. Later it organised as a substation of Tambunan with a Government station under the Interior Residency. Ranau was connected to the West Coast Residency only by a bridle road and by a southerly bridle path to Tambunan. Telegraph line was also available from Ranau to Tambunan.
The Ranau plain and its surrounding hilly areas were historically inhabited by Dusun farmers who practised shifting cultivation. Their major staple crops were upland rice and lowland wet rice. Natives from Ranau would go to large tamu (native market) at nearby districts to sell and buy, or exchange goods using the barter system. Tobacco, a major export item for the company, was successfully cultivated in extensive parts of Ranau district, especially in the highlands. It became an important source of income for Ranau natives. At that time, the tobacco produced from highland Ranau and the Interior proper was of high quality compared to that grown down the coast due to the effect of sea wind even though the plants were similarly obtained from Ranau, according to natives and experts.
Between 1897 and 1898, Mat Salleh built a fort in Ranau and went there three times during his rebellion against the British North Borneo Company. His fort in Ranau was measured at long and wide. There was a three-sided strong-point on one side and a watch-tower in the middle. The fort was surrounded by a thick earth wall with high strong fence. Sharp bamboo stakes were thickly sown into the grounds around the fort. His first appearance in Ranau on 10 February 1897, gained him many Dusun followers which then increased his influence to as far as Inanam. The company was aware of this development and launched an attack against his fort in Ranau on 23 February which led to the death of his father. Mat Salleh escaped but retreated back to Ranau in July the same year. After being tracked down by Captain J.M. Reddie and E.H. Barraut, Ranau was attacked again but he managed to escape. Mat Salleh's final movement to Ranau occurred in November 1897.
A total of 288 Sikh, Iban and Dayak policemen from Abai Bay and Sandakan led by G. Hewett, George Ormsby, P. Wise, and Adjutant Alfred Jones, were ordered to invade Mat Salleh's fort in Ranau on 13 December 1897. The fort was significantly destroyed but Jones and 13 other policemen were killed. On 9 January 1898, Hewett and his troops ambushed the Ranau fort again but it was already deserted by Mat Salleh and his followers. The fort was then completely demolished. As a result of this rebellion, the Company built an administration building in the district and erected a loyalty oath stone as a sign that the residents of Ranau swore loyalty to the Government. The loyalty oath stone still exists until today.
World War II
The Japanese occupation of North Borneo became official on 16 May 1942, and divided North Borneo into two governorates. Ranau was under the Governorate of the West Coast Territory (西海州 ) and was directly administered by a district officer (郡長 ) with the help of village headmen."100年前のコタキナバル". 愛するマレーシア、ボルネオ島でセカンドライフ. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2012. Ranau was also a sub-district under the administration of Tambunan District at 1943 until 1947.