History and Formation
Kota Kinabalu, which used to be called Jesselton and is now called KK, is the state capital of Sabah in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Sabah's West Coast Division and the Kota Kinabalu District. The city is on the northwest coast of Borneo, on the side that faces the South China Sea. The Bruneian Empire has been in charge of the area that is now Kota Kinabalu since the 1500s. At the end of the 1800s, the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) started to set up colonies all over North Borneo. In 1882, the Bajau people were already living in the area called Gaya Bay, where BNBC set up a small settlement.
Gaya Island was the first place where people lived. But the native Bajau-Suluk chief Mat Salleh burned and destroyed the settlement in 1897. After the destruction, BNBC decided to move the settlement to Gantian Bay, which is now called Sepanggar Bay, because it was easier to defend. But Gantian Bay wasn't good enough, so in July 1899, a Land Commissioner named Henry Walker chose a 30 acre site across from Gaya Island as a replacement for Gantian Bay. A fishing village called Api-Api took the place of the old settlement.
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The site was chosen because it was close to the North Borneo Railway and had a natural harbour that was up to 24 feet deep and good for anchoring. During World War II, bombs hit the town of Jesselton. This was part of the Allied forces' Borneo Campaign in 1945. After giving up to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on October 8, 1945, disarmed Japanese troops marched to a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Jesselton. In 1946, a representative of the Australian government went to Jesselton and took pictures of the children there.
By the end of 1899, work had begun on a pier, government buildings, and shop lots. After Sir Charles Jessel, who was the Vice-Chairman of BNBC at the time, this new administrative centre was renamed Jesselton. Over time, Jesselton grew into one of North Borneo's most important trading posts. There, people traded rubber, rattan, honey, and wax. Goods were taken to the Jesselton harbour on the North Borneo Railway. Malay and Bajau uprisings were common at the time, and BNBC worked to stop the long-term threat of piracy in the area. The British burned down part of Jesselton as they ran away from the advancing Japanese, and the Allies bombed it in 1945, causing even more damage. Borneo was again renamed Api after the Japanese took control of it. Api was the site of several revolts against the Japanese military government.
When the Crown Colony of North Borneo joined Sarawak, Singapore, and the Federation of Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, it became known as Sabah, and Jesselton stayed its capital. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Mustapha Harun, the State Legislative Assembly changed the name of Jesselton to Kota Kinabalu on December 22, 1967. On February 2, 2000, the city was made a city.
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