HISTORY OF EAST KALIMANTAN
Before the influx of tribes from Sarawak and immigrant tribes from outside the island, this area was very sparsely populated. Before the arrival of the Dutch there were several kingdoms in East Kalimantan, including the Kingdom of Kutai (Hindu), the Sultanate of Kutai Kartanegara ing Martadipura, the Sultanate of Pasir and the Sultanate of Bulungan.
According to Hikayat Banjar, the East Kalimantan region (Pasir, Kutai, Berau, Karaksi) was part of the territory conquered by the Banjar Sultanate, even since the Hindu era. The Hikayat Banjar states that in the first half of the 17th century the Sultan of Makassar borrowed land as a trading place covering the eastern and southeastern areas of Kalimantan to Sultan Mustain Billah from Banjar at the time Kiai Martasura was sent to Makassar and entered into an agreement with I Mangngadaccinna Daeng I Ba’le’ Sultan Mahmud Karaeng Pattingalloang, namely Sultan Tallo, who served as mangkubumi for Sultan Malikussaid Raja of Gowa in 1638-1654, who would make the East Kalimantan region a trading place for the Makassar Sultanate (Gowa-Tallo), thus began the arrival of ethnic groups from South Sulawesi. Since 13 August 1787, Sultan Tahmidullah II from Banjar handed over East Kalimantan to become the property of the Dutch VOC company and the Banjar Sultanate itself with the remaining territory becoming a Dutch VOC protectorate area.
In accordance with the treaty of January 1 1817, Sultan Sulaiman from Banjar handed over East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, part of West Kalimantan and part of South Kalimantan (including Banjarmasin) to the Dutch East Indies. On May 4 1826, Sultan Adam al-Watsiq Billah from Banjar reaffirmed the handover of the territories of East Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, parts of West Kalimantan and parts of South Kalimantan to the Dutch East Indies colonial government. In 1846, the Dutch began placing an Assistant Resident in Samarinda for the East Borneo region (now the province of East Kalimantan and the eastern part of South Kalimantan) named H. Von Dewall. Apart from being an administrative unit, East Kalimantan Province is also an ecological and historical unit. East Kalimantan as an administrative region was formed based on Law Number 25 of 1956 with its first governor being APT Pranoto.
Previously, East Kalimantan was one of the residencies of Kalimantan Province. In accordance with the aspirations of the people, since 1956 the territory has been expanded into three provinces, namely East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.
Level II regions within the East Kalimantan region, were formed based on Law no. 27 of 1959, concerning the Establishment of Level II Regions in Kalimantan (State Gazette of 1955 No. 9).
State Gazette No.72 of 1959 consists of:
Establishment of 2 municipalities, namely:
Samarinda Municipality, with Samarinda City as its capital and also as the capital of East Kalimantan Province.
Balikpapan Municipality, with the city of Balikpapan as its capital and is the gateway to East Kalimantan.
Establishment of 4 districts, namely:
Kutai Regency, with its capital Tenggarong
Pasir Regency, with its capital being Tanah Grogot.
Berau Regency, with its capital Tanjung Redeb.
Bulungan Regency, with its capital Tanjung Selor.
Formation of New Cities and Regencies
Based on Government Regulation Number 47 of 1981, the Bontang Administrative City was formed in the Kutai Regency area and based on Government Regulation Number 20 of 1989, the Tarakan Municipal City was also formed in the Bulungan Regency area. In further developments in accordance with the provisions in Law no. 22 of 1999 concerning Regional Autonomy, 2 cities and 4 districts were formed, namely:
West Kutai Regency, capital is Sendawar
East Kutai Regency, capital city is Sangatta
Malinau Regency, capital city is Malinau
Nunukan Regency, capital city is Nunukan
Bontang City (upgrade of the administrative city of Bontang to a municipality)
Based on Government Regulation number 8 of 2002, Pasir Regency experienced expansion and was named Penajam Paser Utara Regency. On July 17 2007, the DPR RI agreed to approve the establishment of Tana Tidung as a new district in East Kalimantan, bringing the total number of districts/cities in East Kalimantan to 14 regions. In the same year, the name of Pasir Regency was changed to Paser Regency based on PP No. 49 of 2007.
In 2012, it was the turn of East Kalimantan Province to expand and give birth to North Kalimantan Province (UU No. 20 of 2012). Five cities/regencies joined North Kaliamantan Province, namely Tarakan City, Nunukan Regency, Malinau Regency, Tana Tidung Regency and Bulungan Regency. So the number of cities/districts that are part of the East Kalimantan Province has decreased from 14 cities/districts to 9 cities/districts.
In 2013, the West Kutai Regency area was expanded and gave birth to the youngest district in East Kalimantan, namely Mahakam Ulu Regency, which grouped East Kalimantan Province into 10 cities/districts.