Sultanate of Bulungan کسلطانن بولوڠن‎ Kesultanan Bulungan
1731–1964
Below: Flag of the sultanate during the 19th century Coat of arms
Status	Vassal of Sulu Part of the Dutch East Indies (from 1880s)
Capital	Tanjung Palas
Common languages	Bulungan-Malay
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Monarchy
History
• Sultanate established	1731
• Bultiken Revolution	1964
Preceded by Succeeded by Berau Sultanate Sultanate of Sulu Dutch East Indies North Borneo
Today part of	Indonesia Malaysia

Part of a series on the
History of Indonesia
Timeline
Prehistory Paleolithic Java Man 1,000,000 BP Flores Man 94,000–12,000 BP Neolithic Toba catastrophe 75,000 BP Buni culture 400 BCE
Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms Kutai kingdom 350–1605 Tarumanagara kingdom 400s–500s Kantoli 400s-500s Kalingga kingdom 500s–600s Melayu kingdom 600s–1347 Srivijaya Empire 600s–1025 Shailendra Dynasty 600s–900s Mataram kingdom 716–1016 Bali kingdom 914–1908 Sunda kingdom 932–1579 Kahuripan kingdom 1019–1045 Kediri kingdom 1045–1221 Dharmasraya kingdom 1183–1347 Pannai kingdom 1000s–1300s Singhasari Empire 1222–1292 Majapahit Empire 1293–1527
Islamic sultanates Spread of Islam 800–1600 Peureulak Sultanate 840–1292 Aru kingdom 1225–1613 Ternate Sultanate 1257–1914 Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Pagaruyung kingdom 1347–1833 Brunei Sultanate 1368–1888 Malacca Sultanate 1400–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1405–1851 Cirebon Sultanate 1445–1677 Demak Sultanate 1475–1554 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Sultanate of Ternate 1486–1914 Sultanate of Bacan 1515–1946 Sultanate of Tidore 1500s–1967 Sultanate of Jailolo 1496–1903 Banten Sultanate 1526–present Banjar Sultanate 1526–1863 Kalinyamat Sultanate 1527–1599 Mataram Sultanate 1586–1755 Johor Sultanate 1528s–1877 Kingdom of Kaimana 1600s–1926 Jambi Sultanate 1604s–1904 Palembang Sultanate 1659–1823 Siak Sultanate 1725–1946 Surakarta Sunanate 1745–present Yogyakarta Sultanate 1755–present Deli Sultanate 1814–1946 Riau-Lingga Sultanate 1824–1911
Christian kingdoms Larantuka kingdom 1515–1904 Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow 1670–1950
Chinese Kongsi federations Heshun Confederation 1776–1854 Lanfang Republic 1777–1884 Santiaogou Republic 1777–1853
European colonization Portuguese 1512–1850 Spanish 1521–1677 Dutch East India Company 1602–1799 British 1685–1824 French and British interregnum 1806–1816 Dutch East Indies 1800–1942 1945–1949
Emergence of Indonesia National Awakening 1908–1942 Japanese occupation 1942–1945 National Revolution 1945–1949 United States of Indonesia 1949–1950
Republic of Indonesia Liberal democracy 1950–1959 Guided Democracy 1959–1966 Transition 1966–1967 New Order 1967–1998 Reform era 1998–present
Regions Jakarta Bali Bogor Bandung
By topic Agriculture Archaeology Currency Economy Education Javanese historical texts Religion Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mass media Military Sport Women
Indonesia portal

The Sultanate of Bulungan (Jawi: کسلطانن بولوڠن) was a princely state of Indonesia located in the then existing Bulungan Regency (at that time covering all the territory that now comprises the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia) in the east of the island of Borneo. Its territory spanned the eastern shores of North Kalimantan and Tawau, Malaysia.

Until 1860, Bulungan was a subject of the Sulu. During this period, vessels began travelling to Sulu, Tarakan, and thence into the interior of Bulungan, to trade directly with Tidung.^[1] Allegedly, this influence ended in 1878 with the signing of a treaty between the English and Spanish, partitioning Sulu.^[2][1]

The Sultanate was founded by a Kayan group, the Uma Apan, who originated from the interior region of Apo Kayan (Kayan Highland Plateau), before settling near the coast in the 17th century. Around 1650, a princess of the group married a man from Brunei. Although according to Oral History this happened in 1555. ^[3] This marriage founded a Hindu lineage who settled in the region of today's Tanjung Selor. Around 1750, this dynasty converted to Islam. Its rulers took the title of Sultan and were recognised as vassals of the sultan of Berau, the latter acknowledging himself a vassal of the kingdom of Kutai.

In 1850, the Dutch, who had conquered Berau in 1834 and imposed their sovereignty upon Kutai in 1848, signed with the Sultan of Bulungan a Politiek Contract. The Dutch intervened in the region to combat piracy and the trafficking in slaves.

In 1881, the North Borneo Chartered Company was created, thereby placing northern Borneo under British jurisdiction, despite initial Dutch objections. The Sultanate was finally incorporated into the colonial empire of the Dutch East Indies in the 1880s. The Dutch installed a government post in 1893 in Tanjung Selor. In the 20th century, like many other princely states of the archipelago, the Sultan was forced to sign a Korte verklaring; a "short statement" in which he sold most of its powers over land upstream.

The Dutch eventually recognised the border between the two jurisdictions in 1915. The Sultanate was granted Zelfbestuur ("self-administration") status in 1928, again like many princely states of the Netherlands Indies.

The discovery of oil by the BPM (Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij) in the islands of Bunyu and Tarakan gave great importance to Bulungan for the Dutch, who made Tarakan the chief town of the regency.

After the recognition of Indonesian independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the territory received the status of Bulungan Wilayah swapraja, or "autonomous territory", in 1950, before receiving the status of Wilayah istimewa, or "special territory", in 1955. The last Sultan, Jalaluddin, died in 1958. The Sultanate was abolished in 1959 and the territory becomes a simple kabupaten, or "regency".

On the dawn of Friday, 3 July 1964, a troop of Brawijaya 517 soldiers led by Lieutenant B Simatupang under the orders of Brigadier General Suharjo quickly swooped in the Bulungan Palace, kidnapping its aristocrat inhabitants while burning the rest of the palace grounds which lasted for 2 days and nights on Friday 24 July 1964. The kidnapees were later murdered, one Raja Muda Datu Mukemat in particular was reported to have been brought to sea between the islands of Tarakan and Bunyu, where he was shackled with stones as weight, shot dead and cast out into the sea.

• 
  The ruiling class of the Bulungan Sultanate (taken c. 1925–1935).
• 
  Abdul Jalil of Bulungan with the Queen consort (1940).

• Burhan Magenda, East Kalimantan: the decline of a commercial aristocracy, Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, 1991, ISBN 0-87763-036-4
• Sellato, Bernard, Forest, Resources and People in Bulungan, Center for International Forestry Research, 2001, ISBN 979-8764-76-5