page_title: History of Sabah
section_title: Post-independence
hierarchical_section_title: History of Sabah / Post-independence
context_page_description: The history of Sabah can be traced back to about 23–30,000 years ago when evidence suggests the earliest human settlement in the region existed. The history is interwoven with the history of Brunei and the history of Malaysia, which Sabah was previously part of and is currently part of respectively. The earliest recorded history of Sabah being part of any organised civilisation began in the early 15th century during the thriving era of the Sultanate of Brunei. Prior to this, early inhabitants of the land lived in predominantly tribal societies, although such tribal societies had continued to exist until the 1900s. The eastern part of Sabah was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei in 1658 for the former helping a victory over Brunei enemies, but many sources stated it had not been ceded at all. By the late 19th century, both territories previously owned by Sultan of Brunei and Sultan of Sulu was granted to British syndicate and later emerged as British North Borneo under the management of the North Borneo Chartered Company.
context_section_description: Tun Fuad Stephens became the first chief minister of Sabah. The first Governor (Yang di-Pertuan Negeri) was Mustapha Harun. Mustapha became the 3rd chief minister following the first state election. During his administration, a large Filipino refugees from Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago began arriving in Sabah as a result of an insurgency taking place in that region. His primary vision is to make Islam as the majority religion of the state. Thus to achieve his dream, he was actively harbouring the Filipino refugees more so with his similar ethnic background relations with the Muslim refugees. Mustapha was also believed to have aiding the Moro in their struggle for independence by providing arms and training facilities in Malaysia. His action were tolerated by the Malaysian government because he was consistent in delivering Muslim votes as well for his continuous backing for the Malaysian government which he was later succeeded in making Islam as the main religion of Sabah. However, as Malaysian government wanted to maintain good relations between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the Philippine central government, the Malaysian government cannot raise the plight of Muslim minority in the Philippines. Mustapha then planned to secede the state of Sabah from Malaysia but his intention failed after he was removed from his position in 1975. The Philippine central government then retracted the Sabah claim in 1977 as a reward for Malaysian government action to stop supporting the southern Philippines Muslim rebels. Sabah held its first state election in 1967. On 6 June 1976, after only 44 days being elected for the second time as chief minister, Tun Fuad Stephens together with other state cabinet ministers died in a plane crash known as the Double Six Tragedy. He was replaced by Harris Salleh. On 14 June 1976, the government of Sabah signed an agreement with Petronas, the federal government-owned oil and gas company, granting it the right to extract and earn revenue from petroleum found in the territorial waters of Sabah in exchange for 5% in annual revenue as royalties. Under the leadership of Harris Salleh, the state government of Sabah ceded the island of Labuan and its 6 smaller islands to the Malaysian federal government and it was declared a federal territory on 16 April 1984.
  In 1985, following the state elections, Pairin Kitingan of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) became the seventh chief minister and this marked the second time in Malaysia where a party not affiliated with the nation ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) or its predecessor, the Alliance Party, formed government in any state (preceded by Gerakan in Penang in 1969 and followed by PAS in Kelantan in 1990). Along in the same year, Moro Pirates attacked Lahad Datu, killing 21 people and injuring 11 others in an event known as the 1985 Lahad Datu ambush. In 1986, opponents of the newly elected PBS government started riots around the state, mainly in the cities of Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sandakan, resulting in bombings and five fatalities. Peace was gradually restored following a snap election in 1986 which consolidated PBS' position as the ruling state government.
  From 1990 to 1991, several PBS politicians were arrested under the Internal Security Act for allegedly being involved in plans to secede Sabah from the Malaysian Federation and detained for two years. Among those arrested were Jeffrey Kitingan and Maximus Ongkili. Other politicians, including Pairin, were hit with corruption charges. The arrests and charges were suspected to be politically motivated. Following the 1994 state election, Barisan Nasional regained control of the state via the creation of the Sabah chapter of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party and other parties. The rotation system was introduced by the then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in which the chief ministerial post would be rotated every two years among the three main communities in Sabah, namely, the Muslim Bumiputeras, non-Muslim Bumiputeras and the Chinese. Sakaran Dandai became the first 
caption: Flag of Sabah from 1982–1988.