Lahad Datu District

The name "Lahad Datu" comes from the Bajau language, "Lahad" means the place and "Datu" means the dignity of certain people during the sultanate era. The place name traced its roots from the migration of Datu-datu from the Sultanate of Sulu led by Datu Puti as a result of the handing over this area by the Sultanate of Brunei to Sulu after the Brunei Civil War.{{cite web|url=http://ww2.sabah.gov.my/pd.ld/profil-daerah.html|title=Profil Daerah|trans-title=District Profile|language=ms|publisher=Lahad Datu District Office|access-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108133932/http://ww2.sabah.gov.my/pd.ld/profil-daerah.html|archive-date=8 November 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

File:TobaccoEstateLahadDatu.jpg

Following the acquisition of this area by the North Borneo Chartered Company, the Lahad Datu District was established and subsequently became the major producer of tobacco for the company beside coconut plantations to produce copra.{{cite web|url=http://ww2.sabah.gov.my/md.ldu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=489|title=Pengenalan Daerah Lahad Datu|trans-title=Lahad Datu District Introduction|language=ms|publisher=Lahad Datu District Council|access-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108134430/http://ww2.sabah.gov.my/md.ldu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=489|archive-date=8 November 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

On 11 February 2013, several armed Filipino supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu, calling themselves the Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, arrived in Lahad Datu district and occupied the village of Tanduo. They were sent by Jamalul Kiram III, a claimant to the throne of the sultanate. His stated goal is to assert the Philippine territorial claim to eastern Sabah as part of the North Borneo dispute.{{cite web|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/64577/heirs-of-sultan-of-sulu-pursue-sabah-claim-on-their-own|title=Heirs of Sultan of Sulu pursue Sabah claim on their own|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=16 February 2013|access-date=20 February 2013}}{{cite web|author1=Michael Lim Ubac|author2=Dona Z. Pazzibugan|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/66287/aquino-surrender-order-not-acceptable-kirams|title=No surrender, we stay|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=3 March 2013|access-date=3 March 2013}}{{cite web|author=Jethro Mullen|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/asia/malaysia-philippines-standoff|title=Filipino group on Borneo claims to represent sultanate, Malaysia says|publisher=CNN|date=15 February 2013|access-date=25 February 2013}} In response, Malaysian security forces surrounded the village. After several negotiations with the group by the Philippine and Malaysian governments to reach a peaceful solution were unsuccessful, the standoff escalated into an armed conflict which ended with 56 followers of the self-proclaimed sultanate dead and the rest captured by the Malaysian authorities.{{cite web|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/66771/malaysia-launches-operation-to-end-militant-stand-off|title=Malaysia attacks Filipinos to end Sabah siege|author=M. Jegathesan|publisher=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=5 March 2013|access-date=5 March 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/3/5/nation/20130305073854&sec=nation|title=Lahad Datu: Malaysian security forces in all out attack against Sulu gunmen|work=The Star|date=5 March 2013|access-date=5 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307014223/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2013%2F3%2F5%2Fnation%2F20130305073854&sec=nation|archive-date=7 March 2013|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/03/30/Lahad-Datu-Sabah-CPO--No-halt-to-Ops-Daulat-until-Sulu-terrorists-are-flushed-out/|title=Lahad Datu: Sabah CPO - No halt to Ops Daulat until Sulu terrorists are flushed out|work=The Star|date=30 March 2013|access-date=30 June 2014}} The Malaysian forces lost ten people in addition to six civilians.{{cite web|url=http://www.astroawani.com/videos/show/buletin-awani/kronologi-pencerobohon-lahad-datu-25523|title=Kronologi pencerobohon Lahad Datu|language=ms|publisher=Astro Awani|date=15 February 2014|access-date=27 February 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.astroawani.com/news/show/dakwaan-anggota-tentera-terbunuh-hanya-taktik-musuh-panglima-tentera-darat-20183|title=Dakwaan anggota tentera terbunuh hanya taktik musuh - Panglima Tentera Darat|language=ms|publisher=Astro Awani|date=12 August 2013|access-date=30 June 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/lahad-datu-invasion-a-painful-memory-of-2013-27579|title=Lahad Datu invasion: A painful memory of 2013|author=Najiah Najib|publisher=Astro Awani|date=30 December 2013|access-date=30 December 2013}}

As a result of the incursion, the government of Malaysian suspended payments to the heirs of Sultan. Before this incident, Malaysia continued to pay an annual cession payment amounting to roughly $1,000 to the indirect heirs of the Sultan honoring an 1878 agreement, where North Borneo – today’s Sabah – was conceded by the Sultan of Sulu to a British company.{{Cite web |title=Sovereignty, Forum Shopping, and the Case of the Sulu Sultanate’s Heirs |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/sovereignty-forum-shopping-and-the-case-of-the-sulu-sultanates-heirs/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Sulu claim shows Southeast Asia cannot yet escape colonial legacy |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Sulu-claim-shows-Southeast-Asia-cannot-yet-escape-colonial-legacy |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}} Years later, eight of these Sulu heirs, who insisted they were not involved in the 2013 standoff, hired lawyers to pursue legal action based on the original commercial deal.{{Cite news |date=2023-06-13 |title=Analysis {{!}} Malaysia Wins Respite in $15 Billion Spat With Philippines. Here’s How the Fight Began. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/2023/06/07/malaysia-14-billion-fight-over-oil-rich-sabah-with-philippine-sulu-sultan-heirs/1603a176-0511-11ee-b74a-5bdd335d4fa2_story.html |access-date=2024-02-06 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

{{see also|Demographics of Sabah}}

According to the 2010 census, the population of Lahad Datu district is estimated to be around 199,830.{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Population/files/population/04Jadual_PBT_negeri/PBT_Sabah.pdf|title=Population by ethnic group, Local Authority area and state, Malaysia|publisher=Department of Statistics, Malaysia|year=2010|access-date=5 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227090315/http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/download_Population/files/population/04Jadual_PBT_negeri/PBT_Sabah.pdf|archive-date=27 February 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} As in other districts of Sabah, there are a significant number of illegal immigrants from the nearby southern Philippines, mainly from the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao, many of whom are not included in the population statistics. The population of the district is divided among the larger communities and the total area of the district as follows:

The district has several tourist attractions, including Danum Valley Conservation Area, Tabin Wildlife Reserve and the Madai Cave.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah Ar-Raudah-Mosque-01.jpg|Ar Raudah Mosque.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah Anglican-Church-St-Mark-02.jpg|St. Mark Anglican Church.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah Gereja-Basel-00.jpg|Lahad Datu Basel Church.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah-Che-Yee-Khor-Moral-Uplifting-Society-01.jpg|Che Yee Khor Moral Uplifting Society.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah Guan-Yin-Temple-08.jpg|Guan Yin Temple.

File:Lahad Datu Sabah Gurdwara-Sahib-Singh-Sabha-02.jpg|Gurdwara Sahib Lahad Datu.

File:LahadDatu Sabah MountSilam-01.jpg|Mount Silam.

File:Lahad-Datu Sabah Tower-of-Heaven-01.jpg|Tower of Heaven.

• Districts of Malaysia

• {{cite web

| last = Treacher

| first = W. H

| year = 1891

| url = https://archive.org/details/yonderyo00gavarich

| title = British Borneo: sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan, and North Borneo

| work = University of California Libraries

| publisher = Singapore, Govt. print. dept

| pages = 190

}}

• {{cite web

| last = Rutter

| first = Owen

| year = 1922

| url = https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023151933

| title = British North Borneo - An Account of its History, Resources and Native Tribes

| work = Cornell University Libraries

| publisher = Constable & Company Ltd, London

| pages = 157

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Tregonning

| first = K. G.

| year = 1965

| title = A History Of Modern Sabah (North Borneo 1881–1963)

| url = https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderns0000treg

| url-access = registration

| publisher = University of Malaya Press

}}

{{commons category-inline|Lahad Datu District}}

• {{in lang|ms}} [https://mdlahaddatu.sabah.gov.my/ Lahad Datu District Council]
• {{in lang|ms}} [https://pdlahaddatu.sabah.gov.my/ Lahad Datu District Office]

{{Sabah}}

{{Districts of Malaysia}}