Kayan

Kayan belonged to the Melawi river country of western Borneo, where local communities and the rulers of Sintang were linked by waterways and political rivalries. A regional cultural history records a major attack on Sintang in 1722 by Kayan and Tebidah people from Melawi. The conflict became known as the Kayan War.

Sintang's ruler Pangeran Tunggal drew on family connections to secure assistance. His sister, Putri Nyai Cili, had married Mangku Melik of Embaloh in the upper Kapuas country. Help from Iban and Batang Lupar forces enabled Sintang to resist, and the attackers withdrew. The account places Melawi's Kayan within a network of alliances extending beyond their immediate river. Political action in this interior landscape depended on mobilising communities and kinship connections across different tributaries, with rival groups capable of threatening a river kingdom's centre.