Monterado

Monterado lay in the gold-bearing country of western Borneo, inland from the coast of Sambas. Chinese miners established settlements around the workings and formed associations, or kongsi, to govern their affairs. By the late eighteenth century several mining communities had joined the Heshun federation, whose centre was at Monterado. Its members organized labour and defended their interests in negotiations and conflicts with neighbouring powers. The goldfields brought migrants, merchants and local rulers into close contact, making the inland mines a source of both wealth and political rivalry.