What Does Kinabalu Mean?

Written by Shireen Ali | Published for the Komuhakan Movement
Link to full text (PDF).

While Kinabalu rings a bell as the summit of Borneo, the etymology and history behind the name itself remains a mystery to many. One of the more popular legends tells of Kinabalu being named in lieu of a certain Chinese widow, while others recall the mountain as Nabalu, the ‘resting-place of the dead.’

While the peak of Mount Kinabalu is undoubtedly significant to indigenous Sabahan culture as the home of the dead, is that the actual meaning or Kinabalu/Nabalu? We’ll hope to find an answer to that question here.

“Before sunrise I think there is no more beautiful sight than to see Kina Balu, then of a dark blue shade, standing out in the clear morning air with all its rugged precipices backed up by the yellow tints of the rising sun.”
(Whitehead, 1893, p. 59)

Did the mountain have any name before Kinabalu?

Arguably the earliest documentation of the mountain can be traced back to Ferdinand Magellan’s famed voyage around the world in 1519, in notes written by the company’s unnamed Genoese pilot now contained in Pigafetta’s (1874) collection of accounts, where he wrote: “[i]n the island of Borneo there is an exceedingly great mountain, to which [Magellan’s company] gave the name of Mount St. Paul” (p. 18). Another cartographer of the mid-16th century, Diego Ribero, had labelled the mountain as S. Pedro (Broek, 1962, p. 133).

Nearing the end of the 16th century, yet another name was recorded by cartographers- Monte de Adas, derived from the Spanish ‘hadas’ to mean ‘mountain of spirits’ (ibid, p. 134). An apt name, considering the spiritual significance of the mountain to the indigienous tribes of North Borneo as the resting place of the dead.

By the 18th century, the mountain was written under another moniker- Mount St. Pierre. In the year 1818, we saw the mountain dubbed as St. Peter’s Mountain. After a long run with many different names, it was around this time the old labels fell out of use and the name we know today began to emerge.

Interestingly, the mountain Kinabalu and river Kinabatangan had once bore the names Chinabolo and Chinabatanga, though the usage of such labels was scarce before being abandoned altogether. Chinabolo was found in only four 16th-century maps, while Chinabatanga in only one (Broek, 1962, p. 133). A curious subject, the association of North Bornean landmarks with China and the Chinese, shall be discussed in another article.

So, when did Kinabalu come about?

Alexander Dalrymple (1769) provides the first record of what would become Kinabalu, referring to the mountain as Keeney-Balloo. In the next century, explorers in the region wrote of Kina Balow (Keppel, 1846; and Low, 1852) and later Kinibalu (de Crespigny, 1872).

Not long after, the name we know today, Kinabalu arose in publications and early investigations into the etymology of the mountain began. As intrigue into Northern Borneo gained prominence during the late 19th century [1], the stylisation and use of the name fluctuated among writers.
Variations in spelling included [2]:

1. Kina Balu
2. Kinabalu
3. Kinabaloo

From my own readings, the conjoined spelling ‘Kinabalu’ appeared to only become more consistent among authors in the early-to-mid 20th century [3].

Kina Balu, the Chinese Widow

John Whitehead (1893) provides one of the earliest accounts of Kinabalu being referred to as the ‘Chinese Widow.’ The Chinese Widow can be traced all the way back to the legend of the Kinabalu dragon, who was once believed to reside atop Mount Kinabalu, guarding precious treasure [4]. Many Chinese adventurers had embarked to seize the treasure, but alas, had all perished at the hands of the dragon. Hence, the mountain was named the Chinese Widow (Sweeney, 1968, p. 52).

As happens with folklore, the tale of the Chinese Widow morphed over time. The love shared between a Chinese prince and a Kadazan maiden has become one of the more popular stories behind the Chinese Widow, among others. After successfully defeating the dragon and acquiring the treasure, the Chinese prince settled in Borneo and married a local maiden. Eventually, the prince was called to go to China.

The prince’s wife stayed behind, looking forward to her beloved’s return. Days, months, and years went by as she awaited, to no avail. Mourning the loss of her husband, the heartbroken woman turned to stone. St. John’s peak is believed by some to be the stone in which she transformed into (Bidder et. al, 2014).

What was the impact of the legends of the Chinese Widow?
The name of the mountain apparently being the Chinese Widow, which was seemingly named after the Chinese, was considered to be proof of how a significantly influential Chinese settlement had once existed in the region. The prefix kina- was held to allude to these Chinese settlers, as it appeared in names all across North Borneo: for example, Kinabatangan (the Chinese river), and of course, Kinabalu.

While the myth and mystique of the Chinese Widow remains popular, the theory of Kinabalu in fact meaning the Chinese Widow has been largely debunked, for reasons interested readers can have a look at in our long, hopefully comprehensive discussion on the subject. In summary, the Chinese Widow theory doesn’t hold much truth for two main reasons:

1. As Rutter (1922, p. 29) notes, Kinabalu to mean the Chinese Widow is a Malay derivation, with Kina meaning China/Chinese and balu meaning widow. In Malay, the adjective follows the substantive- ‘big car’ translates into ‘kereta besar.’ If the mountain was indeed supposed to be named the Chinese Widow, the grammatically correct Malay denomination would have been Balu Kina.
2. The Dusun people have long resided in North Borneo and are accepted as being aboriginal to the land, ie. they were the first group to populate the region (Rutter, 1929, p. 20). It would make more sense for the name Kinabalu to have been created by the Dusuns, and hence, is a Dusun name, bearing significance to the Dusun language.

Nabalu, the Abode of the Dead

“[T]hose who climb the mountain must not use its ordinary name while on it, but must refer to it as Agayoh Ngaran, which, I understand, means “big name.’’
(Evans, 1923, p. 35).

In indigenous Sabahan culture, the souls of the departed are believed to inhabit the great mountain of Kinabalu- indigenously known as Aki Nabalu, or simply Nabalu. To the Rungus, Nabalu represents the afterworld where ‘certain gods and the transcendental counterparts of the living dwell’ (Appell and Appell, 2003). To the Kadazandusun, the peak of the mountain is the domain between earth and heaven where spirits await emancipation and reunion with the Creator in the sky (Dr. Benedict Topin as cited in Wong, 2015).

Notwithstanding the sanctity of the mountain, does Nabalu literally translate to ‘home of the dead’? According to Rutter (1914, as cited in Evans, 1922, p. 281), Nabalu merely refers to the place, just as ‘Paradise and Hades do not mean ‘resting-place of the dead’, but are only names for those resting-places’.

So, what does the name actually mean?
Numerous ideas and suggestions have been put forward, with the discussion around the name spanning centuries. Doing my best to summarise the discussion, there are four main theories behind the etymology of Kinabalu.

Background courtesy of hikingmalaysia.com

According to elders in Kampung Kiau and Bundu Tuhan in an interview with Regis (1996, as cited in Bidder et. al, 2014), the name Kinabalu is thought to be derived from classical Dusun, wherein ki is defined as ‘the occurrence of boulders’ and nabalu, ‘any boulder associated with spirits.’ Aptly named, Kinabalu encapsulates the rocky terrain and spiritual significance of the mountain.

The boulder of spirits interpretation seems to be the most recent. While its link to the spiritual realm is undisputed, how did the word Nabalu gain its association, or meaning, to begin with? Could Nabalu have evolved from another root word, or does it actually mean something else entirely? To answer our question, we’ll have to go a bit further back in time to the findings of the early researchers.

Background courtesy of sabahtravelguide.com.

Rutter suggests how the prefixes ki-, kin-, and kina- as found in local Dusun names were originally aki-, the front ‘a’ being dropped over time due to ellipsis- that is, it was naturally left out of the name as it was easier to say without it. The theory implies how the original names of Kinabatangan, Kinabalu, and even Kinaringan (the name of the supreme being in the Kadazandusun belief system), would have been Aki Nabatangan, Aki Nabalu, and Akinaringan respectively. Surely enough, Rutter holds that some Dusuns do indeed refer to the deity as Akinarinangan.

So, what does aki mean? The word ‘aki’ in the Dusun language means grandfather or ancestor, denoting a sense of high standing. The association of aki with seniority and respect is consistent in light of how names containing aki-, ki-, kin-, and kina- are ‘almost invariably confined to names of gods, mountains and rivers’- all entities undoubtedly deserving of reverence.

Alright, what about Nabalu? Rutter explains how ‘nabalu’ is a Dusun word meaning widowed, made up of the prefix na-, which denotes a past participle in the Dusun and Murut languages, and balu, which means widow/widower. Rutter does not take the widow/widower definition literally, instead speaking of the mountain’s ‘splendid isolation’ as one would link to a lone widow.

Hence, taking into account the honorific of aki as well as the interpretation of Nabalu, Rutter concludes ‘it is not beyond the ingenuity of a Dusun to give it some such name as the Solitary Father.’ Rutter’s ideas appear to go hand-in-hand with more recent reports telling of how indigenous tribes believe the mountain to be named after the god Aki Nabalu (grandfather Nabalu) who, together with Odu Nabalu (grandmother Nabalu), protect the sacred land (Wong, 2015). Native elders colloquially refer to the mountain as di’Aki or simply Aki, as a respectful, affectionate term for ‘old man.’

Background courtesy of Ian Neubauer / CNN.

For starters, Father Duxneuney remarks how the Dusuns of Putatan always refer to the mountain as Nabalu or Nabahu- as the l’s and h’s are interchangeable within the Putatan dialect- and that no one understood the name Kinabalu. (Father Duxneuney’s observation conflicts with that of Rutter’s above, as here it seems as though Nabalu doesn’t have the prefix aki- or ki- at all).

He then explains how, as part of ritual, bodies of the deceased are covered in customary clothes and huts are built over the cadaver- the hut is called a bahu, meaning ‘home of the dead’, while the clothing items themselves are designated as bahu. Therefore, bahu comes to mean ‘pertaining to the dead.’

Hence, Kinabalu is divided into three parts: ki-, na-, and balu or bahu. Na- is agreed to indicate a past participle (as in Rutter’s explanation). However, Father Duxneuney posits ki- to have come from the Dusun word kiwao, meaning it is/it was/there is. Therefore, he deduced Kinabalu to roughly translate as such: ‘there is a place or home pertaining to the dead.’

Background courtesy of sabahtravelguide.com.

Williams (1965, p. 44) observed how the Dusuns of Sensuron refer to the afterlife (represented as somewhere on top of or beyond the mountain) as Penaluan. Similarly, Evans (1922) notes how the Dusuns of Tuaran do indeed call the mountain Pengaluan more than Nabalu.

E. H. Stephens (as cited in Evans, 1922) took note of how the Dusuns of Beaufort would often say how spirits would ‘mengalau Nabalu’- ‘mengalau’ being ‘a special way to describe the journeying of the spirit after death’ (ibid, p. 280). The occurrence of similar versions of ‘mengalau’ appears throughout indigenous groups: in Tempassuk, it is pronounced ‘mengalu’ (ibid, p. 288), while in Sensuron, natives speak of ‘magalagulu’, meaning ‘to go on ahead to the place of the dead’ (Williams, 1965, p. 44).

So, is it Pengaluan or Nabalu?
Evans (1922) suggests how these variations of mengalau, like Nabalu and Pengaluan, are still derived from the original word balu. Interestingly, however, when asked about what the word for widow/widower would be in the Dusun language, the natives answered ‘opus’ or ‘napoud’, and not balu (ibid, p. 288).

If balu doesn’t mean widow/widower to the Dusuns, what does it mean?
Evans, after doing some digging around, found that balu was found in many uses, though all still relating to the dead: the Dusuns of Tuaran refer to the gusi jar placed near corpses as pen-a-baluk; a Dusun man from Tambunan had said how balu meant ‘newly buried’; while another from Tempassuk relayed how Pengaluan and Nabalu themselves literally do mean ‘the place where the dead go to’ (ibid, p. 289).

So, what can we conclude?

The history of the name Kinabalu, like the mountain itself, has a lot to offer. The stories and tales of Nabalu and all its siblings have changed over time, embedding itself into indigenous culture and becoming synonymous with what we know today as the great mountain where the spirits of the dead reside.

While we may not have uncovered the true, objective, undisputed meaning or origin of the word, the sheer volume of ideas, theories, and suggestions about its name should be testament enough of its eminence, even back in the day. We know what the mountain meant to the indigenous tribes of Sabah regardless of what it was called, or what its name meant on paper. The mountain was a staple of culture, a landmark of the region, and the literal peak of North Borneo- as it continues to be today.

So, to sign off, I think the proper question to take away is: what does Kinabalu mean to you?

Endnotes

1. Treacher (1889), Whitehead (1893), and Roth (1896) are examples of late-19th century authors who had presented early investigations into the background and possible meaning behind the name Kinabalu.
2. Kina Balu as written in St. John (1863), Roth (1896) and Hanitsch (1900); Kinabalu as written in Little (1887), Mayne (1888), and Treacher (1889); Kinabaloo as written in Boulenger (1887 and 1891).
3. Works observed include (but are not limited to) that of Rutter (1922), Evans (1922), Hewett (1923), Enriquez (1927), Griswold (1939), and Sadka (1954).
4. The original account of the Kinabalu dragon was written in the Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei (the genealogy of the sultans of Brunei, hereinafter the Silsilah). Treacher (1891) provides a simplified English translation for the tale, while the original manuscript can be found in Sweeney (1968).

References

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2. Bidder, C., Kibat, S. A., and Saien, S. (2014). ‘Mount Kinabalu: the Sacred Emblem of the First UNESCO World Heritage Site on Borneo.’ Tourism, Leisure and Global Change, (1), pp. 1–9.
3. Broek, J. (1962). ‘Place Names in 16th and 17th Century Borneo.’ Imago Mundi (16), pp. 129–148.
4. Boulenger, G. A. (1887) ‘VIII. — On new Reptiles and Batrachians from North Borneo.’ Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 20(116), pp. 95–97, [DOI: 10.1080/00222938709460016]
5. Boulenger, G. A. (1891). ‘XXXV. — Remarks on the Herpetological fauna of Mount Kina Baloo, North Borneo.’ Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 7(40), pp. 341–345. [DOI: 10.1080/00222939109460620]
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20. Rutter, O. (1929). The Pagans of North Borneo. London: Hutchinson.
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25. Wong, T. (2015). ‘Mount Kinabalu is ‘our temple and purgatory’.’ BBC News, 12 June. Available at: [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33105624] (Accessed: 5th January 2021).