Ong Sum Ping
Ong Sum Ping is a legendary figure. Identified as Pengiran Maharaja Lela of Brunei. The Hokkien name implies that Ong Sum Ping was a native of Fujian, China.
Career
During the Mongol conquest of China, Ong Sum Ping reportedly fled from Fujian with his siblings and traveled to East Kalimantan, according to The Philippine Islands, a book authored by H. Clark Company in 1903. According to Wen Xiongfei 温雄飞 in the 《南洋华侨史》, Ong Sum Ping came to Brunei in 1375 during the early years of China's Ming dynasty. The Brunei History Centre presents a rather incredible story in which Ong Sum Ping later married Princess Ratna Dewi, the daughter of Sultan Muhammad Shah of Brunei. For that he was conferred the nobility title of Pengiran Maharaja Lela and elected Chief of Kinabatangan. Some authors speculate that Ong Sum Ping could have been an admiral of Zheng He's navy who visited Brunei and stayed there due to the chieftain's connection to the Ming dynasty.Local Brunei Malay folklore suggest that there was a Chinese settlement in present-day Kinabatangan, Sabah. Linguistic evidence does not support the view held commonly by the Brunei History Centre that "Kinabatangan" could mean "Chinese river". According to early accounts which survive only in copies dating back to the 19th century such as Salasilah Raja-Raja Brunei which was possibly first compiled during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Hassan and subsequently copied and updated from time to time and also the Sejarah Melayu, Ong Sum Ping "succeeded his father-in-law. He was known as Sultan Ahmad and ruled Brunei". This version, however, contradicts later account engraved on the Batu Tarsilah founded in 1807 that Sultan Ahmad was a brother of Sultan Muhammad Shah and he was not Ong Sum Ping. The latter version is the accepted official history of Brunei. During the Brunei Civil War, Sultan Muhyiddin of Brunei called for the assistance of Sultan of Sulu to help defeat Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin promising them independence as well as the territory of present-day Sabah to be given to the Sultan of Sulu. The promised territory was or included Kinabatangan.