The Anomaly of North Borneo: The Royal Asiatic Society Branch That Disappeared

The North Borneo Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society existed from 1893 to 1897. The members of this learned society operated within a context of other branches of the Royal Asiatic Society in the region and the work of early European residents to attract capitalistic investment in agricultural businesses through an understanding of the geography and peoples of the region. Once administrative control over the territory was achieved and plantation enterprises were fully operational, the North Borneo Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society faded into obscurity. Its brief existence, ultimately, reflected the role of colonial knowledge and learned societies in the expansion of empire.