Mystery of the Boentoet People From Borneo

The mystery of the Boentoet people from Kalimantan became a unique story from the 19th century that shocked two local kingdoms and almost led to war.

Legend of the Buntut Tribe 

Famous for the Dayak tribe, Kalimantan actually has many other tribes with their own uniqueness. One of them is the Buntut Tribe or in the old spelling called Boentoet. It is described as a group of humans with hanging tails who live in the forest. The legend of the tailed man was first told by a servant of the Sultan of Kutai named Tjiropon. He told a story in front of his lord, Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman, along with relatives and foreign guests in 1879. He admitted that he had met the tail people around the Paser Sultanate area. They have tails of around five to ten centimeters, and white hair and eyes. 

The Sultan of Kutai, who was amazed by the legendary story of the tailed man, then asked his servant to trace the whereabouts of the tailed man from the Paser Sultanate, which neighbors Kutai. The servant was assisted by a Norwegian naturalist and traveler named Carl Alfred Bock. Later, Bock actually doubted the authenticity of the mystery of the boentoet people from Borneo.

Alien Explorers Mission 

Bock visit to Kutai at that time was an order from Governor General Johan van Lansberge. He was ordered to research the Dayak civilization and collect natural history specimens for museum purposes in the Netherlands.

Bock actually doubted the existence of the tailed tribe, but as a follower of Darwin's theory of evolution, he was filled with curiosity about the existence of humans with tails. Bock even held a competition with a reward of 500 guilders for Tjiropon or anyone who succeeded in uncovering the mystery of the Boentoet people from Borneo.

 Bock's doubts were finally confirmed. Tjiropon returned empty-handed. The servant failed to bring back a pair of oxtails from the Paser Sultanate that many people had been waiting for. Despite this, he still maintained that he had seen and spoken to members of the Buntut tribe in the interior of Kalimantan.

Mistakes Lead to War 

The enthusiasm of the people of Kutai who were waiting for the continuation of the mystery of the boentoet people from Borneo soon turned tense. The reason was that Sultan Abdurahman Alamsyah, the ruler of Paser who ruled at that time, was very angry with Kutai. 

The Sultan accused his neighboring kingdom of deliberately spreading rumors to overthrow the Paser Sultanate. He was even reported to have built a fortification and was preparing to fight against the Kutai Sultanate. The good relationship between Kutai and Paser almost ended because of the legend of the tailed man. 

Bock then sent a letter to Sultan Paser via the Resident of Banjarmasin to ask about the facts behind the oxtail tribe in the interior of Kalimantan. Through this correspondence, it was revealed that the tail man from the Paser Sultanate turned out to be the nickname for the sultan's favorite personal bodyguard. 

Fortunately, the war between the two kingdoms did not really happen. Bock himself could only pat his forehead because of this ridiculous misunderstanding. He summarized the strangest historical episodes in a book entitled The Head Hunters of Borneo, which was published in 1881. Even though the facts have been revealed, people still believe in the existence of the Boentoet people from Kalimantan.