The Kurious and the Tagahas

Author: Ambrose Mudi

Historical Conflicts and Preparation

About one hundred years ago, there were many wars between different tribes in the Tambunan Plain. The weapons they used were gayangs (long swords), blowpipes, and spears. Their shields were made of hard wood and covered with tough dried water-buffalo skin.

One of the tribes that people feared the most was the Tagahas. They lived in the northern part of the Tambunan plain. They kept bullying the Kurious, a Dusun-Murut (Kwijau) tribe who lived in the northern part of the Keningau plain. The Kurious wanted peace, but the Tagahas kept humiliating them. Finally, the Tagahas forced the Kurious to fight. Once a date for the battle was set, both sides got their weapons ready. The Kurious prepared their blowpipes, bows and arrows, spears, and long daggers. They also made poisoned darts for their blowpipes. The battle would happen near the Pagalan river, close to what is now the village of Rompon.

Both sides had good leaders. The women did not fight in the battle, but they took care of the wounded and made food and drink for the hungry warriors.

It took both groups several days to reach the battlefield. When they arrived, they rested for a few hours before starting to fight. They bathed in the river and then the battle began.

The Battle Commences

At first, the battlefield was very noisy, like a marketplace. The Tagahas shouted insults at the Kurious, and the Kurious shouted back even worse insults. After a while, the Tagahas could not stand it anymore and started to attack. They waded across the river, which came up to their waists. The Kurious did not move until the Tagahas were halfway across the river. Then the front line of the Kurious threw their spears at them. The Tagahas caught most of the spears in their hard shields. But some Tagahas were killed, and their friends pulled their bodies out of the river. Some Kurious were also killed.

The Turning Point

The front line of the Kurious was pushed back because they had run out of spears. They were afraid and started to run away. The Tagahas became brave and moved closer. They shouted: "Nah hoi Kuriou, nariau do parai!" which means "You Kurious people do not have enough rice to eat!" They swung their long swords and spears as they came within twenty yards of the Kurious.

But now the Kurious pulled out their poisoned darts and started shooting at the Tagahas' hands and feet, which had no protection. The Kurious shouted: "Nah hoi, mapatoi noh nayau ra Tagahas, amu nokotila ra tusi!" which means "May the Tagahas people die; you have never tasted salt!" Hundreds of poisoned darts rained down on the enemy. Everyone hit by a poisoned dart died right away.

Even with all these losses, the Tagahas kept fighting. Their leader told them to keep attacking. But the Kurious were very clever. They pretended to run away but kept shooting their darts backward at the Tagahas. Even though many Kurious were killed while retreating, they did not give up. They kept shooting darts until all the Tagahas were dead—except for their chief. His clothes were made of kungkung (hardened water-buffalo skin) that could not be pierced by darts. When the darts hit his clothes, they broke into pieces. He also had strong magic charms protecting him. Many Kurious warriors were afraid of him as they watched him chasing them alone. But they managed to surround him and trap him inside their circle.

The Final Confrontation

With loud cheers and laughter, the Kurious leader walked into the circle to face the Tagahas chief. But before the Kurious leader could even lift his sword, the Tagahas chief drove his sword right through his chest and killed him. When the Kurious saw their beloved leader die, they ran away in panic. But right then they heard a terrible groan. They looked back and saw the Tagahas chief lying dead beside their leader. This was a complete surprise! They could not understand what had happened.

They made two stretchers and carried both bodies back to their camp. After they ate and drank, they started the journey home. Back in their village, they celebrated their victory over the Tagahas. But slowly they became sad thinking about their dead leader. Soon the whole village was crying. Even though they had won the battle, they had lost their beloved chief. They also felt sad for the Tagahas leader. The Kurious are kind-hearted people who feel pity for others.

Peace and Reconciliation

They buried their chief with a big, beautiful ceremony. Then they cut off the head of the Tagahas chief, wrapped it in beautiful cloth, and sent twenty warriors to the Tagahas village with it. The Tagahas people welcomed them warmly.

The Tagahas understood that they had been beaten and wanted to make peace. They took the head of their chief and placed it in a special hut where all the Tagahas came to pay their respects. During the final ceremony, they chose a new chief. This new chief thanked and praised the kind and generous Kurious in a speech.

Lasting Peace

Both tribes decided that peace was better than war. They became friends and even married each other. The other tribes in the area saw what the Kurious and Tagahas had done. They realized that stopping all their fighting would be much better. Following the example of these two tribes, all the other tribes also made peace. "Peace is worth more than war," they said. And from that time on, peace ruled the Tambunan plain.

This narrative is part of Sabah Stories, a collection of traditional tales and indigenous folklore originally gathered and rendered into English by scholars attending Saint Francis Xavier High School in Keningau, Sabah, North Borneo, throughout 1968–1973. The text presented here has been entirely rewritten using contemporary language and phrasing whilst preserving all factual content, cultural terminology, place names, character designations, and the substantive narrative elements of the original source. This is not a reproduction of the original material.