not known to other Dayak groups until the mid-1800s.

Prior to the 19th century, non-Malay indigenous groups in Borneo were often grouped together under the term "Dyaks" or "Dayaks" by outsiders, including Westerners and the Brooke administration. The term was used to describe various indigenous groups, though it was not specific to any one ethnic group. James Brooke, the first Rajah of Sarawak, coined the term "Sea Dayak"