The British North Borneo (Chartered) Company was formed in 1881 to administer the territory of North Borneo over which it had acquired sovereign rights. Chartered Companies were already in disfavour when the great East India Company was dissolved in 1858, and it was surprising to some that this mode of government should be again revived. Its initial success, however, led to the formation of other, more famous, companies in East, West and South African and (by Germany) in New Guinea. These had their day and died, while, little noticed, the unique form of government which typified was continued in North Borneo. For sixty years (1881-1941) the Chartered Company governed the State, surrendering its sovereignty only in 1946.