The Socio-Political Systems of the Tausugs

The Tausug, belongs to one of the indigenous tribes in the

Philippines falling under a larger ethnic group and Muslim minority
in the Philippines which were the Moros. They came from the
Polynesian and Malay race and are noted to be good sea farers,
they are considered as the original inhabitants of Sulu.The term
Tausug comes from the word "tau "meaningman, and "sug"
meaning current and translates as "people of the current.

Historical Timeline of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu

Including Related Events of Neighboring Peoples
The seat of The Royal Sultanate of Sulu is in Astana Putih, Tausug
for White Palace, located some two kilometers southwest of the
Spanish Walled City of Jolo, in Umbul Duwa at the present
municipality of Indanan in Jolo Island. Jolo is the capital town of the
Province of Sulu that is within the present geographical jurisdiction
of the Republic of the Philippines.

Political History
During the pre-colonial period, communities were already thriving
called the banuas or the kauman, smaller groups of more or less
composed of 10 up to 100 tausug are called balangays ( meaning
sailboat ). Laws were passed orally by a patriarch concerning
marriage, crime and punishment, contracts and anything that deal
with their daily lives. Their rituals and folklores are called the Adat.
A political structure was already in place before the Spanish came
in 1521. It was segmentary instead of being a centralized form of
rule, which is less complex. Sultan is the highest among the ranks.
He is politically and ritually empowered member of the society.
Salip is then the Islamic spiritual leader. The Datu are the headman
controlling smaller segments of the regional population and they
also perform some religious functionaries.
Muslim missionary came to Sulu in 1380 to teach Islam and also to
trade. These Arab scholars got married with the royal family and
became the rulers of the lands hence the Sultanate was born.

THE ERA OF H.M.H. THE ROYAL SULTANATE OF SULU

1450 AD - A Johore-born Arab adventurer, Shari'ful Hashem Syed
Abu Bak=r, arrived in Sulu from Melaka; He married Param Isuli,
daughter of Raja Baguinda, and founded The Royal Sultanate of
Sulu in 1457; He declared himself H.R.H. Paduka Maulana Mahasari
Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bak=r, Sultan of Sulu, of the Saudi House
of Hashemite in Hadramaut, where most Tausug and Yakan believed
prophet Mohammad's genealogy is traced.
1451 AD - By this time, the Melakan Sultanate had become a
leading center of Islam in southeast Asia, and as a time-tested
protege of the Ming dynasty, Yung Lo sent away his daughter Hang
Li-po and a cortege of five-hundred Mandarin ladies as A gift to
Melakan Sultan Mansor Shah in 1459; in turn, Shah conceived
"Bukit Cina" as a permanent residential court for his esteemed
visitors.

H.R.H. Sultan Syed Hashem Abu Bak'r (1457-1480)

include North Borneo, Sarawak, Indonesia Balabac, Banggi, and

Palawan in Archipelago San Lazaro (present-day Philippines) and
the new Royal Sultanate of Sulu

1470 AD - Muslim conquest of the Madjapahit Empire.

1473-1521 AD - Golden age rule of Nakhoda Ragam Sultan
Bulkeiah=s Sultanate of Brunei that expanded her hegemony to
H.R.H. Sultan Kamal ud-Din (1480-1519)

1509 AD - A Bengali Putih and Diego Lopez deSequeira with a

squadron of five Portuguese battle ships established the first White
settlement in Melaka (Ferdinand Magellan was said to be a member
of this expedition).
1511 AD - Portuguese privateer Alfonso deAlbuquerque captured
Melaka from deSequeira and reported of Muslim trading vessels
from Sulu anchored in that Malay port.
1512 AD - Unnamed Portuguese sailors effected a brief landing on
Mindanaw.

H.R.H. Sultans Amir ul-Umara, Mu'izzul Mutawa Din & Nasir

ud-Din (1519-1579)

1520 AD - Jesuit historian Francisco Combe reported of an

unnamed Muslim Sharif who tried to spread Islam to Jolo but died at

Bud Tumangtangis; His magnificent tomb was comparable to those

in Makkah, but unfortunately in the years following, Manila
Spaniards burned it to the ground.
1521 AD - Antonio Pigafetta deVicenza, the Italian chronicler of
Ferdinand Magellan, was said to have visited Brunei Sultan
Bulkeiah's court around this time; While crusing along the Bornean
coast, fellow Spaniards captured Rajah Matanda of May Nilad,
grandson of then reigning Brunei Sultan and nephew to Brunei Raja
Muda (Rajah Suleiman to Filipinos). [Rajah Suleiman was himself a
son-in-law of Brunei Sultan Abdul Kahar and this incident could have
made unfortunate misgivings of his view of White men as he was to
meet them again in the Battle of May Nilad in 1570].
March 16, 1521 AD - Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan,
a.k.a. Fernao Magalhaes and Fernando de Magallanes, discovered
Archipelago San Lazaro (present-day Samar Island) arriving on five
vessels that included Trinidad (Magellan, skipper), San Antonio (Juan
deCartagena), Concepcion (Gaspar deQuesada), Victoria (Luis
deMondoza), and Santiago (Juan Serrano) and a total of two-

hundred-sixty-four crew members.

- Magellan and his men then erected a wooden cross as testimony
to their "discovery" of and claim for the Spanish Crown the
Archipelago San Lazaro, named after this feast day of of Saint
Lazarus (March 16).
March 18, 1521 AD - Magellan, including his wife's cousin Duarte
Barbosa, cosmographer Andres de San Martin, and Pigafetta landed
on an uninhabited island known as Homonhon where friendly
natives from neighboring islands brought food and Atuba and
together they feasted for one day.
March 24, 1521 - Moving southeast, Magellan weighed anchor for
Masawa on Mindanaw Island where Masawa Rajah Kolambu was
entertaining his visiting brother, Rajah Siagu of Butuan; The two
Rajahs caused the first traditional blood compact of foreign visitors
in which the visiting dignitary would drink each other's blood mixed
with the native wine, Atuba.
- Mindanaw folklore mentioned a Pernao Magalhao to have founded
this Manobo-tribeland where Rajah Siagu
was already ruling chief; Magalhao may have also Atouched at Sulu
for we find Pigafetta describing the King of
Jolo.
April 06, 1521 - Magellan's ship-chaplain Pedro deValderrama
celebrated the first Roman Catholic mass on Philippine soil at
Masawa (some claims Limasawa in Leyte as the rightful place)
which fortunately fell on Easter Sunday of Jubilation.

- Masawa Rajah Kolambu piloted Magellan to Cebu island where

Cebu Rajah Humabon received them and
sealed yet another blood compact.
April 13,1521 - Cebu Rajah Humabon, his family, and 800
Sugboanons converted to Roman Catholicism before
Magellan and his party and immediately declared the "enemies of
the church" the growing Muslimin community on Mactan island
headed by Kaliph Pulaka (Lapu-Lapu to Filipinos).
April 27, 1521 - Magellan, with forty-eight men in full armor,
ploughed ashore Mactan island but were stopped by poisoned
arrows from men of Lapu-Lapu; The encounter is now known in
Philippine history as the Battle of Mactan.
June 9, 1522 - Juan Sebastian del Cano, navigating Magellan=s
only remaining vessel La Victoria with eighteen men and 533hundredweight-cloves on board, successfully returned to Sevilla in
Spain via the Tidorein Maluka (present-day Moluccas); Juan
Sebastian del Cano was assigned in world history as the first man to
have ever
completed the circumnavigation of the globe.

1523-1542 - Three other expeditions from Mexico attempted to

reach the Philippines via the route taken by Magellan (Barbosa, de
Loaisa, & de Saavedra) but never made it.
November 1, 1542 - Don Antonio de Mendoza, viceroy of Nueva
Espana (present-day Mexico), sent six ships from Navida Mexico
under Ruy Lopez deVillalobos that reached Sarangani islands in

1543 and named his "discovery" Las Islas Felipinas to honor the son
of King Charles of Spain, Felipe II.

1648; This war despoiled Portugal of all its East India possessions
and severely affected the tranquility of Moroland.

- deVillalobos sent for captain Bernardo delaTorre to survey the

coast of Kota Bato but died there and his crew were captured in
Sarangani by the Portuguese navy stationed in Maluka.

1569 - Brunei Sultan Saif ul-Raijal zealously campaigned for

Quranic reading excellence among his other subjects in Sarawak,
North Borneo, Palawan, and Sulu.

November 21, 1564 - Another Nueva Espana viceroy, Don Luis de

Velasco, commissioned 54-year-old Basque adelantado Miguel
Lopez deLegaspi, to subjugate Islas Felipinas after five unsuccessful
attempts.

- Future Brunei Sultan Muhammad Hasan, whose firstborn, Rajah

Bongsu Adapati of Sulu, became Sulu Sultan Mawallil Wasit, married
the sister of Sultan Saiful-Raijal [Kho].

1565-1663 Fourth Stage of Moro Wars (Majul)

February 1565 - Legaspi arrived in Samar island on his flagship
Capitana piloted by seasoned navigator-priest Andres Urdaneta who
was earlier with the 1525 expedition of Fray Garcia Jofre deLoaiza
[Crivelli].
April 1565 - Mooring southward to Bohol, Legaspi executed the
traditional blood compact with Bohol Rajah Sikatuna and Rajah
Sigala to show his sincerity of mission.
May 1565 - Legaspi effected the first Spanish settlement at Cebu
with the aid of the two Bohol Rajahs after a brief combat with
remnants of the Humabon-Lapulapu warriors that were later
incorporated into his mercenary forces.
1568-1648 - The Spanish-Dutch War that started as an internal
agitation within the Holy Roman Empire extended to the Far East for
the control of the spice trade ending in the Peace of Westphalia in

1570 - For lack of food supplies, Legaspi, who by now was

appointed governor-general of the new Spanish colony, moved his
seat to Capiz in Panay island; Hearing of good reports about May
Nilad, with its excellent seaport and fertile boondocks, Legaspi sent
for his grandson, Juan deSalcedo and forty-five able men to explore
the area, unfortunately, accomplished little because of fierce
resistance from forces loyal to Rajah Suleiman.
May 24, 1570 - Legaspi then sent marshall Martin Goiti, with
seven-hundred Sugbuano mercenaries and 130 Spanish officers, to
Lusong and stormed the May Nilad-fortress of Rajah Suleiman that
left the Brunei Raja Muda with a disarrayed town, a hundred
compatriots killed, and about eighty taken into captivity.
- Rajah Suleiman was at this time in Lusong to promote the Quranic
reading program of Brunei Sultan Raijal; Three
other fellow Brunei royalties were in May Nilad as his adjutants that
included Rajah Nicoy, Rajah Kanduli, and Rajah Lakandula, a direct
descendant of Alexander the Great, legend says.

May 1571 - Legaspi himself led another invasion with twenty-seven

vessels, two-hundred-eighty Spaniards and several hundred Visayan
mercenaries.
June 3, 1571 - Rajah Suleiman fought fiercely but succumbed to
the guns and cannons of Legaspi; Some three hundred warriors
loyal to the Brunei Raja Muda perished.
- According to Nichol, Rajah Suleiman fled this bloody encounter
and Brunei Annals confirmed a Raja Muda [no doubt Rajah
Suleiman] to have died on this day in Brunei Darussalam after
returning from a battle with the Spaniards.
June 24, 1571 - Legaspi founded May Nilad and ordered the Moro
captives to built a Spanish-style walled city he called "Intra-Moros"
along Ilog Pasig that became Spain=s first major structure in Asia.
August 21, 1572 - Legaspi died in this Intra-Moros walled-city
which is now known as Intramuros.
1574 - According to Medina Historia, a Brunei fleet of one-hundred
galleys and one-hundred Aparaws,@ manned by 8,000 warriors,
attacked May Nilad to requite Rajah Suleiman=s death but in time
left after an evidential Spanish reinforcement from Iloilo. [Nichol]
November 1574 - Chinese warlord Lin Tao Kien (Lim A-hong to
Filipinos) attacked May Nilad but was forced by Spanish navy to
retreat to Lingayen gulf where he finally settled and built his
outpost at Sual.
- Jolo folklore reported of a ALimahong who set sail by the Sulu Sea,

even weighing anchor at Tanjung, before this foiled attack on May

Nilad.
March11, 1576 - Juan deSalcedo successfully explored the island
of Lusong but died of fever at age twenty-seven.
1577 - Manila governor-general Francisco deSande sent a letter to
Brunei Sultan Saif ul-Raijal to stop sending Muslim missionaries to
southern Philippines.
- Brunei Annals reported of Manila Spaniards attacks on Brunei
Darussalam who loosely controlled it for three years to even out
Sultan Raijal's belligerent Islamic expansion to Sulu.
[www.aseanfocus.com]
H.R.H. Sultans Muhammed ul-Halim (Pangiran Budiman)
(1558-1585)
June,1578 - deSande dispatched captain Esteban Rodriguez de
Figueroa, together with Jesuit priest Juan del Campo and Coadjutor
Gaspar Gomez, to Jolo and, for the first time a European soul set
foot on Sulus immortal soil; The visit was not long as a compromise
negotiation was reached between deFigueroas invaders and the
Tausug leaders that forced the Sulu Sultan-de-facto Mohammed ulHalim Pangiran Buddiman to pay Sulu Sea pearls as regular tribute.
1579 - Because of this successful trip, Manila Spanish government
gave deFigueroa the sole right to colonize
Mindanaw; another captain Juan Arce deSadornil conducted a brief
but disastrous campaign against the Moros of North Borneo and
Sulu.

men
December 1579 - Sir Francis Drake, tracing Magellan=s circumnavigational route westward, was careened on some islands north
of Celebes Sea that cartographers believed were the Sulu
archipelago group.
H.R.H. Sultan Batara Shah Tangah (Pangiran Tindig) (15851600)
1593 - The first permanent Catholic mission in the Moroland was
established by the Jesuits in Samboangan (Sama
word for Sabuan, Adocking point) at Caldera bay (present-day
Recodo).
1596 - Manila Spaniards made another war expedition to Jolo but
was quashed by Rajah Bongsu, Adapati of Sulu (son of Brunei Sultan
Muhammad Hassan from his Butuan wife). [Kho]
November 1596 - Manila Spanish government sent Juan Ronquillo
to build fortified military garrison in Tampakan to thwart Moro raids
but abandoned it the following year in order to reposition itself to
Caldera bay in Zamboanga Peninsula.
1598 - Another war expedition trial was dispatched to Jolo,
however, the Manila Spaniards experienced severe
drawback and returned to Manila leaving nothing to show for the
visit.

- Panglima Abdullah of Talipao led an adventurous journey in

seventy paraws that combed the southwestern coasts
from Balanguingue in Tawi-Tawi to Samboangan; Abdulla likewise
attacked Christian Iloilo and burned and ransacked it.
December 31,1600 - Queen Elizabeth I of England granted the
British East India Company trading privileges in Asia by virtue of
Charter signed today; In 1609, King James I decreed to grant
perpetuity to the Charter and, in 1688, King Charles II further
granted sovereign right privileges that made repercussions in the
1878 Lease Agreement between the British East India Company and
Sulu Sultan Kiram I.
1612 - Rajah Bongsu was installed sultan-de-facto of Sulu and
named himself Sultan Mawallil Wasit; He appointed
Brunei Datu Acheh as his aide-de-camp because of his skills in
helping unite the Sulu leaders. [Kho]
1627 - Datu Acheh, on official business in May Nilad for the
Sultanate, was intercepted by Manila Spaniards on his
way home; In retaliation, Sultan Wasit led 2,000 Tausug warriors in
raiding Spanish shipyards in Camarines south of May Nilad. [Ang
mga Pilipino]

H.R.H. Sultan Mawallil Wasit (Rajah Bongsu) (1600-1640)

1628 - The Manila Spaniards returned the attack by organizing a

raiding force of 200 Spanish officers and 1,600
Christian natives.

1600 - Spanish captain Juan Gallinato raided Jolo with two-hundred

1629 - The Sultanate of Sulu sent anew another expedition under

Datu Acheh to attack Spanish settlements in

Camarines, Samar, Leyte and Bohol.
March 17, 1630 - Spanish soldiers again attacked Jolo with 2,500
troops that saw the wounding of their commander Lorenzo de Olaso
and retreated.
1631 - The Sulu warriors launched still another invasion, this time,
targeted only on the Island of Leyte- the seat of
Spanish power in the Visayas.
1632 - Maguindanaw Sultan Kudarat married the daughter of Sulu
Sultan Wasit that cemented a stronger Two-Sultanate-Alliance.
1634 - The Two-Sultanate-Alliance mobilized a 1,500-warriorcontingent and attacked Spanish-controlled settlements in Dapitan,
Leyte and Bohol.
January 1635 - A Sulu Sultanate's captive named Fray Juan Batista
Vilancio escaped Jolo and surfaced before Manila governor-general
Don Juan Cerezo Salamanca who reported of a Moro power
concentration in the Zamboanga peninsula by forces of the two
Sultanates.
Aprill 6,1635 - Spanish captain Juan de Chaves was ordered to
beachhead the south and established a military garrison in
Samboangan, he named Bagumbayan, and became the forerunner
of Ciudad de Zamboanga; This garrison in Samboangan led to the
beginning of the defeat of Kudarats feared admiral, Datu Tagal,
who had raided several pueblos in the Visayas.

June 23, 1635 - Salamanca next ordered a Jesuit-engineer-priest

Melchor de Vera to lay a cornerstone for the construction of Real
Fuerza de San Jose in Bagumbayan (present-day Fort Pilar).
- After finishing his contract and on returning to Spain, he brought
with him the impounded Coat-of-Arms of The Royal Sultanate of
Sulu.
1636 - Datu Tagal, a brother of Kudarat, gathered a large fleet of
Moro pirates from Mindanaw, Sulu, and North
Borneo and looted the coastal islands of the Visayas.
1637 - Manila governor-general Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera
personally led an expedition against Kudarat and Tagal and
triumphed over his forces at Lamitan and Lian.
January 4,1638 - deCorcuera again led a war expedition of eighty
ships and 2,000 Spaniards to Jolo but was foiled by Sultan Wasit;
however, due to an epidemic within his Acotta@ he and his datus
were forced to seek refuge in Dungun Tawi-Tawi and the Spaniards
freely occupied Jolo but again left in 1646 after a treaty of peace
was signed between Malacanan and Sultan Nasir ud-Din. [Ang mga
Pilipino sa Ating Kasaysayan]
1638-1640 - Records had it that Sulu Sultan Wasit=s many heroic
battles during this period at Bud Datu in Jolo island against the
Manila Spaniards were never lucidly recorded; It was Wasit who
named this hill to honor the bravery and unconditional loyalty of his
datus.
H.R.H. Sultan Nasir ud-Din (1640-1658)

1640 - In Pulangi Valley in Kota Bato, the lower valley (Si Ilud)
controlled by Sultan Kudarat and the upper valley (Si Raya)
controlled by Rajah Buhayen together with the turf of Rajah Buhisan
around Lake Lanao (the Ranao Sultanates confederation) were
merged to form the Sultanate of Maguindanaw
March 25,1644 - Sulu Sultan Wasit dispatched his son Pangiran
Salikula to bombard Jolo and Real Fuerza de San Jose in
Bagumbayan with help from Dutch navy stationed in Batavia
(present-day Indonesia) that droved deCorcuera
1645 - Wasits persistent raids wiped out the whole Spanish
garrison in Jolo
April 14,1646 - The Manila Spanish government signed a peace
treaty with Sulu Sultan-de-facto Nasir ud-Din recognizing, among
others, his sovereign rights to extend up to the Tawi-Tawi Group as
far as Tup-Tup and Balabac islands.
- A second batch of Jesuit priests were sent to Jolo during this period
and start the permanent rooting of Roman Catholicism in Sulu [Sulu
Zone, Kho]
1648 - The Treaty of Munster was signed between Spain and
Netherlands to respect each other=s territories; Spain to
withdraw from Maluka and the Dutch from the Zamboanga
Peninsula [Sulu Zone, Kho]

- Under the direct command of Sultan Nasir the Spanish garrison in

Jolo was finally exterminated

H.R.H. Sultan Salah ud-Din (Karamat Baktiar) (1658-1663)

June 1658 - Brunei Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin awarded Sulu
Sultan-de-facto Salah ud-Din Bakhtiar the northeast coast of
Borneo, including Palawan, for helping settle a civil war dispute
against Pengeran Bongsu Muhyuddin
May 6,1662 - According to records, Manila governor-general
Sabiniano Manrique de Lara issued an evacuation order for Real
Fuerza de San Jose in Bagumbayan and called all troops to reinforce
May Nilad for an imminent attack by Chinese pirate Cheng Ch=engkung (Koxinga), but the truth of the matter was they were driven
away by Sulu warriors during these previous years and allowing the
forces of Kudarat to sequester it in 1663
- Friction between the ruling royalties of Brunei and Sulu led
Camucones Badjaos to shift their loyalty to the Sultan of Sulu [Kho]
H.R.H. Sultans Sahab ud-Din & Mustafa Shafi ud-Din (16631704)
1663-1718 - According to historian C.A. Majul, this is a Period of
Interrregnum in which Manila Spanish government abandoned all its
settlement and pretensions in Mindanao and Sulu
1667 - Jesuit historian Francisco Combe wrote the first History of
Mindanaw and Sulu covering the period from 1620 to1665
1673-1690 - The reign of Brunei Sultan Pengeran Bongsu
Muhyuddin saw his hegemony breaking down that eventually

phased out his Sultanates 150-year control of the Sulu and return
royal powers back to the Sulu sultans
1699 - Melaka Sultan Mahmoud Shah was murdered in Kampar
Sumatra ending the colorful Melaka Malay Sultanate
1701 - Sulu Sultan Mustafa Shaif ud-Din departed for a courtesy
call to the new Sultanate of Maguindanaw in
sixty-eight paraws, but unfortunately, guardsman Kutai
misinterpreted it as an invasion who forced closed the Rio Grande in
Kota Bato and embarrassed the Sulu royalties; A long and fierceful
fight ensued.
1703 - Sulu Sultan Shaif bestowed Palawan upon Mindanaw Sultan
Kudarat but which same piece of land was ceded anew to the
Manila Spanish government in 1705
H.R.H. Sultan Badar ud-Din I (1704-1734)
1717 - Sulu Sultan Badar ud-Din sent an emissary to Imperial China
to enlist her support for military assistance; A
similar request was duplicated in 1733
1718-1772 Fifth Stage of Moro Wars (Majul)
1718 - Moro wars were resized when Manila governor-general Juan
Antonio dela Torre Bustamante resolved to
reconstruct Real Fuerza de San Jose in Bagumbayan, and added to
each corner sides citadels embossing the names of Catholic saints
San Luis, San Francisco Xavier, San Felipe, and San Fernando

- The fort was renamed Real Fuerza del Pilar deZaragosa

perpetuating the name of the Manila-Acapulco galleon ship that
sunk off Guam early that year and also renamed Bagumbayan to
Ciudad deZamboanga
1719 - Manila Spanish government dispatched a group of
AChavacano-speaking@ Merdicans to Ciudad
deZamboanga (The Merdicans originally were brought in from
Ternate and Tidore in the Celebes in 1663)
April 16,1719 - Don Fernando Bustillos Bustamante Rueda, senior
maestro de campo in Ciudad deZamboanga, inaugurated Real
Fuerza del Pilar de Zaragosa (better known as Fort Pilar to Jolo
Christians and Moslems alike)
December 08, 1720 - Fort Pilar was stormed by Butig Rajah Dalasi
with an armada of one hundred paraws; He captured a local Jesuit
priest and forced Manila Spanish government to give ransom
payment in exchange for his freedom
December 1720 - Sulu Sultan Badar directed Datu Bendahara and
Datu Nakhuda to Batavia to renew an appeal for Dutch military
assistance, and together with forces from the Sultanate of
Maguindanaw, attacked Fort Pilar but was foiled
1721 - Manila governor-general Toribio Cosio sent Fray Antonio de
Roxas to Ciudad deZamboanga to negotiate for the release of
kidnapped Jesuit priest
December 11,1726 - Sulu Sultan Badar signed with Manila
Spanish government another peace treaty which provisions were

unclear

permanent peace in the region;

1731 - By decree of a Ming emperor, the remaining 300 survivors of

Sulu East King Paduka Batara, now christened as Chinese Wen and
Ang families, were assimilated into mainstream Chinese society
that made perpetually alive a Tausug bloodline in that part of the
world

- King Philip V of Spain sent a delegation of Jesuit priests to Jolo to

spread Roman Catholicism; Sultan Alim ud-Din
befriended these haram which which displeased his brother
Bantilan, the Rajah Muda and seized powers from him

- Manila governor-general F. Valdez y Timon sent Ignacio Iriberri to

recapture Jolo with a regiment of 1,000-strong
Spanish soldiers
H.R.H. Sultan Nassar ud-Din (1734-1735)
December 6, 1734 - The 1726 peace treaty fell apart when the
new Sulu Sultan Nasar ud-Din attempted to recapture Fort Pilar in
Ciudad deZamboanga and to possess Taytay in Palawan.
1735 - Manila Spaniards struck back by invading Jolo that drove
Sultan Nasar=s court to Dungun in Tawi-Tawi for the second time.
H.R.H. Sultan Mohammad Alim ud-Din I (Amir ulMumimin/King Ferdinand I) (1735-1748)

- Sultan Alim I sought the help of Ciudad deZamboanga governor

Abando who in turn transferred him to the care of F. Valdez y Tamon
in Manila
- Plant scientist M. de Tremegon, under the dictates of M. Poivre of
the Isle of France, explored Jolo for spice plants.
H.R.H. Sultan Muiz ud-Din (Rajah Muda Bantilan) (17481763)
1748 - In the absence of Sultan Alim I, Rajah Muda Bantilan
ascended the throne and named himself Sultan Muiz
ud-Din and abrogated the 1737 peace treaty.
1749 - Meanwhile in Malacanang, now under governor-general
Arrechderra, exiled Sultan Alim I was made a Roman Catholic and
conferred the Christian title of King Ferdinand I of Sulu.

1735 - Sulu Annals remembered Sultan Alim I as one who had

revised the Sulu Code of Laws and prepared a
Tausug-Arabic vocabulary manual for use by his Court=s religious
imams and aleems.

- To cast away the shame put upon the Sulu Sultanate, Sultan Alim
Is daughter Fatima sought for his release in exchange for sixty
Spaniards held prisoners in Jolo.

February 1, 1737 - Sultan Alim I signed a bilateral alliance treaty

with Manila governor-general F. Valdez y Tamon that provided for

1750 - Sultan Muiz led roaring raids against the Spanish

settlements in the whole of Visayas [Ang mga Pilipino].

- Brunei Sultan Omar Ali Saif ud-Dein similarly ordered attacks on

Manila.
April 29,1750 - After being reinstated as Sultan by Malacanang, he
was arrested on his way back to Jolo under the orders of governorgeneal Zacarias.
July 12,1751 - Sultan Alim ud-Din was returned to the care of the
Zamboanga governor after fifteen years of exile in
Fort Santiago.

Simeon Valdez and Pedro Gastambide was sent to Jolo to avenge for
the raids carried out by self-proclaimed Sultan Muiz ud-Din.
1761 - Alexander Dalrymple, Madras representative of the British
East India Company, concluded an agreement with self-proclaimed
Sultan Muiz ud-Din that permitted him to set up a trading post in
Balembangan island in Kudat North Borneo, a territory of the
Sultanate of Sulu
H.R.H. Sultan Alim ud-Din (Amir ul-Mumimin) (1763-1773,
2nd Ascension)

December 21,1751 - A furious Manila governor-general F. Valdez y

Tamon issued a decree that ordered: (1) The extermination of all
Moros with fire and sword; (2) The destruction of all their crops and
desolate their lands; (3) Make Moro captives; (4) Recover Christian
slaves; and (5) Exempt all Christians from payment of any taxes
and tributes while engaged in the termination of these Moros.

1763 - Dalrymple maliciously renamed Balembangan island and

hoisted the British flag to the ire of Sultan Muiz ud-Din

1754 - Three Jesuit priests led by Fray Jose Ducos engaged

themselves in an evangelistic mission to Jolo and established a
Catholic congregation.

- British soldiers invaded and successfully captured May Nilad

- For the first time Ajihad was exercised by the Sultan of Mindanaw
upon the Maestro de Campo of Real Fuerza del Pilar de Zaragosa in
Zamboanga for seizing his goods without due notice.

- Madras British East India Company sent another officer, John

Herbert, to build a settlement in Balembangan but
which plan was abandoned in 1775

- The British restored an exiled Sulu Sultan Alim ud-Din I to his

throne in Jolo

March 3,1754 - The Manila Spanish government signed another

peace treaty with Sultan Muiz ud-Din.

- As gesture of gratitude, Sulu Sultan Alim ud-Din I leased his

dominion in North Borneo to a British company for
exclusive trading privileges and signed a mutual defense pact with
the British Crown that included the establishment of a military base
in Sulu

1755 - A Manila Spanish contingent of 1,900 men led by captains

1769 - Sultan Alim ud-Din I ordered the continuous foraging of

Visayas and Luzon, even raiding Malate, just outside of Spanish

Intramuros, and carried off thousands of captives to be sold in the
slave markets of Batavia, Malaka, and Tamasek

abandoned it in November 1805

1771 - Sultan Alim ud-Din declared a jihad against the Manila

Spaniards for having unlawfully detained him on his
way home from May Nilad at Real Fuerza del Pilar de Zaragosa in
Zamboanga

H.R.H. Sultans Ali ud-Din & Shakir ul-Lah (1808-1823)

1805 - The British government withdrew her military base in Sulu

1821 - ALas Islas Felipinas@ was now directly administered from

Madrid after Mexico won her independence from Spain
H.R.H. Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I (1823-1844)

H.R.H. Sultan Isirail (1773-1778)

1775 - Datu Tating in twenty vessels with 4,000 pirates assaulted
the British military base in Sulu and carted away booty amounting
to US$1,000,000 including an enormous supply of war materials
H.R.H. Sultans Alim ud-Din II, Sarap ud-Din & Alim ud-Din III
(1778-1808)

1824 - Spanish captain Alonso Morgado commanded frigate

AMarina Sutil@ that fought the Moro pirates in the Sulu Sea
- The Manila Spanish treasury decreed that all Islas Felipinas
provinces, excepting Mindanaw and Sulu, be required to pay
ADonativo deZamboanga, an annual tax-payment of one ganta of
rice or one half real
1831 - Ciudad de Zamboanga was declared a free port

1796 - Spanish admiral Jose Alava was sent from Madrid with the
most powerful naval fleet to combat Moro piratical attacks in the
Sulu Sea
1798 - Real Fuerza del Pilar de Zaragosa in Ciudad deZamboanga
was bombarded by the British navy coming from its military base in
Sulu
1803 - Lord Arthur Wellesley, governor-general of India, ordered
Robert J. Fraquhar to turn Balembangan island in
Borneo into a military station, however, for lack of logistics,

1836 - American trader G.W. Earl sailed to Jolo to barter guns,

powder, and rifles in exchange for Sulus tortoise shells and
Palawans birds nests
February 5,1842 - American captain Charles Wilkes landed in Jolo
and signed the first-ever US-documented peace & trade treaty with
Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I
April 23,1843 - France signed a AMost-Favored Nation@ treaty
with Sultan Jaml ul-Kiram I including negotiating to buy Basilan

island for its commercial and naval base, however, the US$1Million
asking price left the deal invalidate [Orosa, Kho]
H.R.H. Sultan Mohammad Pulalun (1844-1862)
1844 - Manila governor-general Narciso Claveria led another war
expedition to Jolo
October1844 - Macao-based French admiral Cecille attempted to
double-cross Sultan Pulalun and sent for captain Guerin on a frigate
Sabine to reconnaissance Basilan. In their clumsiness, ensign
Meynard and four other sailors were captured by the Yakans
including one fatally killed. Embarrased, the French blockaded
Basilan and blamed Datu Usak for depredations made against them
January 13, 1845 - Datu Usuk declared Atotal independence viz-aviz Spain
Februrary 20,1845 - Sulu Sultan Pulalun ceded Basilan to France
in exchange for 500,000 francs which was payable in September
but the French navy under Cecille instead took it by force and
attacked Basilan on February 27 and destroyed all its croplands that
angered the Yakans.
June 30,1845 - The French cabinet approved the annexation of
Basilan but was reversed by King Phillipe in deference of Spain
whose House of Bourbons/Orleans his wife is a part of.
December 1, 1845 - English traveler William Edwards narrated in
his Diary of Ahis tongue cut out of (my) mouth on my passage
home from the coast of China, to Liverpool by Ilanun pirates who

gathered slaves and sold them in Sumatra and Java

Balani pirates, who were based in Jolo, attacked Spanish vessels
using 60-seater-corocoro fitted with outriggers and powered by
either sail or oar with displacements of 81 tones.
1846 - By winning the 1844 battle, the Sultan prized the Manila
Spaniards the towns of Sibuguey and Bisungan in the Zamboanga
Peninsula
1848 - Claveria ordered the attack on Balanni pirates in Tonguil
Sulu with powerful gunboats Magallanes, El Cano, and Reina de
Castilla acquired from Madrid and started the decline of the Sulu
Sultanate sea power
November 21,1849 - Claveria issued CATALOGO ALFABETICO DE
APELLIDOS and ordered its use and systematic distribution by
native Filipinos throughout the colony but was never introduced to
subjects of Sulu Sultanate
1850 - Spanish Gov.Gen. Juan Urbiztondo successfully completed
the destruction of the pirate stronghold on Tongkil island
February 28, 1851 - Urbiztondo raided Jolo and destroyed the
whole town by fire and confiscated 112 pieces of artillery
- Jesuits fathers Ibanez, Zamora, Sanchez, Lopez, and Montiel lost
their lives during this fiery raid
April 19, 1851 - Sultan Mohammad Pulalun signed a treaty with
the Spanish Crown that provided for the turning over of his

sovereign rights although Saleeby noted that the words Aturning

over its sovereignty was never mentioned in the Tausug version of
the treaty

H.R.H. Sultan Jamal ul-Alam (1863-1881)

April 30, 1851 - As a consequence of the April 19, 1851 Treaty,

Sultan Pulalun negotiated with Urbiztondo forSpain to pay US$1,500
annually to the Court of the Sulu Sultanate and abolish all sorts of
taxes & tributes on his subjects

1864 - A German sea captain employed by the Labuan German

Trading Company named Herman Leopold Schuck
called on the port of Jolo for provisions and to repair sails of his
barque, the Queen of the Seas; made a courtesy call on Sulu Sultan
Jamal ul-Alam and promised to supply M-71 Mauser infantry rifles,
opium, and slaves.

- In Manila, fray Roman Martines Vigil justified the Spanish raids in

Jolo as Ajust wars@ which position he was able to raise 20 Millionpesos from Chinese capitalists to further these wars
1852 - Spanish Queen Isabella II ordered the Jesuits to take charge
of all Catholic missions in Mindanaw and Sulu
1858 - Moro pirates attacked Real Fuerza del Pilar de Zaragosa in
Zamboanga in the hope of possessing the fort
1860 - The Donativo deZamboanga was abolished
- Manila Spanish government closed Jolo to foreign vessels and
guarded its port with eighteen steam boats in an attempt to control
piracy in Sulu.

1865 - North Borneo American consul Claude Lee Moses obtained a

10-year-lease on North Borneo from Sultan
Jamal ul-Alam, however, Moses sold his rights to a British-registered
American Trading Company owned by J.W. Torrey, T.B. Harris, et. al.
This American company in turn sold the same to the Austrian consul
in Hongkong, Baron von Overbeck, for whom he contracted the
Dent Brothers, through Alfred Dent, to finance its expansion plans.
1872 - Schuck sent a letter of Sultan Jamal ul-Alam to German
chancellor Otto von Bismarch, together with gifts of
pearls and pearl shells, seeking Germanys protection. In exchange,
the Sultanate was willing to cede Bongao to Germany as a coaling
station for her Far East Imperial Fleet.

- Balanni and Ilanun pirates were destroyed by a joint SpanishBritish naval forces patrolling the Sulu-China-Celebes Seas triangle

- Cabesang Benito with sixty-seven other inmates bolted Fort Pilar

in Ciudad deZamboanga killing one Spanish officer and four
sentinels that frustrated Zamboanga governor Juan Mas Ozaeta.

1862 - Gallant Catholic Jesuits opened missions in Tetuan

(Zamboanga) and Isabela (Basilan) to supplement Spanish
conquests with military might

- Iranun corsair Alejo Alvarez of Sibuguey, together with Spanish

colonel Melanio Enriquez, were engaged by governor Ozaeta to
clear Fort Pilar

on January 22, 1878

- Manila Spanish government awarded Ciudad de Zamboanga the
royal title of ALeal y Valiente Villa@ for clearing Fort Pilar and made
a son of Alejo Alvarez, Vicente, a deputy in Malacanang.
- Vicente Alvarez subsequently became a peace negotiator for
Malacanang with the Sulu Sultanate in whose ability Sultan Jamal
ul-Alam was also please and bestoed in him the title of Datu
Tumanggung; Alvarez later joined the army of Philippine
Insurrection leader Emilio Aguinaldo and became a general.
January 1, 1874 - The Charter of the British East India Company
was canceled and the company dissolved when the East India Stock
Dividend Redemption Act came into effect.
Februayr 21, 1876 - Admiral Jose Malcampo led a contingent of
9,000 Spaniards, including hundreds of priests and nuns, in 11
transports, 11 gunboats, and 11 steam boats to Aannex@ Jolo but
failed this mission when Sultan Jamal ul-Alam declared a jihad on
them and ordered his loyal subjects to use Aparrang sabbil@as a
last recourse to regain control of Jolo.
- Successful in temporarily penetrating Jolo, Malcampo then
appointed Capt. Pascual Cervera to set up a garrison and serve as
the first Spanish military governor; He served from March 1876 to
December1876 followed by Brig.Gen. Jose Paulin (December 1876April 1877) and Col Carlos Martinez (Sept 1877-Feb 1880).
1877 - Brunei Annals recorded Sultan Abdul Momin to have signed
a treaty leasing North Borneo to the British Crown which was
inconsistent with Sulu history that a similar act was also concluded

March.1877 - The Sulu Protocol was signed between Spain,

England, and Germany that recognized Spain=s rights over Sulu
and, in consideration for the said lease of North Borneo, ended
European hostilities in the area
1878 - Manila Spaniards built the Walled City of Jolo which was
fortified by two outer forts they named Picesa de
Asturias and Torre dela Reina including three inner forts called
Puerta Blockaus, Puerta Espana, and Puerta Alfonso XII; Also
included were lancerias which were guarded by twelve Spanish
soldiers commanded by a lieutenant
January 22,1878 - In exchange for US$5,000, Sultan Jamal ul-Alam
leased North Borneo to the Hong Kong-based British trading
company of Baron Gustavos von Overbeck and Alfred Dent and
conferred upon Overbeck the title Datu Bendahara, Raja of
Sandakan [K.B. Tregoning, A History of Modern Sabah/Agoncillo
history of the Filipino People]

July 22, 1878 - Sultan Jamal ul-Alam signed a treaty with the
Spanish Crown making whole of Sulu a protectorate of Spain yet
retained her autonomy and the privilege to fly own flag thus saved
Jolo from further destruction. [Majul Muslim in the Philipppines/Kho]
- Sultan Jamal ul-Alam moved the seat of the Sultanate to Darul
Maimbung
1880 - Spanish Col. Rafael Gonzales deRivera assumed the

governorship of Jolo and dispatched the 6th Regiment to Siasi and

Bongao islands
H.R.H. Sultan Badar ud-Din II (1881-1886)

juramentado who succeeded in penetrating Jolo town plaza and

massacred Lts. Pedro Bordas and Caledonio Manrique, and Dr. Juan
Dominguez in the name of Allah; The word Ajuramentado was
coined by Spanish colonel Juan Arolas after witnessing several such
acts while serving duty in Jolo garrison.

1881 - An accomplished negotiator, pacifist, and master of Arabic

language and the Koran, Hajji Butu Abdulbaqui
Rasul was appointed the first and only prime minister of the Royal
Sultanate of Sulu

1884 - Sultan Badar ud-Din II built Masjid Jammi Tulay Mosque in

Jolo.

November 1, 1881 - The British Crown awarded Alfred Dent a

provisional Charter to form the British North Borneo Provisional
Association, Ltd.

1886 - The Crown of the Sultanate was disputed between Rajah

Muda Amir ul-Kiram of Maimbung and Datu Ali
ud-Din of Patikul but the Spanish Manila government involved
herself in the power struggle and chose Palawan Datu Harun alRashid as its candidate.

- Brunei Sultan Abdul Momin awarded Sarawak to an English

adventurer named Sir Charles Brooke who later became known as
the White Rajah

H.R.H. Sultan Harun al-Rashid (1886-1893)

1882 - The holdings, assets, and Royal Charter of the BNB

Provisional Association, Ltd. were bequeathed and
transferred to the British North Borneo Chartered Company with Sir
Rutherford Alcock serving as first president and Alfred Dent as
managing director; BNBCC served the British Crown for sixty years
until 1945 when the latter finally took over
1883 - Manila Spanish government established a customs house in
Ciudad de Zamboanga to clear goods coming into the Sultanate of
Sulu but, on the insistence of the British, Jolo was declared a free
port and trade continued
July 22, 1883 - Sulu Annals reported three unnamed A

September 24, 1886 - Datu Harun al-Rashid was crowned Sultan

of Sulu by the Manila governor-general Juan Terrero in a Christian
investiture in Malacanang
1887 - Terrero paid a courtesy call on Sulu Sultan al-Rashid in Jolo
April 16, 1887 - Immediately after said visit, spanish colonel Juan
Arolas was instructed to capture Darul Maimbung, seat of the Sulu
Sultanate, for the Spanish Crown
1888 - Brunei Sultan brought the rump of his territories under the
British Crown; North Borneo became a British
Protectorate; Brunei became a British protected state.

H.R.H. Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I (Amir ul-Kiram/King Jubilado

dePalawan) (1893-1936)

assistant secretary Theodore Roosevelt to proceed to Manila

1893 - Sultan Harun al-Rashid abdicated his throne to cousin Rajah

Muda Amir ul -Kiram for his failure to save Darul Maimbung that
placed the Manila Spanish government plans in shambles

April 22, 1898 - U.S. president William McKinley signed the

Volunteer Army Act that activated the First Volunteer Cavalry (the
Rough Riders), and appointed Theodore Roosevelt, a lieutenantcolonel, its first commander

- Rajah Muda Amir ul-Kiram transferred the seat of the Sultanate to

Palawan and briefly named himself King Jubilado de Palawan (he
was to be known later as Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I)

April 23, 1898 - Manila governor-general Basilio Augustin y Davila

issued a proclamation announcing the defeat of Spain in the Battle
of San Juan and the approach of commodore Dewey from Hongkong

- Fray Jose Cavelleria sailed round the island of Basilan whose

revered ruler was King Taguima, a cousin of
Mindanaw Sultan Kudarat

May 1, 1898 - Dewey secured Manila after the defeat of Spanish

Admiral Patricio Montojo y Parasan at the Battle of Manila Bay; This
feat led the U.S. Congress to promote Dewey to Rear Admiral on
May 10, 1898 and again to Navy Admiral on March 13, 1899

December 30, 1896 - La Liga Filipina founder Dr. Jose P. Rizal was
executed by the Spaniards at Bagumbayan in Manila
September 21, 1897 - Around 1:17pm an earthquake hit the Sulu
Sea about the area of Zamboanga and Basilan that was as
destructive as the Krakatoa quake
- During its final calm, a woman in white clothes with hands lifted
up, was allegedly seen by thousands of spectators in Ciudad de
Zamboanga by the Basilan Strait as if to order the impendent
Atsunami@ to halt; This action, according to legend, saved Ciudad
de Zamboanga from full-size destruction and made this lady a
revered saint of Fort Pilar
February 25, 1898 - Commodore George Dewey, commander of
the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, received a secret cable from Navy

June 12, 1898 - Filipino Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine

independence from Spain in Kawit Cavite with U.S. army artillery
commander Col. L.M. Johnson as the only American official to
witness the occasion.
June 23, 1898 - Aguinaldo declared a Revolutionary Congress in
Malolos Bulacan
June 30, 1898 - Arrival in Cavite of the first installment of 2,500
U.S. Volunteer Cavalry troops under Gen. Thomas M. Anderson that
included the 14th infantry, 1st California, and 2nd Oregon; Also with
the troops were military hardware of 400-ton-ammunition for
Dewey=s three ships (City of Peking, City of Sydney, and Australia)
July 25, 1898 - Arrival of Gen. Wesley Merritt to assume overall

command of the U.S. expeditionary forces in the

Philippines
August 14, 1898 - Occupation of Manila by U.S. forces under
Merritt
August 22, 1898 - Gen. Elwell Otis replaced Merritt as overall
commander of U.S. expeditionary forces in the Philippines
October 26, 1898 - U.S. president McKinley instructed the his
peace commission to annex the Philippine Islands after conferring
with Presbyterian advisers
November 21, 1898 - U.S. peace commissioners presented an
ultimatum to the Spanish Crown for the signing the Treaty of Paris
- During negotiations, U.S. State Secretary William R Day,
recommended a payment of $25million taking into account the
defeated adversary's bankruptcy and loss of colonial revenues . . . if
necessary was prepared to leave Mindanao and Sulu to Spain,
while Whitelaw Ried on the other hand, wanted to take all the
Philippines, basing his policy on the principle of indemnity. If
compromise becomes necessary, he proposed to leave Mindanao
and the Sulus to Spain in return for the Ladrones and the Carolines
(clear indicators that Sulu should have not been part of Spain's
ceased territories)

December 21, 1898 - McKinley issued a proclamation calling for a

Philippine colonial policy of benevolent assimilation
December 31, 1898 - McKinley instructed his War Department to
extend military governance to the entire Philippine Islands
Januart 4, 1899 - Otis issued a proclamation declaring the
Philippines Islands under the sovereign and complete control of the
United States of America
January 23, 1899 - Aguinaldo proclaimed the establishment of the
First Philippine Republic at Malolos Bulacan and declared himself
president
April 1899 - HRH Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I (may his soul rest in
peace), the last and truly sovereign-reigning sultan of The Royal
Sultanate of Sulu, died in his peace at his Astana Putih in Darul
Maimbung, Lupah Sug, Bangsamoro.

Political Organization

THE AMERICAN BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION

The history of Sulu begins with Makdum, a Muslim missionary, who

arrived in Sulu in 1380. He introduced the Islamic faith and settled
in Tubig Indangan, Simunul until his death. The mosque's pillars at
Tubig-Indangan which he built still stand.

December 10, 1898 - Treaty of Paris was signed in Washington DC

between the United States and Spain

In 1390 Raja Baguinda land-ed at Buansa and extended the

missionary work of Makdum. The Muslim Arabian scholar Abu Bakr
ar-rived in 1450, married Baguinda's daughter, and after Baguinda's

death, became sultan, thereby introducing the sultanate as a

political system.

Actual Mosque established by Sheik Makdum.

One of the pillars of the original mosque by Makdum, still stands at

present.

Political System
Before the founding of the sultanate of Sulu, the Tausug
were organized into various independent banwa (community),
similar to the Tagalog barangay. Under the sultanate, Sulu was
divided into districts administered by the panglima-a
commander of a body of troops. Each district was in turn subadministered by leaders variously called maharaja,
orangkaya, and paruka. The sultan represented the highest
civil and religious authority. He was assisted by the
rumabichara- the advisory state council, the members of
which included the datu raja muda (crown prince), datu
maharaja
adinda
(palace
commander),
datuladjalaut
(admiral), datu maharaja layla (commissioner of customs),
datuamirbahar (speaker of the rumabichara), datutumangong
(executive secretary), datujuhan (secretary of information),
datumulukbandarasa (secretary of commerce), datusawajaan
(secretary of
interior),
datubandahala
(secretary of
finance),mamaneho
(inspector
general),
datusakandal
(sultans personal envoy), datu nay (ordinance or weapon
commander), and wazil (prime minister). Except for the datu
raja muda, who had two votes, the other members of the
rumabichara each had one vote. The sultan exercised two
votes. The traditional rights of the sultan were: to execute his
legal functions; to appoint and regulate religious officials; to
administer land and people; to enter into treaties; to levy
taxes, tributes, and fees; and to manage the economy. In
religious matters, the sultan was advised by the qadilkadi; at
the district level, each panglima was assisted by the religious
ulama or pandita. Other religious leaders were the imam,

hatib, and bilal. The imam leads the prayers, the khatib gives
the khutbah (sermon) and the bilal calls the people to prayer.
During the Spanish colonial period, the Tausug,
sometimes in alliance with other Muslim groups of Mindanao,
resisted colonization and engaged in sporadic wars with the
Spanish military who sought to punish the Tausug for their
attacks on Christian towns of the Visayas and Luzon, and to
curb the power of the Sultanate. For centuries the Tausug
eluded subjugation until after 1848 when the Spanish
steamboats effectively ended Tausug naval power. By 1876,
Sulu was occupied and became a protectorate of Spain.
When the Americans invaded the archipelago, there was
a series of revolts against the imposition of American rule.
Bowing to superior American arms, the Tausug fell under
several administrative units: the Moro Province (1903-1913),
the Department of Mindanao (1915-1920), the Bureau of NonChristian Tribes (1920-1935), and finally the Commonwealth
of the Philippines (1935-1946).
Since 1946 and up to the present, Sulu province has
been administered by a governor, a vice-govemor, and
members of the Provincial Council or the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan. At the municipal level, there are the mayors,
vice-mayors, and Municipal Council or Sangguniang Bayan
members. Barrios elect their own leaders such as the
barangay captain and the barangay councilors. The traditional
political power of the sultan has been greatly reduced
although he still holds great social and religious influence. The
national legal system combines with their agama (religious)
courts, the existence of which depends on various laws and

rules. The sarakuraan (Quranic law) is based on the Quran;

the sara agama or legal corpus is maintained by the sultan in
his capacity as a religious leader. The distinction between
sarakuraan and sara agama is important. The saraadat
(custom law) is unwritten, based on customs and traditions,
and is administered by the local chieftain or community head.
It is indigenous and deals with offenses that include murder,
theft, debt repayment, and so forth. The Tausugsee their
world as reflecting unity in sara (law), agama (religion), and
adat (customs). Thus, the various types of rules and
prescriptions, divine or secular, are a means of social and
religious control.
Although centralized as a polity, political power within the
traditional sultanate operated primarily through networks
of interlocking leader-centered alliances. Person-to-person bonds of
friendship and patronage linked smaller alliances to larger ones in a
ramifying network that extended from community headmen and
local factional leaders to the sultan and his kindred at the apex of
the system.
Within the archipelago, the sultan's authority was strongest at the
geographical center of the state, on Jolo and neighboring high
islands, shading to symbolic hegemony at its outer peripheries.
Recognition of a leader's authority and his position in the alliance
hierarchy were expressed through ranked titles ( panglima ,
maharaja, orangkaya, parukka, etc.); part of the sultan's authority
derived from his powers of investiture and control over the title
system. At each level of the alliance network, leaders acted as
representatives of the law, performing legal functions, mediating
feuds, and imposing fines. They also offered their followers physical
protection and, from the sultan downward, were responsible for

administering religious law and for appointing local and regional

religious officials.
At the capital the sultan was advised by a state council ( ruma
bichara ) made up of religious advisers and leading datus, which,
in addition to its advisory role, reserved the right to determine
succession. Today traditional political values remain largely intact.
Minimal and medial alliances still operate, whereas maximal
alliances are now led by acculturated Tausug operating within the
setting of Philippine electoral politics. Sulu is divided into two
provinces, Sulu (Jolo) and Tawitawi. Jolo in turn is divided into eight
municipalities, each with elected officials: mayors, vicemayors, and
municipal councillors. Provincial officials include a governor, a
provincial board, and a national congressperson. Their powers
derive mainly from their ability to obtain government largesse and
to guarantee their followers legal immunity. Although the secular
power of the sultan is greatly diminished, he continues to preserve,
mainly through the agama (religious court), much of his traditional
religious function. Since the death of Sultan Jamal ul-Karim II, the
office has been represented by two lines of claimants.
Social Organization
Tausug society is hierarchically stratified and has been since at
least the founding of the Sulu sultanate. Three major rank
categories were formerly recognized: nobles, commoners, and
slaves. The nobility consisted of datu, men holding patrilineally
inherited titles who exercised regional power, and salip, religiously
revered men and women who claimed descent from the Prophet. As
in other Malay polities, those of datu status were internally
differentiated into what have been called "royal datus" and
"ordinary datus" (i.e., those directly related to the line of the ruling

sultan and others related only distantly or not at all). Commoners,

who comprised some 80 percent of the population, lacked ascribed
titles and ranking. The position of each category was defined by
law. Commoners and slaves were required to pay allegiance to a
particular datu, although they exercised some choice in the matter,
as individual datus were not assigned unambiguously bounded
territories. To a considerable degree wealth and power were
achieved independently of inherited titles, so that men of humble
origin often gained great influence and, in acknowledgment,
received bestowed titles and recognized positions of prominence in
the alliance hierarchy. This status system has thus been
characterized as one of "status-conscious egalitarianism."
Children are looked after by both parents and older siblings. A
newborn infant's hold on life is thought to be precarious; therefore,
children are commonly protected with amulets ( hampan ) and
temporarily secluded immediately after birth. At around 1 or 2
years of age, both boys and girls undergo a ritual haircutting and
immediately afterward are named. Most preadolescent children
attend Quranic school or study the Quran with a private tutor, and
when proficient they demonstrate their skills at recitation in a
public ceremony called pagtammat. This is typically a festive
occasion, its scale reflecting the family's status and economic
means. Boys are circumcised ( pagislam ) in their early teens; girls
undergo a similar rite ( pagsunnat ), but without ceremony and
attended only by females, when they reach the age of 5 or
6. Socialization emphasizes sensitivity to shame, respect for
authority, and family honor. Today children attend public schools,
but few attain more than a primary education. Only one in five who
begin school complete grade six.

Social Class System

Among the people of Sultanate of Sulu, the title of nobility could be
acquired only by lineage, a "closed system" whereby the titled
persons inherit their offices of powers and prestige.
There are two main social classes in Royal Sultanate of Sulu:

Datu (su-sultanun), which is acquired purely by lineage to

the sultanate. Whereas, all male members of the Royal House of
Sulu should hold this hereditary title and should hold the style:
His Royal Highness (HRH). Their spouse would automatically
hold the title of Dayang Dayang (princess of the first degree)

Adopted members of the Royal House of Sulu hold the style of

His Highness (HH) Whereas, their spouse would also hold the
title of Dayang Dayang (princess of the first degree) and
should hold the style: Her Highness according to traditional
customs of Sulu.

Datu Sadja, which may be acquired through confirming the

titles (gullal) on the middleman of the Sultan. The gullal is made
if a commoner has achieved outstanding feats or services in line
of duty through display of bravery, heroism, etc. Datu Sadja is
life title of nobility and the title holders should hold the style: His
Excellency. Whereas their spouses should hold the title
of Dayang and should hold the style: Her Excellency.

The commoners or Maharlika are those who do not trace their

descent from royalty. The Wakil Kesultan's, Panglimas, Parkasa's
and Laksaman's who are commoners hold responsible positions
involving administrative matters.

Wakil Kesultanan region representative outside Royal Sulu

Sultanate
Panglima region representative inside Royal Sulu Sultanate

Parkasa aide-de-camp of region representative inside Royal

Sulu Sultanate

Laksaman sub region representative inside Royal Sulu

Sultanate

The males who hold offices above shall be addressed by the title of
nobility Tuan (the title is directly attached to the office), followed by
the rank of the office they hold, their given name, surname and

region. The females who hold offices above shall be addressed by

the title of nobility Sitti (the title is directly attached to the office),
followed by the rank of the office they hold, their given name,
surname and region.

Social Control
The Tausug recognize three categories of law: pure Quranic law;
interpreted religious law ( sara ), codified by the sultan and other
Tausug officials; and customary law ( adat ), including offenses of
honor.

Conflict
Armed feuds are endemic. The pattern is chiefly one of individual
revenge. A widely ramifying feud may result in battles involving
more than 100 persons on each side. In the past, external warfare
took the form of piracy and coastal raiding, organized at the levels
of medial and maximal alliance, chiefly for slaves and booty. In the
nineteenth century, following the establishment of a precarious
Spanish military hegemony over Sulu, a pattern of ritual suicide
( sabbil ) developed as a form of personal jihad, or religious
martyrdom.

Kin Groups and Descent

The bilateral kindred ( usbawaris ) extending to second cousins is
the major kinship category. Lineal descent has no special functional
or ideological significance, and a hallmark of Tausug society is the

absence of enduring corporate groups of any kind. According to the

Tausug interpretation of the Shafimarriage law, children are filiated
with the father and his kindred ( usbaq ), but in other contexts,
aside from marriage and divorce, ties are acknowledged bilaterally
without distinction. Relations with kin are markedly dyadic; relatives
act as a group only during life crises, in times of sickness or special
need, or when family honor is at stake. Sibling solidarity is
especially intense. Bonds between brothers and first cousins are
particularly important in forging political allegiances and in
garnering support in times of armed conflict. In addition to kinship,
a variety of ritual-friendship relations is recognized. These include
sworn alliances between allies and ritual friendships between rivals,
or potential rivals, entered intooften at the instigation of regional
leadersto forestall open enmity or bring it to an end. Having many
friends is essential for success in armed feuds and litigation and for
safety in traveling outside one's home region.

negotiations precedes marriage, concluding with an agreement on

the amount of bride-wealth and other expenses to be paid by the
boy's family. In addition to arranged marriages, wives may be
obtained by elopement or abduction, both common alternatives.
Weddings are held in the groom's parents' house immediately upon
payment of bride-wealth and are officiated by an imam. Newly
married couples generally reside uxorilocally for the first year, or
until the birth of a child, after which they are free to join the
husband's family, remain with the wife's family, or, preferably, build
a new house of their own, typically close to the husband's natal
community. Independent residence is the eventual ideal. Relations
between husband and wife are characteristically close and
enduring. Divorce is permitted but is infrequent, occurring in less
than 10 percent of all marriages and, although polygyny is allowed,
few men take more than one wife.

Kinship Terminology

Domestic Unit

Terminology emphasizes generation, relative age, and lineality;

cousin terms are of the Eskimo type.

The Tausug household consists of either a nuclear family or a stem

family, the latter being comprised of parents, unmarried children,
plus a married child, spouse, and grandchildren. Fully extended
families are rare.

Marriage
Marriage is ideally arranged by parents. Contacts between the
sexes are restricted and marriageable women are kept in relative
seclusion to protect their value to their family as political and
economic assets. First and second cousins are favored spouses
(with the exception of the children of brothers). A series of

Inheritance
Land is usually divided between sons, with some preference given
to the eldest. Other property is generally inherited bilaterally.

Economy
Subsistence and Commercial Activities
Sustenance is based primarily on agriculture, fishing,
trade, and raising livestock such as cattle, chickens and
ducks. Tausug practice plow agriculture, growing dry rice on
permanently diked, non irrigated fields, using cattle or water
buffalo as draft animals. Rice is intercropped with corn,
cassava, and a small amount of millet, sorghum, and sesame.
There are three annual harvests: first, corn and other cereals;
second, rice; and third, cassava. The harvesting of cassava
continues until the following dry season. Farms are typically
fallowed every third year. Other crops, generally planted in
separate gardens, include peanuts, yams, eggplants, beans,
tomatoes, and onions. The principal cash crops are coconuts
(for copra), coffee, abaca, and fruit. Fruit, some of it wild, is an
important source of seasonal cash income and includes
mangoes, mangosteens, bananas, jackfruits, durians,
lanzones, and oranges. Today many coastal Tausug are
landless and make their living from fishing or petty trade.
Fishing, as either a full- or a part-time occupation, is carried
out in coastal waters, mainly using nets, hook-and-line, or
traps.
Industrial Arts
Most farm and household items are made of bamboo. Iron
implements are forged locally and the manufacture of bladed
weapons has historically been an important local craft.

Women produce pandanus mats and woven headcloths for

both home use and sale.

Pandanus Mats

Trade
From the founding of the Sulu sultanate until the midnineteenth century, the Tausug conducted an extensive trade
with China in pearls, birds' nests, trepang, camphor, and
sandalwood. Historically, considerable inter island trade has
also existed within the archipelago. Today copra and abaca
are sold primarily through Chinese wholesalers, while most
locally consumed products are handled by Tausug or Samal
traders. Smuggling between Sulu and nearby Malaysian ports
is an important economic activity to many with capital and
commercial connections and is a major source of local
differences in wealth and power.

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