Prior to the arrival of Hindus and Muslims, the city was a vast swamp and rainforest landscape where numerous ethno-linguistic groups lived. Maguindanao vernacular architecture developed during this era, which included the architectural techniques of at least 10 ethno-linguistic groups. Later on, Hindu traders arrived and the people of the area embraced the practice of
Hinduism. The set of moral standards and culture of present-day people of Maguindanao are seen due to this Hindu influence.
Sultanate of Maguindanao ; Cotabato City was once the capital of the province from 1920 to 1967. By 1515, after a successful Muslim establishment in Sulu, Muslim merchants went to Maguindanao and converted many Maguindanaoans to
Islam. Those that did not accept the arrival of the Muslims went into higher ground or the interior of the island and became the
Teduray, as well as other
lumad groups. During the same year, the
Sultanate of Maguindanao was formally established, with Tubok as its initial capital. However, the sultan's seat would eventually be transferred in 1711 at around Tamontaka, a barangay within modern-day Cotabato. In 1861, Spain would eventually establish a garrison in Maguindanao and establish Kuta Watu, which was eventually renamed as Cotabato, as its new capital.
Spanish and American occupation The
Spanish Empire had defeated the
Sulu Sultanate in war and forced it to sign an unfavorable peace treaty in 1851. With the
Moro Gulf and
Illana Bay now open to Spanish traffic as a result of their victory over the Sulu Moros, this paved the way for the first steps for the conquest of the
Maguindanao Sultanate several years later. To that end, Spanish
Jesuit missionaries have already made their way as early as 1859 at
Polloc where they earned several hundred converts, but the place was deemed unsuitable on account of its less than optimal ecology. And so the Spanish district governor of Mindanao based in
Zamboanga requested Datu Amirul, the father of present Sultan of Maguindanao Muhammad Makakua, for them to establish a military base at the stone fortress at Kota Wato in what is now Barangay Tamontaka, and Datu Amirul gave the consent. The Spanish then established themselves at the said fort, raising the Spanish flag there and renamed it Cotabato, the Hispanized form of its name, on April 30, 1861. The Spanish and the Moro chiefs and locals then had a conference later the same day which stipulated the Maguindanaoan locals of Cotabato are now subjects of the Spanish Crown but their Islamic beliefs would be respected. Thus, on April 30, 1861, in the flood plains of Tamontaka, the town of Cotabato was officially born. Under the reign of Sultan Muhammad Makakua, who while being the nominal sultan of Maguindanao was at this point under complete Spanish
vassalage, roads and wharves were built in Cotabato, specifically where the
Tamontaka River was situated. Forests were felled and cleared by the new Catholic
Tiruray converts of Tamontaka to make way for the expansion of the newly established town. In 1871, the capital of the Spanish military district of Mindanao was moved from Zamboanga to Cotabato, only to be moved back previously the next year when a destructive earthquake ravaged the town. Following the Spanish evacuation in Jan. 1899, Datu Piang led the Moro's in a massacre of the remaining Christian community, enslaving those they did not kill. Americans arrived in Mindanao in 1900 after the
Spanish–American War ended in 1898. Cotabato town was part of
Moro Province and of
Department of Mindanao and Sulu from 1903 to 1920, when the
Empire Province of Cotabato, referred to as "Moroland" by the Americans, was founded with the town as the capital, with
Datu Piang as its first governor. Under the said charter, the city was politically sibdivided into five (5) Barangays namely Poblacion, Rosary Heights, Bagua, Kalanganan, and Tamontaka. In 1989, the existing Barangays were split up which resulted into 32 more Barangays, presently the City has 37 Barangays. The city used to be part of the
original Province of Cotabato and was its capital from 1920 until 1967, a year after the separation of
South Cotabato; since then the city was the administrative center of the ARMM when
Maguindanao was carved out in 1973. On December 22, 1979, along with
Manila,
Quezon City,
Caloocan,
Pasay,
Batangas City,
Lipa,
Iloilo City, and other cities in the country, Cotabato became a highly urbanized city. However, the city broke off administratively from Maguindanao as it rejoined
Soccsksargen in the 1990s. Now many sources consider the city as part of the present
Cotabato province, although geographically it is still considered part of Maguindanao del Norte. The city became
de jure part of Bangsamoro following the plebiscite, as well as the government center of the new region. It became
official part of the region after its formal turnover to the Bangsamoro regional government on December 15, 2020. == Geography ==