Pre-establishment The present area of the Sultanate of Sulu was once under the influence of the
Bruneian Empire before it gained its own independence in 1578. The principality of
Maimbung, populated by Buranun people (or
Budanon, literally means "mountain-dwellers"), was first ruled by a certain rajah who assumed the title Rajah Sipad the Older. According to Majul, the origins of the title
rajah sipad originated from the Hindu
sri pada, which symbolises authority. The principality was instituted and governed using the system of rajahs. Sipad the Older was succeeded by Sipad the Younger. Some
Chams who migrated to Sulu were called Orang Dampuan. The
Champa civilization and the port-kingdom of Sulu engaged in commerce with each other which resulted in merchant Chams settling in Sulu, where they were known as Orang Dampuan in the 10th–13th centuries. In contrast to their cousins in the Butuan Rajahnate, who considered themselves diplomatic competitors of Champa for China trade, (under Butuan's Rajah Kiling); instead, Sulu freely traded with the Champa civilization. The Orang Dampuans from Champa however were eventually slaughtered by envious native Sulu Buranuns due to the wealth of the Orang Dampuan. The Buranun were then subjected to retaliatory slaughter by the Orang Dampuan. Harmonious commerce between Sulu and the Orang Dampuan was later restored. The
Yakans were descendants of the Taguima-based Orang Dampuan who came to Sulu from Champa. Sulu received civilization in its Indic form from the Orang Dampuan. During the reign of Sipad the Younger, a Sunni Sufi scholar and mystic named
Tuan Mashā′ikha arrived in Jolo in 1280 CE. Little is known to the origins and early biography of Tuan Mashā′ikha, except that he is a Muslim "who came from foreign lands" at the head of a fleet of Muslim traders, or he was issued from a
stalk of
bamboo and was considered a
prophet, thus well respected by the people. According to
tarsila, during the coming of Tuan Mashā′ikha, the people of Maimbung worshipped tombs and stones of any kind. After he preached Islam in the area, he married Sipad the Younger's daughter, Idda Indira Suga, who bore three children: Tuan Hakim, Tuan Pam and 'Aisha. Tuan Hakim, in turn, begot five children. From the genealogy of Tuan Mashā′ikha, another titular system of aristocracy called "tuanship" started in Sulu. Apart from the Idda Indira Suga, Tuan Mashā′ikha also married another "unidentified woman" and begot Moumin. Tuan Mashā′ikha died in 710
A.H. (equivalent to 1310 AD), and was buried in Bud Dato near Jolo, with an inscription of
Tuan Maqbālū. A descendant of the Sunni Sufi Shaykh Tuan Mashā′ikha named Tuan May also begot a son named
Datu Tka. The descendants of Tuan May did not assume the title of
tuan, but instead, used
datu. This was the first time
datu was used as a political institution. During the coming of Tuan Mashā′ikha, the Tagimaha people (literally means "the party of the people") from
Basilan and several places in
Mindanao, also arrived and settled in Buansa. After the Tagimaha came the Baklaya people, (which means "seashore dwellers"), who are believed to have originated from
Sulawesi, and settled in
Patikul. After these came the
Bajau people (or
Samal) from
Johor. The Bajau were driven towards Sulu by a heavy
monsoon, some of them to the shores of
Brunei and others to
Mindanao. The population of Buranun, Tagimaha, and Baklaya in Sulu created three parties with distinct systems of government and subjects. In the 1300s the Chinese annals,
Nanhai zhi, reported that Brunei invaded or administered the Philippine kingdoms of
Butuan, Sulu and
Ma-i (Mindoro), which did not regain their independence until later date. According to the
Nagarakretagama, the
Majapahit Empire under Emperor
Hayam Wuruk invaded Sulu in 1365. However in 1369, the Sulus rebelled and regained independence and in vengeance assaulted the Majapahit Empire and its province
Po-ni (Brunei), as well as the northeast coast of Borneo and thereafter went to the capital, looting it of treasure and gold. In the sacking of Brunei, the Sulus stole two sacred pearls from the Bruneian king. A fleet from the Majapahit capital succeeded in driving away the Sulus, but
Po-ni was left weaker after the attack. Since Chinese historiographies later recorded there to be a Maharaja of Sulu, it is assumed that the Majapahit did not take it back, and it was a rival to it. By 1390 CE,
Rajah Baguinda Ali, a prince of the
Pagaruyung Kingdom, arrived at Sulu and married into the local nobility. At least in 1417, when Sulu rivaled Majapahit according to Chinese annals, three kings (or monarchs) ruled three civilized kingdoms in the island. Patuka Pahala (Paduka Batara) ruled the eastern kingdom (Sulu Archipelago) -- he was the most powerful; the western kingdom was ruled by Mahalachi (Maharajah Kamal ud-Din), ruler of
Kalimantan in Indonesia; and the kingdom near the cave (or Cave King) was Paduka Patulapok from Palawan Island. The Bajau settlers were distributed among the three kingdoms. During this time, Sulu avenged itself for Majapahit Imperialism by encroaching upon the Majapahit Empire as the alliance of the three Sulu kings had territory that reached
East and
North Kalimantan, which were former Majapahit provinces. Moumin's descendants the son of Tuan Mashā′ikha populated Sulu. After some time, a certain Timway Orangkaya Su'il was mentioned by the second page of tarsila; he received four Bisaya slaves (people from the Kedatuan of Madja-as) from Manila (presumably Kingdom of Maynila) as a sign of friendship between the two countries. The descendants of Su'il also inherited the title Timway, which means "chief". On tarsila's third page, it accounts the fact that the slaves were the ancestors of the inhabitants in the island to Parang, Lati, Gi'tung, and Lu'uk respectively. The fourth page then narrates the coming of the Buranun (addressed in the
tarsila as "the Maimbung people"), Tagimaha, Baklaya, and finally the drifted Bajau immigrants from Johor. The condition of Sulu before the arrival of
Islam can be summarized as such: The island was inhabited by several cultures, and was reigned over by three independent kingdoms ruled by the Buranun, Tagimaha, and Baklaya peoples. Likewise, the socio-political systems of these kingdoms were characterized by several distinct institutions: rajahship, datuship, tuanship and timwayship. The arrival of Tuan Mashā′ikha afterwards established a core Islamic community in the island.
Islamization and establishment The Sulu Archipelago was an
entrepôt that attracted merchants from south China and various parts of Southeast Asia beginning in the 14th century. The name "Sulu" is attested in Chinese historical records as early as 1349, during the late
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), suggesting trade relations around this time. Trade continued into the early
Ming dynasty (1368–1644); envoys were sent in several missions to China to trade and
pay tribute to
the emperor. Sulu merchants often exchanged goods with
Chinese Muslims, and also traded with Muslims of
Arab,
Persian,
Malay, or
Indian descent. A yellow-colored flag was used in Sulu by the Chinese community. Around this time, a notable Arab judge,
Sunni Sufi and
religious scholar Karim ul-Makhdum from
Mecca arrived in Malacca. He preached Islam, particularly the Ash'ari Aqeeda and Shafi'i Madh'hab as well as the
Qadiriyya Tariqa, and many citizens, including the ruler of
Malacca, converted to Islam. Sulu leader
Paduka Pahala and his sons moved to China, where he died. Chinese Muslims brought up his sons in
Dezhou, where their descendants live and have the surnames An and Wen. In 1380 CE, Karim ul-Makhdum arrived in
Simunul island from Malacca, again with Arab traders. Apart from being a scholar, he operated as a trader; some see him as a Sufi missionary from Mecca. He preached Islam, and was accepted by the core Muslim community. He was the second person to preach Islam in the area, after Tuan Mashā′ikha. To facilitate conversion of nonbelievers, he established a mosque in Tubig-Indagan, Simunul, the first Islamic temple to be constructed in the area, or in the
Philippines. This later became known as the
Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque. He died in Sulu, although the exact location of his grave is unknown. In Buansa, he was known as Tuan Sharif Awliyā. The differing beliefs about his grave's location came about because the
Qadiri Shaykh Karim ul-Makhdum travelled to several islands in the
Sulu Sea to preach Islam. In many places in the archipelago, he was beloved. It is said that the people of
Tapul built a mosque honouring him and that they claim descent from Karim ul-Makhdum. The customs, beliefs and political laws of the people changed and adapted to adopt the Islamic tradition. Sulu abruptly stopped sending tributes to the Ming in 1424. A sultan of Brunei,
Sultan Bolkiah married a princess (
dayang-dayang) of Sulu, Puteri Laila Menchanai, and they became the grandparents of the Muslim prince of
Maynila,
Rajah Matanda. Manila was a Muslim city-state and vassal to Brunei before the Spanish colonized it and converted it from Islam to Christianity. Islamic Manila ended after the failed attack of
Tarik Sulayman, a Muslim
Kapampangan commander, in the failure of the
Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, when the formerly Muslim Manila nobility attempted a secret alliance with the Japanese shogunate and Bruneiean sultanate (together with her Manila and Sulu allies) to expel the Spaniards from the Philippines. Many Tausugs and other native Muslims of Sulu Sultanate already interacted with Kapampangan and Tagalog Muslims called
Luzones based in Brunei, and there were intermarriages between them. The Spanish had native allies against the former Muslims they conquered like Hindu Tondo which resisted Islam when Brunei invaded and established Manila as a Muslim city-state to supplant Hindu
Tondo.
Maritime power pirate. The Sulu sultanate became notorious for its so-called "Moro Raids" or acts of piracy on Spanish settlements in the Visayan areas in Northern Philippines and from coastal and river villages in North Borneo (Sabah), with the aim of capturing natives to be sold at slave markets in the Sulu Island (Jolo Island) and Tawi Tawi Island. Tausug pirates used boats known collectively by Europeans as
proas (predominantly the
lanong and
garay warships), which varied in design and were much lighter than the Spanish galleons and could easily out-sail these ships, and also often carried large swivel guns or
lantaka and also carried a crew of pirates from different ethnic groups throughout Sulu, such as the
Iranun,
Bajaus and Tausugs alike. By the 18th century, Sulu pirates had become virtual masters of the Sulu seas and the surrounding areas, wreaking havoc and conducting raids to kidnap natives living in Spanish and Brunei North Borneo settlements for the slave trade. This prompted the Spaniards to build a number of fortifications across the Visayan islands of Cebu and Bohol; churches were built on higher ground, and watchtowers were built along coastlines to warn of impending raids. The maritime supremacy of Sulu was not directly controlled by the sultan; independent
datus and warlords waged their own wars against the Spaniards and even with the
capture of Jolo on numerous occasions by the Spaniards, other settlements like
Maimbung,
Banguingui and
Tawi-Tawi were used as assembly areas and hideouts for pirates. The sultanate's control over the Sulu seas was at its height around the late 17th to early 18th centuries when Moro raids became very common for the Borneo natives, Visayans and Spaniards. In Sulu and in the Mindanao interior, the slave trade flourished and majority of the slaves that were being imported and exported were of Visayan ethnicity; the term
Bisaya eventually became synonymous to "slave" in these areas. Its maritime supremacy over the Spaniards, at the time, the Spaniards acquired steam-powered ships that began to curb Muslim piracy in the region, the Moro piratical raids began to decrease in number until Governor
Narciso Clavería launched the
Balanguingui expedition in 1848 to crush the pirate settlements there, effectively ending the Moro pirate raids. By the last quarter of the 19th century, Moro pirates had virtually disappeared and the maritime influence of the sultanate became dependent on the
Chinese junk trade. The piracy and slave trade was brought to an end by the Spanish who destroyed the Sulu Sultanate in 1878 with a formal surrender and capitulation of the Sultanate once and for all. Once the Americans arrived, further attempts at resurrection to their old piracy ways were put down swiftly.
Conquest of Northeastern Borneo Pierre Sonnerat. In 1746,
Sultan Azim ud-Din I, with Spanish assistance, carried out punitive expeditions around the
Sebuku region against the
Tidungs to reconsolidate his power in Borneo. By April 1747, the expeditions were declared a success and the chief of
Tarakan declared his allegiance to Sulu. After the Sultan returned to Sulu, he brought back 50 captives who were previously under the hands of the Tidung and among them was a friar, while others were Tidung chiefs. Two of the Tidung chiefs were left in Jolo while the rest were brought to Zamboanga. Tausug traders began settling in Tarakan. However, things began to complicate after the Tidungs made a political marriage with Bulungan, placing the Tidungs also under the
Sultanate of Bulungan. In 1789, amidst the civil war in
Berau, Sultan Azim ud-Din II raided Berau and Tarakan, which led to the de facto independence of Bulungan from Berau by the 18th-19th century. Sulu became the dominant power in the region and Bulungan was placed under the sphere of influence of the former. Tausug vessels began arriving in the region at a large scale to conduct trade. The status of Bulungan as a subject of Sulu however would later change after they stopped paying tribute to Sulu in 1855. This would later become official after the British annexation of North Borneo and the Dutch annexation of Bulungan in 1878. In the 18th century, Sulu's dominion covered most of northeastern part of Borneo. However areas like Tempasuk and Abai had never really shown much allegiance to its earlier ruler, Brunei, subsequently similar treatment was given to Sulu.
Alexander Dalrymple, who made a treaty of allegiance in 1761 with Sulu, had to make a similar agreement with the rulers of Tempasuk and Abai on the north Borneo coast in 1762. The Sultanate of Sulu totally gave up its domain over Palawan to Spain in 1705 and Basilan to Spain in 1762. The territory ceded to Sulu by Brunei initially stretched south to Tapean Durian (now Tanjong Mangkalihat) (another source mentioned a southernmost boundary at Dumaring), near the Straits of Macassar (now
Kalimantan). From 1726 to 1733, the Sulu sultanate restarted their tributary relationship with China, now the
Qing Empire, about 300 years after it had ended. By 1849, the areas gained from Brunei had been effectively controlled by the
Sultanate of Bulungan in Kalimantan, reducing the boundary of Sulu to a cape named Batu Tinagat and the
Tawau River.
Decline under Spanish and American control In 1848 and 1851, the Spanish launched
attacks on Balanguingui and Jolo respectively. A peace treaty was signed on 30 April 1851 in which the sultan could only regain the capital if Sulu and its dependencies became a part of the Philippine Islands under the sovereignty of Spain. There were different understandings of this treaty; although the Spanish interpreted it as the sultan accepting Spanish sovereignty over Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, but the sultan took it as a friendly treaty amongst equals. These areas were only partially controlled by the Spanish, and their power was limited to military stations and garrisons and pockets of civilian settlements. This lasted until they had to abandon the region as a consequence of their defeat in the
Spanish–American War. On 22 January 1878, an agreement was signed between Sulu and businessman
Gustav Overbeck, who would later establish the
North Borneo Chartered Company, granting Overbeck total control over the sultan's lands in northeastern Borneo, a region known as
Sabah. The ambiguity in the treaty of whether this was a cession or only a lease of the territory would later lead to the
North Borneo dispute. meeting
Jamalul Kiram II () Following the defeat of the
Moro Rebellion, the Sultanate of Sulu's existence effectively ceased on 22 March 1915, when American commanders demanded Sultan
Jamalul Kiram II signed an agreement called the Carpenter Agreement. By this agreement, the sultan relinquished all sovereignty over territory then under control of the United States, retaining only his religious authority as head of Islam in Sulu. Malaysia views the dispute as a "non-issue", as it not only considers the agreement in 1878 as one of cession later confirmed in a 1903 agreement, but it also deems that the residents had exercised their act of self-determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963. It stood by the contract until 2013, issuing annual cheques in the amount of
RM5,300 (approx.
₱77,000 or US$1,710) to the legal counsel of the heirs of
Jamalul Kiram II, the last sovereign sultan of Sulu. The heirs to the Sulu royals have also staked their claims to Sabah. In 2013, during the
Lahad Datu standoff, a group of armed individuals sent by one of the claimants to the Sulu throne,
Jamalul Kiram III, arrived in
Lahad Datu, Sabah, in an attempt to assert their territorial claim. A total of 72 people were killed in the incident, which led Malaysia to suspend the annuities. Seven of the invaders were later sentenced to death. The suspension of the annual fees led the Sulu heirs to
sue Malaysia for breach of contract. Their use of
forum shopping led to an initial award of at least US$14.92 billion by a Paris arbitration court. After litigation in Spanish, French, and Dutch court systems, Malaysia obtained consistent victories, culminating in a dismissal by the French
Court of Cassation on 6 November 2024. ==Economy==