By all credible historical accounts, the Sultanate of Sulu was a sovereign state which had existed more than hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards to the Philippines, even as it had successfully withstood massive and long drawn politico-military campaigns by the Spanish colonizers for its subjugation within the three hundred years of Spanish colonial rule in the country.
To dispel colonialists’ notion that
the Philippine islands were inhabited by uncivilized and barbaric people at the
turn of the 14th century, hence, the justification of colonizing the
archipelago— historians most often cite the history of Sulu. The Sultanate of
Sulu which spanned to around three hundred islands and islets (including north
of Borneo, now Sabah) across the Sulu Sea to the north and the Celebes Sea to
the south (Galang, 1936), was by all historical accounts, a
sovereign nation— with centralized government instrumentalities, civil and
military system, cultural institutions and state religion (Tilla, n.d.)
.
Trade relations with different
powers across China, Vietnam, Borneo and Indonesia, among others, were also widely
practiced and, indeed flourished for hundreds of years, even intermittently, as the on and off wars with
Spanish colonialists disrupted commerce, time and again.
The American colonialists, similarly,
had never subjugated Sulu even through their barbaric and horrendous war of aggression
against the Philippines and after the partial defeat of the Spaniards from the
Philippine revolution of 1898, and the ceding of the islands by the moribund
Spanish colonial power to the American aggressors at the turn of the 18th
century.
While not very popular, the history
of Sulu was fully documented. According to the website- Coming of the Islam:
The written history of Sulu is based
mainly on Tarsilas. Tarsilas are lineal or multilineal written accounts of
genealogy. Sometimes they are accomplished by an introductory legendary or
traditional account. The best-publicized Sulu Tarsila is the one reported by
Najeeb Saleeby, which was made available to him by Haji Buto Abdul Baqi, one
time prime minister to Jamal ul-Kiram II, the last sultan who wielded political
power in Sulu. Saleeby published his work on the histories of Maguindanao and
Sulu in 1905 and 1908 respectively. The collection of Tarsilas on the history
of Sulu was collectively designated by Saleeby as the Genealogy of Sulu.
Interestingly, Sulu, the home of the
proud Tausug people, has displayed a pattern resistance to colonization for over
four hundred years. Its history is a history of protracted cycle of cont1ict,
defensive submission, peaceful interlude and offensive riposte against invaders
(A Short
History of the Sultanate of Sulu), including the “Imperial Manila” after
the formation of the US-sponsored Philippine Republic in 1946 and beyond, which
Sulus tended to believe as collaborationist regimes propped-up by the foreign
powers.
The
inhabitants of Sulu known as the Tausug people were widely believed to be an
amalgamation of the Budanons, Tagimaha, Baklaya and the the Badjao peoples. The
Budanons traced their roots to the Dayaks of Borneo which tend to emphasize
that Sulu was maybe a part of the Bornean empire in the late 5th
century (Orosa, 1931).
The
basis of the formation of the nation and why it was able to maintain its identity
and independence far so long can be traced to two arguments. The first argument
concerns geography and trade, while the second addresses the arrival of Islam
and the early institutionalization of a formal polity along Islamic lines (A Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu).
Situated between Malacca, China and
the Moluccas, Sulu’s commanding economic location enabled it to play an active
part in international trade. Its ports were believed to have received different
traders, including Chinese and Indians as early as 7th century.
Again, as the gateway to the Philippines from the south, Sulu felt Islam’s
influences as early as the 9th century. The fusion of the
flourishing trade due to its strategic economic location with the relatively
advance political and religious institutions of Islam, had made Sulu a nation which would serve as the basis by
which the advance of christianising Spanish colonialists would falter. The northern
Philippines, by contrast, was still without centralized political institutions
and offered little resistance to the Spaniards (A
Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu).
The significance of Sulu has come to
the public mind in the most recent past as some descendants of one of the
sultans, claimed Sabah as part of its territory which was only leased out to
the British-owned East India Company. This gave strength to the claim that Sabah, or
at least a part of the big island, is a Philippine territory. But that is
another story.
In
1390, it is widely believe that a certain Rajah Baguinda came to Sulu from
Sumatra and assumed power through an inter-marriage, and when Sulu was still ruled
by three authorities namely, Sipad,
Tagihama and Baklaya chiefs. Yet even prior to that, Macdum, a missionary from
Jahore had already made Islmic converts in Sulu, including Baguinda (Tilla, n.d.).
It was towards the end of Baguinda’s
lifetime that Abu Bakr, an Islamic missionary, able administrator and a judge is
believed to have come to Sulu. Following his marriage to Princess Paramisuli,
the daughter of Baguinda, Abu Bakr introduced Islam not as a sect, but as a
state religion with its attendant civil and political institutions. This
signaled the birth of the Sultanate of Sulu, with Abu Bakr as its first state
leader who prepared to be called, Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim (A Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu).
Once
in power, Abu Bakr immediately worked on a centralized form of government by
organizing a form of Arabian Caliphate. He divided the island Sulu into five
districts, namely: Parang, Pansul, Lati, Gitung, and Luuk. Appointing a
Panglima as head of each district, he also introduced an eclectic code based on
Koramic precepts which served as a foundation for the work of his successors.
Abu Bakr was succeeded by his children and later, his grandchildren, and so the
Sultanate was regularly organized (Tilla, n.d.) .
After
Abu Bakr, his son Kamalud Din succeeded to the throne of the Sultanate. The sultans
who ruled later in the order of their succession were: Maharajah Upu, Pangiran Buddiman, Tanga, Bungsu,
Nasirud-Din H, Salahud Din Karamat, Shahabud Din, Mustafa Shafuid Din, Daruddin
I, Nasaruddin III, Alimud Din I, Israel, Alimud Din , Sharapud Din, Alimud Din
III, Aliyud Din I, Shakil'al Lah (1808) Jamalul Kiram I, Mohammad
Pulalum, Jamalul Alam, Badarud Din III and Jamalul Kiram (Tilla, n.d.).
Through the genealogy or Tarsilas,
each ruler claimed to be a direct descendant of Abu Bakr who was by traditional
belief, a descendant himself to prophet Muhammad. There are accounts which
cited other names, but understandably, names of these sultans may vary as they
were addressed differently in different historical accounts.
Thus, prior to the arrival of the
Spaniards in 1521, Sulu was by far, one of the strongest and best organized
states in the region, whose power expanded to parts of Borneo, Palawan and the
Sulu islands and islets (Jabir, n.d.).
The year 1578 marked the first
attempt of Spain to colonize Sulu. Rodriguez de Figuroa arrived in Jolo to
collect tribute and establish territories. He was driven back by the Sulus who
at the time already claimed territories in Basilan, Palawan, Zamboanga and
other parts of Mindanao. The Spaniards knew that Mindanao was their best staging
point to conquer the Malaccas islands.
Feeling that their trade and
government were at under threat, the Sulus, instead of surrendering to Spain,
launched counter-offensives in parts of the Visayas, which was known as the
Moro wars between 1600s and the late 1700s. In fact in 1619 and 1627, during
the time of Sultan Bungso, Sulu established an aggressive policy against Spain
through piratical raids to expand territories and collect tributes (A Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu).
The Spanish retaliated by plundering
Sulu and massacring people in the islands. Sultan Bungo through an alliance
with Sultan Quadarat of Maguindanao, launched further attacks in 1664 and 1665,
triggering the Spaniards to conquer Zamboanga in the succeeding years. Zamboanga
became the launching pad for the annexation of Sulu, but the Spaniards were
defeated in a protracted war, over and over again.
In 1668 Spain began another aggressive campaign to conquer
Sulu. With full military force, Spain landed in Sulu, but the Sultanate
evacuated to the mountains and launched a protracted war. The brutality of the
Spanish in massacres and burnings of properties only seemed to strengthen the
determination of Sulus to remain independent. With the help of the Dutch, in
1646, a peace accord was signed between Sulu and the Spanish colonial
authority. It was at this period of relative peace when trade in Sulu came to
flourish once again.
In 1751, the Sulu-Spain relation
turned sour again. Sultan Alimudin after being briefly imprisoned in Manila, returned
to Sulu to lead raids and counter-raids against the Spaniards. Sultan Alimudin
was followed by several Sultans who were perceived to be “friendly” with the
British and Spanish authorities. In 1886, Sultan Jamalul Kiram perceived to be
friendly to Spanish authorities, again proclaimed a halt of hostilities.
Kiram was succeeded by Sultan
Pulalun. At his time, the Spaniards again initiated a new military campaign
against the Sultanate. In 1851, military forces landed Jolo. The town was subsequently
destroyed to compel the Sultanate to accept Spanish authority. Sulu refused,
but instead signed another accord of friendship.
Realizing that Sulu was still
independent, the Spaniards launched yet another assault to the nation in 1876.
They used steam ships and heavily bombarded Sulu. The Sulu fighters had to
resort to guerrilla war and ajuramentado
(suicide attacks) to fight the invaders.
Under attack from and occupied by
the Spaniards, and with the Dutch encroaching into his Bornean island, the Sultan was forced to lease out the Bornean
territory to the British’s East India company. Again, Sulu was forced to sign another
treaty with Spain by which the Spanish authorities would be recognized, while
the Sulu autonomy would be respected, in turn (A
Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu).
At the turn of the century and after
America colonized the Philippines, the new colonial power launched tremendous war
of attrition against Sulu between 1891-1913.The Sulus resisted gallantly, but
the hostilities with the much powerful colonizers ultimately weakened Sulu’s
military capacity and further eroded the Sultan’s political power (A Brief
History of the Sultanate of Sulu). Massacres upon massacres, attacks and
counter-attacks characterized this era.
In 1913, the American colonial
government reorganized Sulu as part as the Department of Mindano and Sulu, in its
effort to assimilate the Sultanate. With the spreading public education system,
capitulation and corruption of some members of the ruling class as well as the
persistent military campaigns of the Americans, Sulu was gradually, yet successfully
integrated to the Philippine territory under the Americans.
Sporadic resistance against the new
colonizers would continue however until up to 1970’s when the Moro National
Democratic Front (MNLFs) was formed to wage yet another attempt by the “Bangsa
Moro people,” to wrest their independence from “neo colonial authorities” in
Manila.
JR Valila
University of the Philippines- OU
2012 February
Bibliography
Galang, Z. (1936). Encyclopedia of the Philippines Vol.
VIII. Manila: Philippine Education Co.
Jabir, S (n.d.) A History of the Muslims in the Philippines: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny.
Retrieved from http://www.maranao.com/bangsamoro/index.htm
Kalaw, M. M. (1938). An Introduction to Philippine Social Science 2nd edition.Manila: Philippine
Education Co.
Orosa, S. (1931). The Sulu Archipelago and Its People. New York: World Book Co.
A Short History of the Sultanate of Sulu (n.d.) http://sovereignsulu.webs.com/Short%20History- Sulu%20Sultanate.pdf
The Coming of Islam. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ranaocouncil.com/history/?id=9
Tilla, S. (n.d.). On Sulu’s Claim to North Borneo. Quezon City: The Philippine Law Journal.
