Datu Ūtū resisted the Spanish invasion vigorously and repeatedly, but he was repeatedly defeated, and the Moros of the Rio Grande felt convinced that the arms of Spain were much superior to their own, and have submitted peacefully ever since. Pablu’s sultanate was nominal and powerless. In 1888 Pablu died, and the seat of the sultanate remained vacant until about 1896. Pablu died without a male heir. Mamakū, the Raja Muda of Magindanao, did not meet the requirements of the sultanate, so the sultanate passed over to the house of Datu Dakūla the First. The prince of Sibugay had three sons, Pagat, Puyū or Jamālu-l-Kirām, and Datu Dakūla the Second. Pugat, the eldest, begot Mamuppun, the last prince of Sibugay, and Mangigīn. Datu Dakūla the Second begot Datu Dakūla the Third, who lives at Kumaladan, at the head of Damanquilas Bay. Mamuppun was passed over by the council of the datus in favor of Mangigīn, the present sultan.
Mangigīn is a weak man. After his succession he went to Libungan and lived there during Spanish rule. After the Spanish evacuation and after the attack on Cotabato by Datus Ali, Jimbangan, and Piang, which occurred in 1899, he became fearful of the Saraya datus and returned to peaceful Sibugay, his birthplace and the land of his father.
In her conquest of Mindanao Spain directed her forces against the district of Sibugay first, and then against Mindanao. The district of Sibugay was in a state of complete submission before the Rio Grande Moros were controlled. The subjection of Sibugay advanced to such an extent that in 1896 the region was divided into three districts, to each one of which a datu was assigned by Spanish authority. The datus received orders and directions from the governor of Zamboanga direct, and an annual tax of one real was imposed upon every Subano and Moro male above the age of 18 years.
[1] Throughout this paper foreign words which do not often appear in an English text are given the same form for both singular and plural.
[2] Mindanao, Magindanao, and a few other words with the same terminal sound are written in this paper with the final “ao” because they are well-known words. Other words ending with the same sound are written with the final “aw,” in accordance with the author’s rules for transliteration.—[Editor.]
[3] The word Kabalalan means the place of the rattan, because the rattan plant used to grow abundantly on the mountain and its base.
[4] This word may be a corruption of the name of the bird Rock or Rokh, mentioned in the Arabian Nights.
[5] This word is a corruption of the Arabic word Thul-Fakar, the name of the famous sword of the Caliph Ali. Ali was a noted warrior.
[6] The translation here omits the formal words and repetitions and simply gives the names of the descendants in order.