The History of Sulu

by Najeeb M. Saleeby

In considering the etymology of the titles of the Sulu chiefs mentioned in the time of Baginda, we observe that they are of three classes. The first class were the datus. These had mantiri or ministers and probably represented the descendants of Raja Sipad and Tuan Masha’ika. The second class were the sayk. “Sayk” is probably derived from the Arabic “Sheikh” meaning “chief.” These were the Tagimaha chiefs, and their rank was evidently subordinate to that of datu. The third class were the orangkaya, the Baklaya chiefs. These are also subordinate in grade and could not have been higher than the sayk. The words datu and orangkaya it must be remembered are of Malay origin, while raja and baginda are Sanskrit, baginda being the highest and being often used as equivalent to emperor, while raja means only king.

Jawa is the Malay term for Java. The incident related in the tarsila relative to the gift of two elephants sent by the raja of Java to the raja of Sulu is interesting, in that it explains the existence in Jolo of the elephants found there during the earlier Spanish invasions. It further indicates that Raja Baginda was not an insignificant chief and that he kept up some kind of communication with the rajas of western Malaysia.

The elephants received by Baginda were let loose, the story says, and they lived and multiplied on Mount Tumangtangis. On the declivity of this mountain there is a place still called lubluban-gaja, which means the “habitat or lying-place of the elephant.” The people relate several stories which make mention of the elephant, one of which declares that the chief who killed the last wild elephant was given the hand of the sultan’s daughter in marriage, in admiration of his strength and bravery.

Establishment of the Mohammedan Church in Sulu and the reign of Abu Bakr, 1450–1480

Brevity is without exception a marked characteristic of all Moro writings. Their letters, unlike those of the Malays and Arabs, are brief and devoid of compliment or detail.

It is very difficult to pick out a superfluous word or phrase from the text of the Sulu tarsila. In fact, the narrative of events throughout the manuscript is so curtailed as to be reduced to a mere synopsis of headlines. It gives a very dim view of the general subject and leaves out much that is desired. Thus, the whole question of establishing Islam in Sulu and organizing its sultanate is dispensed with in one short paragraph briefly enumerating the following facts: That Sayid Abu Bakr came to Bwansa from Palembang by the way of Bruney; that he lived with Raja Baginda and taught and established a new religion for Sulu; that he was greatly respected by the people; and that he married Paramisuli, the daughter of Baginda, and became sultan.

The traditions of the country, notwithstanding their brevity, add some further but less reliable information. It is the common belief that Abu Bakr was born in Mecca and that he lived some time at Juhur (or Malacca). Others state that it was his father, Zaynul Abidin, who came from Mecca and that Abu Bakr was born of the daughter of the Sultan of Juhur at Malacca. He came to Pangutaran first, the narrative continues, then to Zamboanga and Basilan. His younger brother, who had accompanied him, continued eastward to Mindanao, while he remained at Basilan for a short while. Having heard of Abu Bakr, the people of Sulu sent Orangkaya Su’il to Basilan to invite him to Bwansa to rule over them. This invitation was accepted and Abu Bakr was inaugurated sultan over Sulu soon after his arrival there.

From the annals of Malacca we know that Abu Bakr was a famous authority on law and religion and that his mission to Malaysia was prompted by enthusiasm for the promulgation of the doctrines of Abu Ishaq, which were embodied in a book entitled “Darul-Mazlum, or The House of the Oppressed or Ignorant.” After preaching these doctrines in Malacca with success, he evidently proceeded farther east, stopping at Palembang and Bruney and reaching Sulu about 1450. The hospitality with which he was received at Bwansa points to success in his mission to a degree that enabled him later to marry the Princess Paramisuli, the daughter of Raja Baginda. He established mosques there and taught religion and law; and the people and chiefs actually abandoned their former gods and practiced the new religion and observed its commandments. This process of reformation and conversion was no doubt slow and gradual, but it was real and sure.

There is no evidence to show that Abu Bakr had any military forces by virtue of which he could assume military authority and rule after Baginda’s death. But it is perfectly credible that Raja Baginda, being without a male heir, appointed Abu Bakr, his son-in-law and chief judge and priest, as his heir, and delegated to him all the authority he exercised over Bwansa and the Island of Sulu. This it appears was acquiesced in by the native chiefs who accepted Abu Bakr as their temporal overlord, as well as their spiritual master. Claiming descent from Mohammed, he assumed the powers of a caliph and entitled himself sultan. The Sulus as a rule refer to him as As-Sultan ash-Sharif al-Hashimi, meaning the Sultan, the Hashimite Sharif or noble. The words Mohammed and Abu Bakr are generally left out when he is mentioned in prayer or in ordinary discourse.