Sultanate of Sulu

Philippines, 1405–1915. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Moro had an independent state known as the Sultanate of Sulu, which was politically and economically centered on Jolo. It was a Sunni Muslim Tausūg state that ruled the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City, and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines. The sultanate gained its independence from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1578. Its sovereign political powers were relinquished by 1915 through an agreement known as the Carpenter Agreement, which was signed with the United States of America.

Seat of power: Maimbung

Rulers

Sharif ul-Hāshim of Sulu

Sultan of Sulu, 1457–1480

During his reigning era, he promulgated the first Sulu code of laws called Diwan that were based on Quran. He introduced Islamic political institutions and the consolidation of Islam as the state religion.

Culture

After colonising the islands in the north, the Spanish failed to take over the well-organized sultanates in the south.
Since the 15th century, the Sulu Sultanate traded local produce with neighbors and with countries as far as China by sea.
The Seat of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu was in Astana Putih, Tausug for White Palace, and the capital was later moved to Maimbung in the 1800s.

Picture

Jolo, the capital of the province of Sulu in the Philippines, was the residence of the Sulu sultanates.

Image: Patrickroque01, CC BY-SA 4.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.