The southernmost outlying islands of the Philippines--Turtle Island and Taganak were incorporated at a much later time period. They were part of the territories originally ceded (leased according to Tausug translations of the documents) by the Sultan Jamalul Alam to the North Borneo Company since 1763.
The history of Sulu begins with Makdum, a Mus-lim missionary, who arrived in Sulu in 1380. He intro-duced the Islamic faith and settled in Sibutu until his death. The mosque at Tubig-Indangan which he built still stands, albeit in ruins. In 1390 Raja Baguinda land-ed at Buansa and extended the missionary work of Makdum. The Muslim Arabian scholar Abu Bakr ar-rived in 1450, married Baguinda's daughter, and after Baguinda's death, became sultan, thereby introducing the sultanate as a political system. Political districts were created in Parang, Pansul, Lati, Gitung, and Lu-uk, each -headed by a panglima or district leader. After Abu Bakr's death, the sultanate system had already become well established in Sulu. Before the coming of the Spaniards, the ethnic groups in Sulu-the Tausug, Samal, Yakan, and Badjao-were in varying degrees united under the Sulu sultanate, considered the most centralized -political system in the Philippines (Orosa 1970:20-21).
In 1737 Sultan Alimud Din I entered into a i"perma-nent1" peace treaty with Gov Gen F. Valdes y Tamon; and in 1746, befriended the Jesuits sent to Jolo by King Philip V. In 1748 he was forcibly removed by the forces of Bantilan, son of an earlier sultan. Alimud Din was charged as being "too friendlyt" with the Christians, whereupon he left for Manila in 1749. He was received well by Gov Gen Arrechderra and was baptized on 29 Apr 1750. He was humiliated in 1753, when after being reinstated as sultan, he was arrested on his way back to Sulu, under the orders of Gov Gen Zacarias. The Tausug retaliated by raiding northern coasts. In 1763 he was released by the British forces which had occupied Manila. He returned to Sulu as sultan, and in 1769, ordered the invasion of Manila Bay (Orosa 1970:22-25).
The Sulu sultanate declined after 1848 when the colonial authorities began the use of steamboats. Pira-cy was effectively halted, and in 1851, Gen Urbiztondo led an expedition that defeated the Tausug. But Sulu was only occupied and made into a protectorate in 1876 when Gov Gen Malcampo, using naval artillery, succeeded in destroying the kota (fort) of Jolo, and prevented the smuggle of ammunition to the besieged forces. A garrison was set up in Jolo commanded by Capt P. Cervera. Tausug attempts to recover the city were not successful. In 1893, amid succession con-troversies, Amirnul Kiram became Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, the title being officially recognized by the Spanish authorities. In 1899, after the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War, Col Luis Huerta, the last governor of Sulu, relinquished his garrison to the Americans (Orosa 1970:25-30).
