18th century

Ilanun – raiders of the Sulu Sea

When the ilanun captured people, they would bore a hole through their palms,
and put a string through it

- Fearless in battle even against better armed colonial forces

- Expert sailors and builders of formidable vessels of war
- Western colonists viewed raiders as barbaric outlaws / pirates and were
hunted down as such
- Slave trading during those times was legal
*Speculation that the slave raiders were not savages, but indigenous people
defending their way of life against foreign oppressors
 - were not just marauders but a well-organized force that attacked with
precision and strategy

Siege of Fort Pilar

December 8, 1720
Zamboanga City
Garrison of 600 Spanish soldiers protecting fort pilar have already fended
against rebel attempts at the fort
Hundreds of ships with 3000 raiders

Zamboanga City
- sits at the tip of the southernmost peninsula of the Philippines
- strategical location along sea route between northern and southern regions
of the Philippines
- geographical advantage was valuable to the Spaniards who colonized it in
the 16th century
- The Spanish invaders built forts to discourage potential invaders
- At the frontline was Fort Pilar – 10 m high, sprawled two acres

Icelle Gloria B. Estrada

Art Historian Zamboanga Del Norte
1720 Attack by the Maguindanao King Dalasi
King of Bulig in Maguindanao
Rajah Dalasi was planning the attack on Zamboanga city together with the joined
forces of the Sulu Sultanate
(If he was the king of Maguindanao ba’t tumulong yung sulu sultanate?)
Sulu and Maguindanao Sultanates – two main kingdoms controlling Muslim
colonies of the southern Philippines

Rajah Dalasi attacked Zamboanga, burned the town around the fort, cut
provisions for soldiers, and began war

6:42 Fort was defended by Spanish artillery vs swords

When Dalasi’s men climbed the wall, the Spanish soldiers resorted to desperately
throwing rocks and boiling water

The desire to rid Zamboanga of the Spanish drives them forward

Fort Pilar was the base of operations to check on slave raiding going to the north
and coming back
Attack was poorly conceived

Slavery had been practiced among some tribes in the Philippines before western
colonization.
But it was never a widespread or frequent activity.
Arrival of Spaniards escalated slave trading.
People of the southern sultanates would defy their Spanish masters by targeting
Christian communities in the North

The Spanish referred to the slave raiders as Moros, after the muslim fighters they
encountered on Spanish soil 75 years ago.
But they were in fact from three different tribes who challenged Spanish
occupancy
Dr. Samuel Tan – Historian – National Historical Institute
Pirates described by colonial powers were actually different tribes in the
Mindanao area as well as the Sulu Archipelago.
There were three particular groups of muslims that were identified in these
colonial sources.
+One was the Balangingi tribe or Samal that occupied the chain of islands
between Basilan and Sulu island
+Ilanuns – second tribe that was very important in piracy history
Both were longstanding sea-faring communities
They would often join forces with the Tausug – no maritime experience but had
fierce warriors and widespread political power
Tausug – controlled sulu sultanate in the south, with lineage of sultans and high-
ranking officials dating as far back as the 15th century
All of the piratical attacks or retaliatory attacks conducted from Sulu and from
Maguindanao always carried these contingents: the Ilanuns, The Balangingi
Samals, and the Taosug warriors.
Historians question whether they should be called pirates.
It comes down to intent.
Were they out for personal gain or were they serving their local political masters
Professor Barbara Watson Andaya – Historian – National University of Singapore
All the books that talk about piracy deal with the problem of terminology
Using the English word pirate is misleading in some respects because it
doesn’t cover raiders, it doesn’t cover people who acted on behalf of the state
For the Philippine Moros, the raids to the North and attacks on Spanish forces
were acts of retaliation against the foreign occupier
Most of these raids were also sanctioned by the sultanate in the name of an even
higher cause—Islam.
Islam reached Mindanao in 1380 and began to spread north, but it would come
up against Christianity

Dr Julius Bautista – Historian – Asia Research Institute – National University of

Singapore
Great deal of pressure from the south for populations in Visayas to become
islamicized.
But the presence of the Spanish in Visayas and Southern Luzon disrupted
the spread of Islam. Spanish colonial administrators in fact thought it wad their
responsibility to prevent the spread of Islam from the south to the Christianized
population in the North.

At its peak, the Spanish had an empire that stretched across the world. For wealth
and the opportunity to propagate Christianity.

They landed in Luzon and spread Christianity displacing islam and indigenousS
tribal beliefs.
Muslims disliked the spread of Christianity.
Spanish were not concerned with what the south wanted, the presence of the
Spanish undermined the south’s commercial interests in the region. There is a
new power in the region exerting its own agenda and influences.

Sultanates in the south wanted to maintain their power, or increase it a little

more.
Both sides used religious ideologies to further their influence. For the Muslim
Sultanate, eradicating the Christian Spanish presence in Zamboanga was one of
their top priorities.
Butuan – small town located at the northernmost region of Mindanao
In 1977, an archaeological dig revealed that evidence of an ancient maritime
civilization was found in a pond.
Carbon dating of artifacts point to a seafaring civilization that existed in the 4th
century: ancient mariners who traversed the seas of the Philippines long before
the arrival of western colonists. Found vessels. The slave raiders inherited the
maritime skills from these early southern filipino seafarers. Helped make trade
flourish.

Mid 1700s, ships evolved and became sturdier. Fueled by a growing demand of
slaves in the south, the intensity and frequency of their raiding expeditions also
grew. Small raids within the archipelago turned into raids in Malacca.

Barbara Watson Endaya Historian

Increase in slaves and the demand for them fed into a situation in the 18th century
when: Seasonal arrival of a very large number of raiders from the Southern
Philippines. The ilanun slave raiders who landed in the Straits of Malacca. They
could go into shallow waters, had compasses and cannons, many rowers.

Long range vessels like the lanong. These ships had a large, wide keel for stability,
with three large cloth sails, sturdy collapsible tripod-like masts. 24-27 meters
long, 6 meter wide hulls each had cannons mounted at the bow. Complimenting
the three main sails were 34 oars on each side, rowed by captured slaves. These
were their flagships: the Ilanun equivalent of a modern cruise ship. Each vessel
carried between 100-150 men.
Captain, steersman and warrior sailors, slaves to power the oars, and captured
local guides to help navigate unknown waters.
The Ilanun used compasses, brass telescopes, and stars to navigate. They also
knew about monsoon winds in the region. They used them to tavel between
August and October during the Pirate Season.
1830, smaller, faster, and more maneuverable form of raiding boats replaced the
lanong: fast attack boats of the Samal raiding tribes called garay. Built from
bamboo, wood, and the nipa palm, they could carry 100+ sailors. This single-sail
ship was 25 meters long and 6 meters across and housed a powder magazine and
cannon at the bow. With 30-60 oars on each side, the garay was faster than any
other seagoing vessel of its time. Raiding fleets were also comprised of auxiliary
vessels called salisipan(s). These were small boats designed for coastal raids. En
route to a major raid, the fleets would collect manpower and ships from friendly
raiding bases along the way, eventually building a fearsome, organized sea force.
Miss Iselle Estrada
When they leave the shore on skeleton force, they pass by other bases and
augment the labor into the ship. When they reach the coast, they hide their big
boats that can usually be seen from the shore. So they use the Salisipans to row
into the shorelines and pretend that they are fishermen and harmless people.
Europeans were unable to do anything about it at this stage. Their ships were not
as fast as the Ilanuns’, they weren’t as maneuverable, and there weren’t enough
of them. Spanish galleons were slow and ungainly. Heavily armed but deep keels
couldn’t chase raiding craft into the shallows.
Besides religious conflict, Spanish wanted the slave raiders to heel because of
their spoils of trade with the orient, something the Spanish court wanted
complete control of.
Ancient sea voyagers of Butuan were not restricted to the Sulu seas. Artifacts
originated from China but found in Butuan are proof of the great distances
traveled by them and the trading activities they were involved in. There is further
proof that families of the sulu sultanate had visited the resource-rich regions of
china for commerce. Long before the entry of western powers in the region,
international trade was already flourishing.
Ms. Endaya
 When Europeans first came to this region, it was those products that
attracted them, products that couldn’t be found anywhere else; not only spices
but woods, tin, pepper.
By the 18th century, those products were important in China trade. Before
Europeans arrived there was already a pattern of trade between China and India.
Europeans simply entered in to that pattern. They wanted to control it.
Dr. Tan
In many respects, the Spanish wanted to be a part of this exchange in trade.
But they wanted to do so in conjunction with conversion and colonization of the
islands. This presented important conflicts between the South and the newly
arrived Spanish.
As the Spanish seized control of the Philippines, muslim influence waned. The
new western masters sought to dominate trade in Jolo, the seat of power of the
Sulu Sultanate.
Halman Abubakar – Tausug Descendant – City Counselor - Jolo, Sulu
Silat – martial art
“Maybe Spain only wanted to Christianize Jolo. Force feeding us with something
that we don’t believe in is like oppression, so they went to war. When you call us
pirates for doing that, it’s your decision. To us, we are fighting for something we
believe in, we are freedom fighters. It is our fight for freedom, freedom from
oppression. Freedom from not losing your own identity.”
Barong – 1 meter long weapon, leaf-shaped blade, thick blade used by Tausug
warriors to cut off an m-14, a carbine
Kris or Kalis – weapon of warfare and ceremony, 1.2 meters in length, carried by
slave raiders and also nobles, double edged, smooth or wavy blade
- Curves are for easy slashing, steel will penetrate the bone and it will stick so
it’s hard to pull. Waves can make you pull it faster.
Kampilan – longest sword used by the raiders, primarily by the Ilanun
- Heavy, single edged sword adorned with hair to make it look intimidating
 - Grooves cut into the blade to indicate the number of lives it had claimed
- At the tip of the blade are two horns projecting from the blunt side which is
used to pick up the head of a decapitated body
Wealthier raiders also protected themselves in battle with armor
- Made from carabao horn or steel plates, molded to fit the body
- Held together with chain mail
- Could deflect swords but were useless against Spanish firearms
Musket – Spanish firearm
- Could fire ball bearing projectile as far as 90 meters
- Inaccurate and took several tedious steps to reload
- At most three shots per minute
- Even with bayonets, not efficient for close combat

Dr Margarita Cojuangco – Author – Kris of Valor

*****************

Capturing a Spaniard called Ibanez who himself was the head of a ship
The ships that the Spaniards used couldn’t possible get close to the islands, so
they ordered steam ships from England: (Magallanes, El Cano, and Reina de
Castilla.) They used the ships’ artillery to bombard the forts of balanguingui
island. For once, the usually stoic raiders were shaken, taking advantage of the
damage by the barrage, the Spanish stormed the forts. This time, it was the
raiders who were outnumbered. The men were actually out during their slave
expeditions so they were met with men who remained behind with their women
and children.
But what the Spanish found inside the fort was not what they were expecting.
Faced with certain capture, the raiders killed their women, and their women killed
their children. They’d rather kill themselves than be taken captive.
450 Samal died in battle. All 4 of balanguingui’s forts and 150 raiding ships were
destroyed. The Spaniards granted clemency to the 350 Samal men and women
who were captured alive. Panglima Taupan was not one of them. They did
capture his pregnant wife, Noyla. After many years, they finally destroyed the
raiding base of balanguingui island.
Eventually, because his family was taken captive by the Spaniards, he decided to
surrender. From his surrender in 1858, he was brought to Zamboanga city by the
Spaniards. With their fleet mostly destroyed and base of operations dismantled,
the slave raiding activities dwindled. They were now at the mercy of the
Spaniards. Governor General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua He used this
advantageous position and flotilla of steam ships to deal one final blow to the
slave raiders. The critical demarcation point comes with the introduction of steam
ships. Steamships are not dependent on the wind, faster, and can chase a sailing
ship anywhere and can be armed with guns. Better-built and can carry more
artillery. They marked the end of the once feared natives of the sultanate.
Muslims started becoming hopeless. They only had two choices: follow the rest of
the country and become subjugated people or continue to resist. Even after
having assets destroyed, they continued to resist the rule of the Spanish, but in
vain.

The Spanish-american war in the late 19th century saw the Philippines shift from
one colonial power to another. The Americans not only controlled the Philippines,
but also inherited the raider problem. Albeit, on a much smaller scale. The thorn
in the American side was a Tausug raider called Jikiri.
Patian Island, 1900, Southern Philippines
Jikiri and his men killed Americans in the area. Americans took revenge. The
Americans killed Jikiri and other raiders. To the Americans, the raiders were mere
pirates and bandits. Days of raiding in the Philippines were over.
When you look at the Tausug economy, which depended heavily on slave trading
and using slaves, when the market for slaves dried up by the 1870s, their
economy declined.
The sultanates eventually lost their economic and political hold in Sulu and was
gradually assimilated into the jurisdiction of the Philippine government. It
retained its autonomy. Today, the once wealthy and powerful sultanates are a
memory. They now face new social, economic, and cultural challenges. But some
things haven’t changed. 600 years later, there are still conflicts in the region.
Halman: I don’t want to my children to grow up seeing Jolo like this. We can get
back what was lost. Let Jolo stand up again. Let them realize how glorious it was
before.

Whether they were brutal bandits, pirates, or freedom fighters is up to

perspective. But they were excellent mariners, builders of superior seagoing
vessels, fearless warriors, and skilled fighters. There’s little doubt they’ve earned
their place in history as Raiders of the Sulu Sea.