THE SULTANATE OF MAGUINDANAO: AN
OVERVIEW
Nov 9, '08 10:27 AM
for everyone
Category: Books
Genre: History
Author: Sultan Muhammad G M
Baraguir
Introduction
One of the twin gifts of the
Almighty God – Allah S.W.T. – to His human creation for their habitat use, and
development is Mother Earth. And as part of said Divine gift, the island of
Mindanao is also gifted with vast natural resources and is enwrapped with
colorful history, the full account of which is not the aim of this brochure.
The original name of the island
is Maguindanao to its indigenous inhabitants. However, upon the coming of some
Arabian and Malayan traders and travelers, they named the island as Manadanawe
Dar Ul Islam. It is not surprising therefore that Khutbah (Book of Sermon)
writers utilized said place names in their books of sermons, for Friday
congregational prayers in Maguindanao.
Then on the coming of Spanish and
other foreign invaders they called and recorded the name of the island in their
reports and in their chronicles as Mindanao instead of Maguindanao or Mandanawe
Darus Salaam/Dar Ul Islam. Incidentally, their military failure to conquer
Mindanao and Sulu for over three centuries of war went with it their inability
to correctly pronounce and record names of places and persons. And so today,
for facility, the place names Maguindanao and Mindanao are interchangeably used
by its inhabitants, especially the Maguindanaons.
Birth of the Sultanate
In available historical sources,
it seems that the first recorded rulers of Maguindanao was Raja Tabunaway and
his brother Mamalu who are sons of Sharif Marjan to Putri Paramaisuli, the
daughter of Sharif Awliya to a woman of Maguindanao. However, Sharif Awliya
left Maguindanao and his daughter soon without doing any proselytization work.
As earlier implied, Sharif Marjan
later on arrived Maguindanao from Johore, married Putri Paramaisuli and bore
many children with Tabunaway as the oldest and Mamalu as the youngest. Sharif
Marjan began his Islamic missionary work by starting with his own family and
immediate relatives but did not accomplish much due to his untimely passing
away.
In the early part of the 16th
century, somewhere in 1515 AD, another arrival came in the person of Sharif
Kabunsuan Bin Ali Zaynal Abidin anchoring first at Natubakan, a sitio near the
mouth of Maguindanao pulangi (river). Upon the verbal reports from his people
under Manumbali, a henchman, Raja Tabunaway and Mamalu and some of their people
went downstream to verify the new arrivals.
Ultimately, Raja Tabunaway and
his brother Mamalu invited Sharif Kabunsuan to come with them upstream to
Maguindanao proper but the latter denied the invitation unless the former will
agree to the mass conversion of his people to the Islam religion. Having
arrived voluntarily at such an agreement, Raja Tabunaway sent Mamalu upstream
to summon practically all their people and followers at Maguindanao proper for
mass Islamic baptismal rites by washing and bathing also near the river mouth,
the place called Payguan since then up to now which means a place for bathing.
Of course, after the mass baptism
Sharif Kabunsuan came along with Raja Tabunaway to Maguindanao proper passing
through a shortcut creek but as the said creek is a bit shallow, he (Tabunaway)
ordered his men to tow the vessel of Sharif Kabunsuan to hasten the movement of
the vessel. Since that time up to now the place along side the shortcut creek
is called Tinundan meaning towed and sometimes it is called Tinundanan,
meaning, a place of towing.
In Maguindanao proper Sharif
Kabunsuan married first Putri Sarabanon, sister of Tabunaway, who died without
issue. Later on, he married Putri Tunina, the adopted sister of Tabunway and
bore three daughters namely: Putri Ma’mur, Putri Milagandi, and Bai Batula.
Putri Ma’mor got married to Raja Purwa the indigenous chieftain of Buayan
Sultanate. In passing, it must also be mentioned that Umarmaya Tubutubu brother
of Sultan Barahaman of Maguindanao married Bai Babak of Kabuntalan Sultanate,
and that sometime in 1707 AD, he (Umarmaya Tubutubu) married a daughter of the
Sultan of Ternate.
Afterwards, Sharif Kabunsuan
proceeded to Malabang for his missionary work. At this juncture he married Bai
Angintabu, a daughter of a local chieftain and begot Salipada/Sarripara
Makaalang, among others. Having Islamized the populace in the area it can be
surmised as it is natural for him and his family to return to Maguindanao
proper, his home base. Without loss of much time, Raja Tabunaway, his henchmen
and people decided to offer and voluntarily give the rulership of Maguindanao
to Sharif Kabunsuan which was accepted by the latter adopting for the purpose,
the office title “Sultan”, he himself a scion of a royal and noble ancestry
such as Sharif Ali Zaynal Abidin, a descendant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny) and Putri Jusul Asiqin,
daughter of the Sultan of Johore thus giving birth to the Maguindanao
Sultanate.
Seat of the Sultanate
Maguindanao proper refers to the
present Cotabato City with the surrounding districts and was the seat of power
and authority of Raja Tabunaway in pre-Islamic times.
Upon the acclamation of Sharif
Kabunsuan as the first Sultan of Maguindanao, during the first half of the 16th
century, he assumed power and authority in the same seat of government at
Maguindanao proper. In latter times, however, for facility and expediency some
of the succeeding Sultans, especially the famous Sultan Muhammad Dipatuan
Kudarat, have established other secondary seats of power and authority, such as
those in Simuay and Ramitan, the former along the Simuay river in the southern
coast of the Illana Bay and the latter in the interior of Malabang at Baras.
Consequently, Sultan Kudarat holds court and office in any of these seats of
the Sultanate during his reign.
Later on in the latter part of
the 17th century Sultan Barahaman held court in Buayan for sometime. In the
first half of the 18th century. Sultan Jafar Sadiq Manamir held court and
office in Sangir and later on at Tamontaka, during his reign. Sultan Bayanul
Anwar and his son Sultan Tahiruddin Malinug held court also in Buayan during
their times. Later on, besides the national seat of government at Maguindanao
proper, Sultan Quratullah Jamalul Alam Untung and Sultan Mangiging held courts
also in Kumaladang and Sibugay in the second half of the 19th century. And in
much later times, Sultan Hijaban Mastura held court in Nuling now Sultan
Kudarat Municipality.
Early Recording of Ancestral
Genealogy
The Office of the Sultanate of
Maguindanao began recording its ancestral genealogy during the reign of Sultan
Muhammad Barahaman the ninth Sultan on the line somewhere in the latter part of
17th century. The said records are in the form of manuscripts in Arabic script
in Maguindanaon language with admixture of Arabic and Malaysian tongue. For a
basic, concise and complete portrayal of said genealogy please see the skeletal
diagram numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, herein.
Relations of Mindanao with Her
Neighbors and Their Rulers
With the exception of some minor
incidents between Mindanao and Sulu in the 16th century and in the beginning of
the 18th century which are normal even among relatives history could bear out
that Mindanao had a very cordial and commendable relations with her immediate
neighbors, like Sulu, Brunei, Ternate, Borneo, Johore and others whether in
times of peace or of war.
Among other things, oneness of
religious faith, kinship relations through affinal ties or intermarriages, and
alliances in defensive wars for a common cause, have cemented the good
relations of Maguindanao with her neighbors. Of course a detailed account of
every relationship aspect is not intended herein. However, it must be stated
that aside from the divine command of faithful brotherhood among Muslims,
kinship relations through marriage ties have existed and transpired directly
between the rulers of Johore and Maguindanao, directly between Maguindanao and
Sulu rulers, directly between Brunei and Sulu rulers, directly between
Maguindanao and Ternate rulers, and indirectly, if not directly between Brunei
and Maguindanao rulers and probably others which could be an interesting
subject of further studies in the pursuit of the Divine Command of brotherhood and
harmony.
Reference
1. Manuscript Nos. II-VI and VIII
of the Tarsila (Genealogy) Sa Maguindanao of Sultan Mastura and other Tarsilas.
2. Paruwalan Sa Maguindanao
(Maguindanao Codex) in the custody of Datu Baraguir Mamadra and/or his heirs at
Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
3. The Philippine Islands
(1493-1893) by Blair and Robertson, VOL. Nos.
IV, VII, VIII, XII, XVII, XVIII, XXXIII and XXXIV.
4. Studies in Moro History, Law,
and Religion by Najeeb Saleeby
5. Muslims in the Philippines
(1973) by Cesar A. Majul
6. Muslims in the Philippines:
Past, Present and Future Prospects by Cesar A. Majul
7. A History of Malaya (Second
Reprint 1988) by Richard O. Winstedt
8. A History of Johore
(1365-1895) Reprint Number Six by Richard O. Wistredt
No comments:
Post a Comment