06/06/2022
Who is Sultan Kudarat
In the year 1581, six decades after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines, Mohammad Dipatuan Kudarat, otherwise known as Sultan Kudarat, was born. Nine years prior, Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi had already captured Manila, where he had successfully pacified Manila’s allied rulers Rajah Sulayman and Lakan Dula through a peace pact. At the time, Spain had already colonized parts of the Visayas, and it had its eyes set on conquering Mindanao.
What Makes a Sultan Different From a Datu or Rajah?
Unlike the political entities (communities led by datus) found in the Visayas and Luzon, those in Mindanao had a more advanced structure of government: the sultanate. When Islam was introduced in the archipelago in the 13th century, it also brought in the concept of a sultan: a ruler who was considered God’s shadow on earth, according to historians Patricio Abinales and Donna Amoroso (2005).
The concept of a sultan helped southern Filipinos enhance their rule over their territories. It enabled them to forge alliances based on religion, something which the datus of Luzon and the Visayas, who mostly relied on loyalty and marriage alliances, lacked. More important, other rulers in the territory were required by faith to support the sultan, rather than compete with him. As a result, the sultanate was able to expand its domain, strengthening commerce and increasing manpower, eventually having enough power and influence to reject Western colonization.
Sultan Kudarat and His Rise to Power (1619 to 1671)
At 39 years old, after his father’s death, Mohammad Dipatuan Kudarat became Sultan Kudarat. For 52 years, he ruled the Sultanate of Maguindanao as a shrewd strategist and politician.
It was during Sultan Kudarat’s reign when the Maguindanao Sultanate’s power peaked. His domain occupied the expanse of today’s nine provinces: Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga del Sur.
As a maritime sultanate, it had access to international trade. The sultanate traded with the Dutch and the Chinese, bartering slaves and rice for wares and weapons.
Sultan Kudarat also forged an alliance with the Sultanate of Sulu, a neighboring maritime sultanate, by marrying its sultan’s daughter. The Sultanate of Sulu was situated east of the territories of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, and its territory stretched to the northern part of Borneo.