Sultan is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who claimed almost full sovereignty without claiming the overall caliphate, or to refer to a powerful governor of a province within the caliphate. The adjectival form of the word is "sultanic", and the state and territories ruled by a sultan, as well as his office, are referred to as a sultanate.
Maharaja is an Indian princely title of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However in late ancient India and medieval south India, the title denoted a king.
The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore.
Datuk is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Sultanate of Sulu was a Sunni Muslim state that ruled the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in the today's Philippines, alongside parts of present-day Sabah and North Kalimantan in north-eastern Borneo.
The Tausūg, are an ethnic group of the Philippines and Malaysia. A small population can also be found in the northern part of North Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Tausūg are part of the wider political identity of Muslim Filipinos of western Mindanao, the Sulu archipelago, and southern Palawan, collectively referred to as the Moro people. The Tausugs originally had an independent state known as the Sultanate of Sulu, which once exercised sovereignty over the present day provinces of Basilan, Palawan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga City, eastern part of Sabah and northeastern part of North Kalimantan. They are also known in the Malay language as Suluk.
Datu is a title which denotes the rulers of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, though not as much as early Philippine history. It is a cognate of ratu in several other Austronesian languages.
Lahad Datu is the capital of the Lahad Datu District in the Dent Peninsula on Tawau Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 27,887 in 2010. The town is surrounded by stretches of cocoa and palm oil plantations. It is also an important timber exporting port. The town has an airport for domestic flights.
The North Borneo dispute, also known as the Sabah dispute, is the territorial dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines over much of the eastern part of the state of Sabah. Sabah was previously known as North Borneo prior to the formation of the Malaysian federation.
Jamalul ibni Punjungan Kiram III was a former self-proclaimed Sultan of the Sulu Sultanate who claimed to be "the poorest sultan in the world". He was known as an unsuccessful candidate for senator in the Philippine general elections in 2007. In 2013, Kiram III sparked a controversy when he revived a dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia by leading an intrusion into the eastern part of Sabah. His daughter is Princess Jacel Kiram, a proponent of the Sabah claim of the Philippines in 2016.
The Tagalog maginoo, the Kapampangan ginu, and the Visayan tumao were the nobility social class among various cultures of the pre-colonial Philippines. Among the Visayans, the tumao were further distinguished from the immediate royal families, the kadatuan.
Sultan Muwallil Wasit, is the 9th Sultan of Sulu and was also known as Rajah Bongsu I. His birth name was Pangiran Shahbandar Maharajalela, and was the youngest son of former Sultan of Brunei Muhammad Hassan. He reigned in Sulu after his uncle, Sultan Batara Shah Tengah died without an heir. He was most likely sent to Sulu to end dynastic troubles there, as he was begot of the marriage of Batara Tengah's Sister, and the Sultan of Brunei. On his coming to Sulu in 1609, he was brought by his father Sultan Muhammad Hassan brought along with his royal symbol's called as "Pulau Janggi" and "Sepong Janggi". This royal symbol was a symbol of brotherhood between the Sultanate of Sulu and the Sultanate of Brunei and as a royal proof that Raja Bongsu-I really belonged to the royal family of Brunei.
Datuk is a traditional, honorary title bestowed on a person by the agreement of a people or tribe in the Minangkabau language, spoken by the Minangkabau people of Indonesia and Malaysia. The title of Datuk was agreed upon by local, traditional leaders. The title engenders great respect, and is only used for Minangkabau men who have become stakeholders of traditional leaders or penghulu (noblemen) for a particular tribe. When the title is bestowed, it is celebrated with a traditional ceremony and a banquet.
The 2013 Lahad Datu standoff, also known as the Lahad Datu incursion or Operation Daulat, was a military conflict in Lahad Datu, Malaysia. The conflict began on 11 February, when 235 militants arrived in Lahad Datu by boat, and ended on 24 March. The militants, self proclaimed as "Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo", were sent by Jamalul Kiram III, a claimant to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu.
Kedatuan were historical semi-independent city-states or principalities throughout ancient Maritime Southeast Asia in the present-day Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In a modern Indonesian/Malay sense, they could be described as kingdoms or polities. The earliest written record mentioning the term kadatuan was the 7th-century Srivijayan Telaga Batu and Kota Kapur inscription from Sumatra, Indonesia.
In the Philippine languages, a system of titles and honorifics was used extensively during the pre-colonial era, mostly by the Tagalogs and Visayans. These were borrowed from the Malay system of honorifics obtained from the Moro peoples of Mindanao, which in turn was based on the Indianized Sanskrit honorifics system and the Chinese's used in areas like Ma-i (Mindoro) and Pangasinan. The titles of historical figures such as Rajah Sulayman, Lakandula and Dayang Kalangitan evidence Indian influence. Malay titles are still used by the royal houses of Sulu, Maguindanao, Maranao and Iranun on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. However, these are retained on a traditional basis as the 1987 Constitution explicitly reaffirms the abolition of royal and noble titles in the republic.
The Sultanate of Sarawak was a Malay kingdom, located in present-day Kuching Division, Sarawak. The kingdom was founded in 1599, after the conquest of the preceding Santubong Kingdom and the later Sultanate of Brunei.
The Lahad Datu District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Tawau Division which includes the districts of Kunak, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Tawau. The capital of the district is in Lahad Datu Town.
In the Philippine history, the Lupah Sug was a predecessor state before the establishment of Sultanate of Sulu.
