[33] Other reports, however, insisted that Tuan Mashā′ikha together with his parents, Jamiyun Kulisa and Indra Suga, were sent to Sulu by Alexander the Great (who is known as Iskandar Zulkarnain in Malay Annals).

[23] However, Najeeb Mitry Saleeby, a Lebanese American doctor who wrote A History of Sulu in 1908 and other studies of the Moros, dismisses this claim by concluding that Jamiyun Kulisa and Indra Suga were mythical names.

In the 1300s the Chinese annals, Nanhai zhi, reported that Brunei invaded or administered the Philippine kingdoms of Butuan, Sulu and Ma-i (Mindoro), which did not regain their independence until later date.

However in 1369, the Sulus rebelled and regained independence and in vengeance assaulted the Majapahit Empire and its province Po-ni (Brunei), as well as the northeast coast of Borneo[40] and thereafter went to the capital, looting it of treasure and gold.

[clarification needed] After some time, a certain Timway Orangkaya Su'il was mentioned by the second page of tarsila; he received four Bisaya slaves (people from the Kedatuan of Madja-as) from Manila (presumably Kingdom of Maynila) as a sign of friendship between the two countries.

The fourth page then narrates the coming of the Buranun (addressed in the tarsila as "the Maimbung people"), Tagimaha, Baklaya, and finally the drifted Bajau immigrants from Johor.

[46] The condition of Sulu before the arrival of Islam can be summarised as such: The island was inhabited by several cultures, and was reigned over by three independent kingdoms ruled by the Buranun, Tagimaha, and Baklaya peoples.

This symbolic ceremony was led by Sharif Balpaki Alawi, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the Ba 'Alawi lineage, and Shariful Hashim, who later became the first Sultan of Sulu.

[citation needed] The differing beliefs about his grave's location came about because the Qadiri Shaykh Karim ul-Makhdum travelled to several islands in the Sulu Sea to preach Islam.

The Sulu sultanate became notorious for its so-called "Moro Raids" or acts of piracy on Spanish settlements in the Visayan areas with the aim of capturing slaves and other goods from these coastal towns.

Alexander Dalrymple, who made a treaty of allegiance in 1761 with Sulu, had to make a similar agreement with the rulers of Tempasuk and Abai on the north Borneo coast in 1762.

The territory ceded to Sulu by Brunei initially stretched south to Tapean Durian (now Tanjong Mangkalihat) (another source mentioned a southernmost boundary at Dumaring),[67] near the Straits of Macassar (now Kalimantan).

[68] By 1849, the areas gained from Brunei had been effectively controlled by the Sultanate of Bulungan in Kalimantan, reducing the boundary of Sulu to a cape named Batu Tinagat and the Tawau River.

... hereby grant and cede of our own free and sovereign will to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck of Hong Kong and Alfred Dent Esquire of London...and assigns for ever and in perpetuity all the rights and powers belonging to us over all the territories and lands being tritutary to us on the mainland of the island of Borneo commencing from the Pandassan River on the north-west coast and extending along the whole east coast as far as the Sibuco River in the south and comprising

Mahakutta's crown prince Muedzul Lail Kiram, the heir to the throne according to the line of succession as recognised by the Philippine governments from 1915 to 1986, was 20 years old upon his father's death.

[90] Due to his young age, he failed to claim the throne in a time of political instability in the Philippines that led to the peaceful revolution and subsequent removal of President Marcos.

This forgotten tradition serves as the cornerstone for determining rightful succession, ensuring that the process remains grounded in the Sultanate's historical and cultural framework.

True legitimacy stems from adherence to the values and customs enshrined in giba, which prioritize the collective agreement and respect of the traditional leadership structures, rather than external validation.

Malaysia views the dispute as a "non-issue", as it not only considers the agreement in 1878 as one of cession, but it also deems that the residents had exercised their act of self-determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963.

[95][96] As reported by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the independence of North Borneo was brought about as the result of the expressed wish of the majority of the people of the territory as supported by the findings of the Cobbold Commission.

[117] He was sentenced to six months in prison and banned from acting as an arbitrator for one year for “knowingly disobeying rulings and orders from the Madrid High Court of Justice”.

[128] The ruling highlighted irregularities in the arbitration process led by Gonzalo Stampa and raised concerns about practices such as forum shopping and unregulated litigation funding in European courts.

[129] [130] The French court’s decision was deemed a significant “win” for Malaysia that effectively marked the end of the Sulu case by several publications, including Law.com and Law360.

[131][132]  Keith Ellison, former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Minnesota attorney general, pointed out that the case highlighted the enormous scope for “corruption,” irresponsible profiteering, and foreign influence operations to subvert arbitration proceedings”.

[133] Following Malaysia's legal victory in the French Court, Paul Cohen argued that the ruling allows the Sulu heirs to lease Sabah to other nations, such as China and the Philippines.

[134] In response, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said dismissed Cohen's statements as baseless and reaffirmed Sabah’s status as part of Malaysia, citing historical and legal foundations such as the Cobbold Commission and the 1963 referendum.

[136] These laws reaffirmed the Philippines' maritime territories and rights to natural resources across the South China Sea, including Sabah, drawing strong criticism from Malaysia.

[137] On November 15, 2024, Kuala Lumpur lodged a diplomatic protest against the two maritime laws, arguing that they infringed upon Malaysia's territorial boundaries in the South China Sea.

They were known as the bisaya, reflecting their most common origin – Christianized Visayans from Spanish territories in the Philippines – although they also included captured slaves from other ethnic groups throughout Southeast Asia.

But there were harsh punishments for attempts to escape, and a large number of the slaves were sold to European, Chinese, Makassar, and Bugis slavers in the Dutch East Indies.