[8] Shariff Kabungsuwan preached Islam in the area, which was earlier Hindu-influenced from Srivijaya times, at the end of the 16th century and established himself as Sultan seated in Malabang.

[16] Maguindanao's economy was principally driven by two sectors: trade exports of raw materials like agricultural and jungle produce, and slave labor; it did not maintain a market large enough for imported spices, gold, silk, and other exotic goods.

Several economic reforms were made under Kudarat: wax was monopolized in Sarangani and the Davao Gulf ports, and restricted trade in the former only by permission with a license from the Sultan himself.

[19] The most important exports were rice, wax, tobacco, and clove and cinnamon barks, alongside coconut oil, sago, beans, tortoiseshells, bird's nests, and ebony hardwood.

[20] The Iranun peoples settled along the coasts of the entire Illana Bay, including the Pulangi and Simuay deltas and Polloc harbor, and further inland along the shore of Lake Lanao as Maranaos.

Alongside the Bajaus, they were the most important allies of the Maguindanao; the sultanate heavily depended on their vast manpower to maintain the status quo throughout the region.

Paradoxically, however, they were also perceived by Maguindanao royalty as the least trustworthy of all groups; they were apparently notorious for rogue activities, and several punitive expeditions were made to quell minor Iranun uprisings.

European traders were sometimes advised to sail south of the predominantly Iranun Polloc area into the Simuay River if heading towards the capital for safety, and were denied permanent trading posts for the same reason.

Small in numbers, they were typically fishermen who supplied sea produce for trading vessels and Maguindaon land dwellers, sometimes sailing as far as the Tomini Gulf for catches.

Aside from offering manpower, they were entrusted with two main roles: production and trade of local cinnamon (Cinnamomum mindanaense) and maintaining storage networks for the Maguindanao's hardware, especially cannons.

[24] Manobos comprise a variety of different highland peoples in the northern and western mountains surrounding the Cotabato Basin, and like the Tirurays, held largely mutual trade relationships with the sultanate.

[25] Since its capture in 1625, the people of the Sarangani islands were subjugated by Maguindanao through various enforced trade policies in that area, and may be considered slaves of the sultanate than merely subjects.

[25] Otherwise known in historical accounts as simply peoples of the Davao Gulf area, Kalagans were also subject to similar protectionist trade restrictions by Maguindanao since Kudarat's reign.

Kalangan, another settlement elsewhere in the region, had its own tributaries inland and did not pay tribute to Maguindanao, but provided food and traded wax and lower prices for visiting Maguindanaon traders.