Tributary state

[1] This token often took the form of a substantial transfer of wealth, such as the delivery of gold, produce, or slaves, so that tribute might best be seen as the payment of protection money.

It might also be more symbolic: sometimes it amounted to no more than the delivery of a mark of submission such as the bunga mas (golden flower) that rulers in the Malay Peninsula used to send to the kings of Siam, or the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon that the Grand Master of the Order of St. John used to send annually to the Viceroy of Sicily in order to rule Malta.

In Al-Andalus, the last remaining Moorish Nasrid dynasty in the Emirate of Granada paid tribute to the Christian Kingdom of Castile (present-day Spain).

In the Philippines, the Datus of the Barangays became vassals of the Spanish Empire, from the late 16th century until the Archipelago fell under the power of the United States of America in 1898.

Their right to rule was recognised by King Philip II of Spain, on 11 June 1594, under the condition of paying tributes due to the Spanish Crown.