Jawa is the Malay term for Java. The incident related in the iarsila
relative to tlie gift of two elephants sent by the raja of Java to the
raja of Sulu is interesting, in that it explains the existence in Jolo of
the elephants found there during the earlier Spanish invasions. It
further indicates that Raja Baginda was not an insignificant chief and
that he kept up some kind of communication with the rajas of western
Malaysia.
The elephants received by Baginda were let loose, the story says, and
they lived and multiplied on Mount Tumangtangis. On the declivity
of this mountain there is a place still called lubluban-gaja, which means
the "habitat or lying-place of the elephant." The people relate several
stories which make mention of the elephant, one of which declares that
the chief who killed the last wild elephant was given the hand of the
sultan's daughter in marriage, in admiration of his strength and bravery.
Brevity is without exception a marked characteristic of all More
writings. Their letters, unlike those of the Malays and Arabs, are
brief and devoid of compliment or detail.
It is very difificult to pick out a superfluous word or phrase from the
text of the Sulu tarsila. In fact, the narrative of events throughout
the manuscript is so curtailed as to be reduced to a mere synopsis of
headlines. It gives a very dim view of the general subject and leaves
out much that is desired. Thus, the whole question of establishing
Islam in Sulu and organizing its sultanate is dispensed with in one
short paragraph briefly enumerating the following facts: That Sayid
Abu Bakr came to Bwansa from Palembang by the way of Bruney ; that
he lived with Raja Baginda and taught and established a new religion
for Sulu; that he was greatly respected by the people; and that he
married Paramisuli, the daughter of Baginda, and became sultan.
The traditions of the country, notwithstanding their brevity, add some
further but less reliable information. It is the common belief that Abu
Bakr was bom in Mecca and that he lived some time at Juhur (or
Malacca). Others state that it was his father, Zaynul Abidin, who
came from Mecca and that Abu Bakr was born of the daughter of the
Sultan of Juhur at Malacca. He came to Pangutaran first, the narrative
continues, then to Zamboanga and Basilan. His younger brother, who
had accompanied him, continued eastward to Mindanao, while he re-
mained at Basilan for a short while. Having heard of Abu Bakr, the
people of Sulu sent Oranghaya Su'il to Basilan to invite him to Bwansa
to rule over them. This invitation was accepted and Abu Bakr was
inaugurated sultan over Sulu soon after his arrival there.
From the annals of Malacca we know that Abu Bakr was a famous
authority on law and religion and that his mission to Malaysia was
prompted by enthusiasm for the promulgation of the doctrines of Abu
Ishaq, which were embodied in a book entitled "Darul-Mazlum, or The
House of the Oppressed or Ignorant/' After preaching these doctrines in
Malacca with success, he evidently proceeded farther east, stopping at
Palembang and Brunev and reaching Sulu about 1450. The hospitality
with which he was received at Bwansa points to success in his mission to
a degree that enabled him later to marry the Princess Paramisuli, the
daughter of Raja Baginda. He established mosques there and taught
religion and law; and the people and chiefs actually abandoned their
former gods and prac^ticcd the new religion and observexl its command-
ments. This process of reformation and conversion was no doubt slow
and gradual, but it was real and sure.
There is no evidence to show that Abu Bakr had any military forces
by vii-tue of which he could assume military authority and rule after
Baginda's death. But it is perfectly credible that Raja Baginda, being
without a male heir, appointed Abu Bakr, his son-in-law and chief judge
and priest, as his heir, and delegated to him all the authority he exercised
over Bwansa and the Island of Sulu. This it appears was acquiesced in
by the native chiefs who accepted Abu Bakr as their temporal overlord,
as well as their spiritual master. Claiming descent from Mohammed,
he aijsumed the powers of a caliph and entitled himself sultan. The
Sulus as a rule refer to him as As-Sultan ash-Sharif al-Hashimi, mean-
ing the Sultan, the Hashimite Sharif or noble. The words Mohammed
and Abu Bakr are generally left out when he is mentioned in prayer or
in ordinary discourse.
Having established the church, his next aim, after ascending the
throne of Sulu, was the political reorganization of the government. This
he undertook to frame on the same principles as those of an Arabian
sultanate, giving himself all the power and prerogatives of a caliph. In
enforcing such claims of absolute sovereignty, Abu Bakr declared to the
people and their local chiefs that the widows, the orphans, and the land
were his by right. This the people hesitated to submit to, and another
measure was adopted which reconciled the interests of all parties. They
agreed that all the shores of the island and all that territory within
which the royal gong or drum could be heard should be the sultan's
personal property, and that the rest of the island should be divided
among the subordinate chiefs and their people. The island was ac-
cordingly divided into five administrative districts, over each one of
which one panglima exercised power subject to the supervision and supe-
rior autliority of the sultan. These districts were again divided into
smaller divisions, which were administered by subordinate officers or
chiefs called maharaja, orangl-aya, laksamana, "parnkka, etc.
The districts were called Parang, Pansul, Lati, Gi'tung, and Lu'uk. The
boundaries which it seemed necessary at that time to define were marked
by large trees, none of which is living at present. Thus a sangay ^ tree
separated Parang from Pansul. The location of this tree was at a
point near Bud Agad and the stream Agahun, which runs down from
Tumangtangis toward Maymbung. A hawnu ^ tree separated Pansul from
Lati. This tree was located at a place called Indung, intermediate
between Asturias and the walled town of Jolo. A mampalam ^ tree
called Tarah separated Lati from Lu'uk. It was in the vicinity of the
settlement of Sii'. A variety of durian tree named Sig gal-sag gal formed
the boundary of Lati and Gi'tung.
According to later usage, these districts are defined as follows : Parang
is the western district lying west of a line passing through a point east
of the summit of Tumangtangis and a point on the southern coast 3
miles west of Maymbung. A line passing through Mount Pula and a
point a little east of Maymbung marks the boundary between Pansul on
the west and Lati and Gi^tiing on the east. The watershed is generally
considered as the dividing line between Lati and Gi'tiing. A line joining
Su' on the north and Lubuk on the south separates Lati and Gi'tung
from Lu'uk. A sixth district has lately been carved out and termed
Tandu, forming the easternmost part of the island. A line joining Suku-
ban on the south and Limawa on the north divides Tandu and Lu'uk.
The government thus organized was conducted in conformity with
local customs and laws modified to such an extent as not to be repugnant
and contrary to Mohammedan laws and the precepts of the Quran. To
preserve this consistency, a code of laws was made and promulgated by
Abu Bakr. This, once established, became the guide of all the subordi-
nate officers of the state, who, as a rule, observed it and carried out its
instructions. The general lines on which Abu Bakr conducted his gov-
ernment seem to liave been followed very closely by all his successors.
Such an adventurous and aggressive man as he was could not have
stopped within the limits of the island. In all probability he pushed out
in various directions, but no records have so far been found which give
any account of the conquests he made or the limits of his empire.
Abu Bakr lived thirty years in Sulu and died about 1480.
