To this period belongs the Mohammeilan invasion of the Archipelago.
If the Buranun ^ were Dayaks in origin, th(iy certainly did not keep their
Dayak characteristics ver}- long. For in all probability Tuan Masha'ika,
the Tagimahas, and the Baklaya^ were Malays ^ who came into Sulu from
the west, and the dynasty established by Masha'ika must have exercised
due influence on the Buranun. Whatever religion or customs these
Malay conquerors had in their original land, tliey no doubt continued to
practise in their new home. It does not ap}>ear that the Samals produced
any change in this respect, and the same worship and social organization
which the Sulus had remained unchanged until the Mohamme<lans reached
the Archipelago.
The two prominent characters who mark this era are Makdum and
Raja Baginda. Makdum was a noted Arabian judge or scholar who ar-
rived at Malacca about the middle of the fourteenth century, converted
Sultan Mohammed Shah, the ruler, to Islam and established this religion
throughout the state of Malacca. He evidently practised magic and
medicine and exerted an unusually strong influence on the people of
Malacca, Continuing farther east, he reached Sulu and Mindanao about
the year 1380.^ In Sulu, it is said, he visited almost every island of
the Archipelago and made converts to Islam in many places. The Island
of Sibutu claims his grave, but the places at which he was most success-
ful are Bwansa, the old capital of Sulu, and the Island of Tapul. It
is said that the people of Bwansa built a mosque for him, and some of
the chiefs of the town accepted his teachings and faith. The Tapul
people claim descent from him, and some of them still regard him as
a prophet.
Makdum's success in preaching a new faith to people as independent
in their individual views and as pertinacious in their religious practices,
beliefs, and customs as the Sulus must have been in his time, is certainly
remarkable and creditable to a high degree. The results of his mission
to Malacca and Sulu throw a new light on the history of Islam in the
Philippine Islands and modify the opinion formerly held relative to
its introduction by the sword. How much of a lasting effect the teach-
ings of Makdum could have had on Sulu is very diflBcult of estimation,
but in all probability the new sapling planted in the soil of Sulu would
have withered before long had it not been for the future current of
events which watered it and reared it to maturity.
Some time after Makdum (the Genealogy of Sulu says ten years)
there came into Sulu a prince from Menangkabaw called Raja Baginda.
Menangkabaw ^ is a rich, high region in central Sumatra, from which
many Malayan dynasties seem to have come. * Raja was the usual title
applied to all Malayan kings. Baginda is said to have touched at Sam-
buwangan (Zamboanga) and Basilan before reaching Sulu. The nature
of such a move can not be explained unless he followed the northern
route leading from Borneo to Kagayan Sulu, Pangutaran, and Zam-
boanga, which route seems to have been taken by all Mohammedan mis-
sionaries and invaders mentioned in the tarsila.
The written records of Baginda's arrival and his later history are
exceedingly brief. When he arrived at Bwansa, the Sulus came out to
engage him in battle, as we would naturally expect; but, the tarsila
continues, on learning that he was a Mohammedan, they desisted from
fighting, invited him to stay with them, and seem to have entertained
him very hospitably. Such an "account is absurd on the face of it. Raja
Baginda was not a trader nor a traveler touring the Archipelago. He
was accompanied by ministers and no doubt came to Bwansa to stay
and rule. His coming was an ordinary kind of invasion, which proved
successful. When Abu Bakr reached Bwansa, as we will learn later,
he was directed to Baja Baginda, who must have been the supreme ruler
of Bwansa. Accordingly we find all the chiefs of Sulu enumerated in
the tarsila at the day of Baginda's arrival subordinate in rank, having
no "rajas'^ among them.
The Genealogy of Sulu is as misleading as the tarsila of Magindanao
in that it pictures the arrival of Baginda as peaceful as that of Kabung-
suwan. Some of the chiefs who were Mohammedans possibly intrigued
against their former overlords, and, joining Baginda's forces, defeated
their opponents; but the dearth of information relative to this early
Philippine history renders it impracticable to secure any more light
on the subject. It may not, however, be out of place to remind the
reader that the fourteenth century was marked by imusual activity in
methods of warfare. Gunpowder, which was known and used as an
explosive long before that date, had not been made use of in throwing
projectiles in battle. The Arabs, we know, used firearms early in the
fourteenth century, and we may conjecture that they introduced such
weapons into Malacca and other parts of Malaysia as they moved east.
It is not improbable then that a prince coming from Sumatra was pro-
vided with firearms which overawed the ignorant inhabitants of Bwansa
and subdued the valor and courage of the Sulu and Samal pirates of
those days. The statement made in the tarsila of Magindanao that,
after the people of Siangan came down the river to where Kabungsuwan
was anchored, "He beckoned (or pointed his finger) to them, but one
of them died on that account, and they were frightened and returned,"
is the only kind of evidence found which can possibly be interpreted to
indicate that a firearm was used. Lacking confirmation as this may be,
yet we positively know that when the Spaniards reached these Islands,
these people had an abundance of firearms, muskets, lantaka ^ and other
cannon, and we may be justified in saying that probably firearms existed
in the land in the century preceding the arrival of the Spaniards. This
brings us approximately down to Baginda^s days.
In considering the etymology of the titles of the Sulu chiefs mentioned
in the time of Baginda, we observe that they are of three classes. The first
class were the datus. These had mantiri or ministers and probably
represented the descendants of Raja Sipad and Tuan Masha'ika. The
second class were the sayk. "Sayh" is probably derived from the Arabic
"Sheikh" meaning "chief." These were the Tagimaha chiefs, and their
rank was evidently subordinate to tliat of datu. The third class were
the orangTcaya, the Baklaya chiefs. Tliese are also subordinate in grade
and could not have been higher tlian the sayk. The words datu and
orangkaya it must be remembered are of Malay origin, while raja and
baginda are Sanskrit, baginda being the highest and being often used
as equivalent to emperor, while raja means only king.