This invasion marked the beginning of a state of war between Sulu
and Spain, which covered a period of three hundred years and caused con-
siderable devastation and loss of life. It cost Spain an immense loss of
men and money and finally brought on the decline of Sulu and its end as
an independent state. The magnitude of this strife, its far-reaching
eifects, and its bearing on the Spanish and American occupation of Sulu,
invites special attention to the causes of the war and the Sulu character
which it depicts.
The expedition to Jolo formed part of and immediately followed the
expedition which was directed by Governor Sande against Borneo. There
is no doubt that, besides the reasons Sande gave for the expedition to
Borneo, he was really actuated by jealousy of the Portuguese, whose
influence had readied Brimey and the Moluccas, and by a strong desire to
conquer Borneo, Sulu, ^findanao, and the Moluccas. His reasons for
sending the expedition against Sulu are best given in his letter of in-
structions to Capt. Rodriguez de Figueroa, which is extremely interesting
and is herein quoted in full That which you, Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, shall observe on the
expedition which you are about to make, God our Lord helping, is as follows :
From this city and Island of Borneo, God willing, you shall go to the Islands
of Sulu, where you shall endeavor to reduce that chief and his people to the
obedience of his Majesty. You shall bargain with them as to what tribute
they shall pay, which shall be in pearls, as they are wont to give to the King
of Bruney. You shall exercise great care and, if possible, much mildness; for
it is of importance that those islands should not become depopulated; therefore,
in case they receive you peaceably, you shall treat them well. And, in addition
to the above, you must order that, besides the tribute that they are to pay in
pearls, they shall obtain as many of them as possible, so that we, the Spaniards
or Castilians, may buy them; that they must trade with us from now on; that
every year Castilians will go to their lands with cloths and merchandise from
China, of whatever they shall declare that they may need. You shall inform
yourself of their needs; and if they wish to come to our settlements you shall
give them permission to go freely to Manila and to come to Borneo, although
not to steal.
Item: You shall find out from them the whereabouts of the artillery and
anchors of a ship lost there some three years ago; and you shall seek it and
see that it be brought you with all haste. You shall keep close watch over
the artillery, ammunition, vessels, sails, and other like things pertaining to the
armed fleet; and you shall deprive them of those supplies, for it is notorioiLS
that those people are common marauders.
And because of my information that the chief who calls himself lord of Sulu
is a Bornean, and owns houses in this city of Bruney; that he fought against
us in the naval battle, and that he fled to Sulu, where he is now; and since
I am told that he took two galleys and three small vessels, artillery and ammuni-
tion, you shall exercise the utmost despatch to obtain the said galleys, vessels,
artillery, and ammimition. If he acquiesce, you shall give him a passport.
You shall see whether he has any children; and if so, you shall take one, and
tell him that he must come to see me in Bruney in February.
And, as I have said, this must be done if possible gently, in order that no
people may be killed. You shall tell him that it will be to their advantage
to be vassals of his Majesty and our allies. If they do not act respectfully,
and it shall be necessary to punish them in another manner, you shall do so.
And inasmuch as the Sulus, as is well known, are open pirates, whose only
ambition is to steal, and to assault men in order to sell them elsewhere —
especially as they go annually for plunder among all the Pintados* Islands,
which are under his Majesty's dominion — you shall try to ascertain the Pintados
slaves among them, in order to return such to their homes, especially those
who are Christians. And, as I have said, you shall deprive them of such
vessels as seem to be used for raids, leaving them their fishing vessels, so that
if the said lord of Sulu so desire, he can come to confer reasonably with me.
Thus you shall ascertain who has vessels, and who can inflict injuries; and you
shall command them expressly to settle down on their land, to cultivate, sow,
and harvest, develop the pearl industry, and cease to be pirates. You shall
order them to raise fowls and cattle. You shall try to ascertain their number,
and bring it to me in writing, in order that I may see it, together with the
distance from these islands to the Sulu Islands, information regarding the food,
water, and healthfulness of that land, and other things that may occur to you.
And you shall tell the people in my name that they shall tame for me a couple
of elephants, and that I shall send for those animals and pay for them.
After having finished affairs in Sulu, if time permits, you shall, God willing,
go to the Island of Mindanao. There you shall try, by the most convenient
methods and with friendliness, to reduce the chief of the river of Mindanao,
and the other chiefs of that island, and of those near by, to the obedience of
his Majesty, giving him to understand what they will gain in becoming his
Majesty's vassals and our allies, and in having trade with us.
And, in order that the tribute may not prevent them from making peace
with us, you shall not ask them for any tribute; but you shall take what they
give freely, and nothing more, and in such form as they are willing to give.
Thus you shall suit their convenience in everything pertaining to them, and
cause them to understand the great expenses of his Majesty in this land. You
shall also tell them that the gain therefrom affects them chiefly, since we come
to teach them our civilization, and most of all the service of God, our Lord,
who created and redeemed them, and of whom they are ignorant; and how to
live in accord with natural law, as is their obligation. For this purpose you
shall tell them that you are going to their land for two principal reasons:
The first is that they should cease to be pirates, who rob and harry the
weak, and enslave wherever and whomsoever they can, selling their captives
outside of their own island, and separating them from their wives and children;
and that they must cease to commit other like cruelties and thefts, and must
become good and virtuous men, who shall grow to merit the second and principal
reason for going to their lands. You shall give them to understand that they
are ignorant of God, our Lord, who created and redeemed them, so that when
they know him they may serve him and become good. It is quite evident that
they will gain very much in these things, and therefore it is right that they
aid us and give us something. This shall be at their own will, as above said.
Item: You shall order them not to admit any more preachers of the doctrine
of Mohammed, since it is evil and false, and that of the Christians alone is
good. And because we have been in these regions so short a time, the lord of
Mindanao has been deceived by the preachers of Bruney, and the people have
become Moros. You shall tell them that our object is that he be converted to
Christianity; and that he must allow us freely to preach the law of the Chris-
tians, and the natives must be allowed to go to hear the preaching and to be
converted, without receiving any harm from the chiefs.
And you shall try to ascertain who are the preachers of the sect of Mohammed,
and shall seize and bring them before me and you shall burn or destroy the
house where that accursed doctrine has been preached, and you shall order that
it be not rebuilt.
Item : You shall order that the Indians * shall not go outside of their island
to trade; and you shall seize those vessels used for plundering excursions,
leaving them those which, in your judgment, are used for trade and fishing.
You shall take also what artillery and ammunition they have.
You shall ascertain the harvest seasons and products of the land; the gold
mines and the places where they wash gold; the number of inhabitants and
their settlements; and their customs. You must especially secure information
regarding cinnamon, in order to ascertain if it is found along the river, or if
one must go to Cavite for it, and why it is not as good as that which the
Portuguese take to Castilla. You shall ascertain how they cut and strip it from
the tree, and if it be of importance that it dry on the tree, or in what other
manner it should be treated, for I have been told that that obtained from these
districts in the past has not been good and has not a good sale in Spain.
In a letter addressed to King Philip II Bishop Salazar writes, June
27, 1588, as follows:
The second point is that, in the Island of Mindanao, which is subject to
your Majesty, and for many years has paid you tribute, the law of Mohammed
has been publicly proclaimed, for somewhat more than three years, by preachers
from Bruney and Ternate who have come there— flome of them even, it is
believed, having come from Mecca. They have erected and are now building
mosques, and the boys are being circumcised, and there is a school where they
are taught the Quran. I was promptly informed of this, and urged the president
to supply a remedy therefor at once, in order that that pestilential fire should
not spread in these islands. I could not persuade them to go, and thus the
hatred of Christianity is there; and we are striving no more to remedy this
than if the matter did not concern us. Such are the calamities and miseries
to which we have come, and the punishments which God inflicts upon us.*
In drawing a contract with Capt. Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa, in
1591, for the pacification and conquest of Mindanao, the Governor and
Captain-General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas makes the following decla-
rations : .
His Majesty orders and charges me, by his royal instructions and decrees,
as the most worthy and important thing in these islands, to strive for the
propagation of our holy faith among the natives herein, their conversion to the
knowledge of the true God, and their reduction to the obedience of His holy
church and of the king, our sovereign. • • •
Moreover, the Island of Mindanao is so fertile and well inhabited, and teeming
with Indian settlements, wherein to plant the faith, • ♦ • and is rich in
gold mines and placers, and in wax, cinnamon, and other valuable drugs. And
although the said island has been seen, discussed, and explored, * * * no
effort has been made to enter and reduce it, nor has it been pacified or furnished
with instruction or justice — quite to the contrary being, at the present time,
hostile and refusing obedience to his Majesty; and no tribute, or very little,
is being collected. • • ♦
Besides the above facts, by delaying the pacification of the said island greater
wrongs, to the offense and displeasure of God and of his Majesty, are resulting
daily; for I am informed that the king of that island has made all who were
paying tribute to his Majesty tributary to himself by force of arms, and after
putting many of them to death while doing it; so that now each Indian pays
him one iae^ of gold. I am also told that he destroyed and broke into pieces,
with many insults, a cross that he found, when told that it was adored by the
Christians; and that in Magindanao, the capital and residence of the said
king, are Bornean Indians who teach and preach publicly the false doctrine of
Mohammed, and have mosques; besides these, there are also people from
Ternate — gunners, armorers, and powder-makers, all engaged in their trades —
who at divers times have killed many Spaniards when the latter were going
to collect the tribute, ♦ ♦ • without our being able to mete out punishment,
because of lack of troops. By reason of the facts above recited, and because all
of the said wrongs and troubles will cease with the said pacification; and,
when it is made, we are sure that the surrounding kingdoms of Bruney, Sulu,
Java, and other provinces, will become obedient to his Majesty: therefore, in
order that the said island may be pacified, subdued, and settled, and the
gospel preached to the natives; and that justice may be established among them,
and they be taught to live in a civilized manner, and to recognize God and His
holy law, I have tried to entrust the said pacification to a person of such character
that he may be entrusted with it.*
It is plain, therefore, that the sentiment of the times justified war
on the Moros for the cause of religion alone, and that, though the
primary object was conquest, no doubt the religious motives of the Span-
iards were stronger than their desire to check piracy. But, of all the
Christian nations, the Spaniards should have been most aware of the
tenacity, determination, and courage with which the Mohammedans
defend their faith, and the Sulus were no exception to the rule, for they
had been bom and reared in that religion for more than four generations.
A wiser policy on the pai-t of Governor Sande would have either let
the Moros of Sulu and Mindanao alone, or effected a complete reduction
of the state of Sulu and immediate occupation of the coasts of Mindanao
with strong forces; for it appears from all accounts that neither the
Sulus nor the Magindanaos were as strongly organized then as they
were a generation later, and either alliance or war should have been
easier then than afterwards.
The Spaniards at that time were excellent warriors. Their conquests
of the Bisayan Islands and Luzon were rapid and brilliant, but it appears
that the system of government which they inaugurated there met with
distinct failure the minute it was extended to the more organized com-
munities and the greater forces they encountered in the south. The
Sulus, on the other hand, fought in the defense of their national inde-
pendence and religion, and never found life too dear to sacrifice in that
cause. They resented the treatment of Spain, and in their rage and
desire for revenge built stronger forts and fleets and became fiercer
pirates.
And, since it might happen that the people will not make peace, and may
offer fight, and show disrespect, then you shall punish them as you deem best,
taking special care not to trust them; for it is evident that before all else they
will, if possible, commit some treachery. You must not await such an occasion,
for we know already their treachery against his Majesty's fleet commanded by
Villalobos, certain of whose men they killed under assurances of safety; and
they seized a boat. In that treachery all the inhabitants of the islands were
participants; for four or five thousand of the said natives attacked one small
boat, which contained four or five Spaniards. Likewise many people took part
in the killing of the said Villalobos's master-of-camp, and other soldiers, in that
same year. You shall remind them of these things, and warn them; for, from
now on, we shall destroy them and their generation.
And, since it might happen that, without any occasion of war or peace, the
said natives flee to the mountains, you shall order that certain of the said
natives summon them; and, when they have come, you shall discuss the matter
with them. If they refuse to come, you shall, in conformity with your orders,
remain there a given time. And if they continue to refuse to come down, you
shall leave them, and shall return, without permitting their houses to be burned
or their palm trees to be cut down. Neither shall anything be stolen from
them ; but you shall take only what is absolutely necessary for food and the food
and other things necessary to provision your vessels for the return trip.
You shall try to secure information of the Island of Linboton, as well as of
Batachina and Celebes, so as to advise me thereof; and you shall do this in
accord with the time limit I have set for you to make this exploration, and
you shall observe the same rule as in that of Mindanao.
In order that we may allot in encomiendas * whatever people are found in
these districts, you shall bring me a signed notarial writ. Thus, as those lands
have no other owner, the natives thereof may be reduced to the obedience of
his Majesty, according to his will — and by war, if the natives begin it, so that
war on our part may be just, and that the same justice may continue, so that
we can compel them to obey, and impose tributes upon them. You shall exercise
much diligence in this and see to it that these orders be carried out carefully
and intelligently.
God willing, I shall be in Bruney by the end of the month of January next — or,
at the latest, by the eighth of February — with the fleet and all the necessaries
that must be brought from Manila, and that which is here. And at that time
your grace shall come to Bruney with the fleet that you have, and with all the
people that you have or shall have in the Pintados, so that we may do here
whatever is proper for the service of his Majesty, to which we are bound. These
instructions must not be disregarded in any point, unless I advise you to the
contrary by letter. And to this end you shall see that all who live and dwell
there be commissioned for the above, in addition to their own duties. Given
at Bruney, May twenty -three, one thousand five hundred and seventy-eight.
If the natives of Mindanao or of any other place shall give tribute according
to the above, you shall act according to the usual custom in these islands —
namely, you shall take one-half and place it to the account of his Majesty, while
the other half shall be distributed among the soldiers. Given ut supra.
REASONS FOR HOSTILITIES
The above shows cleai'ly that Governor Sand^ intended, first, to reduce
Sulu to a vassal state ; second, to exact tribute in pearls ; third, to secure
the trade of Sulu for the Spaniards; fourth, to punish the Sultan of
Sulu for the help he rendered the Sultan of Bruney against the Spanish
forces; fifth, to rescue the Christian slaves in Sulu; sixth, to deprive
the Sulus of their artillery and ammunition and of all vessels except
fishing vessels, in order to stop their piracy; seventh, to compel the
Sulus to become peaceful agriculturists; eighth, to uproot the "accursed
doctrine^' of Mohammed and to convert the Sulus to the Christian
religion.
The leader of tlie expedition was directed to carry out these instruc-
tions as carefully and as gently as possible; and there is no reason to
think that he failed to comply with his orders to the letter. But no
matter how careful and faithful Captain Rodriguez could have been,
it was not difficult for the Sulus to understand the purpose of the ex-
pedition and the motives of the Spanish Government, and it does not
stand to reason that such people would yield to vassalage and receive
a direct insult to their religion without resentment and without a
struggle. Governor Sande knew the reputation of the Sulus, but he must
have underestimated their strength and failed to provide garrisons for
the occupation of the conquered territoiy and the protection of peaceful
natives.
In January, 1579, Governor Sande sent an expedition to Mindanao,
commanded by Capt. Gabriel de Ribera, under instructions similar to
those given to Captain Rodriguez. Ribera had additional orders to visit
Jolo and collect the tribute for that year, and special stress was laid on
procuring from the Sultan of Sulu "two or three tame elephants."
Ribera accomplished nothing in Mindanao; the natives abandoned their
villages and fled to the interior. On his return to Kawite or Caldera,
he met a deputation from Jolo, which brought insignificant tribute and
informed him of the existence of famine in Sulu and the extreme
distress of the people. He returned their tribute, receiving in its place
a cannon, which the Sulus had obtained from a wrecked Portuguese
galley. Ribera then returned to Cebu, without producing any significant
effect on conditions in Sulu.
In April, 1580, Governor Sande was relieved by Governor Gonzalo
Ronquillo, who did not take the same interest in Borneo and Sulu. In
the same year the kingdom of Portugal and itvS ricli eastern colonies
were annexed to the Spanish domain. No danger could then be expected
from the direction of Borneo and Sulu, and tlie aml)itious new (jovernor-
General turned his attention to more desirable fields of conquest.
Piracy was not the primary cause of this invasion of Sulu. Public
sentiment was not so strong against slavery in those days as it is now;
for the Spaniards and other leading civilized nations were then diligently
pursuing a profitable trade in it between the west coast of Africa and
the West Indies and America. Piracy is always a crime among nations,
but it can not be urged as the principal and leading cause of this war
or as sufi&cient reason in itself for the early precipitation of such a
deadly conflict between Sulu and Spain. Eeligion, on the other hand,
was declared by Governor Sande to be the "principal reason for going
to their lands." He ordered the Sulus not to admit any more preachers of
Islam, but to allow the Spanish priests to preach Christianity to them.
The Mohammedan preachers he directed to be arrested and brought to
him, and the mosques to be burned or destroyed and not to be rebuilt.
Part of the instructions the Adelantado ^ Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
received before embarking on his expedition to the Philippines read as
follows :
And you shall have especial care that, in all your n^otiations with the
natives of those regions some of the religious accompanying you be present, both
in order to avail yourself of their good counsel and advice, and so that the
natives may see and understand your high estimation of them; for seeing this,
and the great reverence of the soldiers toward them, they themselves will hold
the religious in great respect. This will be of great moment, so that, when
the religious shall understand their language, or have interpreters through whom
they may make them understand our holy Catholic faith, the Indians shall
put entire faith in them; since you are aware that the chief thing sought after
by his Majesty is the increase of our holy Catholic faith, and the salvation of
the souls of those infidels.'
In 1566, a petition was sent from Cebu to the King of Spain, bearing
the signatures of Martin de Goiti, Guide de Labezari, and the other
leading officers under Legaspi, setting forth, among other requests, the
following :
That the Moros, "because they try to prevent our trade with the natives
and preach to them the religion of Mohammed," may be enslaved and lose their
property. That slave traffic be allowed, "that the Spaniards may make use of
them, as do the chiefs and natives of those regions, both in mines and other
works that oflfer themselves/"
In a letter addressed to Legaspi King Philip II said:
We have also been petitioned in your behalf concerning the ^loro Islands in
that land, and how those men come to trade and carry on commerce, hindering
the preaching of the holy gospel and disturbing you. We give you permission
to make such Moros slaves and to seize their property. You are warned that
you can make them slaA^es only if the said Moros are such by birth and choice,
and if they come to preach their Mohammedan doctrine or to make war
against you or against the Indians, who are our subjects and in our royal service.
