King of Kings, Lord of Lords - Sulu's 4th Sultan

The tomb of Sultan Bolkiah at Kota Batu.
Interestingly, Kota Batu is the old capital of Brunei.

My argument is based on the claim that Sultan Amirul Umara may have been Brunei's Sultan Bolkiah. During his time, Brunei reached its golden age, the height of its empire. An empire, a number of neighboring states came under her influence earning him the monicker "the singing admiral". In effect, the states continue to exist but subject to Sultan Bolkiah's overlordship.

I have argued that Sultan Alauddin, the 3rd sultan, reigned under the tutelage of Sultan Amirul Umara, the 4th sultan. The succession squabble of Alauddin with his Kamaluddin (2nd sultan) may not hold true because of this overlordship of Nakhoda Ragam or Sultan Bolkiah (allegedly Sulu's Sultan Amirul Umara).

In certain Sulu genealogies, the title of Amirul Umara is often interchange with Maharajah di Rajah. Both titles denotes an overlord, lord of lords, which is what Sultan Bolkiah at the height of Brunei's golden age, and with an empire covering large part of Borneo, the islands of Palawan up to Selurong (Luzon) and as far as Sulu to the east.

Sultan Amirul Umara became sultan in 1485 upon the abdication of his father.

Genealogy

• Sultan Bolkiah's father is Sultan Sulaiman, Brunei's 5th sultan.
• He is a grandson of the revered and pious Sharif Ali Berkat, Brunei's 4th sultan. Sharif Ali is said to be an Arab who married Puteri Ratna Kesuma, the daughter of Sultan Ahmad (Brunei's 3rd Sultan).
• In 1530, Sultan Bolkiah abdicated in favor of his son, Sultan Abdul-Kahar. 

Source:
Sultan Bolkiah, 5th Sultan of Brunei
My Brunei Darussalam - Sultan Bolkiah's Tomb
Naima Talib's A Resilient Monarchy, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 4, 2 (December, 2002): 134-147.
Sultans of Brunei

Here lies ARMM

Those who subscribe to the Bangsamoro roadmap see the demise of ARMM sometime in 2016. If we are to write an epitaph for the 23 years or so of ARMM, how will it be?

Here lies ARMM
Twenty-three years old or so.
Desired the best,
Tried but wanting.
Reformed too late,
Hard lessons learned.
But for her offspring
Hope flickers eternally.

Alauddin, the 3rd Sulu Sultan at the time of Brunei's Golden Age

Between the clear reigns of the Sultan Kamaluddin (1480-1505) and the Sultan Amir ul-Umara (1505-1527) is Alauddin, brother of the former and the other son of Shariful Hashim.

It is not clear why he was not mention in the Saleeby's "Genealogy of Sulu" as in other tarsilas (genealogies) and khutabah (Friday sermon where a prayer for the ruling sultan is invoked) mention him as successor to his brother. Was there some sort of succession squabble between siblings or overpowered by some foreign power, we are tempted to ask.

He may have exercise political power over some areas. What is generally accepted about him is that he may have ruled but did not reigned, as he was not crown "sultan". Nonetheless, in Majul's analysis, he is placed as the 3rd sultan although the period of his rule is not placed. This is also the accepted placement among royal genealogies by today's claimant families.

If indeed this succession squabble is true, this is the first instance and will repeat itself through the centuries of the existence of this sultanate; and foreteld the present generation of succession squabble over what is now largely a titular throne.

There is another possible explanation and this is to take into consideration the person of the 4th Sultan known as Amir ul Umara (1505-1527). There is a claim that this person and Brunei's 5th or 6th Sultan Bolkiah are one and the same. If this is true, is it also possible that this period was actually the reign of Sultan Alauddin. Only this time, Sulu is subject to a powerful neighbor?

As claimed in their tarsila Brunei reached the zenith of its political power under Sultan Bolkiah (1485–1521), who oversaw an empire from Borneo to as far as Manila in the Philippines. In effect, Sultan Bolkiah was an overlord over several sultanates in the region. This overlord status is referred to in Sanskrit/Malay as "Maharajah di-Rajah" and in Arabic as "Amir ul-Umara", a lord having power or supremacy over other lords. Do this implies that the reign of Sultan Alauddin is actually the period corresponding to the overlordship of Sultan Bolkiah?

Because of the overlord status of Sultan Bolkiah, this is probably a reason why he took a Bajau princess from Sabah and a princess from Sulu as among his wives, to gain acceptance for his overlordship in this part of the Sulu Sea.

Together with his brother the 2nd sultan, Alauddin boasts a powerhouse ancestry that will never be repeated in Sulu history again - Shariful Hashim, founder of the sultanate, as their father; Paramisuli, a raja's daughter, as their mother and Rajah Baguinda, Sulu's only known rajah, as their maternal grandfather!

Sources:

• Cesar Adib Majul's Analysis of the "Genealogy of Sulu" published in Archipelago, (Volume 22, 1981; pp. 167-182)
• "History of Brunei"
• Pusat Sejarah Brunei's "Sultan-Sultan Brunei"
• "Rulers of the Sultanate of Sulu"