Sulu: The Heart of a Trading Zone

The recent hostage situation in Sulu depicted the southernmost tip of the Philippines as an area
people should stay away from. But today’s impoverished chain of islands was the center of
international commerce during the height of Sulu’s glory. In the late 19th century, the Sultanate
of Sulu took part in the bold European expansion throughout Southeast Asia, where the Dutch,
British, and Spanish angled for a share of the highly profitable Chinese trade.

When Manila and Cebu were yet small settlements, the isles of the Sulu archipelago were home
to one of the richest and foremost settlements in Spanish-era Philippines. Sulu bridged two
distinct worlds and lay at
the most strategic point for maritime trade.

China, the Philippines, and Mindanao were situated to the north, Borneo to the southwest and,
to the southeast, the Celebes and the Moluccas. A watershed on the landscape of insular
Southeast Asia, Sulu separated the autonomous Muslim maritime world from the agrarian,
Christianized Philippines administered by Spanish authorities from Manila.

The political and commercial advantages of the Sultanate’s location were both enviable and
unique. Being situated at the crossroads of international trade and politics offered Sulu
opportunities for development and challenges for defending what was right and just.

The Sultanate’s central position in relation to Asian routes of trade and exchange, as well as its
abundant natural resources for export to China attracted the attention of the West, while Sulu’s
sizable population attracted neighboring merchants.

Sulu’s supremacy as a market center and regional power depended on expansive trade. The
archipelago’s location and natural resources fit perfectly with the requirements of Europe’s trade
with China.

To barter for tea in Chinese ports, for instance, the British needed another set of products to
trade, other than opium and manufactures. The maritime and jungle products found within
Sulu—sea slugs, bird’s nest, and mother of pearl—were highly sought after and had been
traded between Sulu and China for the longest time. The British gained access to these goods,

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Sulu: The Heart of a Trading Zone

which they brought to China, by trading arms with the Sultan of Sulu.

By fitting into the patterns of Chinese and European commerce, the Sultanate of Sulu
established itself as a powerful commercial center, dominating trading activities involving
Borneo, Celebes, Singapore and Labuan, as well as Manila, Palawan, and southern Mindanao.

The Sulu archipelago was stimulated by European expansion and commerce, but it gradually
developed its own patterns of trade in defiance of the British, Spanish, and Dutch empires.
Complex interrelationships from trading activities enabled Sulu to consolidate its power over
areas of the Sulu trading zone in the margins of nearby European colonies and China. The
trade Sulu established with Bengal, Manila, Macao, and Canton, and later with Singapore,
initiated the large-scale importation of weapons, luxury goods, and foodstuffs. The annual
arrival of Chinese junks and Bugis prahus at the capital city of Jolo reflected a regular demand
for local products.

Throughout the 19th century, the Jolo market offered British-made brassware, glassware,
Chinese earthenware and ceramics, fine muslins, silk and satin garments, Spanish tobacco and
wines, and opium from India.

There was a constant increase not only in the variety, but also in the quality of objects of trade.
Luxury goods for personal adornment, pleasure, and households were used by the Sulu
aristocracy to form the material basis of their social prestige. Firearms, weapons, and
gunpowder further strengthened the Sultunate’s military might. Sulu’s economy was organized
around collecting and distributing its labor-intensive marine and jungle products. This, in turn,
drove the demand for slaves. Such needs further intensified Sulu’s retaliatory raids for captives,
especially from Spanish-held areas in the Philippines, many of whom were later assimilated into
the population of Sulu. This is how external trade became a vital element of the Sulu social
system. Within a short span of several decades, the Sulu Sultanate established itself as a
regional power.

By the end of the century, Sulu’s population was heterogeneous and changing—socially,
economically, and ethnically—as a direct result of external trade. The people of Sulu enjoyed

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Sulu: The Heart of a Trading Zone

active economic, sociocultural, and political interactions with their Asian neighbors, particularly
China and the rest of Southeast Asia. Out of contact with these foreigners emerged a hybrid
Sulu culture, which historically resisted assimilation into the heavy Spanish-American oriented
Philippine culture.

Traces of this hybrid culture are manifested in Sulu’s religious practices, customs, arts, and
languages. From the Chinese, the Sulus learned culinary habits, use of porcelain dishes,
umbrellas and white cloth for mourning. The exclusive use of the color yellow is believed to be
influenced by the royal court of China.

From the Hindus, the people of Sulu learned the burning of incense during rituals and the
observance of panulak balah, a water-cleansing day traced to the Ganges River holy bath of the
Hindus.

Arab influence can be noted in the use of Arabic script locally called jawi, Moorish arts, and the
use of firearms. The Arab’s most remarkable gift to Sulu and other Islamized people was the
introduction of Islam and its accompanying legacies of beliefs, ritual practices, and organized
socio-political institutions.

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Sulu: The Heart of a Trading Zone

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