Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Raiders of The Sulu Sea
The Raiders of The Sulu Sea
The Contributors:
1. Samal Balangingi
2. Illanun
3. Taosug
The three tribes are not really pirates during the times they were plying their trade of
capturing people and selling them as slaves. Slave trading was a business then and they were
not raiding ships in high seas. What they did was go and land in different shores posing as
fishermen. Without any warning, draw their 1-meter long swords and take as many slaves as
they can. Once captured, the slaves’ palms are punctured and tied to each other.
Lanong
- large outrigger warships used by the Iranun and the Banguingui people
- specialized for naval battles
- were prominently used for piracy and slave raids from the mid-18th century to the
early 19th century in most of Southeast Asia
Garay
Salisipan
- auxiliary vessels
- usually part of fleets with larger motherships like pangajava, garay, or lanong
warships. Among Malays, this type of boat is used as a boat of war or passenger
boat
- often used by the Iranun and Banguingui people of the Philippines for piracy and for
raids on coastal areas.
Moro Kris
- A weapon of warfare and ceremony
- This are not only carried by slave raiders into battles but also by nobles and high ranking
officials of the Southern Sultanate
- Double edged with either smooth or wavy blades
- The curving is for easily slashing- it would penetrate the bone and would stick making it hard
to pull
Kampilan
- longest the sword , used by the Illanuns
- heavy single edged sword often adorned with hair to make it look even intimidating
- at the tip of the blade, a projecting blunt side was used to pick up the head of a decapitated
body
Barong
- Deadly weapon sword used by the Taosug warriors with single-edged leaf blade made of
thick tempered steel
- Used to enclose hand-to-hand battle to cut Spanish firearms down