RAIDERS OF THE SULU

18th century and the life of the Coastal inhabitants of the Philippines was anything but idyllic. For without
warning they could be attacked by the merciless Illanon the raiders of the Sulu Sea. When they capture a people,
they would bore a hole through their palms and put a string through the palm of each person. These raiders were
fearsome and fearless in battle even against better armed technologically superior colonial forces. To the Western
colonists the raiders were nothing more than barbaric outlaws of pirates and they were hunted down as such. It’s
very hard for someone who’s not used to seeing slave raiding to understand slave trading during those was legal.
There are speculations that these raiders were not the savages they were made out to be but nearly indigenous people
defending their way of life against a foreign oppressor but there is little doubt that these raiders were skilled fighters
and deadly swordsmen. They were also expert sailors and builders of formidable vessels of war, but these were no
ragtag band of marauders they were a well-organized force that could attack with precision and strategy, and they
gave Western colonial forces a run for their money.
December 8, 1720, in the Southernmost reaches of Spanish occupied Philippines stands Zamboanga City
protecting the City Fort Pillar. The garrison of 600 Spanish soldiers have already fought off several local rebel
attempts to take the Fort, but on that day, they will face a threat of unprecedented proportions. Heading their way,
hundreds of ships carrying 3,000 battle hardened raiders and the Spaniards are grossly outnumbered. The battle for
Fort Pillar is about to begin. Zamboanga City sits at the tip of the southernmost Peninsula of the Philippines. It is by
no mean a bustling metropolis these days but its still strategically located along an important sea route between the
northern and southern regions of Philippines. It was Zamboanga geographical advantage that made it valuable to the
Catholic Spaniards to colonized it in the 16th century. To protect their interested the Spanish colonists-built forts to
discourage potential invaders at the front line of these defenses was Fort del Pilar a 10-meter-high fortress that
sprawled over two acres.

Icelle Gloria B. Estrada

Art Historian
Zamboanga Del Norte

One of the most celebrated attacks on Fort Pillar was the 1720 attack by the Maguindanao King Dalasi. He
was the King of Bulig in Maguindanao. Raja Dalasi was planning attack on Zamboanga City together with the joint
forces of the Sulu Sultanate. 1
He attacked Zamboanga, burned the town around the Fort. He cut down the line of provisions for the
Spaniards and began war among the soldiers in the fort.2
Throw rock and boiling water on Rajah Dalasi men.
Rajah Dalasi fight with vengeance
The Fort was the base operation on the slave raiding from the North and going back.

Spanish refers the slave raiders as the morons

Three different tribes and challenge Spanish thrught out occupancy.

Dr. Samuel Tan

Historian
National Historical Institute
Pirates who were described by colonial powers involved activities of different tribes in Mindanao.

3 identified Groups
1. Balangingi tribe or the Samal that occupied the chain of islands between Basilan and Sulu
Island.
1
The Sulu and Maguindanao Sultanate where the two main kingdoms controlling the Muslims in the southern
Philippines. With the King Raja Dalasi, they launched a bloody attack on Fort Pillar.
2
Taking the fort would not be easy for King Dalasi and his fighters. Any possible approached on the Fort was
depended by roe of Spanish laterally. But even the Grean machineries the Spanish soldiers were outnumbered one
to five. Raja Dalasi militia were armed in the plunge of swords against the guns and canons of the Spaniards. Rajah
Dalasi men were disseminated by the
 2. Illanuns3 the very important in piracy history (Tausug were the one controlling)
3. Tausug Warriors the people with no maritime experience but known for fierce warriors and
wide spread of political power.
All the pirate attacks carried these contingents were the Ilanuns, the Balangingi Samal and the Tausug Warriors

3
Illanuns and Samal were both standing seafarers in the community and joint forces in the Tausug – a tribe
without the maritime experience known for fierce warriors and wide political power.