Dressing up the Monarch

ABSTRACT

The present article analyses the strategy used by the sultans of Sulu over two centuries (19th-21st) to affirm their status and authority, from their costumes to the symbols used. By doing so, it highlights how tradition makes use of old materials, symbols and rites from the southern Philippines, while it incorporates others which belong to the European heraldic language to extend the symbolic vocabulary of authority and power. The article uses written and visual sources to demonstrate how the royal house adapts to the changing local and international political situations. The comparison cases from the 19th and the 21st centuries shed light on the evolving diplomatic usage and contribute to a better understanding of the political culture of the Sultanate of Sulu.

ABSTRAK

Makalah ini menganalisis strategi yang digunakan oleh para sultan Sulu selama dua abad (abad ke-19 dan ke-21) untuk menegaskan status dan kekuasaan mereka, mulai dari pakaian hingga simbol-simbol yang digunakan. Dengan demikian, makalah ini menyoroti bagaimana tradisi menggunakan bahan-bahan, simbol-simbol, dan ritus-ritus lama dari Filipina Selatan, selain juga menggabungkan beberapa hal yang berasal dari bahasa heraldik Eropa untuk memperluas kosakata simbolis otoritas dan kekuasaan. Makalah ini menggunakan sumber-sumber tertulis dan visual untuk menunjukkan bagaimana istana kerajaan beradaptasi dengan situasi politik lokal dan internasional yang terus berubah. Perbandingan kasus dari abad ke-19 dan ke-21 menjelaskan penggunaan diplomatik yang terus berkembang dan berkontribusi pada pemahaman yang lebih baik tentang budaya politik Kesultanan Sulu.

KEYWORDS:

• Islam in the Philippines
• Sulu sultanate
• authority
• Malay
• cultural history

KATA KUNCI:

• Islam di Filipina
• Kesultanan Sulu
• otoritas
• Melayu
• sejarah budaya

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Notions and practice of authority, power, and force, although closely interrelated, remain distinct from each other.

2 For this occurrence and the others, original in German, translation by the author.

3 Ruma bichara designates a council in Sulu but is a title in Sumbawa (Indonesia). The common origin of both terms may be in Makassar (Henri Chambert-Loir, pers. comm., 2012).

4 Jamalul Kiram I was the son of Sultan Alimud Din III (r.1778–1791) and the grandson of Dayang-Dayang Piandao (daughter of Sultan Sharifud Din). As the system of descent is bilateral in Sulu, both the maternal and paternal lines are of importance, thus Jamalul Kiram I had a strong claim although his father, Alimud Din III, had been named sultan by his mother Dayang-Dayang Piandao, but not being recognised by the ruma bichara, his power was limited to Maimbung (Tuban 1994).

5 Aliyud Din II was the son of Sultan Aliyud Din I (r.1808–1821).

6 Alimud Din IV is the grandson of Sultan Israil I (r.1774–1778). The Dungun branch began with Badarud Din, his great-great-grandfather.

7 Those centres of power are periodically activated as shown by the following succession crisis in 1881. For a detailed account see Suva (2020).

8 The expression, coined by James Warren (2007: xiii, xxvii–xviii), designates an area which extension varied, in time, with the influence of global economy. It encompasses the Sulu archipelago, the southern coast of Mindanao, North Borneo, North Sulawesi, and the maritime space of the southern Philippines.

9 Herman Leopold Schück arrived in the Philippines from Germany as a merchant mariner. He then settled in Jolo, Sulu, where he became a coffee planter, and a close acquaintance of the sultan (Montemayor 2005).

10 Original in French, translation by the author.

11 While fashion varied from one sultanate to another, traditional Malay dress was composed of a jacket, trousers and a sarong (Milner 1982: 2–3).

12 Those do not appear in the portrait but in a drawing, probably based on a photo, of the audience.

13 Named kandit or kambut, Sulu sashes were used as protective girdles by Sulu men (Sakili 2003: 162).

14 In the Philippine archipelago, the use of a stick or form of a sceptre as a symbol of authority was not always in relation to Spanish influence.

15 PP MS 26/3/1/1 (SOAS archive).

16 I thank Cristina Juan for the metadata provided (pers. comm., 20 January 2022). The names are known thanks to a letter from Haji Butu, minister of Sulu, to Ifor Ball Powell, who was enquiring about the people on the image. They are (left to right): Hadji Bandahali, Hadji Omar, the Sultan of Sulu Badaruddin II, Hadji Samla, and Samania, the son of Hajdi Omar.

17 The photo is also reproduced in Worcester (1899: 177).

18 Similar to the Malay sarong.

19 Known as jigha or kalgi in the Indian subcontinent, this bejewelled plume fixed to the turban was brought to India by the Mughals. Before that Hindu and Muslim kings were wearing turban ornament of a different style.

20 Line of Succession of the Sultans of Sulu of the Modern Era, Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, 26 February 2013. <https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/02/26/line-of-succession-of-the-sultans-of-sulu-of-the-modern-era/> Accessed 4 February 2024.

21 The present situation results from several divisions of the initial line of descents. Five of the contenders to the throne with the strongest claim formed, in 2016, the Royal Council of the Sulu Sultanate in order to speak with one voice regarding political issues concerning the sultanate, especially in the frame of a new autonomy planned for the Southern Philippines. It is formed by Sultan Ibrahim Q. Bahjin, Sultan Muedzul-Lail Tan Kiram, Sultan Mohammad Venizar Julkarnain Jainal Abirin, Sultan Muizuddin Jainal Abirin Bahjin, and Sultan Phugdalun Kiram II. Mindanews, 30 May 2016. It is unclear whether the council have a hold in time.

22 In 2021, the heirs of the Sulu sultanate, who appear to be represented only by the descendants of Jamalul Kiram II won an arbitration case over the lease of Northern Borneo to Malaysia. The case, ruled by a court in Paris, ordered Malaysia to pay 62.59 billion ringgit to the Sulu descendants. It was dismissed in 2023 by the Paris Court of Appeal.

23 Son of Sultan Mohammed Esmail whose reign was marked by effort regarding the question of Sabah.

24 Memorandum Order no. 487. <https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1974/05may/19740510-MO-0427-FEM.pdf> Accessed 4 February 2024.

25 The most known is Jamalul Kiram III, who also proclaimed himself sultan and had enough supporters to briefly take over a village in Sabah (Malaysia) which caused a tense armed confrontation in February 2013.

26 <https://sultanateofsulu.ecseachamber.org/honours-and-awards/index-1.htm> Accessed 4 February 2024.

27 The Order has six grades with respective specific rights regarding the use, display and organisation of the insignia.

28 Although difficult to recognise at first sight on the coat of arms, the gonfanon stands for a sambulayan, a traditional sail flag in Sulu. For a description of the heraldic symbols, see Royal House of Kiram <https://sultanateofsulu.ecseachamber.org/royal-house-of-kiram/index-1.htm> Accessed 4 February 2024.

29 Composed of scholars in chivalry, heraldry, nobility, and royalty.

30 The list of the bestowed titles is long and includes honorific titles and certificates of appreciation from Rwanda (2011), Hawaii (2016) and Belgium (2017). <https://sultanateofsulu.ecseachamber.org/honours-and-awards/index-1.htm> Accessed 4 February 2024.

31 The royal house of Sulu, Facebook account. <https://www.facebook.com/sulusultanate/photos/his-majesty-muedzul-lail-tan-kiram-the-35th-sultan-of-sulu-and-north-borneo-his-/1724989377519317/> Accessed 4 February 2024. Images of the coronation consulted in 2021 are no longer available.

32 In official letters from the 19th century, Sulu sultans traditionally refer to themselves as Paduka Mahasari Maulana Sultan Hadji. For letters by Sultan Badaruddin see Undescribed letters from Sulu, PP MS 26/04/03, transcribed by the Jawi Transcription Project. For letters by Jamalul Kiram II, see Tan (2005).

33 The Royal Astana (Royal Palace) Replica Project of Sulu Sultanate (Ron Seyer) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwppSzu4Jg&t=2s> Accessed 4 February 2024.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elsa Clavé

Elsa Clavé is assistant professor for Austronesian Studies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) at the Department for Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Hamburg, and member of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at the same university. She specialises in the cultural history of the Malay world and has worked extensively on the southern Philippines. Her most recent publication, Les sultanats du Sud philippin: une histoire sociale et culturelle de l’islamisation (XV ^e–XX ^e siècles) [The sultanates of the southern Philippines: a social and cultural history of Islamisation (15th to 20th century)] was published by EFEO, 2022. Email: [email protected]