Royal Sultanate of Sulu (Sultaniyyah Sin Lupah Sug) is an Islamic Tausug state, currently under the Republic of the Philippines, which includes many of the islands of the Sulu Sea, in the southern Philippines and several places in northern Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia).
The sultanate was founded as a theocratic state in 1457 by a Johore-born Arab explorer and religious scholar Sayyid Abu Bakr Abirin, a direct descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. After the marriage of Abu Bakr Abirin and a local heiress, Dayang-Dayang (princess of the first degree) Paramisuli, he founded the sultanate and assumed the title Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Shariful-Hāshim. In the course of the following contacts with Europeans the Sultanate of Sulu was internationally recognised as a Kingdom (or a Royal Sultanate).
Once an influential power, the Sultanate faced several attempts to abolish the Sultanate (especially in 1915, when the USA imposed a highly restrictive agreement, and again in 1936, when the young Commonwealth of the Philippines decided to ignore the Sultanate’s temporal authority). However all these attempts failed to deprive either the Sultanate or its monarch of the sovereign rights and the state status. In 1962 and in 1974 the Philippine Government again officially recognised the continued existence of the Royal Sultanate of Sulu and the status of its monarch.Moreover, certain prerogatives of the Sultanate, as a genuine traditional indigenous institution, are specifically supported by a correspondent Philippine law. The current legitimate head of the Royal House of Sulu is, since 16th February 1986, H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul [I] Lail Tan Kiram.
H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul is the eldest son of the late King, H.M. Mohammad Mahakuttah A. Kiram, Sultan in the State of Sulu and all its districts and dependencies (1974–1986). Datu (Prince) Muedzul was crowned as Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Sulu on 24th May 1974 alongside his father in Sulu, under the Philippine Presidential Memorandum Order 427, which was issued by Ferdinand Marcos, the then President of Philippines, and which stated that "the Government has always recognised the Sultanate of Sulu". Raja Muda Muedzul is the last recognised heir to the throne of Sulu by the Philippine government, which recognition has never been revoked by any of the successive governments of the Republic. H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram is the grandson of the 33rd Sultan of Sulu, H.M. Mohammad Esmail E. Kiram (1950–1973). H.M. Sultan Muwallil Wasit II (1936) was his great grandfather and Sultan Jamalul Kiram II (1893–1936) was his great granduncle. Apart of his temporal royal status, the Sultan of Sulu is the religious leader of the Tausug nation. He also is the Head of the Hashemite lineage of Kiram which enjoys particular veneration due to the descent from Muhammad. Currently all these dignities are vested in the person of H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul.
H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul is the eldest son of the late King, H.M. Mohammad Mahakuttah A. Kiram, Sultan in the State of Sulu and all its districts and dependencies (1974–1986). Datu (Prince) Muedzul was crowned as Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Sulu on 24th May 1974 alongside his father in Sulu, under the Philippine Presidential Memorandum Order 427, which was issued by Ferdinand Marcos, the then President of Philippines, and which stated that "the Government has always recognised the Sultanate of Sulu". Raja Muda Muedzul is the last recognised heir to the throne of Sulu by the Philippine government, which recognition has never been revoked by any of the successive governments of the Republic. H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram is the grandson of the 33rd Sultan of Sulu, H.M. Mohammad Esmail E. Kiram (1950–1973). H.M. Sultan Muwallil Wasit II (1936) was his great grandfather and Sultan Jamalul Kiram II (1893–1936) was his great granduncle. Apart of his temporal royal status, the Sultan of Sulu is the religious leader of the Tausug nation. He also is the Head of the Hashemite lineage of Kiram which enjoys particular veneration due to the descent from Muhammad. Currently all these dignities are vested in the person of H.R.H. Raja Muda Muedzul.
Presidential Memorandum Order 427 issued by H.E. President Ferdinand Marcos
Sultanate of Sulu structure, which states that Sultanate of Sulu Raja Muda (Crown Prince) is H.R.H. Datu Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram
