Raiders of the Sulu Sea The Ancient Maritime Vessels of

the Moro People

 The Moro People used compasses, browsed
The Three Muslim Tribes telescopes, and the stars to navigate the seas.
 Muslim tribes known as raiders or pirates: They are also knowledgeable about the
Balangingi-Samal, Illanuns, and Taosug, they moonson of the region and use them to travel
trade slaves from Mindanao to Zamboanga extensively during the month of August and
which occur more during the colonization of the October in a period called "The Pirate Season"
Spanish. Lanong
The Taosog Tribes  Large outrigger warship used by the Iranun and
 The dominant ethnic group in the Sulu the Banguingui people of the Philippines. It
archipelago because of their political and could reach up to 30m (90 ft) in length with 6
religious institutions, the Tausug occupy Jolo, meters wide hounds, each at cannons mounted
Indanan, Siasi, and Patikul in Sulu. at the bar and had two biped shear masts which
 Tausug is a combination of tau (person) and doubled as boarding ladders. It has 24 oars at
suug (the old name of Jolo Island). The present each side rowed by captures slaves that served
generation of Tausugs are believed to be as their flagships.
descended from the different ethnic groups that Garay
had migrated to the Sulu archipelago.
 Native warship of Banguingui People in the
The Illanuns Philippines. These are the fast-attack boats of
the Samalian Tribes. They were made by
 Also called Iranun and Ilianon as well, are
bamboo wood. and Nipa Palm and could carry
closely related culturally and linguistically to the
100 sailors. The ship was 25 meters long and 6
Maranao and Maguindanaon. The Illanun
meters across and hounds the power magazine
language is part of the Austronesian family that
and cannon at the barrel. With 30 to 60 oars in
is most closely related to Maranao.
each side, the Garay was faster than any
 The majority of Illanun live along the coastline seagoing vessel of its time.
in the of the towns of Nulingi, Parang, Matanog,
and Barira in Maguindanao Province, Mindanao;
along the Iliana Bay coast, north of the mouth The Ancient Weapons of the
of the Pulangi River; Moro People
Balangingi-Samal Tribe Salisipan
 Also known Northern Sama or Northern Sinama  Also known as "Kakap" is a canoe-shaped boat
an ethnolinguistic group living on the Greater which sometimes have outriggers. They are
Sulu Archipelago and the southern and western often used by the Iranun and Banguingui
coastal regions of the Zamboanga peninsula in Peoples of the Philippines for piracy and for
Mindanao. raids on coastal area.
 Traces the process of the formation of the Kalis/ Kris
Samal Balangingi as an ethnic group comprised
of 'pirates' and their captives, and their  Double-edged Filipino sword, often with a
continued sense of belonging to the island "wavy" section. The kalis's double-edged blade
stronghold of Balangingi, even after its can be used for both cutting and thrusting. The
inhabitants were forcefully resettled between sword is more than 300 years old and it was
1848 and 1858.
 used during the time of the Spanish
colonization.

Barong
The Fort Pilar of Zamboanga City
 Barong or Barung is the one Taosug warriors
 Zamboanga City sits at the tip of the Southwest
use to cut off an M-14 and a carabiner because
peninsula of the Philippines that is protected by
its blade is thick. It is a deadly weapon and a
the city’s Fort Pilar –a ten-meter-high wall that
sword with a single-edge leafshape blade made
acted as a defense fortress. The Fort served as
of thick type of steel. It is also a 1-meter long
the base of operations to check on slave-raiding
weapon that was used to enclose hand to hand
going on the north and back.
battle to cut Spanish firearms down to size

Kampilan
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
 Longest sword that was used by the Illanuns. It
is a heavy, single-edge sword that has two It is the 18th Century, and life from some of the coastal
horns projecting from the blunt side of the tip inhabitants of the Philippines was anything but idyllic.
which was used to pick up the head of the For without warning, they could be attacked by the
decapitated body. merciless Illanuns –the raiders of the Sulu Sea. These
 It is about 36 to 40 inches (90 to 100 cm) long, it raiders were fearless and fiercer in battle even against
is much larger than other Filipino swords. better armed, technologically superior colonial forces.
To the western colonists, these raiders are nothing but
Armor barbaric pirates; and they were hunted down and such.
 Made from carabao horn. Its steel plate was But there is speculation that these raiders are not the
molded to fit the body and held together by savages they were made out to be, but nearly
chain mail. It could also deflect the blows from a indigenous people defending their way of life against
sword but useless against firearms. the foreign oppressor. There is little doubt that these
raiders were skilled fighters and deadly swordsmen, but
The Ancient Weapons of the Spanish they are also expert sailors and builders of formidable
vessels of war. These raiders are not just bandits but a
Forces
well organized force that could attack with the precision
Musket of strategy, giving these western colonial forces a run
for their lives.
 Could fire 90 meters. It was inaccurate and took
several stages steps to reload CONTENT ANALYSIS
Cannons The documentary film highlights the resistance of the
Moro people in the southern Philippines against Spanish
 Type of gun classified as artillery that launches a
and American colonial forces. It presents the Moros not
projectile using propellant. In the past,
as pirates or rebels, but as indigenous people defending
gunpowder was the primary propellant before
their homeland. Key points include:
the invention of smokeless powder in the 19th
century. Cannons vary in caliber, range, 1. Jolo was a "slave market" in the 18th-19th century.
mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and 2. A notable event was the December 8th, 1720 attack
firepower. led by King Dalasi.

3. Due to the increase and demand of slaves, raiders

kept on capturing people.
4. Spanish colonizers were motivated by commercial
interests and the spread of Christianity in the region.

5. Slave-raiding already happened even before the

presence of Western Colonizers. And it was legal at that
time.

6. During 1848, the Spaniards attacked the Balangingi

settlement and destroyed it with the help of their
powerful steamships coming from Britain.

7. The Spaniards have succeeded and gradually ended

the slave raiding.

The film suggests that the Moro struggle was deeply

rooted in defending their culture, religion, and
livelihood against foreign occupation.

HISTORICAL RELEVANCE
The historiography documentary film “Raiders of the
Sulu Sea” is a presentation of the study of the history
that happened in the mid-17th century and the years
after that was still in the line with the Moro-Spanish
past. It vindicated the Moro Wars in the Mindanao
Region, as to the influence of Religious Ideologies and
economic forces that drove the clash resistance –to
what was the aftermath of it; that will serve as an
insight to what happened on the Southern tip of
Zamboanga City and the Western Power sufficing it with
artillery and force. The history of the Moro people is
part of the backbone of the historical development of
the Philippines. It was asserted in the film that no
Philippine history can be complete without the study of
Muslim development and the Colonization that
occurred.