Qualla: Sulu https://qualla.com/sulu en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Sulu https://qualla.com/sulu Sulu: Introduction https://qualla.com/sulu/ Photo credit Roel Balingit, CC BY-SA 3.0. In September 2024, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that Sulu's inclusion in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region was unconstitutional. The province had voted against joining in the 2019 plebiscite, and the court honored that decision. It was the latest turn in a centuries-long argument over who governs this chain of volcanic islands where the Sulu Sea meets the Celebes. Sulu has been a Hindu principality, an Islamic sultanate, a Spanish military target, an American territory, a Japanese-occupied province, and a Philippine battleground. Through all of it, the Tausug people who call it home have maintained a fierce attachment to self-determination.

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Image: Roel Balingit | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/w9n4-sulu-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Sulu: Before the Sultans https://qualla.com/sulu/ Photo credit Kleomarlo, Public domain. Sulu's earliest inhabitants practiced animist religions, which eventually gave way to Hindu and Buddhist belief systems. The Kingdom of Lupah Sug, governed by rajahs, was established centuries before Islam arrived. The advent of Islam around 1138, carried by Arab and Persian merc...

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Image: Kleomarlo | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/w9n4-sulu-before-the-sultans.mp3 0:06 2 full Sulu: The Royal Capital at Maimbung https://qualla.com/sulu/ Photo credit John Foreman, Public domain. Maimbung, on the southern coast of Jolo island, served as the royal capital of the Sultanate of Sulu. The capital is Jolo town today, but Maimbung retains its historical significance as the seat from which sultans directed a maritime state that stretched across the Sulu Sea to Bo...

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Image: John Foreman | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/w9n4-sulu-the-royal-capital-at-maimbung.mp3 0:06 3 full Sulu: Siege, Fire, and Aftermath https://qualla.com/sulu/ Photo credit WikiSharee, CC BY-SA 4.0. The most devastating chapter in Sulu's modern history began in the 1970s. The Muslim Separatist Rebellion, which erupted under the Marcos regime, made Jolo its principal battleground. In 1974, the Moro National Liberation Front attempted to take the town, and the ensuing military...

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Image: WikiSharee | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/w9n4-sulu-siege-fire-and-aftermath.mp3 0:06 4 full Sulu: The Question of Belonging https://qualla.com/sulu/ Photo credit Agtillah, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sulu's relationship with the rest of the Philippines has always been contested. The Moro National Liberation Front was granted leadership of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 1996, and the Bangsamoro Organic Law created a new autonomous framework in 2019. But when the p...

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Image: Agtillah | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/n/4/sulu-wp/w9n4-sulu-the-question-of-belonging.mp3 0:06 5 full