S O O L O O. 
349 
When the Chinese took possession of the northern parts of Borneo, 
under the Emperor Songtiping, about the year 1375, the daughter of 
that prince was married to a celebrated Arabian chief named Sherif 
Alii, who visited the shores of Borneo in quest of commerce. The 
descendants of this marriage extended their conquests not only over the 
Sooloo Archipelago, but over the whole of the Philippines, and rendered 
the former tributary to Borneo. In three reigns after this event, the 
sultan of Borneo proper married the daughter of a Sooloo chief, and 
from this union came Mirhome Bongsu, who succeeding to the throne 
w’hile yet a minor, his uncle acted as regent. Sooloo now wished to 
throw off the yoke of Borneo, and through the intrigues of the regent 
succeeded in doing so, as well as in retaining possession of the eastern 
side of Borneo, from Maludu Bay on the north, to Tulusyan on the 
south, which has ever since been a part of the Sooloo territory. 
This event took place before Islamism became the prevailing reli¬ 
gion ; but which form of idolatry, the Sooloos pretend, is not now 
known. It is, however, believed the people on the coasts were 
Budhists, while those of the interior w r ere Pagans. 
The first sultan of Sooloo was Kamaludin, and during his reign 
one Sayed Alii, a merchant, arrived at Sooloo from Mecca. He was 
a sherif, and soon converted one-half of the islanders to his own faith. 
He was elected sultan on the death of Kamaludin, and reigned seven 
years, in the course of which he became celebrated throughout the 
archipelago. Dying at Sooloo, a tomb was erected to him there, and 
the island came to be looked upon by the faithful as the Mecca of the 
East, and continued to be resorted to as a pilgrimage until the arrival 
of the Spaniards. 
Sayed Alii left a son called Batua, who succeeded him. The latter 
had two sons, named Sabudin and Nasarudin, who, on the death of 
their father, made war upon each other. Nasarudin, the youngest, 
being defeated, sought refuge on Tawi Tawi, where he established 
himself, and built a fort for his protection. The difficulties were finally 
compromised, and they agreed to reign together over Sooloo. Nasa¬ 
rudin had two sons, called Amir and Bantilan, of whom the former 
was named as successor to the two brothers, and on their deaths 
ascended the throne. During his reign another sherif arrived from 
Mecca, who succeeded in converting the remainder of the population 
to Islamism. Bantilan and his brother Amir finally quarrelled, and the 
latter was driven from Sooloo to seek refuge in the island of Basillan, 
where he became sultan. 
On the arrival of the Spaniards in 1566, a kind of desultory war 
was waged by them upon the various islands, in the hope of conquer- 
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