MAGUINDANAO HEROES

They are the men who protected the "promised land " against the conquerors. Their bravery is the reason of the freedom that we are indulging today. They are the MAGUINDANAOANS who fought until the moment of their last breath.

Now is the time to honor them for what they have done. For defending the crescent and for giving us the opportunity to live the way we live today.


Jikiri

A Samal (called Sama by fellow Muslims), he led a group of Moro warriors in an attack against the American Constabulary. His rebellion was a protest against the abolition of native leaders. Later, he captured the Borneans tasked to pursue him.
He took a last stand, together with his warriors, and their women and children, against the American troops in a cave on Patian island near Jolo. He and his companions were killed.


Sultan Kudarat

He united the Muslim clans in Cotobato, Lanao, and Basilan,and ruled for 50 years.
He led many raids and battles against Spain from 1634 up to 1637. In 1637, he was defeated, but was able to escape despite a bullet wound. He was again able to lead clan in battle from 1655 to 1668.
He inspired the Maranaos to oppose the building of a Spanish fort near Lake Lanao, thus saving Mindanao for Islam.
Before his death, he instructed his followers to forge a peace treaty with Spain.
Date of Birth: 1581
Place of Birth: Maguindanao
Date of Death: 1671


Datu' Tahir Uddin or Datu' Malinug

He led the defenders of Maguindanao against Spanish attacks in 1734. The first attack occurred at dawn, and the second lasted for three hours. The Muslims won.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1748


Datu' PandakIn

1924, he led a movement against the government. He believed that the spirit of Saruang, a dead leader, and those of others killed earlier by government troops, had come back to avenge their villages in Lano, but was shattered by Pandak's own death.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Panginan SarikulaSon of Rajah Bungsu

He joined in conducting the earliest Muslim raids against Spaniards in retaliation to Spanish attempts to colonize Mindanao in July 1599.
Retaliated against Spanish expeditions by launching a series of raids against Luzon and Visayas in 1645-1648. These raids halted Spanish advance into Mindanao for the next 50 years.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1648

Sirungan or SilunganRajah of Buayan

He held the Buayanes against the Spaniards in the Battle of Buayan in Cotobato in 1596.
Together with his brother Datu Ubal, he successfully pushed back the enemy into the coast of Rio Grande, thus thwarting the first Spanish attempt to colonize Buayan.
He killed Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa who lead the first Spanish expedition to Cotobato
In 1599, he joined forces with Datu Sali of Maguindanao in attacking the Spanish colonies in the Visayas.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Datu' Tagal

This brother of Sultan Kudarat led for eight months a fleet of seven ships in attacking the Spanish-held areas in the Visayas.
On his way home to Mindanao, his forces were pursued and engaged in battle by the Spaniards. He, a younger brother, and 300 other warriors were killed in combat.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: December 31, 1636


Datu' Tungul

In June 1902, he led an attack on American forces near Camp Vicars to manifest Muslim resistance to American presence in Lanao. He later ran amuck and was killed.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1903


Datu' Ubal

In the Battle for Buayan in 1596, this brother of Raja Sirungan killed the leader of the Spanish invaders of Sulu. Thus, he preserved the freedom of Kingdom of Buaya.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Datu' Uto'

He fought the Spaniards in many battles to defend his capital Bakat several times, but he lost it eventually in 1886. He signed a peace treaty with the Spaniards in 1887.
Date of Birth: 1860
Place of Birth: Buayan, Maguindanao
Date of Death: 1888


Sultan Mawallil Wasit

He led 2,000 warriors in raiding the Spanish shipyards in Camarines in 1627.
He defended Jolo against Spanish attack in 1638. However, sickness within the fort forced him and the other datus to surrender after three months of fighting. He escaped soon after. He was one of the greatest leaders of Sulu. Under him, the Sultanate of Sulu reached its peak.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Jolo, Sulu
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Datu' Ache

He helped unite the leaders of Sulu.
He unjustly suffered imprisonment in Manila after joining a diplomatic mission there.
He successfully planned and led Muslim attacks on the Spanish shipyards in Camarines and Bagutao.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded

Sulatan Ajmalul A'lam

He defended Jolo against the Spanish invasion of 1876. He transferred his capital to Maimbung, and from there continued the war using the juramentados, Muslim who take an oath to kill non-Muslims. Their attacks forced the Spaniards to leave. He signed a treaty of peace with Spain in 1878.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1880


Datu' Alamada

He continued Datu Ali's resistance to American rule in Cotobato after Ali's death in 1906.
With 300 men, he led attacks on American colonial forces in Buldon and Upper Cotobato, and commanded the loyal support of thousands of Muslims. His influence was so strong that the Americans thought of hiring to destroy him. He refused to surrender to the Americans preferring to surrender to a Filipino official in 1913.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Datu' Ali

Known as Raja Buayan, he was the ruler of the Upper Valley of Cotobato and was the acknowledged leader of the Maguindanaos in the 1900s.
He led the revolt against the American government from 1903 to 1906, first fighting the enemy in open battle, and then using guerrilla warfare.
His brother Djimbagan was captured at fort Serenaya and then used as hostage to force him to surrender, but he did not yield. He continued to fight until October, when in the Battle of Simpetan, he and most of his men were killed. In another battle later that month, three of his sons were also killed.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: October 22, 1906


Sultan Alimuddin I or Azimuddin

He was one of the first Muslim leaders to forge friendly relations with Spain by signing a peace treaty in 1737.
He revised the Sulu Code of Laws and prepared the Arabic-Sulu vocabularies for all Muslim priests.
During his unjust imprisonment in Manila in 1751, he facilitated, through his daughter Fatima, the release of 50 Christians in Jolo.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Datu' Ampuanagus

He led a battle against the American colonial government in 1903, when his fort at Taraca in Lanao was assaulted and captured by American forces. Two hundred of his men were killed. He surrendered along with six other datus and 22 warriors.
He resumed the war in 1906 by ambushing an American force sent from Camp Keithley destroy him. Later, a bigger battle in Didanganin greatly diminished his forces.
In 1908, he and his men attacked American forces in Dansalan with only 20 rifles.
He later surrendered after the negotiations between Muslim leaders and the American government, marking the end of Muslim resistance to American rule. It was only in 1935 that hostilities between the two resumed.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded

Maharaja Andung

He led an attack on Camp Rumbough, an American detachment, in 1903.
He built forts in many places, including in Tumpak, Kaunayan, Sangai-Tunggal, Kamasarin, and Sinumaan.
The Americans attacked his fort at Sinumaan. The trenches he built around the fort did not stop the enemy from advancing. He and 74 other warriors were killed in battle.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1903 (?)


Hadji Butu Abdul baqui

At 16, he serve as prime minister of the Sultanate of Sulu.
A master of the Qur'an and Arabic, he made use of his learning by continuously working for peace among the Sulu leaders and between the latter and the Spanish and American colonizers.
Time and again, he was able to prevent bloodshed by pacifying his people, especially during the early American rule.
Date of Birth: 1865
Place of Birth: Jolo
Date of Death: February 22, 1938


Sultan Bantilan or Sultan Muiz Uddin

This younger brother of Alimudin led a raid against government settlements in the Visayas in the 1750's.
Despite a rivalry with his brother over the Jolo sultanate, he brought about his brother's release from prison in Manila by writing a petition to the Spanish governador-general to review his case, and reciprocated the latter's peace efforts.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded Date of Death: Unrecorded


Sultan pangiran Buddiman or Muhammad ul-halim

He defended Jolo against the Spaniards in 1578, but lost the battle. He was forced to pay pearls in tribute. He vowed to continue resisting Spanish rule in Jolo.
Date of Birth: Unrecored Place of Birth: Unrecorded Date of Death: Unrecorded


Kapitan Laut Buisan

He became chief of Maguindanao after the reign of his brother, Datu Salikula.
He defended, but lost, his lan in the battle of Buayan in 1597.
He joined Raja Sirungan, the Raja Mura, in conducting raids against the Spanish settlements in Cuyo and Calamianes in 1602, using 100 boats and 100 men from each of the Maguindanao villages.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: 1619


Datu' Dimasangkay

A ruler of Maguindanao in 1579, he led in defending their land against the Spanish invaders. The Maguindanaos won the battle.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded


Panglima Hassan

As chief of Look, he led some 4,000 Moro warriors in the attack on the American fort at Jolo in 1903.
He was captured while defending his camp at Lake Seit in November 1903, but he soon escaped.
He resumed the war in February 1904 when , together with Datu's Laksamana and Usap, he attacked the pro-American Sultan Kiram and his forces in the battle of Pampang. He lost in the battle, and was later killed with his two companions along the crater of Bud Bagsak.
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: March 1904