The History of Sulu

Published in 1908, this groundbreaking study represents one of the earliest attempts by a native scholar to recover the pre-colonial history of the Sulu Archipelago. Najeeb M. Saleeby spent years gathering genealogical manuscripts (tarsila) from local leaders and chiefs, piecing together a narrative that predates the Spanish arrival in the Philippines by centuries. The result is a meticulous account tracing the archipelago's geography, the migrations of its peoples from western Malaysia, and the rise of the Sulu sultanate as a powerful Islamic state. Saleeby documents the Mohammedanization of Sulu and traces its connections to the Islamic heartlands of Sumatra and Malacca, positioning Sulu firmly within the broader history of the Malayan world. This is not merely a regional history but a deliberate act of historical reclamation: an effort to prove that significant events occurred in the southern Philippines long before European colonizers arrived. For readers interested in the history of Muslim Southeast Asia, the Philippine sultanates, or the recovery of indigenous perspectives, Saleeby's work remains an invaluable and pioneering resource.