Mindanao is known for being one of the places that successfully resisted Spanish colonization. But the whole island was never under a single kingdom, but rather multiple kingdoms.
The oldest of these kingdoms was the precolonial kingdom of Butuan. Many gold artifacts from the former realm have been uncovered here, including the Golden Tara. Envoys from Butuan have been sent to China since 1001. Butuan enjoyed relations with other local kingdoms as well as with larger empires like the Majapahit.
- Golden Tara shows Hindu-Buddhist influence in the area.
- Elaborate gold pieces like this kinnari vessel have been discovered here.
- Ancient Ivory Seal suggests Indianized influence and international trade.
The Sultanate of Maguindanao was another sultanate that ruled over present-day Maguindanao Province. This was a centralized sultanate that was founded in 1520, but before that, there was a predecessor state called Wenduling in 1304.
- Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan of Johor was credited with bringing Islam to the region.
- The sultans successfully resisted Spanish forces. Sultan Kudarat in particular was known for his resistance against the Spanish in the 17th century.
- The Sultanate ended during the American period when the entire island was occupied by Americans.
- Yellow was a color of royalty for the sultanate, showing Chinese influence.
The Lanao Confederacy was a decentralized confederation of many royal houses and sultans in the Lanao area. They seceded from the Sultanate of Maguindanao in 1616 and stayed a decentralized group of sultans.
- There were 16 royal houses in this territory.
- During the Spanish period, Maranao and Iranun forces conducted regular raids on the Visayas. They took on many slaves during these attacks.
- While they resisted Spanish colonization, they eventually fell to American invaders.
The Sultanate of Sulu was founded in the 1400s by a Johor-born religious scholar. At its peak, it spanned the Sulu Archipelago, Mindanao, and present-day Sabah in Malaysia.
- The Sultanate used to have the largest royal palace built in the Philippines.
- The archipelago had connections to Majapahit as evidenced by the Kakawin Nagarakretagama, and was under the name Solot.
- Sulu freely traded with Champa, with merchant Chams settling in Sulu.
- A sultan named Paduka Pahala moved to China, and his descendants currently live in Dezhou where they maintain his royal tomb.
- Karim ul-Makhdam arrived in 1380 and brought Islam to the islands. The first mosque in the Philippines is currently in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi.
- The sultanate broke free of Brunei in 1538.
- Raids from Sulu were common in the 17th and 18th centuries, with many slaves in Sulu coming from the Visayas.
- The sultanate eventually ceased power to the Americans in 1915, bringing the entire archipelago under American rule. The Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906 was one of the many war crimes Americans committed against the people in the Philippines, this one, in particular, happened in Sulu.
