Muwallil Wasit I of Sulu

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Muwallil Wasit I, also known as Rajah Bongsu I, was the 9th Sultan of Sulu and ruled from 1610 to 1650. Born Pangiran Shahbandar Maharajalela, he was the youngest son of Brunei’s Sultan Muhammad Hassan. He came to Sulu after Batara Shah Tengah died without a male heir, bringing Bruneian royal symbols to prove his lineage and to bring stability to the sultanate.

Wasit worked to unite the region and strengthen the economy, with help from a Bruneian aide known as Datu Acheh. He expanded trade, restored administration, and built a stronger state, but he also faced frequent conflict with the Spanish in Manila. In 1627 his forces attacked the Spanish shipyards at Camarines; the Spaniards struck back in 1628–29, and a Spanish expedition reached Sulu in 1630. Wasit’s forces repelled them, and he continued to push for power in the region.

In 1632 he formed a powerful alliance with Sultan Kudarat of Maguindanao. In 1634 the two sultans attacked Spanish settlements in the Visayas (Leyte and Bohol), taking captives and strengthening their prestige. Wasit also fortified Jolo’s defenses and strengthened ties with fellow Muslim rulers across the region. The two-sultanate alliance grew stronger, and raids continued into the mid-1630s.

The Spanish, led by Governor General Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, mounted campaigns to curb Wasit’s forces. In 1638 Wasit’s court moved to the southern island of Dungun, Tawi-Tawi, where he and his son Sarikula fought the Spaniards for years. A peace treaty was eventually reached in 1646, in which Nasir ud-Din (Kudarat) and Wasit’s realms recognized Sulu’s independence and its boundaries, improving Sulu’s economic position.

During the 1640s Wasit’s eldest son, Pangiran Salikula, led the Sulu army as Wasit aged. In 1645 Nasir ud-Din (Kudarat) became sultan by marrying Wasit’s daughter. Wasit briefly resumed the throne in 1650 after Sarikula died, but he soon died in Tawi-Tawi. He was succeeded by Pangiran Bakhtiar.

Wasit’s descendants continued to rule, forming the Kiram, Shakiraullah, and Maharajah Adinda families. He was known to his people as Rajah Bongsu I, and his modern heir is Raja Bongsu II of the Maharajah Adinda lineage.