Slavery in the Philippines Sulu Sultanate

The Social Impact of Slavery in the Sulu Sultanate

Introduction

With the introduction of western colonial power in South-East Asia in the end of the eighteen century an increasingly demand of products and raw materials was sought after in the ever growing markets of the region and Europe. The Sulu Sultanate that was located in the Southern Philippines between Mindanao and Borneo had long been sea trading its local produce with neighbours other and trading partners as far away as China. The Sultanate with its favourable location for trade in all directions encountered an economic boom and grew its commercial power and influence rapidly. The Sulu trade was well established but all to a limited scale, something that changed dramatically with the growth of trade that in turn created consequences for the whole society. The region had long been home been home for traders and slave raiders, but due to the positive changes in the economy a labour vacuum was created. This vacuum did in turn open a new but much larger market for the slave traders and raiders, especially in a region where ones personal wealth was judged by how many slaves and servants one could support and own. To maintain and uphold this economy manpower was needed; manpower the region itself unfortunately had very limited resources of. The region was sparsely populated with great recourses so there was a shortage of labourers to gather the wealth, and the solution to this dilemma was by increase the usage of slaves. Slavery in Asian context of the time was very different from the western view of the same thing and there were two types of slaves in Sulu: bondage slaves, and debt slaves. The bondage slaves were brought back by the Sultans ships as well as private entrepreneurs during their raids and were forced into slavery. The debt slaves were people owing assets to others which they paid back with labour. This essay looks upon the reasons and demand for having slaves, how they became to be slaves, and life outlook of the slaves in the Sulu Sultanate. This essay will look at the different aspects of how the slaves and slavery was undertaken in the Sulu sultanate in the end of the eighteen century as well as their influence on the economy and daily life of the people of Sulu.

The Sulu archipelago is located in the Southern Philippines between Mindanao and Borneo. The archipelago consists of some 900 island of volcanic and coral origin and covers an area of 2,688 sq km.