Little is known of Phugdalun II, a rival claimant to the title of Sulu Sultan. Phugdalun II succeeded the Kiram branch of Jamalul III, leader of the militant invasion of Sabah in 2013. Image Source: ProjectLarawan

These claimants cannot agree on who the sultan is, or even what “Sulu Sultanate” practically refers to today. This confused lineage of the House of Kiram is worth highlighting as various claimants to their royal title have lodged claims on Sabah or made calls for action to the Philippine people.

A throne without a clear heir

Sulu's last sovereign ruler, Jamalul Kiram II, lost his temporal powers under the 1915 Carpenter Agreement and died in 1936 without a male heir—though a Sultan Mohamad Julaspi Kiram claimed to be his son.

Jamalul II’s brother, Muwalil Wasit, followed him and died within months. Rival factions then proclaimed their own sultans, including one backing the Bajau politician Datu Ombra Amilbangsa and another led by Sultan Jainal Abirin II.

Esmail Kiram I, Muwalil Wasit's eldest son, was crowned in 1947 by his own faction and without immediate recognition from the Philippine government. This practice of unilateral enthronement would become something of a new tradition for the House of Kiram.

“This practice of unilateral enthronement would become something of a new tradition for the House of Kiram.”

When Esmail I died in 1974, the family split permanently into the rival branches we know today.

Three claimants, and at least two lines

The current most widely recognized Sulu Sultan, Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram, descends from Esmail I through Mahakuttah, whom President Marcos recognized as sultan in 1974. Mahakuttah died in 1986, and no later Philippine president has formally recognized a successor. Muedzul was proclaimed the 35th sultan at Maimbung in 2012, decades after his father’s death.

Fuad Kiram, supposedly Mahakuttah's younger brother and Muedzul's uncle, had already been unilaterally crowned by his camp in 2006 during that interregnum.

He is the figure behind the $14.9 billion arbitration award against Malaysia that sought to seize billions in sovereign funds by leveraging Fuad’s personal claim to Sabah as royal property. The same branch therefore holds two rival sultans.

Then there is the Punjungan line. Punjungan, Esmail I's brother, believed he should succeed and was installed unilaterally in 1980. His sons Jamalul III and Esmail II followed, and Phugdalun took the title after Esmail II died in 2015. Jamalul III was, of course, behind the 2013 Lahad Datu Incident, where hundreds of militants invaded Sabah, killing dozens of soldiers and civilians. His death, soon followed by the passing of Esmail II, led to the contested crowning of Phugdalun.

Or that is what the public can piece together. The sources on each Kiram’s coronations and lineages are almost always their own offices or webpages with little by way of third party recognition.

“The sources on each Kiram’s coronations and lineages are almost always their own offices with little by way of third party recognition.”

The confusion is not limited to the public. Sulu’s own Vice Governor, Abdusakur “Sakur” Tan, has recently commented that it was impossible to tell who was the true Sulu heir among countless claimants. Indeed, many lesser claimants exist beyond Muedzul, Fuad, and Phugdalun, with some estimates placing the number of possible contestants at 10.

Why skepticism is warranted

These disputes do not stay inside the family. The claimants routinely turn their contested legitimacy into calls for political action. Jacel Kiram, Jamalul III’s daughter and Phugdalun’s niece—if genealogies can be trusted, has recently called on the Philippine government to press a national claim to Sabah in what would amount to an escalation into direct conflict with Malaysia.

Years prior, Phugdalun had also written to Malaysia demanding Sabah despite his occupation as a private citizen within the Philippine Republic. And in 2025, his camp reportedly sought US government endorsement for the Sabah claim.

Neither appeal appears to have drawn an official reply, yet these actions demand public attention: private citizens are leveraging a disputed genealogy to call for actions that directly affect not only the Philippines but all ASEAN countries.

Fuad Kiram’s camp has gone furthest. The $14.9 billion arbitration drew courts in Spain and France into the dispute, and though Malaysia ultimately won after European courts set the award aside, it’s quite clear that what should have remained Fuad’s private dispute has set back Philippine-Malaysian relations by decades.

“It's quite clear that what should have remained Fuad’s private dispute has set back Philippine-Malaysian relations by decades.”

Fuad’s lead lawyer, Paul Cohen, then argued in November 2024 that his clients were free to lease Sabah to China. Coming from a camp that claims to speak for Sulu, while Manila and Beijing are at odds in the South China Sea, the suggestion was provocative.

All of this has taken place because a number of private citizens claim the privilege of the Philippines’ attention on the basis of disputed descent from a Sultanate that hasn’t existed as a sovereign entity since 1915.

REFERENCES

Associated Press. (2015, September 20). Head of Filipino sultanate that invaded Malaysian state dies. The Himalayan Times. https://thehimalayantimes.com

Caceres, M. V. P., & Paragas, C. F. (2024). Rising sun in the southern land: Destruction and resistance in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi archipelago (1941–1945). International Social Science Review, 10(1). https://www.researchgate.net

Cayabyab, M. J. (2013, March 7). Jamalul Kiram III and the ‘sultans’ of Sulu. GMA News. https://www.gmanetwork.com

Echeminada, P. (2025, February 27). Sultanate of Sulu makes contact with US Department of State. Daily Tribune. https://tribune.net.ph

Hunt, L. (2016, February 25). Malaysia, Philippines face a new sultan at a bad time. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com