Heirs And Successors of Sulu Sultanate, SSDI Heirs And Succesors

Use of the terms or words "heirs and successors" (..and The heirs succesors) is not the word Heiress Or Successors (Or The heirs successors) within the territory of North Borneolease agreement in 1878 that actually has a hidden meaning. This matter is raised by Prof. Dr. Nicholas Tarling in his book "Sulu And Sabah" on page 329, the difficulty of dismantling the surrender of the British North Borneo Territory rental payments for "Heirs and Successors" to the Sulu Sultanate, as the requirements of the Lease Agreement after the death of Sultan Jamalul Kiram-II in 1936...

Nine heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, led by Dayang-Dayang Hjh. Piandao. filed claims on the rental payments of North Borneo. Seven of them were women and two among them were male heirs, Datu (Sultan) Esmail Kiram-I and Datu Punjungan Kiram. Both can be considered as “heirs”, but not as well as a successor to the Sultanate of Sulu. The British had acknowledged that in the Sultanate of Sulu institution, the women can only be regarded as "heirs" but not as a "successor" to the Throne. The British were also mindful of the declaration of Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, not to recognize any successor to Sultan Jamalul-Kiram-II. (This implies that, none of the Kiram lineage in particular, and the descendants of the "First Witness (Heirs)"- Sultanate of Sulu in general, can be recognized as "bridging" the Sultan Jamalul-Kiram-II).

In view of the fact that the Sulu Sultanate institutions coluld not be abolished, it should be firmly stated that the heirs who are eligible and entitled to resume the Sultanate of Sulu institution must come from the “Second Heirs”. Since the existence of the “Second Heirs”, (family of Maharajah Adinda Aranan Puyo) their function has been to guard against the untoward deterioration of the Institution. Moreover, by referring to the Tartib (Protocol) of the Sultanate of Sulu, the throne should be rotated between the First and Second Heirs; this time being the (long overdue) turn of the Second Heirs.

Unfortunately, between 1936-1939, none of the Second Heirs (Maharajah Adinda Aranan Family) came out to claim the right lease fee for the territory of North Borneo, although there had been already tacit recognition and acknowledgements from various quarters to that effect. The terms and specifications of the Lease Agreement has specified that, the Second Heirs (Maharajah Adinda Aranan lineage) is the other Heir of the Sultanate of Sulu with equal rights as the First Heirs. The push by the "Nine Heirs" who posed as the legitimate claimants for the Lease Payments on the North Borneoterritory, eventually forced the Court of Borneo (Judge Makaskie CFC) to recognise them there being no other claimants or protests from any source,  as entitled to receive the annual lease payment thereof.

Real “Nine Heirs”

The family of the "Second Heir" (Maharajah Adinda Aranan lineage) is the most  entitled to all rights in the Sultanate of Sulu (if demanded). The “Nine Heirs” (of the First Heirs) was able to fraudulently claim the lease payment for the territory of North Borneofor themselves by misleading the Court that they represent the “Nine Heirs”.. However, claims of sovereign rights over the territory of the Sultanate of Sulu now is only in the hands of the Second Heirs (Maharajah Adinda Aranan Family). Actually, the real meaning of “Nine Heirs”(to the Sultanate of Sulu) is the nine major ethnic groups that comprised the Sultanate of Sulu, not those impostors from the Kiram lineage.

The English translation of the Lease Agreements on North Borneo in 1878, is supported by Mr. Teodoro A. Agoncillo, in his "History of the Filipino Peoples" on page 266. Where, in the translation of the Agreement, the words “Heirs and Successors” have been used four times. This reinforces the fact that the use of the terms or the word “heirs” and the relevance of the lease agreement does have meanings. The Document of North Borneo Lease translated to English contains four times the words- "Heirs And Successors"

Probable Reasons:

First:  His Majesty Sultan Jamalul A'zam @ Ahlam understood and acknowledged that the Sultanate of Sulu practices the rotation system between the two Heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, as set out in the Protocol System or “Tartib” of the Sultanate of Sulu.

Second:  His Majesty Sultan Jamalul A'zam @ Ahlam also understood, that later in the future, there are going to be so many heirs to the Sultanate of Sulu from both lineage-beneficiaries who will want to be a successor sultan to the Sultanate of Sulu. So to avoid conflict in the demands for rights in the territory of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, the terms “Heirs And Successors” must be applied. The use of the words “Heirs And Successors” in the Lease Agreement will be restricted to claims of rights in the territory of North Borneo by the Heirs or the Successors to the Sultanate of Sulu in the future. Because, only those who have been designated as among the Heirs can be a Successor according to the Protocol system or “Tartib” of the Sultanate of Sulu.

Clearly, the declaration not to recognize any longer the Sultanate of Sulu “First Heirs” by President Manuel L. Quezon in the Memorandum of 20 September 1937, has further strengthened the fact that the rights of the First Heirs to the Sultanate of Sulu was no longer recognized, so that they can no longer act as Successors to the Sultanate of Sulu. Therefore the rights as “heirs” to the Sultanate of Sulu and relevance have passed on to the family of the Second Heirs, Maharajah Adinda Aranan Family, as the institution of the Sultanate of Sulu was not abolished, as they had no right to do so ..

Third: H.M. Sultan Jamalul A'zam @ Ahlam probably wanted to ensure that the Second Heirs, the descendant of Maharajah Adinda Sultan Muhammad Aranan / Adanan Puyo get the right to claim on the leased territory of North Borneo, as a sign of gratitude for the influence and preference of Maharajah Adinda Sultan Mohammad Aranan / Adanan Puyo in crowning him to finally sit on the throne in 1862, although he has been matched by another claimant, Datu Daniel (Datu Amir Bahar) ..

Thus, the use of words “Heirs and Successors” on the Lease Agreement of North Borneo territory in 1878 already contained the implicit purpose, which never occurred to anyone before.