The Tausug, people of the current
The Tausug founded the Sultanate of Sulu, whose reach once extended to southern Palawan and Balabac.
Written from public sources to get this page started. We'll replace it with the story as Balabac residents tell it.
Tausug means people of the current. Tau means person, and sug refers to the sea currents that run through the Sulu Archipelago, their homeland.
After Islam arrived in the 14th century, the Tausug founded the Sultanate of Sulu in the 15th. At its height, the sultanate's rule reached from the Zamboanga Peninsula to Palawan, and southern Palawan and Balabac sat where the worlds of Sulu and Brunei overlapped.
Historians of the region write that Tausug from Sulu served as officials and merchants in Palawan in the sultanate's time, when Palawan's rice was traded for coconut oil and woven pandan.
Their influence runs deep in Balabac. According to anthropologist Lanfranco Blanchetti, the Molbog became Muslim through long contact with the Tausug and the Sama. Tausug families still live across southern Palawan today.
Stories we're gathering
This is a short introduction written from public sources. We'd like to replace it with the story as Tausug families tell it themselves. If that's your family, send us a message.