Sultanate of Talik has new sultan

KORONADAL CITY — The 18th century Royal Sultanate of Talik has chosen a new sultan to rule its Muslim followers in the South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City (Socsksargen) area.

In a statement, Rajahmuda Datu Pendatun Mangelin, executive secretary of the Royal Sultanate of Talik, said Datu Nasser Sambuto Pendatun, a bemedalled police officer, was recently crowned as the new "Paramount Sultan (the sultan among the sultans)" of the Sultanate of Talik.

Prominent Muslim leaders and local government officials in Central Mindanao attended Pendatun’s enthronement.

Mangelin said a new sultan was chosen because of the "untimely death" of Datu Abdul Sambuto Pendatun, the "heir apparent" to the sultanate and a direct descendant of Sultan Sambuto, who ruled the Royal Sultanate of Talik from the early 1890s to the late 1930s.

"Sultan Datu Nasser B. Pendatun is one of the privileged few in the Moslem world who traces back his ascendancy to Prophet Mohammad," Mangelin said.

He said the direct descendant of Prophet Mohammad was Sultan of Johore, who had three sons, Shariff Ahmad, Shariff Alawi and Shariff Kabungsuan, all of whom became leaders in their own right.

Mangelin said many believe that Shariff Ahmad migrated to Brunei and eventually founded the sultanate there, while Shariff Alawi established the Sultanate of Sulu.

Shariff Kabungsuan, on the other hand, brought Mohammedanism to the Philippines where he eventually settled.

Mangelin said those who descended from Shariff Kabungsuan were Rajah Buayan, Sultan Mangelin, Sultan Zainal Abedin, Sultan Ebrahim Sambuto and Datu Abdul Sambuto, father of newly crowned Sultan Nasser Pendatun.

The newly enthroned sultan is a licensed architect, a holder of a masteral degree in Public Administration, a graduate of the police intelligence course, a member of the Directorial Staff Corps (DSC) and the current administrative officer of the South Cotabato police.