Journalist-historian enthroned as Maguindanao’s 25th sultan

COTABATO CITY — Representatives of the Moro royalty from across Central Mindanao and the Zamboanga peninsula enthroned yesterday a young journalist-historian as Maguindanao’s 25th sultan, ensuring an unbroken chain of leadership that dates back to the days of the legendary 16th-century hero Sultan Kudarat.

Datu Amir Muhammad Baraguir, who is in his early 40s, was enthroned in a symbolic rite at the Estosan Hotel here in the presence of contemporary Muslim historians who have extensive knowledge on the tarsila, or genealogy of the royalties in Maguindanao and surrounding areas.

Baraguir was unanimously endorsed three months ago by the Moro datus in Central Mindanao, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay to be Maguindanao’s 25th sultan, a traditional post that also gave him ministerial jurisdiction over the royal houses of Maguindanao and surrounding provinces.

Baraguir, a popular writer of Moro history and a former associate editor of the Mindanao Cross, a weekly newspaper of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation here, is a descendant of Sultan Kudarat, the legendary Moro fighter who led a long revolt against the Spanish colonization of Mindanao.