[wilked aka Khun Deng]

Battara's research and Willie's rankings are correct.

We actually did quite a bit of research on this while in Sulu as we had to get it right before we engaged the traditional heirarchy. They are VERY conscious of rank still (at least in Sulu) to the point where seating arrangements and invitations would take up an inordinate amount of time and have to be vetted through all groups involved just to sit down and have a meeting.

There are still the three varieties of Datus on Sulu. A Panglima refers to a representative of the Sultan. The individual could have been a Datu also but the designation of Panglima carried with it the weight of the Sultan's authority (and generally a sizeable force of soldiers). Panglima's were generally used to enforce trade agreements from recalcitrant Datus or sent to handle matters between warring Datu's. As with most kingdoms the farther you get away from the seat of power the less control you can exert. Panglima's were the Sultan's enforcers and would insure that any stray Datu's were brought into line.

By the way. I read a couple of Peter Gowing's books. Mostly he borrowed from what was already published -no new insights of his own. In addition he spent all of his time in the Lake Lanao (Marawi) region of Central Mindanao which has signifigantly different cultural aspects from Sulu. Thomas Keiffer wrote what I thought was the most insightful book on the workings of the Sulu culture in his Book "The Tausug". He spent 2 years living with the Tausug in Eastern Sulu.

Dan