The Sultanate of Sulu is a Muslim state that rules the islands in the Sulu Archipelago, parts of Mindanao, certain portions of Palawan and north-eastern Borneo (present-day the certain parts of Sabah and North Kalimantan).

The sultanate is founded on November 17, 1405[ by a Johore-born explorer and religious scholar Sharif ul-Hashim.

Paduka Mahasari Maulana al Sultan Sharif ul-Hashim becomes his full regnal name, Sharif-ul Hashim is his abbreviated name.

He settles in Buansa, Sulu.

After the marriage of Abu Bakr and a local dayang-dayang (princess) Paramisuli, he founds the sultanate.

The Sultanate gains its independence from the Bruneian Empire in 1578.

At its peak, it stretches over the islands that border the western peninsula of Mindanao in the east to Palawan in the north.

It also covers the area in the northeastern side of Borneo stretching from Marudu Bay, to Tepian Durian (in present-day Kalimantan).

Another source states the area included stretched from Kimanis Bay, which also overlaps with the boundaries of the Bruneian Sultanate.

Due to the arrival of western powers such as the Spanish, British, Dutch, French, German and American, the Sultan thalassocracy and sovereign political powers are relinquished by 1915 through an agreement that is signed with the last colonialist, the United States.