Maguindanaoan polity is hierarchical. It takes root from several influences—Malay, Hindu and Arabic—that pervade the sultanate structure.
There are three major offices that follow a tripartite rotation of succession to the sultanate. The Sultan (head of realm); Rajah Muda (heir apparent) and Watamama (male ward) is the core of the nobility in the Maguindanao dynasty.
The Amirul Umara (Admiral), Midted sa Inged (Superintendent of the polity), Datu Shabandar (Duty Collection Officer) and Umar Maya of the first rank are noble officials with territorial districts. The Maharajah Laila, Maharajah Adinda, Maturajah and Mudabpel are the non-noble courtiers of the second rank order.
(Blogger’s note: This post is the fourth part of an eight-part series on the Maguindanao people. Each part is posted every Monday starting December 8, 2014. The text is copied as it appears in Defending the Land: Lumad and Moro People’s Struggle for Ancestral Domain in Mindanao. The book, published by a consortium of non-government organizations, has an “anti-copyright” notice and may thus be freely reproduced.)
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