The following is a list of the sovereign rulers of the polities in the Philippine archipelago before their domains fell to either the Spanish East Indies (1565-1899) or the United States of America (1898-1946), as well as including their non-sovereign descendants that kept honorary titles.
In Luzon and its peripheries
Kingdom of Maynila
The Kingdom of Maynila or Luzon was described as one of the more powerful and wealthier kingdoms in the archipelago. It was noted for its commerce, literacy, diplomacy, navy, and use of artillery. Its influence ranged at least from Mindoro to Kapampangan lordships, with possibilities of greater extent suggested by the name of the kingdom. The kingdom and its subjects began to fall under Spain, starting in 1571, just as the Kingdom of Luzon was starting to adopt Islam.
In the Visayan islands
Kingdom of Cebu
The Kingdom of Cebu was known for its military achievements and for having a large army. The male citizens of the kingdom were tattooed as marks of honour. Its dominion became a protectorate of the Kingdom of the Spains and the Indies in 1565 but fell to the said kingdom after 1570.
Kedatuan of Mactan
Mactan is known to have had several rulers at the same time, unlike most principalities in the neighbouring Cebu. Mactan is assumed to have had its own sovereign.
Kedatuan of Bo-ol
Kedatuan of Baclayon
Kingdom of Limasawa
In Mindanao and its peripheries
Kingdom of Butuan
Kingdom of Dapitan
Sultanate of Cotabato
Sultanate of Maguindanao
The dominion of the Sultanate of Maguindanao gradually fell to the United States of America in the 1900s.
Kingdom of Basilan and the Yakans
Sultanate of Sulu
In English toponymy, borrowed from Spanish toponymy, Sulu is the term that refers to the Sultanate of the Tausugs, with this term being an approximation (perhaps Spanish) of the root term "Sulug" in Tausug which is also pronounced as "Suluk" in Malay. Both these terms refer to the Tausug people, the first being an endonym and the second an exonym, besides being the name of the sultanate itself. Jolo is another term that serves this approximation (initially pronounced as /Sho-lo/ in Spanish).
The primary language of the Sultanate of Sulu is Tausug, with Malay and Arabic as secondary languages. The dominion of the sultanate stretched from Sulu in what is now the Philippines to Sabah in what is now Malaysia. From its dominion, the side on the American reckoning of the Philippine islands gradually fell to the United States of America within the first half of the 20th century. The Sabah territory was continually leased by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the Sultan of Sulu, and was then transferred by that kingdom to Malaysia, which continued to pay for the lease.
Part of the legacy of this sultanate is the presence of around 1,200,000 Tausugs in the Philippines and around 700,000 Tausugs in Malaysia at the present time. The royal family of the Sultanate of Sulu still maintains its lineage well-documented.
In Palawan and its peripheries
Seignory of the Tagbanwas of Coron
Appendix
Non-sovereign lordships
Lakanate of Tondo
Title-bearing aristocratic descendants in Philippine republican rule
Principalities (Datu)
Some aristocratic descendants are either officially granted leadership of particular communities by the Republic of the Philippines or unofficially still assume this role.
Muslim
Some Muslim aristocratic descendants who kept ancestral lordly titles have attempted to participate in the republican government and have served as either appointed or democratically elected public officials while they continued to assume roles as community leaders. There are also sometimes contending claimants to the titles. For aristocratic descendants, the following are several examples:
Datu Pax S. Mangudadatu – former Governor of Sultan Kudarat from 2001 to 2004
The Sultanate of Maguindanao has an incumbent titular Sultan, Hajji Datu Amir bin Muhammad Baraguir – the 25th Sultan of Maguindanao. Son of Al-Marhum Sultan Hajji Datu Muhammad G.M. Baraguir, Llb. the 24th Sultan of Maguindanao The Maranaos have sixteen royal houses that rule the four principalities in what is referred to as the Confederate States of Lanao.