Confederate States of Lanao

The Confederate States of Lanao (Maranao: Pat a Pangampong sa Ranao, "Four States of Lanao") is a legislative confederation of the four Maranao states (pangampong) of Bayabao, Masiu, Unayan, and Balo-i centered around Lake Lanao in the center of the island of Mindanao, Philippines.

This confederation is also sometimes inaccurately referred to as simply the Lanao Sultanate or Sultanate of Lanao.

History
Before the Maranaos were invaded by the Sultanate of Maguindanao, it already existed as a separate nation. The Chinese chronicle Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志) published in 1225, described it as a country southeast of Shahuagong (Sanmalan) in present-day Zamboanga City, a country called "Maluonu", of which this is what the chronicles have to say.

"Further southeast [of Shahuagong] there are uncultivated islands inhabited by barbarian bandits called Maluonu. When a merchant ship is blown off course to this country, these bandits assemble in large numbers and capture the crew, tie them between large bamboo sticks, cook them over a fire, and eat them. The chiefs of these bandits bore holes in their teeth and decorate the holes with gold. They use the tops of human skulls as eating and drinking vessels. The deeper one goes into these islands, the more cruel the bandits are."

Eventually, the Lanao nation fell under the power of the Maguindanao Sultanate. The lords of Bayabao, Masiu, Unayan, and Baloi seceded from the Maguindanao Sultanate in 1616.

Government
Unlike in Sulu and Maguindanao, the Sultanate system in Lanao was uniquely decentralized. The area was divided into Four Principalities of Lanao or the Pat a Pangampong a Ranao which are composed of a number of royal houses (Sapolo ago Nem a Panoroganan or The Sixteen (16) Royal Houses) with specific territorial jurisdictions within mainland Mindanao. This decentralized structure of royal power in Lanao was adopted by the founders, and maintained up to the present day, in recognition of the shared power and prestige of the ruling clans in the area, emphasizing the values of unity of the nation (kaiisaisa o bangsa), patronage (kaseselai) and fraternity (kapapagaria).

Overall, the Lanao Sultanate consisted of traditional leaders and forty-three sultans. Fifteen of these sultans headed the fifteen royal houses of Lanao.

Contemporary period
As of 2004, the sultanates of Lanao govern themselves within the Republic of the Philippines as the Sultanate League of Lanao. On February 9, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 602, which founded the Lanao Advisory Council to facilitate the Philippine national government's relations with 16 royal houses in the Lanao area.