by a leader known as a panglima along with a shaman called a mangungubat. The panglima is usually a man with a strong political and physical leadership among the community folks. The shaman may either be a man or a woman, and they are specialized in contacting the spiritual realm. The shamans are also exempted from practicing traditional marriage as they can have sensual relationships with the same sex, a common trait in numerous tribes throughout the Philippine archipelago and northern Borneo in pre-Islamic and pre-Christian times. Each banwa is considered as an independent state, the same with the city-states of other regions in Asia. The Tausug during the era had trade relations with other neighboring Tausug banwas, the Yakan of Basilan, and the nomadic Sama Bajau. The Tausug became the dominant ethnic group in the Sulu archipelago, dominating over the local Sama-Bajau people, after they were Islamized in the 14th century and established the sultanate of Sulu in the 15th century. Sultanate era In 1380, Karim-ul Makhdum, a Muslim missionary, arrived in Sulu. He introduced the Islamic faith and settled in Tubig Indangan in Simunul until his death. Still standing are pillars of a mosque he had built at Tubig-Indangan. In 1390, Rajah Baguinda Ali landed at Buansa, and extended the missionary work of Makhdum. The Johore-born Arab adventurer Sayyid Abubakar Abirin arrived in 1450, and married Baguinda's daughter, Dayang-dayang Paramisuli. After Rajah Baguinda's death, Sayyid Abubakar became sultan, thereby introducing the sultanate as a political system (the Sultanate of Sulu). Political districts were created in Parang, Pansul, Lati, Gitung, and Luuk, each headed by a panglima or district leader. After Sayyid Abubakar's death, the sultanate system had already become well established in Sulu. Before the coming of the Spaniards, the ethnic groups in Sulu — the Tausug, Samal, Yakan, and Bajau – were united in varying degrees under the Sulu sultanate. The political system of the sultanate was patrilineal. The sultan was the sole sovereign of the sultanate, followed by various maharajah and rajah-titled subdivisional princes. Further down the line were the numerous panglima or local chiefs, similar in function to the modern Philippine political post of the barangay captain in the barangay system. Of significance are the sarip (sharif) and their wives, sharifah, who are Hashemite descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Battles and skirmishes were waged intermittently from 1578 till 1898 between the Spanish colonial government