Spanish–Moro conflict
The Spanish initiated the conflict by conquering the Philippines and invading Moro territory in an effort to subjugate the region to their rule since the 1500s. When the Spanish conquered the Muslim Kingdom of Maynila, a vassal of the Sultanate of Brunei, the Islamic rajah, Rajah Sulayman resisted the Spanish. Manila then became the capital of the Spanish Philippines after the conquest, with the Spanish forcibly converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish–Moro Wars started with the Castille War, a war between Spaniards and the Sultanate of Brunei. (The term "Moro" at this time included Muslim Tagalogs who were ruled by the Sultanate of Brunei).
When the Elephants Dance
The Philippines is an archipelago located southeast of China and north of Indonesia. In the late 13th century, Arab traders introduced Islam the Philippines and the religion spread throughout the country between the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1521, Spanish colonizers led by Ferdinand Magellan “discovered” the Philippines while trying to circumvent the world and named it after King Philip II. However, it was not formally colonized until forty-four years later when Miguel Lopez de Legaspi began settling in Cebu. Spain sent missionaries, including the Jesuits, to spread Catholicism and used the country as a strategic refueling stop for trading with Mexico and China. The Spanish pushed Muslims to the southern region of the country, known as Mindanao.