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).
History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
Spanish rule of the Philippines was constantly threatened by indigenous rebellions and invasions from the Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and British. The previously dominant groups resisted Spanish rule, refusing to pay Spanish taxes and rejecting Spanish excesses. All were defeated by the Spanish and their Filipino allies by 1597. In many areas, the Spanish left indigenous groups to administer their own affairs but under Spanish overlordship.