Kota Kinabalu: The suggestion that the Sulu Sultanate had a system of government and administration over the East Coast of Sabah is false. “There is simply no such evidence to suggest this is true,” said local researcher and historian Avtar Singh Sandhu.

“The renowned historian James Warren also argued no such administration or system of government existed on the east coast. Rather it is the Datu’s from the royal court in and around Jolo Island who imposed their will on the natives of the coasts of Sabah.” 

He said this during the 2023 International Arbitration Colloquium: State Sovereignty and Immunity in Commercial Arbitration at Sabah International Convention Center (SICC), here.