How a Chinese pirate king saved a Muslim sultanate from Spain

Science · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In the 1660s, the Spanish Empire faced a terrifying dilemma: a Chinese pirate army was preparing to invade the Philippines. To defend the capital, Spain abandoned its forts in the south, inadvertently granting the Moro people centuries of autonomy and a

In the mid-17th century, the Ming loyalist Koxinga raised a massive pirate army after being driven from China by the Qing Dynasty. He aimed to establish a kingdom in the Philippines, posing a severe threat to Spanish colonial rule. In 1662, he sent an Italian friar, Riccio, as an ambassador to Manila to demand tribute. This move shocked the Spanish, who were terrified by the prospect of a 'heathen' ruler demanding submission from a Catholic territory.

The Spanish response was a strategic blunder. Fearing a Chinese invasion, they ordered all Chinese residents to leave the Philippines. This led to a violent rebellion in Manila, resulting in a massacre that killed approximately 22,000 Chinese people. To prepare for the defense, the Spanish tore down three important forts and moved their troops to Luzon. Crucially, they evacuated their positions in Mindanao and Zamboanga, including the fort at La Caldera, to consolidate forces.

This retreat had a profound long-term impact on the Spanish–Moro conflict. By pulling back to defend Manila against Koxinga, the Spanish effectively destroyed their plans to conquer and colonize the Moro people in the south. While Koxinga eventually died of fever before launching his invasion, his threat forced the Spanish to abandon their foothold in Mindanao in 1663. This gave the Moro sultanates a period of 'free rein' to resist Spanish expansion and maintain their autonomy for centuries.

The conflict was also fueled by a lucrative transpacific slave trade. Under Iberian law, Muslims who opposed Catholicism could be enslaved. The Spanish Crown approved raids on Mindanao sultanates to tap into these slave economies, while simultaneously using Christianized Filipinos to invade Maranao territory. This complex web of religious warfare, economic greed, and geopolitical shifts defined the three-century struggle between the Spanish Empire and the Moro people.

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