Sultanate of Brunei

State · 1363–2026 CE · at its largest around 1512 CE

A Malay sultanate on the northern coast of Borneo whose influence once extended over much of Borneo and the southern Philippines; it became a British protectorate in 1888 and remains a sultanate today.

On its lands while it lasted

Mukim Kota Batu (c. 1368 CE): Capital of Sultanate of Brunei (1368–1888).
Maimbung (c. 1459 CE): Capital of Sultanate of Sulu (1459–1879).
Magellan–Elcano expedition: Philippines to Spain (1521–1522 CE): After Magellan was killed at Mactan in April 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano led the survivors via the Moluccas and around Africa. The Victoria reached Spain in September 1522 with 18 men, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.
Battle of Mactan (1521 CE): Warriors under the chief Lapulapu defeated Spanish forces on Mactan Island on 27 April 1521, killing Ferdinand Magellan.
Cotabato City (c. 1521 CE): Capital of Sultanate of Maguindanao (1521–1852).
Manila galleon (western Pacific) (1565–1815 CE): For 250 years Spanish galleons sailed once or twice a year between Manila and Acapulco, exchanging Mexican silver for Chinese silk and porcelain; westbound ships called at Guam, and eastbound ships rode the westerlies across the North Pacific.
Manila (1571 CE): Miguel López de Legazpi established Spanish Manila in 1571 on the site of a Muslim polity; it became the hub of the transpacific galleon trade.
Bulungan (c. 1734 CE): Capital of Kingdom of Bulungan (1734–1747).
Quy Nhon (c. 1778 CE): Capital of Tây Son dynasty (1778–1789).
Kuching (1827 CE): Capital of Kingdom of Sarawak (1842–1946).
José Rizal (1861 CE – 1896 CE): Filipino writer and reformer whose novels exposed Spanish colonial abuses; his execution in Manila in 1896 fuelled the Philippine Revolution.
Philippine Revolution (1896–1898 CE): Revolt against Spanish rule begun by the Katipunan secret society in 1896, which led to the proclamation of Philippine independence in 1898.
Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944 CE): Largest naval battle of the Second World War, in October 1944, which crippled the Japanese navy; kamikaze attacks were first used here.
People Power Revolution (1986 CE): Mass nonviolent demonstrations on Manila's EDSA avenue in February 1986 that ended Ferdinand Marcos's rule and brought Corazon Aquino to power.
Typhoon Haiyan (2013 CE): One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded at landfall, which devastated Tacloban and the central Philippines in November 2013, killing over 6,000 people.