They were known in history as brutal savages, fearless slave raiders and above all – pirates. Hailing from the Sulu Sea region in the Southern regions of the Philippines, the Ilanun, Balangingi Samal & Taosug tribes raided and plundered settlements in the Philippines, Borneo, Java, the Straits of Malacca and all over South East Asia in the search for human cargo to feed the growing demands of the slave trade in the 16th to 19th century.