Datu

A pre-colonial couple belonging to the datu or nobility as depicted in the Boxer Codex of the 16th century.

Datu is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous Indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago.[1] The title is still used today, though not as much as early Philippine history. It is a cognate of ratu in several other Austronesian languages.

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