Mohammed Mahakuttah Abdullah Kiram

Sultan Mohammad Mahakuttah Abdullah Kiram was the head of the Royal House of Sulu, a position which he held from 1974 until his death in 1986. From 1980 onward, this position was disputed with his nephew Jamalul Kiram III. He was the eldest son of Mohammed Esmail Kiram I and pretender to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu as its 34th Sultan. His claim to the title of Sultan enjoyed official recognition as a non-sovereign monarch from the administration of Philippine President Fernando Marcos in 1974, including a government-sponsored coronation. At the time of his coronation, his oldest son, Muedzul Lail Tan Kiram, was crowned beside his father as Raja Muda (Crown Prince) of Sulu at eight years old.

Sultan Kiram died in 1986. After the death of Sultan Kiram, the Philippine national government failed to recognize a new Sultan formally. Mahakutta's Crown Prince Muedzul Lail Kiram, the heir to the throne according to the line of succession as recognized by the Philippine governments from 1915 to 1986, was 20 years old upon his father's death. Due to his young age, he failed to claim the throne in a time of political instability in the Philippines that led to the peaceful revolution and subsequent removal of President Marcos. The gap in the Sultanate leadership was filled by crown claimants of rival branches.