A territory subject to sovereign independent Muslim rule. The word “sultan” is used in the Koran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad to mean “authority”. Mahmud of Ghazna was the first Muslim ruler to be addressed as sultan by his contemporaries. The term thereafter became a general title for the effective holders of power, such as the Seljuk or Mameluke dynasties, though it was also used as a mark of respect under the Ottomans for princes and princesses of the imperial house. The term “sultanate” was also used of a number of centres of Muslim power, such as the sultanate of Delhi (1206–1526), the predecessor of the Mogul empire in India, and the Sulu sultanate, a trading empire in the southern Philippines, which flourished between the 16th and 19th centuries.