Datu Sadja is a senior titled nobility in the Royal Sultanate of Sulu. It is subordinate to the Datu or Su-sultanun which is acquired purely by inherited lineage or formal relationship to the Sultan. The title of Datu is roughly comparable to European sovereign princes or dukes while the title Datu Sadja can be analogous to a marquess or count. The rights of the present day customary titles are protected by a special law in the Philippines known as "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997". This law allows traditional leadership titles to be conferred, including the title Datu, in a manner specified under the law's implementing rules and regulations which was issued as Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1998, by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and written specifically un