The History of Mindanao and Jolo (Historia de Mindanao y Joló), written by the Jesuit Francisco de Combés and published in Madrid in 1667, is a long treatise comprised of eight books that study the geography of the southern Philippines and the ethnic, social, political, and religious characteristics of their inhabitants. It includes a presentation of the Spanish conquest in the area and the Spaniards’ relationships and conflicts with the natives, focusing mainly on the presence of Muslims in this part of the Spanish empire.

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines at the beginning of the sixteenth century, they were surprised by the presence of Muslim communities in the South of the archipelago. The arrival of the Spaniards to the southern islands of the Philippines gave way to a series of politicomilitary battles known as Moro Wars, which determined life in the islands for generations. Between 1599 and 1635, there were active rebellions against Spanish settlements. In 1635, the Zamboanga fort was established in the south of Mindanao. Threatened by a possible Dutch attack in Manila and exhausted by the ineffectiveness of their efforts, the Spaniards were forced to establish peace treaties with the Muslim rulers. These treaties, however, did not last long. Finally, the Spaniards left Zamboanga and the other forts in the area in 1663, afraid of a Chinese attack in Manila led by the corsair Koxinga (or Coseng in Spanish).