 Eventually, the native Yakans, having difficulty in pronouncing the sound for "r", replaced it, by habit, with the sound for "l".Thus, the Fort was called "Kuta Lamitan" by the natives, and then after the razing of the Fort and the evacuation of the Maguindanao garrison, to simply - Lamitan.Unlike the earlier Karajaan or Vassal Kingdom of Kumalarang, however, the Yakans of Lamitan, rejected Tausug suzerainty and systems of governance in their territories.