Limasawa Island
In
1521,
Rajah Calambu of
Limasawa Island in the
Philippines managed to guide the ships of
Magellan, a potential threat, safely past his island to the more powerful chieftain on Cebu, where Magellan landed on
April 7 1521.
The Spanish meet the Rajahs 1521
Rajah Humabon of Cebu clearly understood the political implications; Magellan represented Spain, a potential invader, and adroitly steered the power of Magellan to his enemy on Mactan. Magellan had indentured a Malay interpreter during an earlier voyage, and could thus understand the Rajahs.
Gold was a powerful lure to the Spanish. The Spanish observed that the Rajahs of the Philippines showed their status by wearing several pounds of gold ornaments. Antonio Pigafetta, one of the 18 to complete the first voyage around the globe, remarks on the splendor of the Palace of Brunei in Borneo, where the three ships of Magellan sailed after Magellan died on Mactan.
Although Magellan died on his second trip to the islands of Southeast Asia, the charts of one of his ships, the Victoria, were delivered to Seville upon the completion of the first voyage around the globe in 1522. The Spanish returned in force to Cebu, and conquered the islands for Spain in later decades.
Before 1521: the Rajahs and the Sultans
- The Hindu kingdoms of Srivijaya, Singhasari, and then Majapahit had warred for the previous centuries. The Sultanate of Malacca, on the eastern side of the Strait of Malacca, was a historical enemy of the Majapahit Empire; the Sultanate was founded by a former Hindu-Buddhist Rajah of Srivijaya in Sumatra by 1400, who had converted to Islam in 1414. By 1450 A Johore-born Arab adventurer, Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bak'r, arrived in Sulu from Malacca; He married Param Isuli, daughter of Raja Baguinda of Sulu, and founded The Royal Sultanate of Sulu in 1457
- In the Ming dynasty, Yung Lo sent away his daughter Hang Li-po and a court of five-hundred ladies to Malaccan Sultan Mansor Shah in 1459
- 1470 Muslim conquest of the Madjapahit Empire.
- 1473-1521 Sultan Bulkeiah of Brunei holds hegemony over North Borneo, Sarawak, Indonesia Balabac, Banggi, Palawan and Sultanate of Sulu
- 1509 Bengali Putih and Diego Lopez deSequeira with a squadron of five Portuguese warships settle in Malacca (Ferdinand Magellan was said to be a member of this expedition).
- 1511 The Sultanate of Malacca falls. Portuguese privateer Alfonso deAlbuquerque capture Malacca from deSequeira and reports Muslim trading vessels from Sulu anchored in Malacca
- The Sultan of Ternate in the Spice Islands had concluded an alliance with the Portugese
- The Sultan of Tidore in the Spice Islands was a rival of Ternate; thus Magellan's ships were able to trade with Tidore; this vital information must have come from the visits of the Spanish before arriving in Tidore.
- 1512 Portuguese sailors land on Mindanao.
Alliances in Southeast Asia, 1521
Thus as of 1521 the alliances in Southeast Asia at the time are currently understood to be:
- Limasawa (Rajah Calambu) was an ally of Cebu
- Cebu (Rajah Humabon) was an enemy of Lapu-Lapu of Mactan
- Brunei in Borneo was a historical tributary of Majapahit in Java, but more likely a sympathetic trading partner of the former Sultanate of Malacca
- The tribute to Majapahit was a jar of a certain palm nut oil.
- Note that this does not preclude other trading agreements.
- Brunei had only recently fortified the mouth of the river to the Palace, before the visit of Magellan's ships; his Chinese engineers accomplished this by sinking 40 Chinese junks filled with rock
- Manila was possibly a tributary of Brunei in Borneo
- 1521 Rajah Calambu of Limasawa was brother of Rajah Siagu of Butuan
- 1521 Rajah Siagu was chief of Manobo
- April 13,1521 Rajah Humabon, his family, and 800 Sugboanons converted to Roman Catholicism before Magellan and his party and immediately declared the "enemies of the church" the growing Muslim community headed by Caliph Pulaka (Lapu-Lapu to Filipinos) on Mactan Island.
- After Magellan's death, Humabon renounces his conversion.
Impact on Southeast Asia from 1521, forward
However this was only a part of the global picture, from the current perspective:
- Spain and Portugal were rivals in the race to exploit Southeast Asia
- Portugal was to become a province of Spain, thus ending the race for exploitation.
- Spain was destined to lose the Philippines in the 19th century to the US, which would cede the archipelago after World War II
- Holland was destined to become independent of Spain, and in the future, would take Indonesia, and lose it in the 20th century
- England was destined to take Malaya in later centuries. Several times England would try to take islands of Southeast Asia, via Sir Frances Drake in the 1500s, and later via the British East India Company. England was destined to lose its Southeast Asian holdings in the 20th century
- The Islamic nations were to learn of the power of the concept of Islamic Law as one instrument for unification in the 20th century and 21st century
- Indonesia in particular, currently recognizes 5 national religions.
Sultanate of Sulu Timeline 1470-20th Century
See the history in Sultanate of Sulu,
Philippines