 | This article or sectionmay need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia'squality standards, as it usesBisaya Patronymesis Sri Visjaya,Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik, andHistory of Panay from the first inhabitants and the Bornean immigrants from which the Bisayans are descended to the Arrival of the Spaniards as sources— as Sri Visjaya has been proven to be incorrect, while the authenticity of the Aginid is disputed, and the History of Panay is considered a mere legend, as well as Macachor and Montebon's works, which is greatly sourced from the former three.You can help. Thetalk page may contain suggestions.(November 2021) |
Cebu Sugbu | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c.1400–1565 | |||||||||
 Map of old Cebu in 1521, with Sugbu under Rajah Humabon colored as dark blue, and its subordinate barangays as lighter blue. Mactan under Si Lapulapu is colored yellow green. | |||||||||
| Capital | Singhapala[1] (Modern Mabolo district inCebu City) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Old Cebuano,Old Malay | ||||||||
| Religion | Syncretic form ofHinduism,Buddhism andAnimism (see alsoPolytheism) Roman Catholicism (since 1521) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Rajah | |||||||||
• 1521 | Rajah Humabon | ||||||||
• 1521–1565[2] | Rajah Tupas (last) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | c.1400 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 4 June 1565 | ||||||||
| Currency | Barter | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Philippines | ||||||||
Cebu, also calledSugbu, informally referred to as theRajahnate of Cebu, was anIndianizedmandala (polity) monarchy on the island ofCebu[3] in the Philippines prior to the arrival of theSpanishconquistadors. It is known in ancient Chinese records as the nation of Sokbu (束務) (Hokkien) or Suwu (Mandarin).[4] According to Visayan oral legend, it was founded bySri Lumay[3] or Rajamuda Lumaya, a half-Malay and half-Tamil fromSumatra.[3][5] The capital of Cebu wasSinghapala[6] which is Tamil-Sanskrit[7] for "Lion City", the same root words with the modern city-state ofSingapore.
A kingdom called Suwu[8] was mentioned in the 1225 Chinese Annals, the Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志), and during the 17th Century this was the same name used for Cebu among Chinese traders to the Philippines thus it is presumed to be the same location.[4]
This kingdom was mentioned in association with Boni (Brunei) wherein it was written:
“The countries of Xilonggong (Sailunggung/Sailengkeng, possibly Selingaan Island ), Shimiao (Simmiu/Simbio), Rili (Jatlai/Jitleh, possibly Jelai ), Hulumantou (Wulomantau/Holobantau),Suwu (Somat/Sobut), Lima (Leima/Libeh), Danyu (Damjyu/Tamu), and Manuo (Manok/Belok) are located on islands in the sea. Their people travel to and fro in small boats, and their clothing and diet are the same as those of Boni. They produce sheng agarwood, lakawood, beeswax, and tortoiseshell. Merchants can trade for these with white porcelain ware, wine, rice, coarse salt, white spun silk, and trade-quality gold."[8]
— Zhao Rukuo
According to Visayan folklore, Sri Lumay was a half-Tamil[3] and half-Malay[9][3] from Sumatra[3] who settled in theVisayas, and had several sons. One of his sons was Sri Alho, who ruled a land known asSialo which included the present-day towns ofCarcar andSantander in the southern region of Cebu. Sri Ukob ruled a polity known asNahalin in the north, which included the present-day towns ofConsolacion,Liloan,Compostela,Danao,Carmen andBantayan. He died in battle, fighting with the MuslimMoro pirates known asmagalos (literally "destroyers of peace") fromMindanao.[10] The islands they were in were collectively known asPulua Kang Dayang orKangdaya (literally "[the islands] which belong to Daya").[11]
Sri Lumay was noted for his strict policies in defending against Moro Muslim raiders and slavers from Mindanao. His use ofscorched earth tactics to repel invaders gave rise to the nameKang Sri Lumayng Sugbu (literally "that of Sri Lumay's great fire") to the town, which was later shortened to Sugbu ("scorched earth").[11]
Among the Chinese, especially during the Ming era, the people of Cebu and the surrounding groups from nearby islands (IncludingButuan,Samar,Leyte,Negros,Panay, andNorthern Mindanao) were grouped under the term of Visayans and are called Peshiye.[12]
The areas known as Pisheye were probably located in lowland coastal regions with minimal agricultural activity, a description thatCebu fits well.[12]
The Visayans were described to have invadedEastern Taiwan and had raided Southern China, especially the city ofQuanzhou, and towns of Shui'ao and Weito.[12]
Sri Lumay was succeeded by the youngest of his sons, Sri Bantug, who ruled from a region known asSinghapala, which is nowMabolo of Cebu City. He died of disease. Sri Bantug had a brother called Sri Parang who was originally slated to succeed Sri Bantug. But he was a cripple and could not govern his polity because of his infirmity. Parang handed his throne to Sri Bantug's son and his nephew, Sri Humabon (also spelled Sri Hamabar), who became the rajah of Cebu in his stead.
DuringRajah Humabon's reign, the region had since become an important trading center where agricultural products were bartered. From Japan,perfume andglass utensils were usually traded for native goods.Ivory products, leather, precious and semi-precious stones andśarkarā (sugar) mostly came fromIndia andBurma traders.[9] The harbors of Sugbu (the modern-dayParián district of Cebu) became known colloquially assinibuayang hingpit ("the place for trading"), shortened tosibu orsibo ("to trade"), from which the modernCastilian name "Cebú" originates. It was also during Humabon's reign thatLapulapu arrived fromBorneo, and was granted by Humabon the region of Mandawili (nowMandaue), including the island known as Opong or Opon (later known asMactan). First contact with the Spanish also occurred during Humabon's reign, resulting in the death ofFerdinand Magellan.[11]
The phraseKota Raya Kita[13] was documented by historian Antonio Pigafetta, to be a warning in theOld Malay language, from a merchant to the rajah and was cited to have meant:
"Have good care, O king, what you do, for these men are those who have conquered Calicut, Malacca, and all India the Greater. If you give them good reception and treat them well, it will be well for you, but if you treat them ill, so much the worse it will be for you, as they have done at Calicut and at Malacca."[14]
In reality, this phrase is that ofKota Raya kita, an indigenousMalay phrase of merchants under the authority of Rajah Humabon, with a meaning in English of: "our capital city":Kota (fortress),Raya (great, hence Kotaraya (capital city)),kita (we).
Cebu had diplomatic recognition among the other kingdoms of Southeast Asia. When Ferdinand Magellan's expedition landed on the port-kingdom of Cebu; the expedition scribe noted that not long before, an embassy carried by a ship from Siam (Thailand) arrived at Cebu and paid tribute to Rajah Humabon.[15][16]
Antonio Pigafetta, the expedition scribe, enumerated the towns and dependencies Cebu had.[17]
“In this island of Zubu there are dogs and cats, and other animals, whose flesh is eaten; there is also rice, millet, panicum, and maize; there are also figs, oranges, lemons, sugar-canes, cocos, gourds, ginger, honey, and other such things; they also make palm-wine of many qualities. Gold is abundant. The island is large, and has a good port with two entrances: one to the west, and the other to the east-north-east. It is in ten degrees north latitude and 154 east longitude from the line of demarcation.”
“In this island there are several towns, each of which has its principal men or chiefs. Here are the names of the towns and their chiefs:—
Cingapola: its chiefs are Cilaton, Ciguibucan, Cimaninga, Cimaticat, Cicanbul.
Mandani: its chief is Aponoaan.
Lalan: its chief is Teten.
Lalutan: its chief is Japau.
Lubucin: its chief is Cilumai.
— Antonio Pigafetta
It is notable how the Spanish mispronounced the Tamil "Singhapala" (சிங்கப்பூர்) as "Cingapola".
TheBattle of Mactan was fought on 27 April 1521 between forces of Rajah Humabon which included the Portuguese explorerFerdinand Magellan andLapulapu, which resulted in the death of the former himself.
Sri Parang, the limp, also had a young son, Sri Tupas, also known asRajah Tupas who succeeded Rajah Humabon as king of Cebu.[5] There is linguistic evidence that Cebu tried to preserve its Indian-Malay roots as time wore on since Antonio Pigafetta the scribe of Magellan described Rajah Tupas' father, the brother of Rajah Humabon as a "Bendara" which means "Treasurer" or "Vizier" in Sanskritized Malay[6] and is a shortening of the word "Bendahara" (भाण्डार) which means "Storage house" in Sanskrit.[18] The Hindu polity was dissolved during the reign ofRajah Tupas by the forces of conquistadorMiguel López de Legazpi in the battle of Cebu during 1565.[2]
The rajahs of Cebu were relatives to the rajahs ofButuan.[20] Thus the monarchies of Cebu and Butuan had relations with each other, as evidenced by the fact that Rajah Colambu of Butuan gave guidance to the Magellan expedition to reach the island ofCebu.[21] The rajahs of Butuan were descendants of Rajah Kiling, who according to Researcher Eric Casino, were not Visayan in origin but rather, Indian, because Kiling refers to the people of India.[22] TheSejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) of the nearby country of Malaysia, point to the similarly wordedKeling as the immigrant people from India to Southeast Asia.[23]
However, Cebu was not at peace with all kingdoms.Maynila, which was under the influence ofBrunei[24] and would later become the city ofManila[24] had an arrogant attitude against Cebuanos and Visayans as the rajah of Maynila who had an Islamic name,Rajah Sulayman, ridiculed the Visayans that came and assisted the Legazpi expedition (which also included the Cebuanos) as an easily conquerable people.[25] Fernao Mendes Pinto, among the earlier Portuguese colonists of Southeast Asia, pointed out that there were Muslims and non-Muslims among the inhabitants of the Philippines who fought each other.[26]
Indianization, although it was superseded by Hispanization, left markers in the Cebuano language and culture, such as religious practices and common vocabulary words whose origins are fromSanskrit andTamil.[27] There is also genetic evidence ofSouth Asian or Indian Hindu influence in Cebu as according to genetic studies, the people ofCebu andBohol have as much as 10-20% of their genetics taken fromSouth Asian admixture.[28]
Below the rulers were theTimawa, the feudal warrior class of the ancient Visayan societies of the Philippines who were regarded as higher than theuripon (commoners,serfs, and slaves) but below thetumao (royalnobility) in the social hierarchy. They were roughly similar to theTagalogMaharlika class.
In 1921, Henry Otley Beyer found a crude Buddhist medallion and a copper statue of a Hindu deity,Ganesha, in ancient sites inPuerto Princesa, Palawan and in Mactan, Cebu.[29] The crudeness of the artifacts indicates they were of local reproduction. The icons were destroyed during World War II. However, black and white photographs of these icons survive.
There have been proposals to rename the currentCentral Visayas region, which is dominated by the Cebuano ethnic group, into Sugbu region, the former name of the region prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century.[30][31]
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