Agustin de Legazpi | |
|---|---|
| Lakan ofTondo | |
| Reign | c. 1575–1589 |
| Predecessor | Lakandula |
| Successor | None (independent functions of noble house dissolved and incorporated into the Spanish colonial administration) |
| Born | type |
| Died | 1589 Manila,The Philippines |
| Cause of death | Execution byhanging |
| Father | Rajah Sulayman (adoptive) |
Agustin de Legazpi is a prominent historical figure in thePhilippines best known as the leader of theTondo Conspiracy of 1587–1588, the last native ruler ofTondo, and the last individual to hold the title of paramount ruler in any of theIndianized indigenous Tagalog polities of the Pasig River delta,[1][2] although it had been reduced to little more than acourtesy title by the time of Agustin de Legazpi's execution.[citation needed] He was a great grandson of the Bruneian Sultan and distant descendant of CaliphHasan ibn Ali and was a convert from Islam to Christianity, his Bruneian name was Rajah Muhammad Zahir al-Din.[3]
The choice of Agustin as baptismal name alludes toSaint Augustine of Hippo a Christian North African saint from Algeria, back when Algeria was once Catholic before it was conquered by Sunni Muslims.[4] Miguel López de Legazpi, Agustin de Legazpi's baptismal godfather was a fervent Christian who mourned the loss of North Africa from Christianity to Islam and sought to do the reverse in the Philippines.[5]: 77 He advocatedAugustinian Spirituality, wherein rather than being focused on fallen Old Jerusalem of the broken City of Man, you should focus on the heavenlyNew Jerusalem, and manifest it with your actions, in which case Old Jerusalem was the Christian lands in the Middle East and North Africa which fell to Islam, and Legazpi's New Jerusalem, being Muslim lands in the Philippines, Miguel López de Legazpi, conquers for Christianity.[6]
Because the historical sources referring to Agustin de Legazpi were all written by Spanish chroniclers, it is unclear whether he used the title of "Lakan", which was reserved for the paramount ruler of Tondo. Historical sources refer to him using the hispanized name "Don Agustin de Legazpi" instead.
Legazpi is believed to have been the biological son of an unnamed deceased sibling ofRajah Sulayman ofMaynila, and was adopted as a son by Sulayman upon the death of Sulayman's own only son sometime in the early days of the Spanish conquest ofLuzon. Upon conversion toRoman Catholicism under the new Spanish regime, he is believed to have been sponsored for baptism byMiguel López de Legazpi himself, explaining the similar family names.
Upon the death ofLakandula of Tondo, Agustin de Legazpi was proclaimed to the title of Paramount ruler at Tondo, even though Lakandula had several male children. Lakandula's children served asDatus under Agustin de Legazpi, and two of them –Magat Salamat and Felipe Salonga – joined Agustin de Legazpi in the Tondo Conspiracy. Agustin de Legazpi married Princess Putri of Brunei as he participated in the raid against Brunei in theCastilian War.
As a result of the uncovering of the Tondo Conspiracy, Agustin de Legazpi and Magat Salamat were executed, while Felipe Salonga was sent to exile inSouth American part of theViceroyalty of New Spain, for six years.[7]
Aside from his participation in the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587, few definite facts about Agustin de Legazpi's life were documented in 20th-century history textbooks until historianLuciano P. R. Santiago's paper, "The Houses Of Lakandula, Matanda And Soliman (1571–1898)" was published by thePhilippine Quarterly of Culture and Society in 1990. The paper drew from the genealogical documents kept in thePhilippines' national archives (collectively referred to by historians as the "Lacandola Documents")[1] and from the works of earlier historians such asCesar Adib Majul, who documented the tarsila genealogies of Sulu and Maguindanao,[2] and has since become considered a seminal work on the genealogy of the noble houses of Manila and Tondo.[1]