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| Sri Lumay Rajahmura Lumaya | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajah of Cebu | |||||
| Predecessor | Position established | ||||
| Successor | Sri Bantug | ||||
| Born | Sumatra | ||||
| Died | Cebu | ||||
| |||||
| House | Cebu | ||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||
According to the epicAginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik,[1] a Bisayan epic story,Sri Rajahmura Lumaya, known in his shortened nameSri Lumay, was the firstRajah and the founder of theIndianized kingdom ofhistoric polity of Cebu. Sri Lumay was a half-Tamil and half-Malay fromSumatra. In the epic, Sri Lumay was the grandfather ofRajah Humabon. He may be called aliterary figure, as he is found only in the oral traditions in the Visayan epic story of Aginid.
Sri Lumay, ancestor ofRajah Humabon, a half-Malay and half-Indian fromSumatra established Cebu as an Indianized monarchy, and sired at least four known sons, namely Alho, Ukob, Parang the Limp, and Bantug (father of Rajah Humabon).[1] Sri Alho ruled a land known asSialo which included the present-day towns of Carcar and Santander in the southern region of Cebu.[2]
Sri Lumay, or Rajahmura Lumaya, established his kingdom in Cebu, which he himself ruled with his son,Sri Alho andSri Ukob; they ruled the south known asSialo, which included covered an area includingSinghapala (present dayMabolo in north part ofCebu City)[3] toCarcar-Valladolid (on the centraleast coast ofCebu Island) and beyond up toSantander (southern end of Cebu Island, 200 km from Mabolo).[4][1]
The account ofAginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik is about Sri Lumay who settled in Sugbo with his son, Sri Alho, ruling the south known as Sialo which included Valladolid, Carcar, up to Santander. Sri Lumay established the city ofSinghapala that become the capital of the rajahnate and what is now part of Mabolo in the northern district of Cebu City.[3]
Sri Lumay fought theMagalos, or destroyers of peace, MuslimMoro warriors coming fromMindanao, who had been raiding the island ofCebu in search for precious items like gold or ceramics and slaves. 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 name Kang Sri Lumayang Sugbu (literally "that of Sri Lumay's great fire") to the town, which was later shortened to Sugbu ("scorched earth").[5]
In other folk stories, the problem about theMagalos where already an issue since the time of early Malay settlers during the time of the legendaryDatu Daya who build a watch tower to watch the community against the upcoming raids.
He died in battle, fighting with the Muslim Moro pirates known as magalos from Mindanao.[5]
The Aginid epic mentioned Sri Lumay, his works, where he came from, and how he established the monarchy:
His other son, Sri Ukob, ruled the north known as Nahalin which includes the present towns of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Danao, Carmen, and Bantayan. As a ruler,Sri Lumay was known to be strict, merciless, and brave. He assigned magalamags to teach his people to read and write ancient letterings. He ordered routine patrols by boats from Nahalin to Sialo by his mangubats (warriors). Although a strict ruler, Sri Lumay was a loving person that not a single slave ran away from him. During his reign, the Magalos (literally destroyers of peace) who came from Southern Mindanao from time to time invaded the island to loot and hunt for slaves. Sri Lumay commanded to burn the town each time the southerners came to drive them away empty handed. Later, they fought these Magalos (Moro raiders) so that they leave the town for good. The town was thus permanently called Kang Sri Lumayng Sugbo, or Sri Lumay’s scorched town. Trading was vibrantly carried on by Sri Lumay’s people with merchants from China, Japan, India, and Burma in Parian, (located at the northeastern part of Cebu City). The archipelago was strategically positioned inSoutheast Asia that it naturally became part of the trade route of the ancient world. Agricultural products were bartered for Chinese silk cloths, bells, porcelain wares, iron tools, oil lamps, and medicinal herbs. From Japan, perfume and glass utensils were usually traded with native goods. Ivory products, leather, precious and semi-precious stones and sarkara (sugar) mostly came from the Burmese and Indian traders. Sri Lumay was killed in one of the battles against the magalos and was succeeded by his youngest son Sri Bantug who ruledSinghapala . “Bantug carried on his father’s rules throughout his reign. He organizedumalahukwans (Town criers) to urge people inNahalin andSialo to obey his orders, especially on agricultural production and defense.
A pre-colonial leader named Sri Lumay (Cilumai) is named byAntonio Pigafetta in his firsthand account ofMagellan's expedition. He bears no resemblance to the character of the Aginid but his name may have been used as inspiration.
His version of historical incidents, however, is virtually unknown to the academic community, or if referred to, often met with skepticism
