Urduja was a legendarywarriorprincess recorded in the travel accounts ofIbn Battuta (1304 – possibly 1368 or 1377). She was described to be a princess ofKaylukari in the land ofTawalisi. Though the locations ofKaylukari andTawalisi are disputed, in thePhilippines, Urduja is believed by modernFilipinos to be fromPangasinan, and has since been regarded as a national heroine.
Ibn Battuta described Urduja as the ruler ofKaylukari in the land ofTawalisi and leader of theKinalakian. After reaching theSamudera Pasai Sultanate in what is nowSumatra, Indonesia, Ibn Battuta passed by Tawalisi on his way toChina. Princess Urduja was described as a daughter of a ruler named Tawalisi of a land that was also called Tawalisi. The ruler of Tawalisi, according to Ibn Battuta, possessed manyjunk ships and was a rival of China, which was then ruled by aMongol dynasty.[1] Ibn Battuta sailed for 17 days to reach China from the land of Tawalisi.[2]
Ibn Battuta made a pilgrimage toMecca and he traveled to many other parts of theIslamic world. FromIndia andSumatra, Ibn Battuta reached the land of Tawalisi. Ibn Battuta described Urduja as a warrior princess whose army was composed of men and women. Urduja was a woman warrior who personally took part in the fighting and engaged in duels with other warriors. She was quoted as saying that she will marry no one but him who defeats her in duel. Other warriors avoided fighting her for fear of being disgraced.[3]
Urduja impressed Ibn Battuta with her military exploits and her ambition to lead an expedition to India, known to her as the "Pepper Country". She also showed her hospitality by preparing a banquet for Ibn Battuta and the crew of his ship. Urduja generously provided Ibn Battuta with gifts that includedrobes,rice, twobuffaloes, and four large jars ofginger,pepper,lemons, andmangoes, allsalted, in preparation for Ibn Battuta's sea-voyage to China.[4]
A long list of guesses to the location of Tawalisi have includedPangasinan,Luzon,Sulu, Celebes (Sulawesi),Java,Cambodia,[5]Cochinchina, the mainland Chinese province ofGuangdong, and practically every island in South Asia beginning withta.
In the late 19th century,José Rizal, national hero of thePhilippines, speculated that the land of Tawalisi was in the area of the northern part of the Philippines, based on his calculation of the time and distance of travel Ibn Battuta took to sail to China from Tawalisi.[6] In 1916,Austin Craig, an American historian of theUniversity of the Philippines, in "The Particulars of the Philippines Pre-Spanish Past", traced the land of Tawalisi and Princess Urduja toPangasinan. In the province of Pangasinan, the governor's residence inLingayen is named "Urduja House".[7] A statue of Princess Urduja stands at theHundred Islands National Park in Pangasinan. Philippine school textbooks used to include Princess Urduja in the list of great Filipinos.[citation needed]
Princess Urduja's gifts of rice, buffaloes, ginger, pepper, lemons, mangoes, and salt are products that are abundant in Pangasinan and India. The closely relatedIbaloi people have an oral tradition of a woman named Udayan who ruled an ancient alliance of lowland and highland settlements in Pangasinan and the neighboring province ofBenguet. Ibn Battuta also mentioned that Urduja had some knowledge of a Turkic language, which indicates contact with foreigners. Tawalisi was said to be in contact with Mongol-ruledYuan China so the Turkic language may have been Mongolian.[citation needed]
Ibn Batutta's travel account suggests that he also saw elephants in the land ruled by Urduja.Elephants can still be found inBorneo, and may have been gifts or traded in Pangasinan in earlier times. AncientMalayo-Polynesian sailing vessels (such as theBalangay), like the ones used by the ancientBugis andthose depicted in theBorobudur bas-reliefs, were capable of transporting heavy cargo, including elephants. There are depictions of such ancient ships in maritimeSoutheast Asia transporting several elephants for trade.[citation needed]
The aforementioned gifts can also be found in Java. Chinese records showed that, almost all of Asian commodities can be found in Java during theMajapahit era.[8]: 267–293 This is because the Javanese merchants were travelling as far as Ghana since the 8th century.[9]: 22 Java had been attacked byMongols they called Tatars in 1293.[10]: 15–17 According to friarOdoric of Pordenone, the great khan ofCathay (Yuan dynasty) attacked Java (Majapahit) many times but was always defeated.[11]: 89 [12]: 885 Hence, it is probable that Java at that time especially the royal court had also been linguistically influenced by the Turkic speaking Tatars. So it is possible that theBhre Daha (the ruler ofDaha) could talk in Turkic as was observed by Ibn Battuta during his visit to her court.[13]
During Ibn Battuta's travels, in Java there was aBhre Kahuripan (Duchess of Kahuripan) namedTribhuwana Wijayatunggadewi and she became queen of Majapahit from 1328 to 1350 AD. Majapahit also possessed a powerful navy ofJavanese junks (jong) during its era. Each junk is able to carry 600–1000 men, was more than 69 to 80 metres (226 to 262 ft) long, and could carry several hundred horses.[14]: 170 [15]: 59–62 The number of junks possessed by Majapahit is unknown, but the largest expedition mobilized 400 large junks.[8]: 270 This matches the account of Odoric about the junk he boarded while traveling in Southeast Asia—which carried 700 men,[11]: 73 and Ibn Battuta's description about Tawalisi having numerous junks that were used to fight the king of China.[16]: 885
Princesa Urduja, a live-action adventure film based on the legend, was released in 1942.[17]
Urduja, an animated feature based on the legendary princess,[18] was released on June 18, 2008. It starsRegine Velasquez (in the lead role of Princess Urduja),Cesar Montano (asLim Hang),Eddie Garcia (as Lakanpati),Johnny Delgado (as Wang),Epi Quizon (as Daisuke),Ruby Rodriguez (as Mayumi),Michael V. (as Kukut),Allan K. (as Tarsir), andJay Manalo (as Simakwel) as voice actors.Joey de Leon wrote the lyrics and the music was composed byOgie Alcasid.
Minor planet5749 Urduja discovered byEleanor Helin is named in her honor. The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 8 November 2019 (M.P.C. 117229).[19]
She is portrayed bySanya Lopez in the GMA Network primetime seriesMga Lihim ni Urduja.
Urduja was depicted as queen of Zahiya-lachis inThe Hurricane Wars
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| General | |
|---|---|
| Supreme deities | |
| Lesser deities | |
| Epic and folklore heroes | |
| Historical people | |
| Historical events | |
| Belief systems | |
| Spiritual persons | |
| Sacred places | |
| Legendary objects | |
| Mythical creatures | |
| Literary works | |
| Popular culture | |
| Literary sources | |
