Cebu (historical polity)
Cebu, also called Sugbu, informally referred to as the Rajahnate of Cebu, was an Indianized mandala monarchy on the island of Cebu in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. It is known in ancient Chinese records as the nation of Sokbu or Suwu. According to Visayan oral legend, it was founded by Sri Lumay or Rajamuda Lumaya, a half-Malay and half-Tamil from Sumatra. The capital of Cebu was Singhapala which is Tamil-Sanskrit for "Lion City", the same root words with the modern city-state of Singapore.
History
Foundation
A kingdom called Suwu was mentioned in the 1225 Chinese Annals, the Zhufan Zhi, 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.This kingdom was mentioned in association with Boni wherein it was written:
According to Visayan folklore, Sri Lumay was a half-Tamil and half-Malay from Sumatra who settled in the Visayas, and had several sons. One of his sons was Sri Alho, who ruled a land known as Sialo which included the present-day towns of Carcar and Santander in the southern region of Cebu. Sri Ukob ruled a polity known as Nahalin in the north, which included the present-day towns of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Danao, Carmen and Bantayan. He died in battle, fighting with the Muslim Moro pirates known as magalos from Mindanao. The islands they were in were collectively known as Pulua Kang Dayang or Kangdaya.
Sri Lumay was noted for his strict policies in defending against Moro Muslim raiders and slavers from Mindanao. His use of scorched earth tactics to repel invaders gave rise to the name Kang Sri Lumayng Sugbu to the town, which was later shortened to Sugbu.
Cebuano and Visayan Raids
Among the Chinese, especially during the Ming era, the people of Cebu and the surrounding groups from nearby islands were grouped under the term of Visayans and are called Peshiye.The areas known as Pisheye were probably located in lowland coastal regions with minimal agricultural activity, a description that Cebu fits well.
The Visayans were described to have invaded Eastern Taiwan and had raided Southern China, especially the city of Quanzhou, and towns of Shui'ao and Weito.
Reign of Sri Bantug
Sri Lumay was succeeded by the youngest of his sons, Sri Bantug, who ruled from a region known as Singhapala, which is now Mabolo 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, who became the rajah of Cebu in his stead.Reign of Rajah Humabon
During Rajah Humabon's reign, the region had since become an important trading center where agricultural products were bartered. From Japan, perfume and glass utensils were usually traded for native goods. Ivory products, leather, precious and semi-precious stones and śarkarā mostly came from India and Burma traders. The harbors of Sugbu became known colloquially as sinibuayang hingpit, shortened to sibu or sibo, from which the modern Castilian name "Cebú" originates. It was also during Humabon's reign that Lapulapu arrived from Borneo, and was granted by Humabon the region of Mandawili, including the island known as Opong or Opon. First contact with the Spanish also occurred during Humabon's reign, resulting in the death of Ferdinand Magellan.The phrase Kota Raya Kita was documented by historian Antonio Pigafetta, to be a warning in the Old 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.
In reality, this phrase is that of Kota Raya kita, an indigenous Malay phrase of merchants under the authority of Rajah Humabon, with a meaning in English of: "our capital city": Kota , Raya, kita .
Diplomacy with other Southeast Asian Kingdoms
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 arrived at Cebu and paid tribute to Rajah Humabon.Dependencies of Cebu
Antonio Pigafetta, the expedition scribe, enumerated the towns and dependencies Cebu had.It is notable how the Spanish mispronounced the Tamil "Singhapala" as "Cingapola".
Battle of Mactan
The Battle of Mactan was fought on 27 April 1521 between forces of Rajah Humabon which included the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and Lapulapu, which resulted in the death of the former himself.Reign of Rajah Tupas and the Legazpi Expedition
Sri Parang, the limp, also had a young son, Sri Tupas, also known as Rajah Tupas who succeeded Rajah Humabon as king of Cebu. 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 and is a shortening of the word "Bendahara" which means "Storage house" in Sanskrit. The Hindu polity was dissolved during the reign of Rajah Tupas by the forces of conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi in the battle of Cebu during 1565.Relations with other kingdoms
The rajahs of Cebu were relatives to the rajahs of Butuan. 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 of Cebu. 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. The Sejarah Melayu of the nearby country of Malaysia, point to the similarly worded Keling as the immigrant people from India to Southeast Asia.However, Cebu was not at peace with all kingdoms. Maynila, which was under the influence of Brunei and would later become the city of Manila 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 as an easily conquerable people. 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.