| Rajahnate of Cebu Sugbu |
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| Kingdom | |||||
|
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| Capital | Singhapala / Sugbu | ||||
| Languages | Old Malay, Old Cebuano | ||||
| Religion | Syncretic form of Hinduism, Buddhism and Animism (see also Polytheism) | ||||
| Government | Rajahnate | ||||
| Rajah | |||||
| - | 1497 - 1565 | Tupas Felipe (last) | |||
| History | |||||
| - | Established | 1450 | |||
| - | Treaty of Cebu (1565) Conquest by Spain | 1565 | |||
| Today part of |  Philippines |
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Rajahnate of Cebu was a classical Philippine state which used to exist on the island of Cebu prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It was founded by Sri Lumay or Rajamuda Lumaya, a minor prince of the Chola dynasty which occupied Sumatra. He was sent by the maharajah to establish a base for expeditionary forces but he rebelled and established his own independent rajahnate.[1]
Summary [edit]
According to Visayan folklore, he descended from a native royal family who practiced Hinduism which ruled Cebu. Sri Lumay, was a Malay from Sumatra, who settled in the Visayas, and had several sons. One of his son 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 kingdom known as Nahalin in the north which included the present-day towns of Consolación, Liloan, Compostela, Danao, Carmen and Bantayan. He died in battle, fighting with the tribal group known as magalos from Mindanao.[2]
The youngest of his sons was Sri Bantug who ruled a kingdom known as Singhapala, in a region which is now known as Cebu City, who died of disease and was succeeded by his son Sri Hamabar, also known as Rajah Humabon. Sri Bantug had a brother called Sri Parang, the limp, but could not govern his kingdom because of his infirmity. Parang handed his throne to his nephew Humabon and became the Rajah (king) of Cebu.
Sri Parang, the limp, also had a young son, Sri Tupas, also known as Rajah Tupas who succeeded Rajah Humabon as king of Cebu.[3] The phrase Cata Raya Chita 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."[4]
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 (fortress), Raya (great, hence Kotaraya (capital city)), kita (we).
This Rajahnate was dissolved during the reign of Rajah Tupas by the forces of conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi in the battle of Cebu during 1565.[5]
Notes [edit]
- ^ Jovito Abellana, Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik, 1952
- ^ Marivir Montebon, Retracing Our Roots – A Journey into Cebu’s Pre-Colonial Past, p.15
- ^ Jovito Abellana, Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik, 1952
- ^ Pigafetta, A., Nancy-Libri-Phillipps-Beinecke-Yale codex, Skelton, R.A. English translation. pg 71
- ^ William Henry Scott (1992), Looking for the prehispanic Filipino: and other essays in Philippine history, New Day Publishers, ISBN 978-971-10-0524-5, http://books.google.com/books?id=Z6ZwAAAAMAAJ.
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