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[hermes]

Srivijaya or Sriwijaya was an ancient Malay kingdom whose capital was suspected at Palembang, sumatra.

The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6 months. The first inscription in which the name Srivijaya appears also dates from the 7th century, namely the Kedukan Bukit Inscription.

The Kedukan Bukit Inscription was discovered by the Dutchman M. Batenburg on 29 November 1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra, on the banks of the River Tatang, a tributary of the River Musi....around Palembang in Sumatra, dated 683. The kingdom ceased to exist between 1200 and 1300 due to various factors, including the expansion of Majapahit.

sri means "shining" or "radiant" and vijaya means "victory" or "excellence".

After Srivijaya fell, it was largely forgotten and so historians had never considered that a large united kingdom could have been present in Southeast Asia. The existence of Srivijaya was only formally suspected in 1918 when French historian George Coedès.

There is no continuous knowledge of Srivijaya in Indonesian histories; its forgotten past has been recreated by foreign scholars. No modern Indonesians, not even those of the Palembang area around which the kingdom was based, had heard of Srivijaya until the 1920s, when French scholar George Coedès.

George Coedès noted that the Chinese references to "Sanfoqi" or SANFOTSI, previously read as "Sribhoja", and the inscriptions in Old Malay and also of Zabag from the early moslem writers.

Srivijaya became a symbol of early malayan greatness, and a great empire to balance Java's Majapahit in the east. In the twentieth century, both empires were referred to by nationalist intellectuals to argue for an Indonesian identity within and Indonesian state prior to the Dutch colonial state.

Srivijaya and by extension Sumatra had been known by different names to different peoples. The Chinese called it Sanfotsi or San Fo Qi.

Little physical evidence of Srivijaya remains. According to the Kedukan Bukit Inscription.

The empire was a coastal trading centre and was a thalassocracy. Thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realmsan empire at sea, such as the Phoenician network of merchant cities.

Allegiance is the duty which a subject or a citizen owes to the state or to the Monarch of the state to which he belongs....
to the Srivijaya maharaja

The word Maharaja is Hindi as well as ancient Sanskrit for "high king". Its use is primarily for Hindu potentates....

Some studies have shown that the name Sanfotsi could have applied to different regions within probably the same thallasocracy during the same time period. Palembang as interpreted as Sanfotsi is based mainly on Ming texts which state that Sanfotsi is also known as Pa-lin-fong. However, earlier texts list Pa-lin-fong as a dependency of Sanfotsi, which was located much further east in the Sea of Champa. Possibly in Ming times, China recognized some political elements of old Sanfotsi as present in Pa-lin-fong.

The placename Sanfotsi appears in the scholarly literature in many different forms: San-fo-ts'i, San-bo-tsai, San-fo-ch'i, San-fo-qi, etc., due to different pronunciation especially with regard to dialect of the three characters involved.

The 三 character with the Middle Chinese pronunciation of sam, means "three" and could be a reference to a tripartite understanding of the core region of Sanfotsi as forming three islands. However, at the same time sam/san may be part of the Chinese rendering of a foreign placename.

I would suggest that Sanfotsi is an attempted Chinese rendering of the national and geographical name Sambali initially probably in the Middle Chinese form sam-bot-ʒiej. Possibly it could have been also originally a Southern Chinese form similar to Cantonese saam-bat-zi.

Sambali in this case is the same medieval kingdom known to Tibetan Buddhists as Shambhala and to medieval Hindus as Sambhala.

The word "sambali" may derive from the local word samba "to worship" and also sambal "confluence of rivers." Sambal can also refer to joining together of rivers by building canals. In this sense, sambal by extension can mean "to make a pact" or to arrange/witness a pact based on the sealing of pacts by exchange of blood i.e. the mingling of the blood streams.

Either in relation to the idea of worship or maybe to that of splitting of rivers at a confluence, sambali also means "sacrificer, executioner" in southern Philippine languages, and can refer to any ritual killing involving decapitation.

An 18th century Spanish Tagalog dictionary lists sabang as a synonym of sambal. The related form sapang in Kapampangan means "estuary," the area in a river where saltwater and freshwater meet.

"Sapang" as a placename these days occurs as part of a conjoined forms as in "Sapang Kawayan" in Masantol, Pampanga. However, "sabang" at one time was a stand-alone word, and probably also "sapang."

I have suggested previously it is from sapang/sabang that the Arabs derived Zabag and Zabaj, the names of the central kingdom located in an estuary where the Mihraj was based.

In local legends of Masantol, the old Rajah of Macabebe/Masantol hailed from Malauli, a barangay of modern Masantol on the section of the Pampanga River where salty brackish water meets freshwater i.e. a sapang/sabang.

Before the Pinatubo eruption, north of Malauli the Pampanga River was flanked on both sides by rice fields. However, at Malauli, planting rice is no longer possible because of the salty water and fish-ponds replace the rice fields south along the river until one reaches the Manila Bay.

The word "malauli" itself probably refers to a canal connected to the river alongside which homes in the community are built. At one time, this may have been the official entry point into the kingdom of Sambali, and it is noted as a sacred place in local lore.

Malauli and the related mauli both mean "downstream" in modern Kapampangan and the latter has the additional meaning of "river mouth" and "South." For the ancient Kapampangans, the east was signified by Mount Arayat, and the South probably by Malauli and preserved in modern "mauli." Malauli was the entrance into the old sacred homeland and also the official port of the kingdom. The palace of the Mihraj itself was located right on the edge of a tidal area according to Arabic sources, and Chau Ju-Kua states: "The people [of Sanfotsi] either live scattered about outside the city, or on the water on rafts of boards covered over with reeds, and these are exempt from taxation."

[]
Malauli ang Sagrada, a barangay (village) of Masantol, Pampanga. The Pampanga River is in the upper right-hand corner. The East is at the top of the picture. Click here for whole Google map.

Sanfotsi and Sambatyon

The name of the Sambatyon River is usually said to be derived from an unattested form of the "Sabbaticus" River through a dissimilation of the double labial consonant "bb".

However, there could also be a connection here with Sambali, Shambhala and Sambhala.

Through confusion brought on by the different pronunciations of 三佛齊, a rendering such as "Sam-bo-tsai" could easily evolve into Sambatyon: Sam-bo-tsai > Sam-bai-tso (through metathesis) > Sam-ba-to > Sambatyon. The adding of the final -n was common in Jewish adoption of foreign words with final "o" as in Nero > Neron and Apollo > Apollyon.

Also the name "Sambatyon" appears around Sung Dynasty times at about the same time as "Sambotsai".

Concepts of lost tribes sequestered by a river are quite appropriate to the thinking of both the people of the Sambali region and to that of the ancient Hebrews (ibhri "across the river") . The Austronesian dual society based on relationships involving one's location on the left bank, right bank, upstream, downstream, etc. merges with ancient concepts of the "lost brother" who separated by a body of water. For a people living in the region of Sundaland floods and conditioned at an early age to marine exploration, the concept of the "lost brother" and "returning hero" is rather natural.

The river of sand and stones is a fiery one and can be compared to the flaming sword that guards Eden. Indeed, medieval traditions place the Lost Ten Tribes in or near the ancient Paradise.

[hermes]

above post was shamelessly copy pasted from here... http://sambali.blogspot.com/2007/02/etymology-of-sanfotsi-article.html]http://sambali.blogspot.com/2007/02/etymol...si-article.html

The Medieval Geography of Sanfotsi and Zabag
http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/sanfotsizabag.htm]http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/sanfotsizabag.htm

The Location of the Kingdom
http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/lockingdom.htm]http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/lockingdom.htm

the Mihraj of Zabag or the Maharajah of Srivijayan empire aka Sanfotsi...
http://sambali.blogspot.com/2006_02_18_archive.html]http://sambali.blogspot.com/2006_02_18_archive.html

Glossary: Mihraj
Medieval Islamic texts used the word Mihraj or similar forms like Mihrjan to describe the king of the Zabag empire in the East Indies. Mihraj may be a corruption of the Indian Maharaja "Great King."

Writers of the time described the Mihraj's influence as extending over vast territories from the Indies to East Africa. Some of these claims are substantiated by physical evidence such as the written records of the kingdoms of Champa and Cambodia, and land grants in South and East India. According to the texts, Zabag and its southern neighbor Wakwak competed for the highly lucrative East African trade.

Income from the mercantile trade made the Mihraj very wealthy at that time. In the One Thousand and One Nights and other Arabic literature the Mihraj along with the legendary Solomon are held as ideals of royal wealth. Sindbad visits the Mihraj on the "Isle of Mares" in one of most well-known of his voyages.


In the sea of Champa is the empire of Mihraj, the king of the islands, who rules over an empire without limit and has innumerable troops. Even the most rapid vessels could not complete in two years a tour round the isles which are under his possesssion. The territories of this king produce all sorts of spices and aromatics, and no other sovereign of the world gets as much wealth from the soil.

-- Mas'udi, AD 943


Despite the wealth of the Mihraj, his capital is described as a 'town' in Muslim literature. His palace is located on the water's edge in an estuary, and from his patio he daily threw gold bars into the water to propitiate the sea. At low tide, the pile of gold was exposed for all to see, and when the king died the gold was distributed to all the people of the land. The greatness of the king was judged by the amount of gold so accumulated. In the capital, fisher folk living in their boats or homes over the water were exempted from taxes. The Mihraj was the model of the Fisher King, the "Lord of the Net."

The rural setting of his kingdom is detailed by Abu Zaid who states that "patches of settlement succeed each other without interruption" and further mention an "uninterrupted and regular succession of villages."


A very trustworthy man affirms that when the cocks crow at daybreak, as in our country, they call out to each other throughout the whole extent of a hundred parasangs [~500 kilometers]...In effect, there are no uninhabited places in this country and no ruins. He who comes into the country when he is on a journey, if he is mounted he may go wherever he pleases; if he is tired or if his mount has difficulty in carrying on, then he may stop wherever he wishes.

-- Abu Zaid, 10th century


Policy of Attraction

During the heyday of Zabag between about 800 CE to 1300 CE, the Mihraj maintained an "open door" policy, as mentioned above by Abu Zaid. Merchants were encouraged to enter and stay in the country. Idrisi states that in particular the merchants of China favored trading in the islands of Zabag:


It is said that when the states of affairs of China became troubled by rebellions and when tyranny and confusion became excessive in India, the inhabitants of China transferred their trade to Zabag and the other islands dependent on it, entered into relations with it, and familiarized themselves with its inhabitants bcause of their justice, the goodness of their conduct, the pleasantness fo their customs, and their facility in business. It is because of this that this island is so heavily populated and so often frequented by strangers.

-- Idrisi, 12th century


Later during the Ming dynasty, the kingdom of Lusung, Zabag's successor, continued this policy and when the Spanish arrived in Luzon there existed merchant communities from China and Japan on land granted by the Lusung king. The large Chinese trading community of the Manila Bay was known as the Parian.


Lusung is situated in the southern seas not far from Chang-chou (in Fukien)...In the past, thousands of Fukienese merchants lived there for a long period without returning home, because the land was near and rich. They even had children and grandchildren.

-- Ming-shi (Dynastic annals of the Ming Dynasty)


Not long after reaching the pinnacle of its power, Zabag was threatened by its powerful neighbor to the South. In the late 10th century, an attack by Wakwak prompted the Mihraj to send an embassy to the Sung dynasty requesting assistance. Such a policy of attraction appears to have been a necessary strategy for the Mihraj, whose trading empire was also under attack in the far West.

Indeed both Wakwak and Zabag faced problems with their ancient East African spice routes due to the expansion of Islam. Wakwak for its part decided on massive military action. An expedition in the 10th century of fleet of one thousand ships was sent to the African Zanj coast and to Qanbalu, which by this time was nearly completely in Muslim hands. Arab merchants from Oman were taking over the trade.


Ibn Lakis has imparted to me some extraordinary pieces of information concerning them. It is thus that in 334 AH (945-6 CE) they came upon Qanbalu in a thousand ships and fought them with the utmost vigor, without however achieving their end, as Qanbalu is surrounded by a strong defensive wall around which stretches the water-filled estuary of the sea, so that Qanbalu is at the center of this estuary, like a fortified citadel."

-- Kitab aja'ib al-Hind of Buzurg ibn Shahriyar (955 CE)


The vast Wakwak fleet traveled for one year to attack Qanbalu, Sofala and other Zanj settlements that were then dominated by Muslim traders. Such a costly expedition demonstrates the gravity of the situation to the Wakwak rulers. Certainly the Mihraj must have felt the same way.

However, our thesis is that the Mihraj practiced a policy of attraction. His military might at the time was spent in protecting his home kingdom from Wakwak. He sent ambassadors to India and Tibet, made grants for temples there and some Zabag (Suvarnadvipa) kings are even said to have personally traveled to South Asia.

Further west in Europe, the overtures of the Mihraj may be seen in the letters and ambassadors of "Prester John." There was nothing unusual in the Mihraj patronizing at the same time Buddhism, Christianity (Nestorianism), Hinduism, Jainism, animism, etc. This was not an uncommon practice among the medieval kings of the Indies.

Later, Lusung continued this policy of attraction when the Portuguese arrived on the scene. By this time the ancient eastern routes in Africa had been lost, but Lusung still managed to monopolize the restricted trade with China. And it was still an important source of gold.

King of the Mountain

Chinese texts describing the king of Zabag (Sanfotsi) state that each ruler had images of themselves made in gold (anitos?). These images were consecrated to a "Buddha" called the "Hill of Gold and Silver" after the death of the ruler.

The Southeast Asian concept of the "King of the Mountain" likely derives originally from the mountain custodians of indigenous customary law. The custodian/guardian/king was also often placed as priest of a sacred plot, terrace or temple on the mountain.

The territory divided by the rivers flowing from the mountain were formed into districts under the ultimate influence of the king who ruled the entire banua. In the cosmic version of this kingship, the mountain becomes the axis mundi and the king a type of universal ruler. The territories under the king now include all those 'beneath the sky.'

In the Pinatubo model, the districts around the mountain are eight in number divided by eight major rivers, which including Pinatubo itself gives a total of nine districts. Using the "Mt. Meru" concept, the cosmic mountain also consists of levels, which we can equate with mountain terraces, often given as seven in number -- the 'seven heavens.'

Both the districts and levels can be viewed as if looking down from the sky in the symbolic form known as the mandala.

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'Tantric' gold belt from pre-Hispanic gold collection of Philippine Central Bank. The triangles of the buckle represent the tiered mountain with six rows of dots/bindus decreasing by one as they ascend from the base of six dots. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)

[]
Triangular gold pendant of the 'Sri Yantra' type also from the Central Bank, with dot-triangles arranged in three rows starting from a base of three triangles and decreasing by one with each ascending row. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)


The mandala was one of a series of animistic objects that symbolized or represented the cosmic mountain. These could be amulets, talimans, symbols, relics made of sacred materials from the mountain, even fire from the mountain itself. The objects were seen to have a life and even a mind and voice of their own. They are linked with the spiritual concept of the quest, both an inner and outer journey.


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Medieval Philippine gold sash finial with mandala design, from Butuan on the island of Mindanao. (Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com)


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Gold waistcloth finial in "Mt. Meru" pattern from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. When viewed from above the ornament appears as a series of concentric circles. Finials of this type were illustrated in the 16th century Boxer Codex.(Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com)


[]
The world divided into eight "climes" from Yamakoti/Kangdez.


[]
World divided into "trines" from Yamakoti/Kangdez.

and the bisayan theory of srivijayan empire... http://rciasia.tripod.com/pangpang.html

[hermes]

srivijayan was coined by coedes during the 1920's to give a name to this sanfotsi to the chinese and zabag to the arabs.
Jose Rizal, our national hero, mentioned tawalisi kingdom of princess urduja which is documented by the moslem chronicler ibn battuta.
If jose rizal would have been alive when srivijayan was coined by coedes, he would have associated this tawalisi kingdom as a dependency of sanfotsi just like palembang(confused as the capital) was a dependency of the Kingdom of Sapa or zabag or sanfotsi or srivijayan empire.

do research before passing judgement.
a healthy skepticisms is very necessary but to dismiss outright is unwise.

Our minds are more conditioned than we think, subconsciously by the Western-favoring media and academia.

[hermes]

Srivijayan Brunei Sultan Ragam: invader of the Majapahitan Seludong/Lusung Kingdom
Ancestor of Soliman,Lakandula,Salalila,Gatbonton,Gatpandan,etc.


Brunei Sultan Ragam was also known as Sultan Bulkeiah or Haring Araw of Borneo http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/4059/ascend.htm .

He bragged that his ancestry included the Srivijayan monarchs, the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great as well as the great founder of the Moslem faith, prophet Mohammed. He also  bragged of his blood relations with the Emperor of China and that he donned the Imperial clothes.

He defeated the Majapahitan sovereign Datu Gambang of the Kingdom of Lusung aka Seludong (as known to the Borneans). Perhaps, taking advantage of the  weakening condition of the former empire still reeling from the aftermath of Mt.Pinatubo eruption as well as the thrice subjugation attempts of the Admiral Zheng He, who was sent by the Emperor of China.

The end result of the coming of the Bruneians resulted in the establishment of Manila to safeguard brunei's interest in the maritime trade overlooking Tondo(the eastern capital of Selurung or lusung) and in the intermarriage of his Srivijayan clan with the Clan of the Majapahitan Prince Balagtas, son of Emperor Anka Wijaya/Vijaya of the Majapahit empire with the Empress Sasaban of the kingdom of Namayan/Sapa which was formerly under allegiance to the former Srivijayan Empire or Zabag empire(as it was known to the early moslem writers) or Sanfotsi(as known to the early Chinese chroniclers) or Empire of Sapa which then  became Lusung or Luzon Guo or Golden Luzon or Seludong, short of its former glory as Suvarnadvipa(Island of Gold as it was known to the Indians). http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/4059/ascend.htm

Here is his own words... http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/7446/Ragam.htm

Ako'y Si Ragam

Salin sa Pilipino ni Clodualdo del Mundo

 

Ako si sultan Bulkeiah sa Borneo, na naghahari mula sa lungsod ng kapayapaan, Dar es Salam, sa dalampasigan ng Brunei. Sa Magindanaw at sa Sulu, na kinakikitaan ng unang liwanag ng walang katulad kong asawa, Emperatris Lela Men Chanei, ay tinatawag akong Raha Baginda. At ngayon, dito sa Maynila ay ako ang Sultan at Emperador

Makalawang ulit nang sinalakay ng aking hukbong-dagat ang Selurung, na tinatawag ninyong Lusung, at ngayon ay ako ang nagwagi at nakapanakop. Ang mapanghamig na si Datu Gambang, ang inyong yumaong puno, ay wala na, at ang isang prinsesa mula sa kanyang angkan ay aking pinakasalan upang maipagpatuloy ang dinastiya ng Pasig. Ang magiging anak nami'y siya ninyong magiging maginoo, at dahil sa inyong pamimitagan sa kamaharlikaan ng lipi, alamin ninyo na ako'y kalipi ng dakilang Iskander, ang Alejandro ng malayong Europa, na ang reyna'y anak ni Porus, ang lalong matapang na Indyo, kahinlog ni Sang Sapurba na nagtawid-dagat sa Haba at ang mga kaanak ay namuno sa Johur, pook na pinangyarihan ng pagkuha sa maharlikang prinsesa upang maging kaisangpuso ng aking kanunu-nunuan, Tuan alak ber Tatar. Sa aking mga ugat ay nananalaytay ang dugong Arabe ni Hassim, ang tunay na propeta na maawain at mapagpaumayang Allah. Nasa-akin din ang dugong Intsik, dahil sa isang prinsesa ni Kina Balu, at sa loob ng limang daang taon ay laging suot ng mga hari ng Brunei ang dilaw na kasuutang imperyal bilang pagkilala ng emperador ng Tsina. Malaon na kaming nag-iingat ng mobat at mga batingaw mula sa Malaka at Menangkabaw, mga palamuting pangmaharlika ng mga Indiyo at Islam.

Nguni't higit sa aking pagiging hari ay ipinagmamalaki ko ang sa aki'y karapat-dapat na katawagang Nakoda, sapagka't sa pag-uugit sa isang sasakyang-dagat ay wala nang dadaig pa sa akin, at ang aking ga paraw ay nakasagupa na sa mga unos na namayani sa lalong nag-aalimpuyong dagat, at ikinararangal kong masabing sa aking mga ugat ay dumadaloy ang dugo ng isang Bisaya. Tuwing dadalaw sa aking kaharian ang mga sugong Intsik at Arabe, ang pinakamahalagang palamuti nila'y ang mahabang chawat, na laging itinataas sa harapan ko ng apatnapu katao. Kapag iyo'y ibinigkis ko sa aking baywang upang humanda sa pakikitalad, ang pagkakabigkis ay maayos at ang paghahamok ay laging pinagtatagumpayan.

Mula sa Malaka hanggang Maynila ay kilalaang lahat ang pangalang Nakoda Ragam na kanilang pinanganganinuhan, sa kabila ng aking pagiging maharlika. Kaya, mga tauhan sa kailugan ng Lusung , huwag kayong magkulang sa inyong tungkulin sa aking magiging anak, ang inyong raha, at huwag ninyong kaliligtaang magbuwis ng ginto taun-taun sa Brunei bilang panahon ito na ang Pulo ng Ginto (hindi na ang Lusung- emphasis mine).

[pele]

i never thought history is this interesting. how come its not presented in history classes. i wouldn't have skipped class to play craft.

thanks
keep it going, hermes!

[hermes]

i never thought history is this interesting. how come its not presented in history classes. i wouldn't have skipped class to play craft.

thanks
keep it going, hermes!

We are having right now a renaissance of what was our past Glory days.
We have been inculturated as inferior that we owe it to our colonial masters for giving us civilizations that we were like tarzan when they discovered us.

In case, some of few would comment that there is no such person as this Emperor Anka Vijaya/Wijaya. And thus all of these are just sweet fiction. Then, you can blame all these people for having conspired that there was such an emperor and had misspelled the name of the emperor(which should have been the name of the founder of the majapahit empire, raden vijaya) or their original documents was erred in the first place or if these were all lies or not true for having such imaginary minds....

quote from here... http://article.melayuonline.com/?a=Rm1tL1U5bWh1MGY%3D=
According to Henson, he was the third Sulaiman to rule the Islamic Kingdom of Manila. The first was Sulaiman I, a grandson of Emperor Anka Widjaya, the last King of Majapahit and Empress Sa Saban of the Kingdom of Sapa (now Sta. Ana, Manila)[16] He married Princess Ysmeria and they had three sons � Sulaiman II, Matanda and Lakandula. After Sulaiman II died, he was succeeded by his son, Sulaiman III. After some time, Martin de Goiti, Legaspi�s master of camp, and the Spaniards arrived in Manila Bay in 1570 A.D., Raja Sulaiman III and his aging uncle were ruling the Kingdom of Manila. It is interesting to note that Raja Sulaiman III married a Brunei princess, a daughter of Sultan Abdul Kahar.[17]
It was also claimed that Sulaiman (Sulaiman bin Mahmud) was the fourteenth successor of Raja Ahmad, who reportedly established the Islamic principality of Manila in 1258 with temporal power covering Luzon and the Visayas. Moreover, Raja Ahmad was from Brunei and had vanquished Raja Avirjirkaya of Manila, who was supposed to be under the suzereinty of Madjapahit Empire.[18]
------

quote from here... http://mandaluyong.gov.ph/profile/history.aspx?node=1
These industrious people trace their roots to Emperor Soledan (also known as “Anka Widyaya” of the Great Madjapahit Empire) and Empress Sasaban of the Kingdom of Sapa whose son Prince Balagtas ruled as sovereign of the kingdom in about the year 1300.
-----

quote from here... http://bukaneg.blog.friendster.com/2007/01...-of-the-people/
ccording to Manila historian and National Artist for Literature and Journalism Nick Joaquin, the high point of Namayan history was the marriage, sometime in the 13th century, of Namayan princess (later Empress) Sasaban to Madjapahit Empire crown prince (later Emperor) Soledan (orAnka Widyaya). They ruled Indonesia.

     The imperial couple had a son, Prince Balagtas. Because he was to become King of Namayan, he married Lady Banginoan. Banginoan was the daughter of Lord Lontok and Lady Kalangitan, princess of Pasig. Her grandfather was Archduke Araw.

     One of King Balagtas’ descendants was Lakan Takhan who had a bastard son named Pasay. Takhan bequeathed to his son the kingdom we now know as Pasay City.

     After Takhan, Namayan was ruled by his son Palaba, who was in turn succeeded by his son Laboy. Laboy was succeeded on the throne by his son Kalamayin. It was Kalamayin’s sad fortune to be the sovereign when the palefaces arrived. When Kalamayin’s son was baptized a Christian, prince Martin, the Kingdom of Namayan was no more.

     The Kings of Maynila, Tondo, Namayan and others were originally Borneans. It was therefore natural for them to embrace Islam as their religion.

    As an aside, Joaquin wrote about El Kapitan Juan de Salcedo falling in love with a local Princess—the Lady Candarapa. Salcedo was Legazpi’s nephew while Candarapa was Lakan Dula’s niece. Both Legazpi and Lakan Dula frustrated the love affair. Salcedo was sent to conquer Ilocandia; Candarapa died three months after her lover sailed north. Salcedo christianized the Ilocos and the Cagayan Valley regions; Candarapa gave us the word that means “hopeslessly in love.”

[CityHunter]

Question.  Could this be one or the main reason why Pres. Marcos wanted to crown himself (and his family) as royalty?