Panday Pira ( Kapampángan: ''Pandeng Pira''; 1488–1576) was a Filipino Kapampángan

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blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

His name literally translates as "Blacksmith Pira", ''panday'' being the Tagalog word for "blacksmith". Panday Pira was a native of the southern islands of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He migrated to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in 1508 and established a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

on the northern bank of the

Pasig River The Pasig River ( fil, Ilog Pasig) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and Metro Manila, its surrounding urban area into northern and souther ...

Rajah Sulayman Rajah Sulayman, sometimes referred to as Sulayman III (Sanskrit: स्ललैअह्, Arabic: سليمان, Abecedario: ''Suláimán'') (1558–1575), was the Rajah of Maynila, a fortified Tagalog Muslim polity on the southern half of the ...

commissioned Panday Pira to cast the

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

that were mounted on the palisades surrounding his kingdom. In 1570, Castilian forces under the command of

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captured Manila and took these artillery pieces as

war booty Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

, presenting them to

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, i ...

, the first Spanish

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colon ...

. Legazpi eventually established a permanent Castilian settlement in Manila on May 19, 1571 and on June 3 of the same year,

Tarik Sulayman Tarik Sulayman, also spelled Tarik Soliman (from Arabic طارق سليمان '' Tāriq Sulaiman''), is the most popular of several names attributed by Kapampangan historians to the individual that led the forces of Macabebe against the Spanish f ...

waged the

Battle of Bangkusay Channel The Battle of Bangkusay ( fil, Labanan sa Ilog Bangkusay; es, Batalla de Bangkusay), on June 3, 1571, was a naval engagement that marked the last resistance by locals to the Spanish Empire's occupation and colonization of the Pasig River delta, ...

to recapture his kingdom from the Spaniards. Sulayman failed in this and perished in the battle. Panday Pira then fled to

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

where he attempted to begin a new life in ''

sitio A ''sitio'' (Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popul ...

'' Capalangan in the town of

Apalit Apalit, officially the Municipality of Apalit ( pam, Balen ning Apalit; tl, Bayan ng Apalit), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 117,160 people. The town is ...

, working as a blacksmith forging farm implements. He was, however, summoned by Legazpi back to Manila and put to work forging cannons for the Spaniards. He established his foundry in what is now Santa Ana.

Santiago de Vera Santiago de Vera was a native of Alcalá de Henares, Spain and the sixth Spanish governor of the Philippines, from May 16, 1584, until May 1590. Governorship Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa and Domingo de Salazar, the first bishop of M ...

, the sixth Governor-General, commissioned him to cast cannon for the defenses of a fortress he built, the fortress of ''Nuestra Señora de Guía'' (Spanish, "Our Lady of Guidance"), now called

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day I ...

. To the Spaniards, Panday Pira was known as Pandapira, and they exempted him from paying tribute and forced labor. In 1576, Panday Pira died at the age of 88. His death was a great loss to the Spaniards who had to petition the King of Spain for a blacksmith to take his place. It was not until 1584, that a Spanish blacksmith from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

arrived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pira, Panday Blacksmiths History of the Philippines (900–1565) People of Spanish colonial Philippines Filipino Muslims Filipino artisans Kapampangan people 1576 deaths 1488 births

See also

References