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Rajah Humabon, later baptized as Don Carlos, (died April 27, 1521) was the Rajah of
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...
(an Indianized Philippine polity). Humabon was Rajah at the time of the arrival of Portuguese-born, Spanish explorer
Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...
in the Philippines in 1521. There is no official record of his existence before the Spanish contact in 1521. The existing information was written by Magellan's Italian voyage chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta on Humabon and the indigenous Philippine peoples that existed prior to Spanish colonization. Rajah Humabon is cited as the reason for why Magellan fought in the Battle of Mactan, as the latter wanted to earn the trust of Humabon by helping him subdue his opponent Lapulapu, the
datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...
of
Mactan Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is se ...
.


Legendary accounts

There is no official record of the origins of Rajah Humabon prior to the arrival of Magellan. According to tradition, Humabon (also known as Sri ''Hamabar'') was the son of Sri Bantug, and the grandson of Sri Lumay. His ancestor, Sri Lumay, a native from
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
and a member of the
Chola Dynasty The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BC ...
, established the Rajahnate of Cebu, and sired at least four known sons, namely Alho, Ukob, Parang the Limp, and Bantug (father of Rajah Humabon). Sri Alho 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 Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. A third brother was Sri Parang the Limp, but could not rule because of his physical infirmity. Sri Bantug, the youngest, ruled a kingdom known as ''
Singhapala Singhapala ( Baybayin: , ceb, Dakbayan sa Singapala, tl, Lungsod ng Singapala, Old Malay: ''Kota Singapura'') was an ancient fortified city or a region, the capital of the Indianized Rajahnate of Cebu. The location of this ancient city is what ...
'' (a variation of the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
''Singha-Pura'', "City of the Lion", which is also the root of ''
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
''), in a region which is now part of
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...
, who later died of disease and was succeeded by his son Sri Hamabar, also known as Rajah Humabon. Because of his infirmity, Sri Parang handed Bantug's throne to Bantug's son Humabon as
regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
, and Humabon became the ''
raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested ...
h'' (king) of Cebu.


Spanish contact

When Sri Bantug died Sri Parang became his successor, but due to his limp he passed the throne to Humabon.Jovito Abellana, Aginid, Bayok sa Atong Tawarik, 1952 The phrase ''Cata Raya Chita'' was documented by historian Antonio Pigafetta to be a warning in the
Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi: , Rencong: ) is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of the Philippines an ...
, from a merchant to the Rajah. Following Pigafetta's inscription, the phrase is creole Malay for "''Kata-katanya adalah raya cita-cita''". The phrase may mean "What they say is mainly ambitious": ''kata-kata'' ("words"), ''–nya'' (second person possessive), ''adalah'' ("is/are"), ''raya'' (great, main, large), ''cita-cita'' ("ambitious"). Another interpretation is that the phrase was spoken by merchants under the authority of Rajah Humabon was actually the Old Malay ''Kota raya kita'', meaning "We are of the great fortress": ''Kota'' ("fortress"), ''Raya'' ("great"), ''Kita'' ("we"). The meeting between Rajah Humabon and
Enrique of Malacca Enrique of Malacca ( es, Enrique de Malaca; pt, Henrique de Malaca), was a Malay member of the Magellan expedition that completed the first circumnavigation of the world in 1519–1522. He was acquired as a slave by the Portuguese explorer ...
, the slave accompanying Magellan's voyage, was documented by Antonio Pigafetta and Spanish explorer
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, ...
and is evidence that Old Malay was understood in parts of what is now the Philippines.


Conversion to Catholicism, betrayal of Magellan's crew

According to historical accounts, Rajah Humabon was among the first indigenous converted to Catholicism after he, his wives, and his subjects were baptized by the expedition's priest. On April 14, 1521, Humabon was christened ''Carlos'' in honor of
King Charles I of Spain Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fro ...
, while his chief consort, ''Hara'' Humamay was given the name ''Juana'', after Charles' mother,
Joanna of Castile Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad ( es, link=no, Juana la Loca), was the nominal Queen of Castile from 1504 and Queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was married by arrangement to P ...
. He also made a
blood compact Blood compact (Spanish: ''Pacto de sangre''; Filipino: ''Sanduguan'') was an ancient ritual in the Philippines intended to seal a friendship or treaty, or to validate an agreement. The contracting parties would cut their hands and pour their blo ...
with Magellan, as a sign of friendship; according to Pigafetta, it was Humabon who had requested Magellan to kill his rival, Lapulapu, the
datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...
or chieftain of nearby
Mactan Island Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is sep ...
. After the death of Magellan at the Battle of Mactan and the consequent failure of the Spanish to defeat Lapulapu, Humabon and his warriors plotted to poison the remaining Spanish soldiers in Cebu during a feast. Several men were killed, including the then-leaders of the expedition,
Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a Christian pastor and scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbo ...
and João Serrão. According to the chronicler Pigafetta, Serrão, begging to be saved from the Cebuano tribesmen, allegedly referred to
Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (D ...
(Magellan's slave) as having instigated the massacre by claiming to Humabon that the Europeans planned to take over the rajahnate.


See also

*
History of the Philippines Earliest hominin activity in the Philippine archipelago is dated back to at least 709,000 years ago. '' Homo luzonensis'', a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known anatomically ...
*
Rajahnate of Cebu Cebu, or Sugbu, also called the Cebu Rajanate, was an Indianized raja (monarchical) mandala (polity) 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 ...
*
Singhapala Singhapala ( Baybayin: , ceb, Dakbayan sa Singapala, tl, Lungsod ng Singapala, Old Malay: ''Kota Singapura'') was an ancient fortified city or a region, the capital of the Indianized Rajahnate of Cebu. The location of this ancient city is what ...
- ancient capital of the Rajahanate of Cebu


References


External links


Rajah Humabon – King of Cebu
(PDF)

{{India-related topics in Philippines Converts to Roman Catholicism Filipino datus, rajas and sultans Filipino paramount rulers Filipino people of Malay descent Filipino Roman Catholics Magellan expedition Paramilitary Filipinos People from Cebu People of Spanish colonial Philippines