Sri Rajahmura Lumaya, known in his shortened name Sri Lumay, was the first

Rajah ''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 fr ...

and the founder of the Indianized

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 na ...

. According to the epic '' Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik'', a Bisayan epic story, Sri Lumay was a half-Tamil and half Malay minor prince of the

Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, 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 ...

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 ...

. Sri Lumay was the grandfather of

Rajah Humabon Rajah Humabon, later baptized as Don Carlos, (died April 27, 1521) was the Rajah of Cebu (an Indianized Philippine polity). Humabon was Rajah at the time of the arrival of Portuguese-born, Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines ...

. He may be called a ''semi-legendary'' figure, since no other written records mentions about Sri Lumay, other than in oral traditions in the Visayan epic story of Anginid.

Legendary accounts

Sri Lumay, or Rajahmura Lumaya, established the Rajahnate of Cebu. He was a prince of the Chola dynasty which ruled

then. Initially, he was commissioned by the Maharajah to establish a base for their army force; instead, he created his own kingdom which he himself ruled with his son, Sri Alho and

Sri Ukob Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...

; they ruled the south known as Sialo, which included Valladolid, Carcar, up to Santander. The account of ''Aginid, Bayok sa atong Tawarik'' is about Sri Lumay of Sumatra who settled in Sugbo with his son, Sri Alho, ruling the south known as Sialo which included Valladolid, Carcar, up to Santander. Sri Lumay established the city of

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 ...

that become the capital of the rajahnate and what is now part of Mabolo in the northern district 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 Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

Battle campaigns

Sri Lumay fought the '' Magalos,'' or destroyers of peace, Muslim Moro warriors coming 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 ...

, who had been raiding the island 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 167 ...

in search for precious items like gold or ceramics and slaves. Sri Lumay was noted for his strict policies in defending against Moro Muslim raiders and slavers from Mindanao. His use of

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

tactics to repel invaders gave rise to the name Kang Sri Lumayang Sugbu (literally "that of Sri Lumay's great fire") to the town, which was later shortened to Sugbu ("scorched earth"). In other folk stories, the problem about the ''Magalos'' where already an issue since the time of early Malay settlers during the time of the legendary Datu Daya who build a watch towers to watch the community against the up coming raids.

Death

He died in battle, fighting with the Muslim Moro pirates known as magalos from Mindanao.

Sources

The Anginid epic mentioned Sri Lumay, his works, where he came from, and how he established the rajahnate:

Issue

, ruled the north, known as

Nahalin Nahalin, also spelled Nahaleen, ( ar, نحالين) is a Palestinian village located in the Bethlehem Governorate to the southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The word ''nahaleen'' is Arabic for those who collect honey from bees. The village was ...

, which includes the present towns of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Danao, Carmen, and Bantayan. * Sri Alho ruled over Sialo, which includes the present-day towns of Carcar and Santander in the southern region of

References

External links

* http://www.cebu-bluewaters.com/early-cebu-history.html {{India-related topics in Philippines Filipino paramount rulers Filipino Hindus Filipino datus, rajas and sultans Paramilitary Filipinos People from Cebu People of Tamil descent