Rajah Sulayman facts for kids

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 Pasig River delta, when a Spanish expedition arrived in the early 1570s.

Sulayman – along with his co-ruler Rajah Matanda of Maynila and Lakan Dula, who ruled the neighboring polity of Tondo – was one of the three reigning monarchs during the Spanish conquest of the Port of Manila and the Pasig River delta. Spanish accounts describe him as the most aggressive of the three rulers – a characteristic chalked up to his youth relative to the other two rulers.

He was the rajah in the Pasig River Delta era. His adoptive son, baptised Agustin de Legaspi upon conversion to Christianity, was proclaimed the paramount ruler of Tondo upon the death of Lakan Dula, but he along with most of Lakan Dula's sons and most of Sulayman's adoptive sons were executed by the Spanish after being implicated in the 1587–1588 Tondo Conspiracy. This action helped the Spanish Empire to further solidify its grip on Luzon and most of the Philippine archipelago.

Names

Spanish documents note that Sulayman's subjects called him Raja Mura or Raja Muda, "Young Raja", a reference to the fact that he was Raja Matanda's nephew and heir apparent. The Spaniards also called him Raja Solimano el Mow.

Spanish conquest of Manila (1570–1571)

Rajah Sulayman was the ruler of Maynila along with Rajah Matanda when the invasion of Legazpi occurred. Manila was already influenced by neighboring Southeast Asian kingdoms. The area was already an entrepot of trade from China, Siam and other places.

The Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi, searching for a suitable place to establish his capital after moving from Cebu to Panay due to Portuguese claim of the archipelago, sent Martín de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo on an expedition northwards to Luzon upon hearing of a prosperous kingdom there.

Goiti anchored at Cavite and established his authority by sending a "message of friendship" to the states surrounding the Pasig River. Sulayman, who had been given authority over these settlements by the ageing Rajah Matanda, was willing to accept the "friendship" from the Spaniards. However, he refused to cede his sovereignty, and had no choice but to waged war against the new arrivals' demands. As a result, Goíti and his army invaded the kingdoms in June 1570, sacked and burned the great city before returning to Panay.

Tarik Sulayman and the Battle of Bangkusay (1571)

Some controversy exists about the identity of the leader of the Macabebe people that initiated the Battle of Bangkusay in 1571. That chieftain is referred to by Filipino historians as Tarik Sulayman. In some versions of the Battle of Bangkusay, Tarik Sulayman of Macabebe and Sulayman III of Manila are the same person, while other contend that they are two separate individuals.

Spanish documents do not identify the leader of the Macabebe revolt by name, but record that he died during the 1571 Battle of Bangkusay, resulting in a Macabebe retreat and Spanish victory. Sulayman III, on the other hand, is clearly recorded as participating in the Revolt of 1574, and thus cannot be the unnamed figure who died in 1571 at Bangkusay.

The "Sulayman Revolt" (1574)

When López de Legazpi died in 1572, his successor, Governor-General Guido de Lavezaris, did not honour their agreements with Sulayman and Lakan Dula. He sequestered the properties of both kings and tolerated Spanish atrocities.

In response, Sulayman and Lakan Dula led a revolt in the villages of Navotas in 1574, taking advantage of the confusion brought about by the attacks of Chinese pirate Limahong. This is often referred to as the "Manila Revolt of 1574" but is sometimes referred to as the "Sulayman Revolt" and the "Lakan Dula Revolt." Since it involved naval forces, the Sulayman Revolt is also known as the "First Battle of Manila Bay".

Friar Geronimo Marín and Juan de Salcedo were tasked with pursuing conciliatory talks with the kingdoms. Lakan Dula and Sulayman agreed to Salcedo's peace treaty and an alliance was formed between the two groups.

Life after 1574

Some accounts from the American Colonial era claim that Sulayman was killed during the revolt of 1574, but this once again seems to be the result of Sulayman being confused with Tarik Sulayman of Macabebe, who had died in the previous revolt in 1571. A review of genealogical documents deposited at the Philippines' National Archives notes that Sulayman lived past the 1574 revolt, in which his son Rahang Bago was killed, and lived long enough to adopt the children of an unnamed sibling to be his descendants.

Sulayman is no longer mentioned in the accounts of events that took place from 1586 to 1588, which involved many members of his family.

Descendants

According to Luciano P.R. Santiago's genealogical research, Sulayman married his cousin, a princess from Borneo, and the two had at least two biological children: a son referred to as Rahang Bago (which means "new prince"; "Raxa el Vago" in the Spanish texts), and a daughter who would be baptized Doña María Laran. A legend cited by the government of Pasay in the 1950s also says Sulayman had two children: a son named Suwaboy, and a daughter, Dayang-dayang (Princess) Pasay, who would inherit from her father the lands south of Manila now known as Pasay and Parañaque. However, Rahang Bago and his cousin Lumantalan were killed by the Spanish in November 1574, in the confusion that ensued during the attack of the Chinese Corsair, Limahong.

According to Santiago's research, Doña María Laran had two daughters: Doña Inés Dahitim, the elder, who married Don Miguel Banal of Quiapo; and Doña María Guinyamat, who married a Don Agustín Turingan. Luciano P.R. Santiago theorizes that Don Miguel Banal was the son of the Don Juan Banal who was implicated in the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587. Santiago furthers that Don Miguel Banal and Doña Inés Dahitim are said to have begotten the second Filipino to be inducted into the Augustinian Order, Fray Marcelo Banal de San Agustín.

The oral legend cited by the local government of Pasay, in turn, says that Dayang-dayang Pasay married a local prince named Maytubig and settled in the place called Balite. The legend says that they had a daughter named Dominga Custodio, who grew up to donate all her lands to the Augustinian Order just before her death.

Santiago, however, claims that aside from his biological children, Sulayman had descendants by adoption. Santiago's genealogical research suggests that Sulayman had at least one male sibling, who remained unnamed in the records, and who had died prior to the death of Rahang Bago in 1574. Sulayman chose to adopt the sons of this sibling, who were identified in records as Agustín de Legaspi, Don Gabriel Taumbasan, and Don Jeronimo Bassi. All three adopted children of Sulayman participated in the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587, and only Taumbasan was not executed, having instead been sentenced to exile in Mexico for four years.

Others

According to Meranau history

• Rajah Sulayman
• Rajah Indarafatra
• Rajah Umaka'an

Legacy

In Rizal Park in Manila, the Philippines erected a statue to commemorate Rajah Sulayman as a hero against Spanish invasion. Also, Rajah Soliman Science and Technology High School in Binondo, Manila (one of two science high schools) is named after him.