The Battle of Bangkusay (Filipino: Labanan sa Ilog Bangkusay; Spanish: 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, which had been the site of the indigenous polities of Rajahnate of Maynila and Tondo.[1][2]
Tarik Sulayman, the chief of Macabebes, refused to ally with the Spanish and decided to mount an attack at Bangkusay Channel on Spanish forces, led by Miguel López de Legazpi. Sulayman's forces were defeated, and Sulayman himself was killed. The Spanish victory in Bangkusay and Legazpi's alliance with Lakandula of Tondo, enabled the Spaniards to establish themselves throughout the city and its neighboring towns.
Historical Account
Among those who would not come was a village called Butas, situated on an inlet on the other side of the river flowing past Manilla, and about a league and a half away. This village, uniting with the others near by, sent word that they did not wish peace or friendship with the governor; and had the boldness to come as far as the village of Alcandora, quite close to Manilla, whence they sent defiance to the governor and the captains. Having endured this a number of times and having made offers of peace, it finally became impossible to endure such insolence; and the governor had to send the master-of-camp, with seventy soldiers and several native leaders, by sea to fight with those Indios at their village, where they were waiting with twenty or thirty of their boats, with one or two culverins in each boat. He set out (after having heard mass) on the day of the Feast of the Holy Ghost, which was the third of the month of June in the year above mentioned. The master-of-camp, having embarked with the soldiers, arrived at the place where the enemy were assembled at twelve o'clock on that day. When they saw that he was entering the port, they sailed out to attack him with their boats (which were, as I said, twenty or thirty in number), and with a great outcry began to fire their culverins and many arrows. It was God's will that they caused no injury to our forces. Taking note of the order used by the enemy, the command was given for the Spaniards to fasten their boats by twos, and to row slowly toward the opposing forces. When they were in close proximity, all the arquebusiers began to shoot and to cause injuries among the enemy—who, not being able to endure the firing, which killed many of them, began to turn their backs and retreat to the land. When the Pintados Indios who accompanied the master-of-camp saw the enemy in retreat, they threw themselves into the water in pursuit, and caused great slaughter among them; for they are bitter enemies of the natives of this island of Luzón. And thus they attacked them on land, capturing all their boats and taking two hundred of the natives prisoners; and later they captured two or three hundred more. On the land there were five or six culverins in a little fort, which was captured. In this manner were routed those Indios, who had shown so much pride and had so little courage. On the morning of the next day the master-of-camp came to the city with all the booty, and divided the prisoners as slaves among the soldiers, reserving a fifth for his Majesty.
—Unknown writer, Relation on the Conquest of the Island of Luzon (1572)[4]
The peace which Rajah Soliman and Lacandola had made, was, on their part, by no means sincere, for the Indios of Macabebe and Hagonoy, appearing at the mouth of the harbour of Bancusay, with forty caracoas (an Indio vessel), proceeded to the house of Lacandola. These men jeered at and reproached the Indios, for submitting with such readiness, to such an insignificant number of Spaniards, promising, if they were disposed to shake off the yoke, that they should be assisted from Tondo and the neighbouring country, and not leave one Spaniard alive. The chief, supposing those Indios who had arrived, had come to solicit peace, sent two Spaniards to assure them that they might present themselves to him without fear. The chief of the Indios, after listening to these ambassadors, leaped on his feet, and drawing and flourishing his cimeter [scimitar], he said, “The sun gave me life, and I must not be disgraced in the eyes of my women, who would detest me, if they thought I was capable, of being on friendly terms with the Spaniards.” With this speech he quitted the house, without waiting to go down by the ladder, for, with great boldness, he leaped out of the window into his caracoa, calling out to the Spaniards, “I expect you in the bay of Bancusay.” Legaspi determined upon punishing such conduct, and sent against him the Colonel Martin de Goite with eighty Spaniards, in some newly constructed small vessels. The Indio chief was true to his word, and waited for them where he had said, with his squadron. The battle began, and he fought with great valour; but, in a short time, being killed by a musket shot, the rest dismayed, fled with great precipitation; our people pursued, and made many prisoners, among whom were the son of Lacandola, and his nephew, by which his deceit and dissimulation were sufficiently manifest; the chief, however, sent them home, without the punishment they merited for their treason. After this engagement, the natives became so much afraid of the Spaniards, that many chiefs came to Manila begging peace, and offering to become vassals of the king of Spain.
Miguel López de Legazpi was searching for a suitable place to establish the Spanish colonial capital after being forced to leave first Cebu and then Iloilo by Portuguese pirates. In 1570, Martin de Goiti and Captain Juan de Salcedo, with food stocks diminishing, discovered a rich kingdom on Luzon and saw its potential. De Goiti anchored at Cavite, and tried to establish his authority peaceably by sending a message of friendship to Maynila. Rajah Sulayman, its ruler, was willing to accept the friendship that the Spaniards were offering, but did not want to submit to its sovereignty. Thus, Sulayman declared war.[6] As a result, De Goiti and his army attacked Maynila in June 1570. After a stout fight, Sulayman and his men were forced to flee uphill. After the Spaniards had left, the natives returned.
In 1571, the Spaniards returned with their entire force consisting of 280 Spaniards and 600 native allies, this time led by Legazpi himself. Seeing the Spanish approaching, the natives set the city on fire and fled to Tondo. The Spaniards occupied the ruins of Maynila and established a settlement there. On May 19, 1571, Legaspi gave the title "city" to the colony of Manila.[7] The title was certified on June 19, 1572.[7]
A Kapampangan leader of the Macabebe tribe, later identified as Tarik Sulayman, refused to submit to the Spaniards and, after failing to gain the support of the chieftains of Maynila, Tondo (Lakandula, Matanda), and nearby old settlements of the present-day Bulacan province, mostly Hagonoy, Bulacan, gathered a force composed of Bulacan "Kapampangan" and Kapampangan warriors.
Battle
On June 3, 1571, Tarik Sulayman, supported by Rajah Sulayman, led his troops down the Pampanga River and fought the battle in the bay of Bangkusay, off the port of Tondo.[8]
The Spanish ships, led by Martin de Goiti, were ordered to be fastened two-by-two which created a solid mass formation which seemed to be an easy target. The native warships were lured by this deception and they surrounded the Spanish. The Spanish, surrounded by the native boats, opened fire and the native fleet was scattered and destroyed.[8]
The chief who died at Bangkusay is sometimes identified as Rajah Sulayman of the Rajahnate of Maynila, Lakandula's contemporary. However, it is clear in the Spanish records that Rajah Sulayman was able to survive the battle by escaping to Pampanga and it was the nameless Kapampangan chief, identified as Tarik Sulayman, that fell in the battle.[8]
Aftermath
Legazpi was able to establish a municipal government for Manila on June 24, 1571, which eventually became the capital of the entire Spanish East Indies colony and subsequently the capital of the Philippines.
The initial population of the city was around 250.[8]
1 2 Junker, Laura Lee (1998). "Integrating History and Archaeology in the Study of Contact Period Philippine Chiefdoms". International Journal of Historical Archaeology. 2 (4).
1 2 "Pre-colonial Manila". Malacañang Presidential Museum and Library. Malacañang Presidential Museum and Library Araw ng Maynila Briefers. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
San Agustin, Gaspar de (1998). Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas 1565–1615 (in Spanish and English). Translated by Luis Antonio Mañeru. Intramuros, Manila: Pedro Galende, OSA.
Miguel López de Legazpi, also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippine islands in the mid-16th century. He was joined by Guido de Lavezares, relative Martin de Goiti, friar Andrés de Urdaneta, and his grandsons Juan and Felipe de Salcedo, in the expedition. Legazpi established the first Spanish settlement in the East Indies after his expedition crossed the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Cebu in 1565. He became the first Governor-General of the Spanish East Indies, which was administered from New Spain for the Spanish crown. It also encompassed other Pacific islands, namely Guam, the Mariana Islands, Palau, and the Carolinas. After obtaining peace with various indigenous tribes and kingdoms, he made Cebu City the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1565 and later transferred to Manila in 1571. The capital city of the province of Albay bears his name.
Juan de Salcedo was a Spanish conquistador. He was the grandson of Spanish general Miguel López de Legazpi. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish conquest to the Philippines in 1565. He joined the Spanish military in 1564 at age 15, on their voyage of exploration to the East Indies and the Pacific, in search of rich resources such as gold and spice, and to find a passage to the islands were the previous Spanish expeditions led by Ferdinand Magellan had landed in 1521, and Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543.
Sulayman, sometimes referred to as Sulayman III, was a Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Luzon in the 16th century and was a nephew of King Ache of Luzon. He was the commander of Luzonian forces in the battle of Manila of 1570 against Spanish forces.
Lakandula was the title of the last lakan or paramount ruler of pre-colonial Tondo when the Spaniards first conquered the lands of the Pasig River delta in the Philippines in the 1570s.
Martín de Goiti was a Spanish conquistador and one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish voyage of exploration to the East Indies and the Pacific in 1565, in search of rich resources such as gold, spice and settlements. They were seeking to find a route to the islands were the previous Spanish expeditions led by Ferdinand Magellan had landed in 1521, and Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543.
Masantol, officially the Municipality of Masantol, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 57,990 people.
In early Philippine history, the Tagalog and Kapampangan settlement at Tondo, sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Tondo, was a major trade hub located on the northern part of the Pasig River delta on Luzon island. Together with Maynila, the polity (bayan) that was also situated on the southern part of the Pasig River delta, Tondo had established a shared monopoly on the trade of Chinese goods throughout the rest of the Philippine archipelago, making it an established force in trade throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia.
Luzones was a demonym used by Portuguese sailors in Malaysia during the early 1500s, referring to the Kapampangan and Tagalog people who lived in Manila Bay, which was then called Lusong. The term was also used for Tagalog settlers in Southern Tagalog region, where they created intensive contact with the Kapampangans.
Akí, also known as Rája Matandâ, was King of Luzon who ruled from the kingdom's capital Manila, now the capital of the Republic of the Philippines.
Tarik Sulayman, also spelled Tarik Soliman, is the most popular of several names attributed by Kapampangan historians to the individual that led the forces of Macabebe against the Spanish forces of Miguel López de Legazpi during the Battle of Bangkusay Channel on June 3, 1571. Aside from "Tarik Sulayman", this individual has also been associated with the names Bambalito or Bankau by some historians, while others simply consider him "nameless."
In Philippine history, the Tagalog bayan of Maynila was one of the most cosmopolitan of the early historic settlements on the Philippine archipelago. Fortified with a wooden palisade which was appropriate for the predominant battle tactics of its time, it lay on the southern part of the Pasig River delta, where the district of Intramuros in Manila currently stands, and across the river from the separately-led Tondo polity.
The earliest recorded history of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, dates back to the year 900 AD, as recorded in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. By the thirteenth century, the city consisted of a fortified settlement and trading quarter near the mouth of the Pasig River, the river that bisects the city into the north and south.
Panday Pira was a Filipino kapampángan blacksmith His name literally translates as "Blacksmith Pira", panday being the Tagalog word for "blacksmith".
The 1570 Battle of Manila was fought in Manila between Luzonians, led by Prince Sulayman, and Spaniards, led by field marshal Martin de Goiti, on 24 May 1570. Goiti's forces eventually besieged the fort of Manila, destroyed Manila, and won the battle, with the site of the fort falling to the Kingdom of the Spains and the Indies. The Spaniards then founded a Spanish city of Manila making it the capital of the Spanish East Indies.
Datu Magat Salamat was a Filipino historical figure best known for co-organizing the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587. He was one of at least four sons of Lakandula, and thus held the title of Datu under his cousin and co-conspirator Agustin de Legazpi, who had been proclaimed paramount ruler of the indianized kingdom of Tondo after the death of Lakandula, although the position soon became little more than a courtesy title.
Pengiran Seri Laila, or Panguilan Salalila in Spanish records, was a pengiran or married member of the Bruneian royal family and was the uncle of Sultan Sayf ul-Rijal of Brunei. By the 1570s, he had much involvement with the Kingdom of Luzon and Brunei's Castilian War. His name is now often found as the surname "Salalila" from Tagalog and Kapampangan regions of Luzon in the Philippines.
Warfare in pre-colonial Philippines refers to the military history of the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization.
Agustin de Legazpi is a prominent historical figure in the Philippines best known as the leader of the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587–1588, the last native ruler of Tondo, and the last individual to hold the title of paramount ruler in any of the Indianized indigenous Tagalog polities of the Pasig River delta, although it had been reduced to little more than a courtesy title by the time of Agustin de Legazpi's execution. He was a great grandson of the Bruneian Sultan and distant descendant of Caliph Hasan ibn Ali and was a convert from Islam to Christianity, his Bruneian name was Rajah Muhammad Zahir al-Din.
The term "Lakan Dula Documents" is used by Philippine historiographers to describe the section of the Spanish Archives in Manila which are dedicated to the genealogical records of the "Manila aristocracy" from the period immediately following European colonial contact. As of 2001, only one bundle of twelve folders remains in the archive, the rest having been lost, misplaced, or destroyed by various events such as the Japanese Occupation of Manila during World War II. The surviving bundle is labeled "Decendientes de Don Carlos Lacandola", and scholars use the term "Lacandola Documents" as an informal shortcut.
Kandarapa was a native Filipina princess of the Kingdom of Tondo in the island of Luzon during the 16th century Spanish conquest of the Philippines, and the wife of the Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo. She was described as a beautiful young woman who came from a tribal royal family. Kandarapa was the niece of Rajah Lakandula, the king of Tondo, and the daughter of Bunao Lakandula's sister, Princess Salanta, who became a widow at a young age. She was named after the native Filipino Kandarapa bird, a lark that frequently stayed amongst the rice padies, whose songs she imitated with her beautiful voice. Her uncle, the king, resisted conversion to Islam and remained to his native Filipino (Hindu-Malay) religion of his forebears and although Tondo was an older kingdom, it ceded power to Manila which was established as a satellite state subservient to the Sultanate of Brunei after a Bruneian settlement of Luzon. Islam was brought to the islands by preachers that had travelled from the islands of Borneo and Indonesia. During this period, Islam had slowly began converting the native tribes of Luzon. Lakandula, desirous of forging an alliance with the much more powerful Rajah of Macabebe, Tariq Sulayman, betrothed her niece to the Rajah of Macabebe, an arrangement Princess Kandarapa disapproved because he already had multiple wives from previous marriages as a result of his Islamic tradition. Had the Spaniards arrived a century later, the Philippines would have been an Islamic country.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
