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Rajah Ache ( Abecedario: ''Rája Aché'' pronounced ''Aki''), better known by his title Rajah Matanda (1480–1572), was one of the rulers of
Maynila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
, a pre-colonial Indianized and Islamized Tagalog polity along the Pasig River in what is now Manila, Philippines. Ache ruled Maynila, together with
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 t ...
, and they, along with their cousin Lakandula Bunaw, who was ruler of Tondo. They were three "paramount rulers" with whom the Legazpi expedition dealt when they arrived in the area of the Pasig River delta in the early 1570s.


Etymology

''"Rajah Matandâ"'' means "old ruler" in Tagalog, and Joaquin claims that the Hindu-Islamic origin of the term "Rajah" indicates that the noble houses of Maynila at the time was organized according to a Muslim social orientation, even if Spanish records indicate that the common folk of Maynila practiced ''pag-aanito''. Spanish records refer to him as ''Rajah Ache el Viejo'' (King Ache the Old). He is also sometimes referred to as ''Rajah Laya'', a name derived from ''Ladyang Matanda'' – a local pronunciation of his title.


Sources

Events in Rajah Matanda's life are documented by two different sets of firsthand Spanish accounts. The better known set of accounts takes place in 1571–72, when the forces of Martin De Goiti, and later Miguel De Legazpi himself, arrived in Manila Bay. These are described in the numerous accounts of the Legazpi expedition, including those by the expedition's designated notary Hernando de Riquel, and by Legazpi himself. Less known are the accounts of the Magellan Expedition in 1521, by which time Magellan had already been killed and Sebastian Elcano had taken over command of the expedition. These accounts describe how Ache, then serving as commander of naval forces for the Sultan of Brunei, was captured by the men Sebastian Elcano. These events, and the details Ache's interrogation were recorded in accounts of Magellan and Elcano's men, including expedition members Rodrigo de Aganduru Moriz, Gines de Mafra, and the expedition's scribe Antonio Pigafetta. Additional details about Raja Matanda are sometimes derived from genealogical accounts which mention him, but these focus on Ache's genealogy, and so do not provide details about specific events.


Early life, as recounted in the Elcano expedition

Among the Spanish accounts of Ache's capture, that of Rodrigo de Aganduru Moriz is considered among those which extensively record Ache's statements. Details of Ache's early life are thus usually based on the Aganduru Moriz account. According to this document, Ache's unnamed father died when he was still very young, and his mother acceded as ruler of Maynila. In the meantime, Ache was raised alongside his cousin, the ruler of Tondo, and this person is identified by some to be Bunao Lakandula. During this time, the "young prince" Ache realized that his mother was being "slyly" taken advantage of by his cousin, the ruler of Tondo, who was encroaching on territory belonging to Maynila. When Ache asked his mother for permission to address this matter, she refused and told him to keep his peace. Ache could not accept this, and thus left Maynila with some of his late father's trusted men to see his "grandfather", the Sultan of Brunei, and request assistance. The Sultan responded by giving Ache a position as commander of his naval forces. Pigafetta noted that Ache was "much feared in these parts", but especially by the non-Muslims, who considered the Sultan an enemy potentate. He was a strict enforcer of Islamic rule in Brunei and the Philippines as he waged war against Tondo. The Sultan commended him for successfully sacking the Buddhist city of Loue in southwest Borneo, which adhered to the old religion and resisted the authority of the Sultanate.Tom Harrisson, Brunei's Two (or More) Capitals, Brunei Museum Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1976), p. 77 sq.


Battle with the Expedition of Sebastian Elcano (1521)

Aganduru Moriz recounts that in 1521, Ache was in command of the Bruneian fleet when they chanced upon what remained of the Magellan expedition, under the command of Sebastian Elcano, somewhere off the southeastern tip of Borneo. Rizal notes that Ache had just won a naval victory at the time, and Rizal and Dery both say Ache was on his way to marry a cousin – a ritual which Scott describes as the usual way that nobles at that time gained influence and power. (Luciano PR Santiago notes that this practice helps explain the close interrelationships among the ruling houses in Manila, Brunei and Sulu.) Dery notes that Ache's decision to attack must have been influenced by a desire to bring Elcano's ship back to Manila bay, for use as leverage against his cousin, the ruler of Tondo. Elcano, however, was able to defeat Ache. As a result, Ache was captured and brought onboard Elcano's ship. According to Scott, Ache was eventually released after a ransom was paid.


Reign (until 1570)

Sometime between 1521 and 1570, Ache succeeded his mother and became
Paramount Datu The term ''Paramount Ruler'', or sometimes ''Paramount Datu'', is a term used by historians to describe the highest ranking political authorities in the largest lowland polities or inter-polity alliance groups in early Philippine history, most ...
of Maynila, assuming the title of ''Rajah''. By the time of the next historical accounts on Ache in 1570, his co-ruler was his nephew, Sulayman, who also held the title of ''Rajah''. This situation, with Maynila seeming to be a
diarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...
, has been interpreted by scholars in different ways. Luis Cámara Dery says that by the time De Goiti arrived in 1570, Rajah Matanda had already ceded authority to his nephew and
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, Rajah Sulayman, while still retaining considerable influence. According to William Henry Scott, however, Rajah Sulayman was not proclaimed paramount ruler until Rajah Matanda's death in 1572.


Arrival of De Goiti (1570)

By the late 1560s, Miguel López de Legazpi was already searching for a more suitable place to establish the Spanish colonial capital, having found first
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 ...
and then
Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the r ...
undesirable because insufficient food supplies and attacks by
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
pirates. He was in Cebu when he first heard about a well-supplied, fortified settlement to the north, and sent messages of friendship to its ruler, Rajah Matanda, whom he addressed as "King of Luzon." In 1570, Legazpi put
Martín de Goiti Martín de Goiti (c. 1534 – 1575) was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish colonization of the East Indies and the Pacific in 1565. From his base in Mexico City, he led the expedition to Manila ordered by Miguel López de Legazpi in 15 ...
in command of an expedition north to Manila and tasked him with negotiating the establishment of a Spanish fort there. When the forces of de Goiti arrived in 1570, they were initially welcomed by Rajah Matanda. But just as Matanda was receiving de Goiti on the shore,
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 t ...
and his party arrived, taking on a much more aggressive stance towards the foreigners. De Goiti began negotiating with Matanda and Sulayman so that the Spanish could set up their base of operations in Manila, but negotiations dragged on for several days. As negotiations broke down, a misunderstanding between the two parties resulted in Sulayman's forces believing they were under attack, and retaliating against de Goiti's shore party. In the ensuing battle, the fortified city of Manila was burned down, and de Goiti's party temporarily overtook Maynila. Outnumbered and fearing that a shift in seasonal winds would trap him in Manila, de Goiti decided to sail back to Legazpi instead of pressing his advantage.


Arrival of Legazpi (1571)

The following year, Legazpi himself arrived in Manila. He was welcomed first by Lakandula of Tondo and then by Rajah Matanda. Fearing his presence would exacerbate the conflict between Maynila and the Spanish, Sulayman did not meet with Legazpi face to face until later. The rulers of Maynila and Tondo eventually cut a deal with Legazpi, which allowed him to claim Maynila for the crown of Spain, and the Spanish city of Manila was born in June 1571.


Death (1572) and succession

In August 1572, Rajah Matanda fell ill and requested to be
baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
into the Catholic Church. In the same year, he succumbed to his illness. Before he died, Legazpi granted Rajah Matanda's wish that Rajah Sulayman be declared Paramount ruler of Maynila. The unnamed author of the "Anonymous 1572 Relacion" (translated in Volume 3 of Blair and Robertson) explains that this was in keeping with indigenous laws, which allowed inheritances to be passed on to "legitimate" children. While Rajah Matanda did in fact have children, they were not born of his "legitimate wife". The unnamed author of the relacion, explaining the custom as he understood it, says:


Descendants

According to archival research of historian Luis Camara Dery, Rajah Matanda had at least two sons and one daughter: Don Ambrocio Mag-isa Ladyangbata, Don Luis Ylao, and Doña Maria Bolactala. Dery theorizes that unlike their father who had befriended the Spanish, these siblings "appeared to be lukewarm to the Spaniards", so that the privileges and exemptions granted to Matanda's descendants by Legazpi were only claimed by their children and grandchildren – the third (as of 1612) and fourth (as of 1679) generation from Rajah Matanda. As of 1696, Rajah Matanda's descendants had fallen on hard times,"Cedulario, 1696–1698. Reserva de tributo polos y servicios personales a Don Joseph Punsalan y Doña Ynes de Robles naturales del pueblo de Malate Jurisdicion de Tondo. Manila 2 de Mayo 1696" as cited by Dery, Luis Camara (2001) "A History of the Intarticulate." Manila: New Day Publishers."Cedulario, 1696–1698. Reserva de tributo polos y servicios personales a Don Thadeo de Herrera, Don Dionisio de los Santos, y Doña Cathalina Hiyas y Consortes por decendientes de Ladya Matanda Principales del Pueblo de Tagui. Manila, 23 de Noviembre 1696" as cited by Dery, Luis Camara (2001) "A History of the Intarticulate." Manila: New Day Publishers. as Dery notes:


See also

* Rajahnate of Maynila *
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 history of South Asia, South Asia and History of ...
* Datu *
Lakan In early Philippine history, the rank of ''lakan'' denoted a " paramount ruler" (or more specifically, "''paramount datu''") of one of the large coastal barangays (known as a "bayan") on the central and southern regions of the island of Luzon. ...
* Philippine revolts against Spain * Hinduism in the Philippines


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajah Matanda Filipino paramount rulers Hinduism in the Philippines 16th-century conflicts 16th-century monarchs in Asia Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam Filipino datus, rajas and sultans Filipino former Muslims Filipino Roman Catholics Paramilitary Filipinos People from Manila People of Spanish colonial Philippines History of the Philippines (900–1565) 1572 deaths