Luzon Empire

The Luzon Empire (呂宋國: pinyin : Lǚsòngguó, POJ : Lū-sòng-kok) was a kingdom in the Middle Ages on the island of Luzon , today's Philippines . It was first mentioned in writing in the Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty in 1373 as the Little Song Empire. Its capital was Tondo , which means eastern capital in German. It was ruled by a Lakandula. The origins of the empire are still insufficiently known today (2014). The Luzon Empire lasted until 1571 and was occupied by the Spanish colonizers under the leadership of Miguel López de Legazpi , Juan de Salcedo and Martín de Goiti and the last king was deposed.

history

prehistory

Tondo was an important trading center for the entire region of Southeast Asia and was first mentioned in writing around 900 AD on the Laguna copper plate . The local Filipino merchants used the Balangay type of boat on their trade routes to reach Malacca , Borneo, Ternate and Myanmar . Another type of ship was the junk , one of which was discovered off the island of Busuanga and was known as the Lena Shoal junk . It is now believed that Tondo was a major center for the junks trade of the Middle Ages and a hub for trade with China.

Origin and flowering

It is now believed that the Luzon Empire emerged after 1279 and is related to the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty by the Mongols in the sea battle of Yamen on March 19, 1279 off the coast of what is now Guangdong Province . It is reported in the Chronicles of the Yuan Dynasty that Admiral Zhang Shijie (張世傑) disappeared across the ocean with the rest of his fleet, so it is believed that he fled to the island of Luzon and took over the government in Tondo. In the chronicles of the Ming Dynasty, the name lower or small Song Empire (呂宋國) is used for the Luzon Empire, which is why the island of Luzon got its current name.

The chronicles of the Ming emperors show that the kings of the Luzon Empire established diplomatic and commercial relations with the imperial court in 1373. Nothing is known about the territorial size of the empire, it is believed that it encompassed the entire central Luzon lowlands. The Chinese immigrants and their descendants have been known as Sangley on Luzon since the Middle Ages . After the Ming Dynasty cut off Chinese foreign trade at sea in 1433, it experienced its golden age , which lasted until the beginning of the 16th century. The Luzon Empire was the only official trading partner in overseas trade with China at the time. During this time, many Japanese merchants settled in Tondo, as Japan also pursued an isolationist policy. Japan imported silk , china and tea through Luzon . At the beginning of the 16th century, the Luzon Empire was a central hub in trade and a politically influential empire in East and Southeast Asia, from which the Portuguese also benefited, they called the inhabitants of the Luzon Empire Lucoes . They were the first Europeans to reach Luzon around 1530.

Fall of the Luzon Empire

Around 1530, the Sultanate of Brunei waged a war against the Luzon Empire in order to benefit from the empire's privileged trade relations with the Ming Dynasty . Since the Sultan won the war, he founded the city of Maynilad, today's Manila, on the opposite bank of the Pasig . By founding Maynilad, the Sultan of Brunei weakened the Luzon Empire, both politically and economically. When the Spaniards reached Manila Bay around 1570 , the Luzon Empire was politically allied with its two neighboring Muslim states. The Spaniards were faced with an alliance between the Rajah Matanda of Sapa, the Lakandula of Tondo and Rajah Sulayman . The Spaniards were able to defeat this alliance in the battle of May 19, 1571 on and on the Pasig River and take power over Manila, Tondo and Sapa. After the fall of the Luzon Empire, the Spaniards were able to establish their first colony in Asia .

Subsequent events

The organizational structures of the Luzon Empire were still intact until 1572, after which they were gradually replaced by the Spanish colonial authorities. In 1575 the Rajah Bago and his cousin Lumanlan were executed by the Spaniards, in the same year the last Lakandula died. The local nobility and Maharlica took up arms in Pampanga Province in 1586 and in Tondo in 1588, but both uprisings were bloodily suppressed. The last uprising of Chinese immigrants so far happened in the Sanglay Rebellion of 1603, according to Chinese historians up to 20,000 people are said to have been killed in this uprising. During the British invasion of the Philippines in 1762 , the British troops were very strongly supported by the Chinese inhabitants and the Sanglays of Manilas , who, in memory of the Luzon Empire, had never fully accepted Spanish supremacy.