this is the first time i have read about the sri vishayan empire of sumatra. it ruled over the south eastearn regions of asia in the 5th century from vietnam, thailand, indonesia and borneo. the tale begins with 10 datus (kings) leaving borneo and travelled to the visayas escaping the tyranny of a ruthless sri vijayan king named makatunaw. initially the 10 kings encountered some resistance from the original inhabitants called the aetas (pygmy peoples). but later found a peaceful compromise. they bought the land from the aetas.
the similar names is apparent (vijaya = visaya). the difference in culture, on the other hand, is a point of dispute. the sri vishayas were practicing buddhists. the 10 kings were animists. 7 centuries later (the 12th century), the sri vishayan empire collapse due to opposing rival empires, namely the islamic majapit empire of java. successive migrations from borneo to the southern island of mindanao and up to the visayan islands helped propagate the majapit religion and culture. the ancestors of our modern day sisters - the moros. and then much later, the spaniards arrived in the 16th century.
king lapulapu is the celebrated warrior chieftain of mactan island. king humabon was a rival leader of cebu island. when magellan of spain arrived in 1521, he stroke a deal with humabon to fight lapulapu. it failed. lapulapu defeated magellan. humabon then became even more wierd, he turned on his spanish allies. few survived the magellan expedition. years later in 1570, another spanish expedition arrived in manila, where the spanish had a more permanent foothold. i do not know what made spain choose manila over cebu as the seat of its colonial government. but it played a large part in where we are now. manila being the capital. and tagalog being the national language.
5th century - the sri vishayan empire
12th century - the majapit empire
16th century - the spaniards
20th century - the americans and the japanese
today - the filipino nation