In the shadow of Magellan

PROF. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican

THERE is a growing interest in Enrique de Malacca (the name from Portuguese sources) generally described as a Southeast Asian in Magellan’s voyage around the world. Enrique “played a significant role in the expedition and deserved to be recognized by the people of the region from which he came from.” These words came from a Filipino historian whom I am collaborating in recent years.

My interest in Enrique, precisely the persona of Harun Aminurrashid’s Panglima Awang came about some years ago when I was asked to speak on the history and trajectory of the Malay archipelago. The overriding theme and the mood celebrated in such countries as the Philippines, Spain and Portugal was on Ferdinand Magellan – dubbed as he first person to circumnavigate the globe.

My search through the narrative found the story of Magellan, not of Enrique, and certainly not Panglima Awang, the latter as we know is an invention of Harun in his 1958 historical novel titled Panglima Awang. The name was mentioned in the fourth prime minister’s speech

In officiating Malaysia’s First International Maritime Conference in Pulau Langkawi on December of 1997. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed lamented that Malaysia has lost the maritime challenge. “We were once renowned seafarers, as portrayed by men like Panglima Awang or Henry the Black who along with Magellan circumnavigated the globe, unfortunately we have somehow lost this trait,” he argued. He attributed this to the long years under colonial rule that “have perhaps made us landlubbers with a distinct dislike for being away from home for any length of time.”

Next year, the world is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s expedition. Our Tanah Air neighbour the Philippines has initiated the Filipinas Quicentenario (1521-2021), under the auspices of the Philippine Quincentenario Center to commemorate the 500th year of Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the world, and observing the 500th birthday of the nation in 2021.

Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521. His death in the hands of Datu Lapu-Lapu in Mactan in that year is taken to be the first Malay resisting the intrusion of the Europeans into the Archipelago. The Philippines is revisiting 1521 as the birth of the nation.

Meanwhile what is the story of who went around the world – Magellan or Elcano? This is the eternal struggle between Spaniards and Portuguese 500 years after the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Certainly history is not taught the same in Spain and in Portugal.

And what of Enrique, the man from the Malay Archipelago who was on board the Trinidad, the ship commanded by Magellan, who, together with four other ships set sailed from Spain in August of 1519? The fleet sailed to Brazil, and then headed south hugging the coast through the strait named after him, and called the region Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire).

Some Filipino historians like Dr. Fernando Santiago, Jr., the director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre and Hub at de La Salle University in Manila is viewed Enrique as the first Southeast Asian to navigate the world, replacing the vanquished Portuguese (and a naturalized Spaniard). Santiago articulated that Enrique had appeared in the historical record under different names depending on the source or the language of the source: Enrique, Henrique, Heinrich, Henry, and even Henry the Black. His real name is lost to history.

In Malaysia, we know of Enrique de Malacca as Panglima Awang, the name given by Harun. Harun based his story on the persona of Enrique de Malacca, captured by Ferdinand Magellan in Malacca in 1511, and described as serving as interpreter and navigator for the expedition. Some sources stated that Enrique (who was Baptized in Spain)@Panglima Awang originated from Sumatra, others pointed out to Maluku.

“Enrique, Magellan’s elusive slave” – the title carried by the Philippine Daily Inquirer of 4 November 2020. Writer Ambeth R. Ocampo raised the issue of the perspective of historians – that the story of Magellan is represented in different ways by different countries. He remarked that Enrique “is a mere footnote in the circumnavigation, his true origins yet to be ascertained.”

Recently there are commemorations in Chile of the Magellan expedition/circumnavigation anniversary. This made the editor of the Latin American Desk from The Associated Press in Mexico City, to look for some queries, surveying the various perspectives on Magellan. Accordingly he had asked me what Panglima Awang represents, what can we learn from his story and how do we connect the different historical perspectives to contemporary life?

Panglima Awang was recent knowledge in Malaysia, and now slowly emerging from behind the shadow of Magellan (Magalhaes). And over the last decade, he (Panglima Awang) penetrated into the national consciousness as a national hero – the first man and a Malay to circumnavigate the world (never mind the polemics and of Elcano). Panglima Awang was associated with Malay maritime knowledge and technology, creating a new narrative for  Malay maritime history.

Panglima Awang is a symbol of early Malay-European encounters. But the world may not celebrate the man. They celebrate Magellan, perhaps Elcano too. Next year is the anniversary of the circumnavigation. It would be an opportunity  for Panglima Awang to be significantly present in the Magellan narrative. As Ocampo had suggested, Enrique is an Asian representation of the Magellan story. Panglima Awang is relevant to us in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, Brunei and Singapore too. Does Malaysia not want to be part of that representation in 2021?

*Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican is Professor of Social and Intellectual History with the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, International Islamic University (ISTAC-IIUM). He is a Senior Fellow with the Southeast Asia Research Centre and Hub at De La Salle University, Manila, the Philippines.