Chapter XI: Introduction

This manuscript is a copy of the original which is in the possession of Datu Kali Adam of Kalangnan mentioned in the previous manuscript (No. IV). It is written partly in the Mindanao dialect and partly in Malay. It refers to three subjects and comprises three distinct parts.

The first part includes the first three pages and three lines of the fourth page. The first two pages are written in the Mindanao dialect and the rest in Malay. It gives the genealogy of many of the Iranun datus, but is very ambiguous and lacks interest. The Malay part is written by the same Mindanao author, no doubt, and is neither correctly written nor clear. This part has no special interest except for the student who desires to investigate the oldest records referring to the origin of the ruling datus of the country.

The second part is much more interesting. It is the oldest record on hand referring to the genealogy of Magindanao proper with distinct information as to the source from which it was obtained. It is all in Malay, but it is so poorly written and composed that its translation is a very difficult task. Pakir Mawlana, the authority this book claims, was one of the most intelligent sultans Magindanao had. The substance of this text was transmitted in Malay by Pakir Mawlana himself to Capt. Thomas Forest in the year 1775. It appears that there have always been in Mindanao natives who could converse and write in Malay. The statement of Captain Forest would lead one to infer that the book from which Pakir Mawlana translated was written in the native dialect, and not in Malay. Probably the text of this manuscript is not identical with that of Pakir Mawlana's copy, but derived from the same source and written in Malay instead of Magindanao. Its text is by no means as reliable as that of Manuscript No. VI, but it gives some very interesting information which is not mentioned in the other copies. Sultan Barahaman, to whom the principal source and authority of the tarsila is referred, was the fifth grandson of Sarip Kabungsuwan and the first grandson of Sultan Qudrat, the famous Corralat of Combés. He had several children who figured prominently in the history of the country, four of whom are quoted here as authorities, and who are surnamed Sahid Wapat, Wapat Batwa, Jarnik, and Sumannap. Their full and exact titles were Sultan Japar Sadik Manamir, Sultan Dipatwan Anwar, Gugu Jarnik, and Datu Ma-as Sumannap. Manamir was assassinated by his nephew, Malinug, and is always referred to as Sahid Wapat, which means, in Arabic, "Dead Martyr." Jamalu-l-Alam, the brother of Barahaman, is Sultan Mohammed Kaharu-d-Din Kuda, who usurped the sultanate after the death of his brother. Pakih Mawlana Amiru Din was the eldest son of Sahid Wapat, and his correct full title was Sultan Pakir Mawlana Mohammed Kayru-d-Din Kamza. He is generally referred to as Pakir Mawlana, and is sometimes called Pakih instead of Pakir.

Though the text of this manuscript varies from that of No. VI, it very often mentions facts and names that are lacking in the latter and which help to complete the sense and the subject-matter of the tarsila. The first two words of the address Paduk Sari Sultan do not belong to the Mindanao dialect, but are Malay. This tarsila ends with the children of Barahaman and Jamalu-l-Alam, and evidently belongs to the period prior to the death of Pakir Mawlana, or his name and those of his brothers would otherwise have been mentioned.

The third part is written in the Magindanao dialect and comprises the twelfth and thirteenth pages only. It shows the exact ancestral relation that exists between the ruling datus of Magindanao and the Iranun datus, and throws considerable light upon the nature and the tribal characteristics of the datuships or Moro communities. The principal ancestors of the sultans of Ramitan, Tubuk, Dissan, and Tapurug were Umang Nagu, Anta, and Umbun, respectively, and they were the grandchildren of Dimasangkay, the brother of Kapitan Lawut Bwisan, whose descendants are the sultans of Magindanao. Ramitan lies a little north of Baras and Malabang. Tubuk is the principal district in the immediate vicinity of Malabang. Dissan lies on the north shore of Lake Lanao.

Being mainly written in Malay, this manuscript is of no literary value at all. That part of it written in the Magindanao dialect shows a slight admixture of the Iranun dialect. Both its composition and style are poor, and mistakes in spelling and writing abound.

LITERAL TRANSLATION OF MANUSCRIPT NO. V