The return voyage

A journey made nearly 600 years ago will be reversed this week when descendants of Sultan Paduka Batara of Sulu visit the Philippines for the first time in 19 generations. 75-year old An Jintian and his son representing the An family, and Wen Haijun representing the Wen branch, together with Yang Yumei, curator of the sultan’s museum, arrive tomorrow from Shandong province in eastern China. They will fly to Zamboanga on June 10, where they will be honored by the Western Mindanao State University, and will finally get to visit Sulu the next day. They are here on invitation of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, an organization of young Chinese-Filipinos or Tsinoys, through the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations, on the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China.

In 1417, Sultan Paduka Batara along with two other sultans Maharajah Kolamanting and Paduka Prabhu and a retinue of 340 with a treasure trove of gifts including gold, pearls, precious stones and tortoise shells sailed to Beijing to visit the Ming Emperor Yung Lo. Their voyage was the subject of a movie, Hari sa Hari, by National Artist for Film Eddie Romero.

After a month’s visit the royal entourage set sail for home, laden with gifts from the emperor such as horses, bolts of silk, chinaware, copper coins and gold and silver. Unfortunately, the sultan fell ill and died en route. The Ming Emperor ordered an imperial burial for the sultan. His eldest son, Dumahan, succeeded him as the new sultan. His wife, second son Andulu and third son Wenhalla stayed behind in China to tend to his tomb and observe the appropriate mourning rituals. They were treated like royalty, given farmlands, servants and food and clothing subsidies. The areas surrounding the sultan’s tomb became a thriving community called Pei Ying Village. When they died, the sultan’s wife and two sons were also buried near his tomb.

The turbulence that marked the end of the Ming Dynasty and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in the mid-17th century did not augur well for the descendants of the sultan, who had since considerably increased in number. Their food subsidies were cut and they were forced to work the farms. In 1733 the An and Wen descendants were naturalized as Chinese citizens and lived as ordinary peasants in Dezhou, Shandong province, tilling the farms, some working as laborers, others as soldiers.

The overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic ended 500 years of royal treatment for the sultan’s descendants. The land given to them by the Ming emperor was reclaimed by the government.

A flood devastated the village in 1917, and many members of the An and Wen families left the area. Others though remained and tried to preserve their family’s unique history and the religion of their ancestor. However, the ravages of wars, the harsh climate, difficult times and neglect took their toll, and the royal tomb and the mosque built next to it fell to ruin.

With the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China on 9 June 1975, the tomb was rehabilitated and declared a historical landmark. Since then, several Philippine officials have visited the site, including former First Lady Imelda Marcos, various Philippine ambassadors and representatives of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. Sultan Ismail Kiram, Prince Potentate of Sulu and North Borneo and a direct descendant of Sultan Paduka Batara, visited the tomb in 1995 and met with the other descendants. He gave a Philippine flag to An Jintian, who proudly displays it in his home, along with a poster of what is probably a Philippine beach, complete with coconut trees and bahay kubo.

The descendants have long wanted to visit the Philippines, especially Sulu, to see the land where their forefather came from. Unfortunately, being poor peasant farmers, they could not afford the trip.

This week, as the two nations mark a milestone in bilateral relations, it is certainly meaningful that the journey over land and sea undertaken by a Filipino sultan nearly six centuries ago is reversed by his descendants. Their week-long visit will surely be a dream come true, and the true completion of a centuries-old goodwill visit.