View source for Tawalisi

'''Tawalisi''' (ca. 1350 C.E–1400 C.E.) is a Southeast Asian kingdom described in the journals of [[Ibn Battuta]].<ref>Ibn Battuta, The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354, vol. 4, trans. H. A. R. Gibb and C. F. Beckingham (London: Hakluyt Society, 1994), pp. 884–5.</ref><ref>William Henry Scott, ''Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History'', {{ISBN|971-10-0226-4}}, p.83</ref>
Guesses to the location of Tawalisi have included [[Java]],<ref name="Bade">{{citation |last=Bade |first=David W. |title=Of Palm Wine, Women and War: The Mongolian Naval Expedition to Java in the 13th Century |year=2013 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |location=Singapore }}</ref>{{rp|115}} [[Pangasinan]], [[Luzon]], [[Sulu]], Celebes ([[Sulawesi]]), [[Cambodia]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Yule|first=Henry|title=Cathay and the Way Thither|year=1866|location=London|isbn=978-1-4094-2166-5|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iyrrFNIdcbcC&pg=PA158 }}</ref> [[Cochin-China]], the mainland Chinese province of [[Guangdong]], and practically every island in South Asia beginning with ''ta''. In the Philippines, [[Pangasinan]] was considered to be the most-likely location of Tawalisi, but this has since been disputed.<ref>William Henry Scott, ''Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History'', {{ISBN|971-10-0226-4}}, p.83</ref>
==Ibn Battuta's description==
<blockquote>Thereafter, we reached the land of Tawalisi, it being their king who is called by that name. It is a vast country and its king is a rival of the king of China. He possesses many [[junk (ship)|junks]], with which he makes war on the Chinese until they come to terms with him on certain conditions. The inhabitants of this land are idolaters; they are handsome men and closely resemble the Turks in figure. Their skin is commonly of a reddish hue, and they are brave and warlike. Their women ride on horseback and are skillful archers, and fight exactly like men.<br>—Ibn Battuta<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferrand|first=Gabriel|title= Relations de voyages et textes géographiques arabes, persans et turks relatifs a l'Extrême-Orient du VIIIe au XVIIIe siècles (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.|year=2014}}</ref></blockquote>
==Theories on location==
===Java theory===
{{Main|Mongol invasion of Java}}
Java had been attacked by [[Mongol]]s they called Tatars in 1293.<ref name="Bade" />{{rp|15-17}} According to friar [[Odoric of Pordenone]], the great khan of [[Cathay]] (Yuan dynasty) attacked Java ([[Majapahit]]) many times but was always defeated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Yule |first=Sir Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/CathayAndTheWayThitherVol1/page/n9/mode/2up?q= |title=Cathay and the way thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China vol. 1 |publisher=The Hakluyt Society |year=1866 |location=London}}</ref>{{rp|89}}<ref name=":2">{{Citation |title=The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354 (Volume 4) |url=https://archive.org/details/travels-of-ibn-battuta/The%20Travels%20of%20Ibn%20Battuta-1325%E2%80%931354-Volume-IV/page/ii/mode/2up |year=1994 |editor-last=Gibb |editor-first=H.A.R. |place=London |publisher=Hakluyt Society |isbn=978-0-904180-37-4 |editor-last2=Beckingham |editor-first2=C.F.}}</ref>{{rp|885}} Hence, it is probable that Java at that time especially the royal court had also been linguistically influenced by the Turkic speaking Tatars. So it is possible that the ''Bhre Daha'' (the ruler of [[Kediri Kingdom|Daha]]) could talk in Turkic as was observed by Ibn Battuta during his visit to her court.<ref>Ibn Battuttah, "Rihlah"; M. C. Das, "Outline of Indo-Javanese History", pp. 1-173; "Sejarah Melayu"; Dr. Jose Rizal in his letter to Blumentritt; and Ibn Battuta, The Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, A.D. 1325–1354, vol. 4, trans. H. A. R. Gibb and C. F. Beckingham (London: Hakluyt Society, 1994), pp. 884–5.</ref>
Majapahit also possessed a powerful navy of [[Javanese junk|Javanese junks]] (''jong'') during its era. Each junk is able to carry 600–1000 men, was more than {{convert|69|to|80|m|ft}} long, and could carry several hundred horses.<ref>{{Cite book|author1-link=John N. Miksic|last=Miksic|first=John M.|title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800|publisher=NUS Press|year=2013|isbn=9789971695583}}</ref>{{rp|170}}<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last=Averoes |first=Muhammad |date=2022 |title=Re-Estimating the Size of Javanese Jong Ship |journal=HISTORIA: Jurnal Pendidik Dan Peneliti Sejarah |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=57–64 |doi=10.17509/historia.v5i1.39181 |s2cid=247335671 |url=https://archive.org/details/size-of-javanese-jong|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|59–62}} The number of junks possessed by Majapahit is unknown, but the largest expedition mobilized 400 large junks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Nugroho |first=Irawan Djoko |title=Majapahit Peradaban Maritim |publisher=Suluh Nuswatara Bakti |year=2011 |isbn=978-602-9346-00-8 |location=Jakarta}}</ref>{{rp|270}} This matches the account of Odoric about the junk he boarded while traveling in Southeast Asia—which carried 700 men,<ref name=":1" />{{rp|73}} and Ibn Battuta's description about Tawalisi having numerous junks that were used to fight the king of China.<ref name=":2" />{{rp|885}}
===Philippine theory===
The location of Tawalisi, as well as the identity of its described warrior-princess [[Urduja]], remains a part of Philippine folklore and history, in spite of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines finding the related [[Kalantiaw]] myth to be a hoax in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nhcp.gov.ph/2004-board-resolutions/|title=Resolution No. 12, s. 2004 Declaring that Code of Kalantiao has no valid historical basis|publisher=[[National Historical Commission of the Philippines|National Historical Institute]]}}</ref> Both the Kalantiaw and Tawalisi-[[Pangasinan]] connections were called into dispute by historian [[William Henry Scott (historian)|William Henry Scott]], but his findings were ignored by the [[Ferdinand Marcos | Marcos]] regime, who had codified Kalantiaw and Urduja's place in Philippine history. Due to the political nature of historical education in the Philippines, both the Urduja and Kalantiaw legends continue to be a semi-historical part of Philippine education.
Both Sir [[Henry Yule]] and [[William Henry Scott (historian)|William Henry Scott]] consider Tawilisi and its warrior-princess [[Urduja]] to be "fabulous, fairy-tale, fiction".<ref>William Henry Scott, ''Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History'', {{ISBN|971-10-0226-4}}, p.83</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:14th century in Asia]]