Elsa Clavé-Celik1

Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese

Trade in the Philippine Archipelago

I slamization as a process does not really end, but it starts at a certain

moment. The first contacts between Muslims and local population are
usually considered as the beginning of this long and complex cultural ex-
change which is marked by the adoption of the new religion. Islam arrived
in Southeast Asia brought by diverse factors. Its integration to local culture
followed successive stages, but in the first place what put these different
people in contact was trade. The sea routes played an important role for the
simple reason that, motivated or not by the attraction of exotic products,
Arabs, Persians, and Turkish took merchant boats to arrive in Southeast
Asia. In other words, beyond the discussion on was it traders or religious
teachers who spread the Islamic faith, the major issue is to know how boats
happened to pass certain regions, and for which reason.
The question is essential for the Southern Philippines which is relative-
ly isolated compared to Sumatra, the Malay peninsula or Java. Just across
the Indian Ocean and the Straits of Malacca then Sunda, these places were
easily reachable. On the opposite, the eastern part of Southeast Asia, rich
in spices and sea products, has long been considerate as later Islamized.
This assumption was based on the fact that Muslim merchants did not need
to go further east, once they reached the major trading port of the straits
of Malacca and Java where they usually wait for the goods to be brought.
However, as the use is never the absolute rule, a fourteenth century Islamic
inscription found in Sulu reveals that some Muslims did go further east. It
therefore shows a much more complex situation than the homogenous and
progressive spread of Islam from the west.
To understand how contacts have been made possible between Mus-
lims and Sulu population, I propose to draw a picture of the Southeast Asian
sea routes around the Celebes and the China Seas. How trade was organ-
ized, who were the agents and how this situation helped the present South-
ern Philippines to be part of the Malay2 Islamic world will be discussed. By

103
104 More Islamic Than We Admit

a detailed survey based on archaeological excavations, as well as Chinese

sources, this study intends to give a chronological framework of the sea
routes development since proto-historical times, and their connection to
international Muslim networks. Sketching a map of early Islamic epigraphic
traces in Southeast Asia, this paper also tend to show the diversity of the
trading routes and support the hypothesis of a strong Chinese connection
as medium of the first contacts of Islam in Southern Philippines.

The Philippines in the Southeast Asian trading networks

The local agents of Southeast Asian exchanges
To understand the position of the Philippines in the Malay world, it is useful
to have first a look at its position in the networks of South Asian trade. The
earliest evidence of maritime trade between the Philippines and Southeast
Asia is dated from the first millennium B.C. The artifacts recovered from
that period are composed of bicephalous jade ornaments and earrings of
the same material, named Lingling-o. Their distribution in several regions in
Southeast Asia—on the Orchid Island (south of Taiwan), in Palawan (east
of the Philippines), in south and central Viet Nam and around U Thong
(center of Thailand)—reveal significant maritime contacts between these
regions, followed by significant cultural exchanges (Solheim 1992). These
exchanges, which have begun during the proto-history, continued in the
subsequent period, and the Philippines kept the same regions, the Siam
and the Champa, as trading partners until the fifteenth century. Then trade
evolved according to technological innovations, especially regarding boat
technology, and changes in the political and territorial organization of the
region. The regular exchanges of the early history form therefore the foun-
dation of a long-distance trade that develops itself later, with the evolution
of political organizations, and a chain of more complex products traded. It
is made possible by various agents, especially by the populations of South-
east Asia3 whose activity is directed mainly towards the sea.
Among them, the Nan Yue (the people from the south) are in China
the privileged intermediaries in the trade. Familiar with the maritime space,
they are the intraregional link between the northern Chinese (Han) popu-
lations and Southeast Asia.4 Later, when the Han took a more active part
in the trade, the Nan Yue continued to assume the roles of sailors and mer-
chants, while the Chinese remained on the ground to control the flow and
officiate in the ports to collect fees. Even during the commercial ban pre-
vailing in China from 1372 to 1567 C.E., the Nan Yue continued to trade as
smugglers, and were the major players in trade with Manila and the Span-
ish galleons from Mexico (Morga 1971: 305). But before the fifteenth and
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 105

sixteenth centuries, the world of Nan Yue was mainly limited to southern
China and the Gulf of Tonkin. The sailors who made the link between the
north and the south were then the other populations of Southeast Asia.5
The maritime population of the Badjao/Sama, whose range extends
from the Sulu and Celebes seas to the Straits of Malacca, was the first agent
of the regional trade. Local traditions and linguistic studies tell us about
their origin which remains uncertain. In the San Hai Ching (Book of the
mountain-sea), written around 2205-100 B.C., the Sama are described as a
united people who rebelled against the sovereign Shun and fled to the South
Seas where the country Sam-my was established (Cembrano 1998). The
presence of maritime nomadic populations along the south coast of China
strengthens the possibility of this remote origin, although traces of Sam-my
name is tenuous evidence to advance such a migration. Besides this tradi-
tion, two competing theories exist on the question of the origin of the Sama
people. They share specialists between supporters of the origin of Johor and
supporters of the local origin (Southern Mindanao). In both cases, these
assumptions theorize migrations subsequent to the one quoted in the San
Ching Hai. According to the southern Philippine tradition, Johore would be
the origin of the Sama people. In this source, the Maguindanao tarsila, it is
said that a maritime population accompanied a prince of the Strait of Ma-
lacca to Mindanao (Saleeby 1976). It is however a late migration, around
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Another hypothesis, advanced by the
anthropologist Geoghegan, is based on the significant diversity of dialects
among the Sama in the region of Sulu and Southern Mindanao. In linguis-
tic, dialectal diversity tend to show that the group is of local origin. Stud-
ies reveal that the Sama are present around the ninth century in Zamboan-
ga (Southern Mindanao). The American anthropologist Frake follows the
same reasoning and supports the hypothesis of a departure of the Sama
to Johore in an era preceding the emergence of the sultanate of the same
name, so before the sixteenth century. This theory allows a back migration
thereafter which would reconcile the linguistic evidence and local tradition
(Cojuangco 1993: 179-189). Only the return migration, the most recent,
would then have been preserved in tradition and local memory. This version
finds some echoes in the Malay context, since the Maharaja of Srivijaya use
the marine populations of the Strait of Malacca (orang laut) for trade and
military expeditions (Wolters 1967). This link between the orang laut and
the sovereign is also found in other parts of the Malay world, especially in
major commercial ports like Malacca or Makassar where the emergence of
a powerful regional trade is often linked to the Sama/Badjao people (An-
daya 1975, Reid 1983):
106 More Islamic Than We Admit

The Malay traders of the Indian Ocean were the Nusantao Maritime Traders
of the western lobe during the first and second millennia C.E. Much of the
power that established the maritime kingdom of Srivijaya in the general area
of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula during the second half of the first mil-
lennium C.E. probably came from the orang laut (men of the sea) found in
this area, who were no doubt a variety of the Nusantao. (Solheim 2006: 55)

Furthermore, the links between maritime populations and the Malay

rulers can be read in the inscription of Telaga Batu. The latter contains two
parts: one is a curse developed in ancient Malay and the other, shorter and
of similar style, is in a language which is still under debate. According to Ob-
deijn, it would be old Minangkabau. Damais recognizes similarities with the
Madagascan, Javanese and Cham, and for Van Naerseen it is a language used
by the orang laut (Hassan 1990: 65-66 quoted by Solheim 2006: 55-56).
These people are therefore tied to trade development since the early
exchanges in Southeast Asia. Although linguistically different from the Ma-
lay, they are constantly connected to them by relations of interdependence
which makes them key players in this cultural area. The different periods of
their migration are not clearly defined, but their presence around the Sulu
archipelago and Northern Mindanao after the tenth century is significant
enough to have left linguistic traces in the delta of the Agusan River. It is
precisely here that the traces of three of the oldest vessels found in South-
eastern Asia have been found. During excavations in 1976, 1978 and 1986
several plates left intact in situ at Ambagan, Libertad and Butuan were re-
covered. It allows reconstructing a large boat with planks of wood joined
up with pegs. The configuration of the boards used helps to estimate the
length of the boat which was about 15 meters long. The width was about
2.5 meters on the largest part. The type of construction appears to be simi-
lar to vessels built by the Sama/Badjao people in a contemporary period.
It is also very close from the balangay boats used in the Visayas in the sev-
enteenth century and whose description is first given in 1668 by Alcina as
having a broad hull, a complex superstructure and being equipped with
outriggers. The three boats found indicate a continuity of settlement in the
region of Butuan and its activity. They are carbon-14 dated from the tenth
to the thirteenth century. It is therefore probable that the Sama was estab-
lished or had frequent contact in the region at that time. Their making of
pottery could explain these interactions. Potteries seem to have been an
important production, widespread throughout the archipelago of Sulu as
the ninth century (Spoehr 1973). Their boating knowledge and possession
of a commodity highly sought locally are elements that could explain their
central role in commerce in the Southern Philippines.
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 107

Butuan and the organization of the regional exchange network

The oldest ethnohistorical source that we have on the region is the Sung Shih
(History of Song), which deals with Butuan (P’u-tuan) as a small country
that has regular contact with the Champa and maintains less frequent links
with China. The first occurrence of an envoy from Butuan dates from 1001
C.E. He brought a tribute consisting of cloves from the Moluccas and cam-
phor, probably from Brunei. The trading system of China was then based on
the exchange of gifts given as a tribute. By this way, Butuan requested the
permission to trade with China. The name P’u-tuan reappears then in the
chronicles at very regular intervals, almost every three years (1001, 1003,
1004, 1007, 1011), together with embassies of Arabs, Sanmalan, Syrians,
Tibetans and of Uighurs. Diplomatic relations were formally established
early in 1003. Chinese sources tell us that King Kiling (Ch’i-iling) of Butu-
an was then represented by Liyihan and Jiaminan, his minister and assistant
minister. Gifts such exotic parrots and red turtle shells, highly demanded
on the Chinese market, were brought. Then, the king Kiling sent a request
in 1007 asking for equal status in the protocol of the court with the ambas-
sador of Champa. This request was denied by China, which considered Bu-
tuan as submitted to the Champa kingdom. Indeed, these two kingdoms
were closely linked. The sea route to China went through the Paracel Islands
and the Champa which was an essential port for the trade from the Philip-
pines. As mentioned earlier, the Philippines and the Champa maintained
exchanges since the protohistoric period. According to the Song huiyao, Bu-
tuan and Basilan (Sulu) were under the sovereignty of Champa, which can
be interpreted as a confirmation of preferential trade relations. The term
employed, guan, is indeed ambiguous, and it is unclear whether the rule was
purely economic or whether it had a political dimension. But regarding the
situation in the region in the eleventh century, it is likely that Butuan paid
tribute to the Champa and thus found itself in a position of a vassal territo-
ry, while retaining its independence and political sovereignty. In 1011, the
new ruler of Butuan was Sari Bata Shaja. Its Indianized title might be a sign
of rapprochement between Butuan and Srivijaya (700-1300 C.E.). It is in-
conceivable that the ruler of Butuan took an Indianized title by its own, as
these names were normally given by a higher power as recognition of local
government. The prestige of Butuan seems therefore to have grown. When
the envoy Likan-Hsieh came to court with its usual products, camphor and
cloves, he also brought more prestigious offerings: a gold plaque and a slave
of the South Seas. In response he was honored with a military title and the
distant land of Butuan was officially praised. Finally, flags and armor were
given to Likan-Hsieh which, according to protocol, placed Butuan on the
same level as Champa (Scott 1984: 66-67).
108 More Islamic Than We Admit

In terms of products traded, the ceramics were from four sources.

Among the artifacts recovered in Butuan, the Chinese pieces are of impor-
tance. They are spread over a long period from the tenth to the fifteenth
century. Khmer ceramics cover the ninth and tenth centuries, and those
from Siam are from the ninth to the thirteenth century (pre-Thai period,
Haripunjaya and Satingpra type). Then, Persian pottery and stone objects
date from the ninth and tenth centuries. These artifacts suggest significant
trade linking several Southeast Asian regions to the southern Philippines.
Satingpra ceramics are of a type similar to that found in Kupang (Brunei)
and Tanjore kubori (Sarawak), and Persian coins correspond to artifacts
found in Kedah (Malaysia) and Takua Pa (Southern Thailand) (Alba 1987).
These similarities reveal the roles played by intermediaries from Brunei and
the Malay peninsula in the trade between Butuan, Siam and Persia. On an-
other hand, most Chinese ceramics come from Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi,
Zhejiang and some from northern Hebei, Henan and Shanxi. They were
transported by the southern ports, mainly Guangzhou, and come largely to
Butuan through Champa. This diversity of items reflects the integration of
Butuan into regional networks. This integration is gradual but continuous,
and Butuan link the local growing trade to international demand. In excava-
tions in Bungao (Tawi-Tawi), Limpapa, Makaling, Sarangani (Mindanao),
Ilocos Sur, Sulu and Bohol (Visayas), Chinese, Annam and Siamese ceram-
ics from the thirteenth to fifteenth century have been recovered. These find-
ings support the hypothesis of a regional circulation of objects (Beyer 1947,
Spoehr 1973, Solheim 1976, Roales 1986, Evangelista 1996). In the same
way, artifacts from Middle East, a jar covered with a black-purple varnish
analyzed as manganese, and traces of lapis lazuli found in a jar dating from
the Tang period (618-907 C.E.), were found in Batangas (Luzon), Panay
and Busuanga (Palawan). It is evident that they were brought through inter-
mediates, and it testifies of the integration of the Southern Philippines into
the international trading network. Before the thirteenth century, only a few
ships sailed by the Sulu and Celebes Sea. Butuan, and to a lesser extent Min-
doro, were places which benefit from the Southeast Asian networks linking
the Middle East, the Malay peninsula, Indochina, and China.

The development of the trading routes to Sulu

Later from the late fourteenth century and early fifteenth century, two other
ports grew: Mindoro (Mayi), already present in the exchanges, and Sulu.
Under the Yuan, the contacts between Butuan and Champa tend to decline
in favor of Brunei (Boni), which maintains a special relationship with the
Sulu islands, Mindoro, and various locations of the current Philippines.
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 109

Brunei gradually took Champa’s vassals under its control. However, it has to
be noted that Chinese sources reference these ports (San-su) as independ-
ent, which supports the hypothesis that the sovereignty only concerned
economic relations (Harrison 2003: 102). Why this change happens? Two
main reasons can explain it. The first was the discovery of camphor in Brunei
by Chinese around the eleventh century. During centuries the only source
known for the very valuable was in Sumatra with the famous camphor from
Barus. However, we learn from the Song chronicle that in 997, a Chinese
trader named Pu Lu-Shieh stopped by Brunei to repair his boat. Then, when
he came back to China he was accompanied by three messengers from the
king of Brunei who brought some gifts to the ruler, with among them the
precious camphor. From this point, trading relation with China grew until
the middle of the fifteenth century (Guillot & Kalus 2003: 231-232). Be-
sides the fact that China had an economical reason6 to take another route,
the instability of the political situation in Champa also played a role. With
the Mongol invasion in Champa, followed by the Vietnamese attacks, the
road along the Indochinese peninsula became unstable. Champa lost its in-
termediate position in trade for the benefit of Brunei. This caused a change
in the trade routes under the Yuan (1234-1368 C.E.). The eastern route,
already known but little used, became therefore increasingly popular (Ptak
1998: 275-276). Boats left from Quanzhou (Fujian) to Sulu and Brunei, be-
fore heading towards the Sea of Sulawesi and the Moluccas. These changes
were significant enough for the Nanhai Zhi and the Daolue Zhilue to men-
tion it. In these books, the area of Sulu is called the “Small Eastern Ocean”
and it is designated as part of the “Eastern Ocean.” This region is well known
to the Chinese traders as it appears in the Daolue Zhilue where Wang Day-
uan gives a detailed description of Sulu, the Moluccas, the Banda Islands,
Timor and the Eastern Islands (Ptak 1998:290).
The trade route to travel from Southern China to Southeast Asia split
into two. The first route followed the coast of China to Guangdong, then
continued through the island of Hainan, the Champa coast and the island
of Condore. Hence three directions were possible: to the Siam, the Malay-
sian peninsula coast or the northeast of Borneo. A second route led from
the southern China to Taiwan, then to the northwest of Luzon where the
boats reached the islands of Mindoro and Palawan to transit through Bala-
bac before joining Sulu and Brunei. This last section knew variants, one of
which passed directly from Mindoro to Mindanao, and the Sulu archipel-
ago. The islands of Sulu facilitated the access to the Celebes Sea along the
road which continued to the Straits of Makassar, then to the east of Java.
Another alternative road proceeded directly to the north of Sulawesi by the
110 More Islamic Than We Admit

Sangihe Islands and the Moluccas. During the Yuan period, the road from
the Fujian to Sulu, then to the east of the archipelago, became an impor-
tant commercial artery and it seems that the pearl trade began at this time.
The change of trade routes directly influenced the development of the
Sulu regional market. In the fourteenth century, trade increased in the re-
gion. The Chinese traders directly sought spices in the Moluccas and then
passed through the intermediate ports on the route (Ptak 1998: 269-271,
287-288). There was a need to organize the trade on a local level and be-
cause of the demand it is possible that Tausug and Sama people migrated
from Northern Mindanao to the Sulu archipelago. According to Chinese
chronicles, the Tausug royalty does trace its roots to ancestors in Butuan.
In 1600, these Chinese sources state that the sultan of Sulu Batara Shah
Tengah was a native of this region (Cembrano 1998). Besides this histori-
cal source, linguistic evidence supports the fact that the Tausug language is
related to languages of the Visayas (Pallesen 1985). Tausug would therefore
originate from a region situated around the Visayas islands and Northeast-
ern Mindanao. Their arrival in Sulu, dated around the thirteenth century,
could be explained by the growing importance of trade in Brunei, as well
as the need of exotic products. The sea products from the Celebes Sea (tri-
pang, beads, and turtle’s shells) complemented the products of the forest
(bird nests, herbs, beeswax, resin, gum, oils and essences) already traded
with Brunei. Hall dates the rise of the commercial area of the Southern of
the Philippines and Northern Borneo around the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies (Hall 1985). These networks developed itself from the fourteenth
century to achieve their full extent the following centuries. Far from the
center of Malacca, the regions of Butuan, Mindoro and Sulu were impor-
tant stages of Southeast Asian, and more specifically Malay trade. Inter-
mediaries were the same, the Sama/Badjao, the Nan Yue then the Tausug
who settled under the influence of trade with Brunei and Sulu growth. The
southern of the Philippines benefited in this development from a favorable
political environment (external disturbances, and prohibitions of monopoly
trade). Many trade routes converged in its maritime space and increased its
regional potential. The archipelago was therefore integrated to the Malay
world through its commercial activity. Accompanying trading exchanges,
language and material culture were also part of this regional network. The
arrival of Islam was marked by the importation of foreign habits and cus-
toms, integrated to the local culture. Among them, the funeral art is one of
the most permanent trace which can serve as a marker to date significant
contacts and cultural transfers.
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 111

The first traces of Islam in the Malay world

Old theories, new findings
The repartition of Islamic tombstones is very unequal in the Malay world.
A majority is concentrated in the north of the island of Sumatra, while oth-
ers are in the Malay peninsula around the ancient capital of sultanates like
Malacca, Johore or Patani. Few can also be found on Java near the ancient
center of Majapahit and Gresik. The rest of the region, and especially the
eastern part, have almost no epigraphic traces, at the exception of Brunei
and Sulu which bear some graves. However it is interesting to see that the
oldest steles, from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, are located in
the northern tip of Sumatra and in the eastern and remote part of the Malay
world, where there is precisely very few traces compared to the rest of the
region. The low density of Islamic tombstones find an explanation in the
fact that before the arrival of Islam, very few people could pretend to have
their memory honored by funeral epitaphs. At the opposite of the Middle
East where this tradition started long before the birth of Islam, in the Malay
world only rulers had funerals with hard construction as mausoleum (Ka-
lus & Guillot 2003: 230-231).
Until very recently, scholar’s community considered that the oldest
traces of Muslim presence dated from the eleventh century and were located
on the island of Java and in Champa (Indochina). However, thanks to the
developments of the studies on the subject we know nowadays that these
traces, long discussed, can be deleted from the history of the Islamization
of the archipelago. For almost a century, the Léran stele (Gresik, East Java)
has been regarded as one of the oldest Islamic inscription of Southeast Asia.
The general assumption was that Muslim traders frequented the ports of
the island and settled there, probably temporarily. The stele was attribut-
ed to Fatimah binti Maymun who died in 475H. /1082 C.E. According to
the local tradition she was a princess named Putri Dewi Suwari also called
Putri Léran. The French epigraphist Charles-Louis Damais also speculat-
ed that she could be the daughter of a stranger (Damais 1968: 570-571).
But since the recent study made by Claude Guillot and Ludvik Kalus, all
these theories are no longer valid. Guillot and Kalus reexamined the stone
within its context, a group of three other similar steles found nearby, to en-
lighten the mystery of the oldest inscription in Southeast Asia. A notch on
an annex tombstone, neglected in early studies, revealed a use of the stele
as marine anchor. The study of the French historians shows that the Léran
steles have been uprooted from their original cemetery to serve as ballast
to anchor a boat which might have arrived in Java between the twelfth and
112 More Islamic Than We Admit

fourteenth century. Such conclusions have been made possible by similar

findings in other places in the world. The use of old tombstones from cem-
etery was indeed quite a common fact. Because of the importation of these
inscriptions, possibly from Iran or Egypt, it is impossible to refer to it as a
sign of the Islamization of Java (Kalus, Guillot 2004: 32-36). Similarly, the
Champa deserves a digression due to the recent advances of the research.
In 1922, Paul Ravaisse decrypted two inscriptions, one dated from 1039
C.E. was the grave of a certain Abu Kamil, the other was a public act to warn
Arab, Persian and Turkish people about how to conduct exchange opera-
tions and other transactions with the locals (Manguin 1979: 256). These
steles seemed to prove the existence of a community of foreign Muslim mer-
chants around the eleventh century. This hypothesis, although taken with
reserve, was widely accepted until 2003. Ludvik Kalus proved then that,
like the Léran stele, the inscriptions of Champa are not relevant for dating
the arrival of Islam in the Indochinese peninsula as these steles were later
imported into the country (Kalus 2003).

The cemeteries of Western Southeast Asia

In the current state of research, the oldest trace of Islamization in the Ma-
lay world is in the north of Sumatra. This is the tomb of the first ruler of
Samudra Pasai,7 Malik al-Saleh, who died in 696 H. /1297 E.C. This stele,
locally produced, reveals that around the thirteenth century a ruler has em-
braced Islam. This fact is confirmed in a story by Marco Polo who passed
through the region in 1292 (Guillot & Kalus 2008). The Venetian merchant
said of Ferlec (Perlak) that the population of this port was Muslim and that
they have been converted to the law of Mohammed in contact with Saracen
merchants (AH Hill 1960: 9-10 cited by Ambary 1998: 57). It seems how-
ever that the case was isolated since the neighboring populations of Basma,
Samara, Lambri and Fansur were not Islamized yet at the time. Neverthe-
less, the influence of the Sultanate of Samudra Pasai is noticed in the Yuan-
shi. In this Chinese account a story deals with a Chinese mission which re-
turned to Coromandel (Ma’bar) in 1282. The mission stopped at Samudra
(Sa-ma-ta-la) where it was received with honors. It was then accompanied
to China by two ministers of the sultan. This fact suggests that in the thir-
teenth century the Muslim state of Pasai competed with the influence of
Srivijaya, the Hindu kingdom on the island of Sumatra (Ambary 1998: 58).
The tomb of the successor of Malik al-Saleh, Malik al-Zahir, is dated from
726 H. /1326 C.E. It forms with four other inscriptions from the eighth/
fourteenth century the oldest epigraphic traces of Sumatra after the stele of
696 H. /1297 E.C. (Lombard 1990 II: 34). However, these steles are not
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 113

produced locally, but they have been imported from Cambay (Gudjerat-
India). Their style is closed to a tombstone from the same origin located at
Gresik (East Java) and dated from 1419 C.E. This Javanese tomb is desig-
nated as the tomb of Malik Ibrahim, one of nine saints (wali sanga) which,
according to the Javanese tradition, would have Islamized Java, especially
the northern coast (pesisir).
In Java, many epigraphic inscriptions are also found but from a differ-
ent style to those of Sumatra. They blend Javanese writings, dates of Saka
era (used in Hindu-Buddhist calendars) and Hindu motifs. There is a large
corpus of these inscriptions located in the funerary complex of Trowulan
(eastern Java). These graves are those of Javanese. The proximity of the cem-
etery with the old palace (kraton) and the decorative motifs (“Sun of Ma-
japahit”), also show that the deceased had an important position within
the monarchy. The dates range from 1376 to 1611 C.E. which corresponds
to the most glorious period of Majapahit, the reign of Hayam Wuruk. It is
therefore possible to argue that individual conversions took place at that
time, marking the beginnings of a broader Islamization which continued
later (Damais 1968: 573). Another funerary complex, Troloyo, is located
near Trowulan and dates from 1368 to 1369 C.E. It proves the presence of
Muslim communities in the entourage of the Mojopahit court. A dozen
graves bear dates ranging from 1281 C.E. to 1611 C.E. and mix Arabic cal-
ligraphy with Javanese syllabary (Ambary 1998: 71).
On the Malay peninsula, an epigraphic trace from a significant old pe-
riod is the famous stone of Terengganu. It bears a fragment of a legal text in
Malay dated from 702 H/1303 C.E. by Syed Naguib al-Attas. This inscrip-
tion is an incomplete list of ten laws, three are missing, which are derived
from local custom. Few elements clearly refer to Islam and only a part of the
preamble which states “the doctrine of the prophet of God” and “raja Man-
dalika Muslims” allows us to regard the inscription as a sign of Islamization
(Hooker 1983: 7). It is the only epigraphic evidence dated from the four-
teenth century in the peninsula. Several others, from the fifteenth century,
have been reported like the ones of Pengkalan Kempas (1467-68 C.E.), the
tomb of the first sultan of Pahang, Muhammad Shah (880 H./1475 C.E.),
and the tomb of the second sultan of Malacca Mansur Shah (882 H./1477
C.E.) (Lombard II 1990: 34).

The cemeteries of Eastern Southeast Asia

Then further east, several graves are documented in Brunei. As in other
places, numerous tombstones are damaged and therefore not easy to deci-
pher. The oldest one has been discovered in the cemetery of Rangas and is
114 More Islamic Than We Admit

dated from 1264 C.E. It is attributed to a certain Pu, a Chinese civil servant
from Quanzhou. The particularity of this inscription is that it is the oldest
Chinese one recovered in the South Seas, and it might also be the one of a
Muslim (Dasheng 1991; Guillot & Kalus 2003). The term Pu is often con-
sidered to be in Chinese the translation of the Arabic Abu, therefore people
bearing that name might be Muslim.8 The grave being the one of a foreign-
er and all the inscription being in Chinese, it does not reveal any trace of
Islamization. It shows however that in the thirteenth century contact with
Muslims from China happened.9 The second tombstone, undated, is the
one of “Mahârâjâ Brunî”, acknowledged sultan by the local tradition. Found
in the same location, the two tombs seem to have been imported from
Quanzhou (Southern China) where a corpus of funeral inscriptions bears
several similarities (Dasheng 1991; 1992: 1-12). According to Dasheng
who compared the grave of the sultan of Brunei to 111 Arabic inscriptions
found in Quanzhou, the tombstone is similar in shape, style and materials
to others dated from 689H./1290 C.E. to 725 H. /1325 C.E.. For Dasheng
the stele has been made in Southern China and expedited to Brunei prior
to the trouble period of Ispah rebellion (1357 to 1366). He therefore dates
it from the first quarter of the fourteenth century. The double title “Maha-
raja” and “sultan” also confirm an old origin, probably at the very beginning
of Islam, when Indianized titles were style in use.
Two important inscriptions are finally found in Sulu. The first one, in
Bud Dato (the Mount of datus), is known to be the grave of a Tuan Maqba-
lu (or Muqbalu) and is dated from 710 H. /1310 C.E. (Majul 1999: 436-
437). The inscription bears the term Shāhid /‫ﺪﻫﺎﺷ‬, meaning martyr in Ara-
bic, which suggests that Tuhan Maqbalu died far from his homeland.10 The
title “Tuan” indicates moreover that he was a respected person. This tomb
leads to the hypothesis of the possible existence of a community or a pro-
visional establishment of Muslim traders in Sulu around the last quarter of
the thirteenth century. The fact that the tomb is located inland also suggests
that the local people were not hostile to foreigners (Majul 1999: 60-61).
Another important fact is that the style of the tombstone, carved with a top
pointed bow shape, is similar to the graves from Quanzhou. Due to the trad-
ing link between China, Brunei and Sulu, it wouldn’t be surprising that a
Muslim came from China and died there. The tombstone would have been
imported from Quanzhou, a practice which seems to have been common in
Brunei. It is however regrettable that the stele has been destroyed in 1973,
after the military occupation of Bud Dato, and “rebuilt” later. An analysis
of the material of origin would have been useful to confirm this hypothesis.
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 115

The second inscription of Jolo, the tomb of Sharīf al-Hāshim, is located

in Bud Tumangtangis, and dated from 882 H. /1480 E.C. Very different in
style, this fifteenth century tombstones has the form of a square pillar and is
closer to the shape of some stele in Sumatra.11 A link with the western part of
the Malay world is not impossible as tombstones were often brought from
other places as a sign of prestige. Moreover, according to local genealogies,
Sharīf al-Hāshim was the first of the sultans of Sulu. He would have arrived
from Arabia through Bagdad, Palembang (on the western coast of Sumatra)
then Borneo (Majul 1964). It is difficult to confirm the Arabic origin and
the passage through Baghdad without evidence, but the route from Pale-
mbang, linking Sumatra to Brunei then Sulu, is well known. Except these
two Islamic tombstones, it seems that other ancient graves existed. Their
description, and sometimes drawings, can be found in Spanish records.

Conclusion
These early Islamic epigraphic traces reveal the diversity of influences in
the early Islamization of Southeast Asia. If the Indian connection clearly
appears to have played an important role in Northern Sumatra, other in-
fluences cannot be excluded. In the same way in Sulu, Chinese influence is
found in the tomb of Bud Dato, but it does not mean that other early con-
tacts did take part in the Islamization process. If we draw a map of the old-
est Muslim tombstones in Southeast Asia, it seems evident that Islam did
not follow a single continuous extension from west to east, as stated in the
earlier studies on Islam in Southeast Asia. The Chinese connection, which
César Majul presented as an important element to study Islam in the Phil-
ippines, proves to be a good track to follow. It helps to explain how Islam
reached Brunei and Sulu around the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries,
while Indians, Arabs and Persians did not travel regularly yet to the eastern
part of the archipelago. It also helps to reconcile the early Islamization of the
North of Sumatra with the one in Sulu without linking them. The fact that
several places close to Sumatra, including Java, were not yet Islamized in the
fourteenth-fifteenth century posed a problem of historical reconstruction.
Speaking about Islam in China helps also to break the fake idea of Islam
being exclusively spread by traders who arrived directly from the Arabic pe-
ninsula. As seen previously, the agents were numerous in the trade (Brunei,
Champa, Siam, Malay peninsula) and direct contact between the Philip-
pines and the Middle East are highly doubtful around the fourteenth cen-
tury. However it is not impossible that colonies of Muslims (Arabs or their
descendants) reached Sulu from the north (Reynolds 1967). This idea is
116 More Islamic Than We Admit

supported by oral traditions which, in Jolo, report Chinese Muslims accom-

panying Arabs. However, we have to keep in mind that the Chinese link, as
important as it might be, was also part of the wide networks that connected
the rest of the Malay world to the Southern Philippines.

Notes
1. Elsa Clavé-Çelik is a doctoral candidate in history at The Ecole des Hautes
Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris) and is attached to the Center for Southeast Asia
(CASE). She specializes in Indonesian and Filipino historiography.
2. In this article the term Malay is used to refer to the culture which devel-
oped around the Southeast Asian trading ports and sultanates, using Malay as a
lingua franca. There is no ethnic connotation. A useful contribution on the use
and the meaning of Malay can be found in Barnard (2004) and Salazar (1998).
3. We include in Southeast Asian population people from Southern China
who are linguistically and culturally very close to Southeast Asia.
4. The interest of Chinese for maritime trade is the result of internal strife.
During the turbulent period of the dynasties of the North and the South (from
336 to 558 C.E.), the dynasties of the South were cut off from ancient trade
routes. To develop maritime commerce was then a need, especially due to the
increasing demand of goods by the court (Wolters 1967: 77). In the fourth cen-
tury, the Chinese from the North migrate to the South and the Nan Yue started
to be sinicized. It is noteworthy that the populations of southern China are over-
whelmingly people of Southeast Asia (Wang 1958: 31-46).
5. Wolters use the term Indonesian to designate these Southeast Asian in-
termediaries. However, in the text I use a more general term, less connoted.
6. There is no trace of Brunei, or any other toponyms related to it, is found
in Indian or Middle-Eastern people ancient texts. It means that Chinese had no
competition in the trading of camphor in Brunei, which was not the case in Su-
matra or in the Malay peninsula.
7. The sultanate of Samudra Pasai, also known as the sultanate of Pasai is the
oldest sultanate of the Malay world. It started around 1280 and was absorbed
by the neighboring sultanate of Aceh in 1523 (Guillot & Kalus 2008:9). The re-
cent study by Guillot and Kalus gives a detailed and exhaustive analysis of the
graves found in the region. This study, based on local written traditions and for-
eign travelers account, helps to give a clear picture of the two centuries of this
early Islamic state.
8. Scholars are divided on the question, as Pu can be written with different
Chinese characters. But if the Pu is not always a mark of Muslim name, it cannot
be denied that it is sometimes the case.
9. We know that two centuries after, in the fifteenth century, contacts were
important. In 1405 the king of Brunei was aboard the boat of the Muslim admiral
 Clavé-Celik/Islamic Epigraphy and Ancient Chinese Trade in the Philippine Archipelago 117

Cheng Ho when he passed Brunei. It means that the ruler of Brunei had previ-
ously done the trip to China.
10. According to the Muslim religion, a Muslim dies as a martyr when he
dies far from his country or when he dies while defending Islam. In the Ma-
lay world, tombs of foreigner often bear the term shāhid while no context is
indicated.
11. Pictures of the grave are of poor quality and a detailed study of the grave
would be needed to advance a hypothesis. Unfortunately, the actual political con-
dition of Sulu does not allow going on the field for the moment.

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