Castille War
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| Castille War Perang Kastila |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Brunei | Spanish East Indies | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Sultan Saiful Rijal Bendahara Sakam |
Francisco de Sande |
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The Castille War was a military conflict between Brunei and Spain in 1578.
'The Cause'
Since the middle of 15th century, the Europeans were eager to come to South East Asia for spices. That time, all the routes from Middle East to South East Asia were controlled by the Arabs. The Europeans attempted to dominate the route to South East Asia so that they could trade with the locals (Malays). That time, Brunei Darussalam was a big country, starting from the Philippines to Borneo Island.
It was during the reign of Sultan Saiful Rijal (1533-1581) when the Castille War broke out. His Majesty faced two main problems that are: the Spanish wanted to spread Christianility in the Philippines and wanted to invade the Philippines.
In 1565, the Spanish captured Cebu in the Philippines. They turned it into a trading post and a centre for spreading Christianility . Because of what happened, the Spanish became the main rival of Brunei. The Spanish continued to attack and invaded Manila in 1571. Manila became an administration centre for the Spanish and a centre for spreading Christianility.
The citizens of Manila didn’t like the Spanish. So, in 1574, they started a rebellion to chase the Spanish away from Manila. But they rebels lost to the Spanish.
Since the attack of Manila in 1571, Sultan Saiful Rijal was not comfortable. In 1574, His Majesty sent a fleet of ships to Manila. The 200 boats and 7000 soldiers were led by the prince of Sultan Saiful Rijal. On the way to Manila, the prince suddenly felt without the them in Brunei, the Spanish would seize the chance to invade Brunei. Because of that feeling, the prince commanded the fleet to turn back.
'Castille War'
In 1576, the Spanish Governor in Manila was Dr. Francisco De Sande. He sent an official mission to Brunei to meet Sultan Saiful Rijal(1533-1581). The Spanish told the Sultan that they wanted to have good relations with Brunei. They also asked for permission to spread Christianility in Philippines and demanded that Brunei missionaries stop spreading Islam in The Philippines.
The Sultan of Brunei accepted the friendship, but he didn't agree to the Spanish spreading Christianility in the Philippines. He also did not agree to stop the Bruneian missionaries from spreading islam in the Philippines.
The Beginning of the Castille War Castille War was a war between Brunei and the Spanish. This war happened in 1578 in the capital. At that time, the capital was at Kota Batu. The Spanish wanted to invade Brunei because it was a big country in Borneo and an important trading post. A misunderstanding happened between His Majesty and his relatives that is Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. Because of this, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna approached the Spanish to help solve their problem.
They promised to work with the Spanish to conquer Brunei. The Spanish promised that if they succeed in conquering Brunei, Pengiran Seri Lela will become the Sultan while Pengiran Seri Ratna becomes the Bendahara. In March 1578, the Spanish fleet started their journey to Brunei. The fleet consisted of 40 warships a d many soldiers which were led by Dr. Francisco de Sande, a Spanish General and Captain in Manila.
When they reached the shores of Brunei, Dr. Francisco de Sande sent a warning letter to Sultan Saiful Rijal. That letter was delivered by two delivers named Simagat and Simagat China. In the letter, Dr. Francisco de Sande wrote the following: -do not send propagators of Islam to the Philippines -do not stop the Spanish from spreading Christianility in Brunei -do not collect taxes in the Philippines
When Sultan Saiful Rijal read the note, His Majesty was furious. Sultan Saiful Rijal ordered his soldiers to throw the delivers into jail, but Dr. Francisco de Sande wanted his delivers to be set free. But that was not to be. Sultan Saiful Rijal didn’t care. Because of that, the Spanish declared war with Brunei.
'Spanish Invaded Brunei'
Castille war started on 14 April 1578. The Spanish succeed in invading the capital of Brunei in 2 days. By that time, it was 16 April 1578 with the help of Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna. The Spanish invaded Brunei for 72 days.
After invading Brunei, the Spanish destroyed the capital of Brunei and burnt the mosque. Without homes, Sultan Saiful Rijal and Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Abdul Kahar with the other surviving soldiers had to flee to Meragang then to Jerudong. In Jerudong, they made plans to chase the Spanish away from Brunei.
With courage and bravery and despite the lack of weapons, the soldiers of Brunei chased the Spanish away from Brunei on 26th June 1578. On that day, the Spanish were successfully driven out of Brunei. They held Brunei Town for 72 days only. Pengiran Bendahara Sakam was the warrior who led the army into war and won. He was a relative of Sultan Saiful Rijal.
In the end, the betrayers, Pengiran Seri Lela and Pengiran Seri Ratna were killed. Pengiran Seri Lela was killed in Belait while Pengiran Seri Ratna was killed on Bukit Jambu in the battle.
After the Castille War, Brunei and the Spanish continued to be rivals.
