Battle of Manila (1365)

The Battle of Manila (1365) is an unspecified and disputed battle occurring around the area of Manila between the forces of the Kingdoms in Luzon and the Empire of Majapahit. Even though the exact dates and details of this battle remain putative there are at least claims of the conquest of the area around Saludong (Majapahit term for Luzon and Manila) according to the text Nagarakretagama.^[1] Which claims that Saludong (Luzon) and Solot (Sulu) were parts of Majapahit. However, this claim may only be mythic considering that only a couple of years earlier, warriors from Sulu had successfully attacked Borney (Brunei) which was a Majapahit vassal, and repulsed a Majapahit invasion force, and that outside of Nagarakretagama, there is no evidence among prehispanic Philippine documents that Saludong or Sulu was ever enslaved by the Majapahit empire.

In fact, this was only mentioned in passing in a lone Eulogy poem to Maharajah Hayam Wuruk and was not really a part of statecraft.^[2] Furthermore, the earlier Laguna Copperplate Inscription, mentioned that Dongdu (Kingdom of Tondo) had diplomatic relations with the kingdom of Medang, not with Majapahit. Nevertheless, there may have been a battle for Manila that occurred during that time but it was likely a victory for Luzon's kingdoms considering that the Kingdom of Tondo had maintained its independence and was not enslaved under another ruler. Alternatively, Luzon may have been successfully invaded but was able to regain its independence later.^[3][4] Still, it could have gone either way and scholars are still in dispute over this.

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