Enrique of Malacca - Magellan Expedition

Magellan Expedition

Enrique accompanied Magellan back to Europe, and onwards on Magellan's search for a westward passage to the East Indies. He was a slave of and interpreter for the Spaniards. Ginés de Mafra explicitly states in his firsthand account that Enrique was brought along in the expedition primarily because of his ability to speak the Malay language. "He ," wrote de Mafra, "told his men that they were now in the land he had desired, and sent a man named Herédia, who was the ship's clerk, ashore with an Indian they had taken, so they said, because he was known to speak Malay, the language spoken in the Malay Archipelago." The island in the Philippines where he spoke and was understood by the natives was Mazaua which Ginés de Mafra locates somewhere in Mindanao.

The Genoese Pilot of the Magellan expedition, states — wrongly — in his eyewitness account that the Spaniards had no interpreter when they arrived back to Cebu, because Enrique had died on Mactan along with Magellan during the Battle of Mactan in 1521. However, Enrique was, in fact, very much alive on May 1, 1521, and attended a feast given by Rajah Humabon to the Spaniards. Antonio Pigafetta writes that survivor João Serrão, who was pleading the crew to save him from the Cebuano tribes, said all who went to the banquet were poisoned, except Enrique.

Enrique accompanied Magellan on all his voyages, including the voyage that circumnavigated the world in 1519-1521. He was left in Cebu on May 1 and there is nothing more said of Enrique in any document. Historians and trivia buffs have often speculated that Enrique was the first to circumnavigate the world. The official and generally accepted view is that Elcano and his sailors were first, but there is still much debate on the matter. De Malaca is only documented to have traveled with Magellan from Malacca to Cebu, 2500 km and 20 degrees of longitude short of completing the circumnavigation. It is not known if he ever had a chance to complete it.

In Harun Aminurrashid's book Panglima Awang, it is said that Enrique's real name was Awang, and that he was one of the Sultan warriors (Panglima). The story states that Magellan told him to change his religion, or at least to change his name, in order to avoid bad treatment from the ship's crew for being a Muslim. Magellan himself gave him the name Enrique. The book also describes how Magellan treated Enrique not as a slave but as a friend, and defended him from the prejudice of other sailors. Enrique repaid this kindness with loyalty, and followed Magellan until his death. After Magellan's death, Enrique decided to stop sailing with the Spaniards, but continued to sail with other ships such as traders, and eventually landed in the northern part of Borneo (now Sabah). He was confident that he could sail around the world and reunite with friends that had become refugees of the Portugal-Malacca War. He then completed his circumnavigation of the world, and landed at Malay Peninsula.