Prauncar, King of Camboja

Prauncar, King of Camboja, to Doctor Antonio de Morga, greeting;

I, Prauncar, King of the rich land of Camboja, sole lord of it, cherish an ardent love for Doctor Antonio de Morga.

Captain Chofa Don Blas told me that he came from Luzon with the Portuguese Captain Chofa Don Diego with soldiers to find King Prauncar my father.

They searched for him in vain. But they killed Anacaparan [the usurper].

Then they went with their ships to Cochinchina, whence the two chofas went to Lao to find the king.

They brought me back to my kingdom and have helped me to pacify what I now hold.

I understand that all this has come to me because of you.

Please send me fathers for the two chofas and the other Spaniards and Christians who dwell in my kingdom. I shall build them churches and permit them to christianize whatever Cambodians choose to become Christians.

I shall provide them with servants and I protect them as did formerly King Prauncar.

I shall provide you with whatever will be useful to you from this country.

• The two chofas have received the lands which I promised them.

To Captain Don Blas, the Castilian, I gave the province of Tran, and to Captain Chofa Don Diego, the Portuguese, the province of Bapano.

These provinces I grant and bestow upon them for the services which they have rendered me and in payment for the property they have spent in my service, so that they may possess and enjoy them as their own, and do what they will with them while in my service. [96]

To Doctor Antonio de Morga, Lieutenant-governor of the Filipinas

From Camboja: Your Grace must have already heard of events in this kingdom of Camboja, from my arrival until the captain withdrew the fleet.

Since Spaniards have taken part in all these events it will please your Grace to know the manner and retirement with which I have lived in this kingdom ever since my arrival here from Manila,

I have sustained the soldiers and other men in my ship at my own expense.

Fray Alonso Ximenez and Fray Diego [97] witnessed some of the events.

They can tell you about:

• the war against the usurper
• Gallinato’s abandonment of this kingdom when affairs had practically been settled.

Had he continued to follow up matters, half of the kingdom would today justly belong to his Majesty, and the whole of it would be under the Spaniards.

Perhaps the king himself with most of his people would have embraced Christianity.

The Chinese had no more right in Camodia than we had.

We came with a warlike attitude. It was the first time that an armed Spanish force set foot on the mainland.

Was it right for us to endure insults, abuse, and contempt from a so vile race as they are, and before all these pagans?

Was it right to endure the further action of their arguments before the usurping king, to induce him to kill us?

All this I endured very patiently in order not to disturb the land by breaking with them. This was until one day they actually tried to kill some of our men in their Parián.

We came out at the noise and the Chinese drew up in battle array, armed with many warlike instruments, challenging us to battle, with insults and expressions of contempt.

At this juncture, what would have become of our reputation had we retired when the advantage was on their side?

We attacked and killed many of them.

We do not have security in this tyrannical kingdom which is not at all friendly to us.

We had only one ship [98] which was aground at the time.

Our artillery and provisions were ashore.

They had 6 ships and many rowboats all with 2 culverins and many men.

After war had broken out, they had all their resources while we had none.

Had they taken our lives, what reputation would the Spaniards have left in these kingdoms?

This is why I thought it better for us to overpower them rather than to be at their mercy.

Accordingly, since the Chinese began the war, we were obliged to:

• seize their ships
• strengthen ourselves through them

Father Fray Alonso Ximenez and we thought that everything would turn out well by:

• making an embassy with presents to the king
• exculpating ourselves in this matter before him
• returning to the Chinese their ship and property if they promised peace, our persons in safety in a fort under his word

We wrote a letter in the name of the Manila governor. We delivered it 9 leguas away to the king, leaving the vessels guarded.

But when he found us there, he deprived us our boats and refused to receive the letter unless we first restored the ships.

Then he immediately prepared arms and assembled many men to kill us unless we restored the ships.

He did not trust us since we were going to help [his rival king].

All this was told to us by some Christians among them, especially by a young mestizo from Malaca who lived among them and knew their language.

We decided to attack them first instead of waiting to be attacked, then rejoin our men.

So we attacked and we were lucky that we killed the king in the fight.

Then we retired to our ships with great difficulty, without the loss of a single Spaniard.

We did not allow the king’s house to be sacked, so that they would not say that we did this to rob him.

Then the captain and sargento-mayor, our leader, arrived.

He belittled and censured what we had done, and ridiculed our statement and that of some of the Cambodians, namely, that we had killed the usurper.

He merely collected whatever silver and gold the soldiers seized during these troubles, and everything valuable in the ships, and then to burn the ships.

Then he drew up a report against us and dispossessed us of our ships and command, thus formulating suspicion and distrust.

After that, he gave orders to leave the kingdom.

He paid no heed to many Cambodians who came to speak to us when we went ashore. He told us that we might build a fortress there.

They had a legitimate king before who was driven to Lao by the usurper. Thus, they had no king.

He told us to:

• gather wherever the most protection could be found
• continue the war

He did not accept any of our suggestions. We told him that we should rescue a kinsman of the lawful king who was imprisoned by the usurper.

In this way, the kinsman would raise men in favor of the legitimate king who would then let us take his kingdom.

But he was deaf to all this and accordingly abandoned the kingdom, and this great opportunity was lost.

The only thing that we could request from him after returning to sea was to go to Cochinchina to ask about the galley, since they had intended to send from Manila for that purpose.

I also offered to go to Lao by land at my own expense, in search of the king of Camboja.

As soon as we arrived in Cochinchina, the captain sent:

• Diego Belloso and myself to Lao
• Captain Gregorio de Vargas to Tunquin.

Meanwhile he held an auction among the soldiers of everything valuable from the Chinese ships, and of what else he had taken from the soldiers.

But the men were all had no money.

So he bought them all himself.

The king of Sinoa, a province of Cochinchina, equipped us for the voyage with a good outfit, by giving us an embassy for that country, and men to accompany us on the road.

Thus we made the entire journey well provided and always highly honored and feared, as Europeans had never before been seen in those kingdoms.

We were all sick on the road. But in all our troubles we were greatly comforted by the love which the people showed towards us.

We reached Lanchan, the capital and the royal seat of the kingdom.

This kingdom has a vast territory, but it is thinly populated because it has been often devastated by Pegu.

It has mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, brass, and tin.

It produces silk, benzoin, lac, brasil, wax, and ivory.

There are also rhinoceroses, many elephants, and horses larger than those of China.

Lao is bounded on the east by Cochinchina and on the northeast and north by China and Tartaria, from which places came the sheep and the asses that were there when I went.

Much of their merchandise is exported by means of these animals. On its west and southwest lie Pegu and Sian, and on the south and southeast, it is bounded by Camboja and Champan. [100]

It is a rich country, and everything imported there is very expensive.

After the usurper’s death, a cousin of the exiled king went there from Camboja, fearing that the usurper’s son would would kill him.

He told what we had done in Camboja. This made the king of Lao receive us very cordially, and showed great respect for us. He praised our deeds and showed amazement that they had been accomplished by so few.

When we arrived, the old king of Camboja, together with his elder son and daughter, had already died.

There was left only the younger son with his mother, aunt, and grandmother.

These women rejoiced greatly over our deeds and arrival, and more attention was given them thenceforth.

The usurping king Anacaparan sent from Camboja an ambassador to Lao.

Before our arrival at the city, we met him and assured him of Anacaparan’s death. This made him return to Camboja.

Then we declared our embassy. We asked to take the heir to our ships back to Camboja.

They rejected it.

Instead, we were to return to our ships and send them advices from it.

The Lao would send the heir to Camboja under a large escort.

His mothers gave me letters for Manila, asking the Spanish to pacify Camboja.

The king of Lao said if Gallinato was unwilling to return, he would send large forces by land to our assistance, under command of the heir.

So we left for Cochinchina.

Chupinaqueo, kinsman of the lawful king, escaped from his prison and incited a province to rise. He collected 6,000 men to help us make war on the sons of the usurper, who were now ruling.

But he could not find us in Chordemuco.

So he seized all the Chinese and other people there, and returned to his province to fortify himself.

Meanwhile, Champa army, led by Ocuña de Chu, went to Chordemuco to recover the Chinese.

Ocuña de Chu sided with the sons of the usurper.

• He proclaimed the second son Chupinanu as king because he was the most warlike.

They, with the Champa army, they fought and defeated and killed Chupinaqueo.

Thus, for the time being Chupinanu ruled as king and the camp was disbanded.

At this time a ship arrived from Malaca on an embassy, bringing some Spaniards and some Japanese to search for us.

Chupinanu would have liked to have killed them all, but seeing that they came on an embassy, and from Malaca, he let them go immediately.

A large province, called Tele, saw the cruelty of Chupinanu and revolted and defeated Chupinanu.

They took from him many elephants and artillery, and sacked his city.

In the battle, most of the Spaniards and Japanese who had come from Malaca were killed.

Chupinanu retreated with all his 6 brothersto another province, always accompanied by Ocuña de Chu.

There they began to make plans and to collect men.

They also invited 2 Malays, leaders of all the other Malays on whom Chupinanu relied strongly, who on the break-up of the camp after Chupinaqueo’s death, had gone to the lands of which they were magistrates.

But in order that what follows may be understood, I will tell who these Malays are.