Awang Hitam

Statue of Enrique in the
Maritime Museum
of Malacca, Malaysia

Enrique The Black a.k.a Panglima Awang Hitam was a native of the Malay Archipelago who became a slave of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the 16th century. Enrique accompanied Magellan back to Europe, and onwards on Magellan's search for a westward passage to the East Indies. He worked as a slave, 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. Historians and trivia buffs have often speculated that Enrique was the first to circumnavigate the world because Magellan died during the Battle of Mactan in 1521. Besides that, there were the other theory about the death of Magellan which is 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.The other theory said that Magellan and the other crew except Enrique were having a disease known as scurvy and they all were died later.

The illustration of
Enrique The Black

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.

The portrait picture of
Enrique The Black

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. Enrique 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.

CAKERA ALAM. This thing had been used by 

Enrique which help him to know the directions, 

information on the stars, winds, high tides, 

and many more.