It was not the Spaniard Juan Sebastian del Cano, but rather Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his Indonesian Muslim servant “Enrique” or “Henrique” who were the first to circumnavigate the globe, sailing under the Spanish flag.

The Untold Magellan Story by Charles Avila, published in April 2021 establishes this.

Though he has been called the greatest navigator in recorded history, the Portuguese explorer did not sail solo during his timeless achievement. He was actually quite fortunate to find himself ably assisted in his venture by a native of “Taprobana”, or modern-day Sumatra, whom he employed as a factotum after the Fall of the Malaccan Empire in 1511.

So, on the crew of the world’s first circumnavigator was an Indonesian who had lived in Malaysia. Enrique was also familiar with the chief from the Philippines’ Luzon island who was the head of all Muslim traders in Malacca.

Much has been written about Magellan and his times, and yet it seems, not enough. In the concise Untold Story, author Avila has used a unique nonfiction format based on the rigorous, solid and collective research scholars have done through the ages and succeeds in allowing the great conquistador tell his own tale as “history, not fiction”.

As the promotional blurb says “Undoubtedly a thriller and a page-turner, it takes the form of a Letter from Magellan to the Peoples of the Oceans, the Islands, the Archipelagos and the Continents.”

In its telling, Magellan proves that the world is round and that despite its diversity, humanity is one.

One very interesting angle was the nature of the relationship, 500 years ago, between imperial European expansion and the civilizations of South and Southeast Asia.

The explorations and conquests, as well as the consequential proselytization and colonization, were all about the two superpowers of Spain and Portugal, racing to claim Southeast Asia, in particular the territories that were to become Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Their aims were not just imperial expansion, monopolizing gold and precious minerals and spreading the Christian faith, but most specifically, domination of the so-called Spice Islands: The five islands of Maluku that supplied Europe’s demand for spices.

Magellan made his entrance in this era with a bold claim: He would find a new oceanic route to the West, independent of all the ancient arteries to the East. The premise required no further explanation that making good on his claim, which Magellan held as a certainty, would decisively clinch economic world domination for his financiers, including any monarchs.

The House of Fugger and Emperor Charles, the King of Spain, invested in Magellan and his proposed expedition, a decision that changed the history of the world.

Might one agree that the geopolitical role occupied today by Indonesia and its Southeast Asian neighbors was one they had filled 500 years ago? The Untold Magellan Story offers more than a hint at an answer.

After all, history is a key to understanding the present and looking into the future, for truth be told, there is a Magellan in all of us.