Dayang Sima is known in history as one of the formidable leaders of Kalang or Dj-Apo, an area known today as the lower region of Cotabato in Mindanao. People feared and respected her for her unwavering sense of justice and the rule of law. She was known to play no favourites.

Willem Pieter Groeneveldt’s Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca quoted a passage from the Chinese dynastic annals dated 674 A.D. depicting an interesting anecdote involving Dayang Sima. It was said that an Arab merchant decided to put the queen’s and her people’s character to the test by asking a courtier to leave a bag of gold on the ground to see if anyone would touch it. The bag of gold remained where it was left for three years until Dayang Sima’s son decided to poke it with his toe.

This infuriated and disappointment the queen. Even if the young man who touched the bag of gold was her son, she decided he should be punished.

Dayang Sima’s admonishment to her son is the English translation that appears in both Groeneveldt’s work as well as Austin Craig’s collection.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://thelitcritter.com/2021/04/11/honesty-and-the-rule-of-law/