 | |
| Horizon | Philippine history |
|---|---|
| Geographical range | Southeast Asia |
| Period | c. 900–1560s |
| Dates | c. Before 900 AD |
| Major sites | Tondo,Maynila,Pangasinan,Limestone tombs,Idjang citadels,Panay,Cebu (historical polity),Butuan (historical polity),Sanmalan,Sultanate of Maguindanao,Sultanate of Sulu,Ma-i,Bo-ol,Gold artifacts,Singhapala |
| Characteristics | Indianized kingdoms, Hindu and Buddhist Nations, Malay Sultanates |
| Preceded by | Prehistory of the Philippines |
| Followed by | Colonial era |
The recordedpre-colonial history of the Philippines,[1][2] sometimes also referred to as its"protohistoric period"[1]: 15 begins with the creation of theLaguna Copperplate Inscription in 900 AD and ends withthe beginning of Spanish colonization in 1565. The inscription on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription itself dates its creation to 822Saka (900 AD). The creation of this document marks the end of theprehistory of the Philippines at 900 AD, and the formal beginning of itsrecorded history.[2][3][4] During this historical time period, the Philippine archipelago was home to numerous kingdoms and sultanates and was a part of theIndosphere andSinosphere.[5]
Sources of precolonial history includearcheological findings; records from contact with theSong dynasty, theBrunei Sultanate,Korea,Japan, and Muslim traders; thegenealogical records of Muslim rulers; accounts written by Spanish chroniclers in the 16th and 17th centuries; and cultural patterns that at the time had not yet been replaced through European influence.[6]
Early Philippine society was composed of such diverse subgroups such as fishermen, farmers and hunter/gatherers, with some living in mountainside swiddens,some on houseboats and some in commercially developed coastal ports. Some subgroups were economically self-sufficient, and others had symbiotic relationships with neighboring subgroups.[7]: 138 Society can be classified into four categories as follows:[7]: 139
The fourth societal categoryabove can be termed thedatu class, and was a titled aristocracy.[7]: 150–151
The early polities were typically made up of three-tier social structure: a nobility class, a class of "freemen", and a class of dependent debtor-bondsmen:[8][1]
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) is the earliest record of a Philippine language and the presence of writing in the islands.[11] The document measures around 20 cm by 30 cm and is inscribed with ten lines of writing on one side.
The text of the LCI was mostly written inOld Malay with influences ofSanskrit,Tamil,Old Javanese and OldTagalog using theKawi script. Dutch anthropologistAntoon Postma deciphered the text. The date of the inscription is in the "Year of Saka 822, month ofVaisakha", corresponding to April–May in 900 AD.
The text notes the acquittal of all descendants of a certain honorableNamwaran from a debt of 1 kati and 8 suwarna, equivalent to 926.4 grams ofgold, granted by the Military Commander ofTundun (Tondo) and witnessed by the leaders ofPailah,Binwangan andPuliran, which are places likely also located inLuzon. The reference to the contemporaneousMedang Kingdom in modern-day Indonesia implies political connections with territories elsewhere in theMaritime Southeast Asia.
Early settlements, referred to as barangays, ranged from 20 to 100 families on the coast, and around 150–200 people in more interior areas. Coastal settlements were connected over water, with much less contact occurring between highland and lowland areas.[12] By the 1300s, a number of the large coastal settlements had emerged as trading centers, and became the focal point of societal changes.[8] Some polities had exchanges with other states across Asia.[1][13][14][15][16]
Polities founded in the Philippines from the 10th–16th centuries includeMaynila,[17]Tondo,Namayan,Kumintang,Pangasinan,Caboloan,Cebu,Butuan,Maguindanao,Buayan,Lanao,Sulu, andMa-i.[18] Among the nobility were leaders calleddatus, responsible for ruling autonomous groups calledbarangay ordulohan.[8] When these barangays banded together, either to form a larger settlement[8] or a geographically looser alliance group,[1] the more esteemed among them would be recognized as a "paramount datu",[8][19]rajah, orsultan[20] which headed the community state.[21] There is little evidence of large-scale violence in the archipelago prior to the 2nd millennium AD,[22][better source needed] and throughout these periods population density is thought to have been low.[23]
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In theCagayan Valley, the head of the Ilongot city-states was called abenganganat, while for the Gaddang it was called amingal.[24][25][26]
TheIlocano people in northwestern Luzon were originally located in modern-dayIlocos Sur and were led by ababacnang. Their polity was calledsamtoy which did not have a royal family but, rather, was a collection of certain barangays (chiefdoms).
TheLumad people from inland Mindanao are known to have been headed by adatu.
TheSubanon people in theZamboanga Peninsula were ruled by atimuay until they were overcome by theSultanate of Sulu in the 13th century.
TheSama-Bajau people inSulu who were not Muslims nor affiliated with the Sultanate of Sulu were ruled by anakurah before the arrival of Islam.
Trade with China is believed to have begun during theTang dynasty, but grew more extensive during theSong dynasty.[27] By the 2nd millennium AD, some Philippine polities were known to have sent trade delegations which participated in the Tributary system enforced by the Chinese imperial court, trading but without direct political or military control.[28][page needed][1] The items much prized in the islands included jars, which were a symbol of wealth throughout South Asia, and later metal,salt andtobacco. In exchange were traded feathers,rhino horns,hornbill beaks,beeswax, bird's-nests,resin, andrattan.
Indian cultural traits, such as linguistic terms and religious practices, began to spread within the Philippines during the 10th century, likely via the HinduMajapahit empire.[15][8][29]
Brahmic scripts reached the Philippines in the form of theKawi script, and later theBaybayin writing system.[30] TheLaguna Copperplate Inscription was written using the Kawi script.
By the 13th or 14th century, thebaybayin script was used for theTagalog language. It spread toLuzon,Mindoro,Palawan,Panay andLeyte, but there is no proof it was used in Mindanao.
There were at least three varieties of baybayin in the late 16th century. These are comparable to different variations of Latin which use slightly different sets of letters and spelling systems.[31][better source needed]
In 1521, the chroniclerAntonio Pigafetta from the expedition ofFerdinand Magellan noted that the people that they met inVisayas were not literate. However, in the next few decades the Baybayin script seemed to have been introduced to them. In 1567Miguel López de Legaspi reported that "they [the Visayans] have their letters and characters like those of theMalays, from whom they learned them; they write them on bamboo bark and palm leaves with a pointed tool, but never is any ancient writing found among them nor word of their origin and arrival in these islands, their customs and rites being preserved by traditions handed down from father to son without any other record."[32]
The earliest date suggested for direct Chinese contact with the Philippines was 982. At the time, merchants from "Ma-i" (now thought to be eitherBay, Laguna on the shores ofLaguna de Bay,[33] or a site called "Mait" inMindoro[34][35]) brought their wares toGuangzhou andQuanzhou. This was mentioned in theHistory of Song andWenxian Tongkao byMa Duanlin which were authored during the Yuan Dynasty.[34]
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Muslim traders introducedIslam to the then-Indianized Malayan empires around the time that wars over succession had ended in theMajapahit Empire in 1405.Islam in the Philippines had established itself inSimunul, Tawi-Tawi, the oldest mosque in the country. By the 15th century, Islam was established in theSulu Archipelago and spread from there.[36] Subsequent visits byArab,Persians,Malay andJavanese missionaries helped spread Islam further in the islands.[citation needed]
the Islamic "Raja" of the Philippines were good at defending the island nations, they often built their own: fleets, outposts, fortifications and ports. The Islamic community often ruled the country from their presence inManila. Their legitimacy is known through their diplomatic relations that extended from China to India.
At the peak ofIslam in the Philippines theSultanate of Sulu once encompassed parts of modern-day: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Their progress is recognized on the maps as evidence of political and military strength.
 | This article or sectionappears to contradict itself on leaders of the expeditions subsequent to Magellen's expedition in 1521. Please see thetalk page for more information.(September 2020) |
The following table summarizes expeditions made by the Spanish to the Philippine archipelago.
| Year | Leader | Ships | Landing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1521 |  /.svg) Ferdinand Magellan | Trinidad, San Antonio,Concepcion, Santiago andVictoria | Homonhon,Limasawa,Cebu |
| 1525 | García Jofre de Loaísa | Santa María de la Victoria, Sancti Spiritus, Anunciada, San Gabriel, Santa María del Parral, San Lesmes, and Santiago | Surigao,Visayas,Mindanao |
| 1527 | Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón | Florida, Santiago, and Espiritu Santo | Mindanao |
| 1542 | Ruy López de Villalobos | Santiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristóbal, San Martín, and San Juan | Samar,Leyte,Saranggani |
| 1564 |  Miguel López de Legazpi | San Pedro, San Pablo, San Juan and San Lucas | first landed onSamar, established colonies as part ofSpanish Empire |
Although the archipelago may have been visited before by the Portuguese (who conqueredMalacca City in 1511 and reachedMaluku Islands in 1512),[citation needed] the earliest European expedition to the Philippine archipelago was led by the Portuguese navigatorFerdinand Magellan in the service of KingCharles I of Spain in 1521.[37]
The Magellan expedition sighted the mountains ofSamar at dawn on March 17, 1521, making landfall the following day at the small, uninhabited island ofHomonhon at the mouth ofLeyte Gulf.[38] OnEaster Sunday, March 31, 1521, in the island ofMazaua, Magellan planted a cross on the top of a hill overlooking the sea and claimed the islands he had encountered for the King of Spain, naming themArchipelago of Saint Lazarus as stated in "First Voyage Around The World" by his companion, the chroniclerAntonio Pigafetta.[39]
Magellan sought alliances among the people in the islands beginning with Datu Zula ofSugbu (Cebu) and took special pride in converting them toChristianity. Magellan got involved in the political conflicts in the islands and took part in a battle againstLapulapu, chief ofMactan and an enemy of Datu Zula.
At dawn on April 27, 1521, Magellan with 60 armed men and 1,000 Visayan warriors had great difficulty landing on the rocky shore of Mactan where Lapulapu had an army of 1,500 waiting on land. Magellan waded ashore with his soldiers andattacked Lapulapu's forces, telling Datu Zula and his warriors to remain on the ships and watch. Magellan underestimated the army of Lapulapu, and, grossly outnumbered, Magellan and 14 of his soldiers were killed. The rest managed to reboard the ships.[citation needed]
The battle left the expedition with too few crewmen to man three ships, so they abandoned the "Concepción". The remaining ships – "Trinidad" and "Victoria" – sailed to theSpice Islands in present-day Indonesia. From there, the expedition split into two groups. TheTrinidad, commanded byGonzalo Gómez de Espinoza tried to sail eastward across thePacific Ocean to theIsthmus of Panama. Disease and shipwreck disrupted Espinoza's voyage and most of the crew died. Survivors of theTrinidad returned to the Spice Islands, where the Portuguese imprisoned them. TheVictoria continued sailing westward, commanded byJuan Sebastián Elcano, and managed to return toSanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain in 1522.
After Magellan's expedition, four more expeditions were made to the islands, led byGarcía Jofre de Loaísa in 1525,Sebastian Cabot in 1526,Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1527, andRuy López de Villalobos in 1542.[40]
In 1543, Villalobos named the islands of Leyte and SamarLas Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain, at the timePrince of Asturias.[41]
Philip II becameKing of Spain on January 16, 1556, when his father,Charles V, abdicated both the Spanish andHRE thrones, the latter went to his uncle,Ferdinand I. On his return to Spain in 1559, the king ordered an expedition to the Spice Islands, stating that its purpose was "to discover the islands of the west".[42] In reality its task was to conquer the Philippine islands.[43]
On November 19 or 20, 1564, a Spanish expedition of a mere 500 men led byMiguel López de Legazpi departedBarra de Navidad,New Spain, arriving atCebu on February 13, 1565.[44] It was this expedition that established the first Spanish settlements. It also resulted in the discovery of thetornaviaje return route to Mexico across the Pacific byAndrés de Urdaneta,[45] heralding theManila galleon trade, which lasted for two and a half centuries.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)[page needed]Each boat carried a large family group, and the master of the boat retained power as leader, or datu, of the village established by his family. This form of village social organization can be found as early as the 13th century in Panay, Bohol, Cebu, Samar and Leyte in the Visayas, and in Batangas, Pampanga and Tondo in Luzon. Evidence suggests a considerable degree of independence as small city-states with their heads known as datu, rajah or sultan.
Given the significance of the size and distribution of the population to the spread of diseases and their ability to become endemic, it is worth commenting briefly on the physical and human geography of the Philippines. The hot and humid tropical climate would have generally favored the propagation of many diseases, especially water-borne infections, though there might be regional or seasonal variations in climate that might affect the incidence of some diseases. In general, however, the fact that the Philippines comprise some seven thousand islands, some of which are uninhabited even today, would have discouraged the spread of infections, as would the low population density.
'Tienen sus letras y caracteres como los malayos, de quien los aprendieron; con ellos escriben con unos punzones en cortezas de caña y hojas de palmas, pero nunca se les halló escritura antinua alguna ni luz de su orgen y venida a estas islas, conservando sus costumbres y ritos por tradición de padres a hijos din otra noticia alguna.'
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