TheSpanish East Indies[b] were the colonies of theSpanish Empire inAsia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through thecaptaincy general inManila for theSpanish Crown, initially reporting toMexico City, then later directly reporting toMadrid after theSpanish American Wars of Independence.
Theking of Spain traditionally styled himself "King of the East and West Indies" (Spanish:Rey de las Indias Orientales y Occidentales).
From 1565 to 1821 these territories, together with theSpanish West Indies, were administered through theViceroyalty of New Spain based inMexico City. Afterindependence of theMexican Empire, Manila reported directly to Madrid. The territories ruled included present-dayPhilippines,Guam and theMariana Islands, as well asPalau, part ofMicronesia, and for a periodNorthern Taiwan and parts ofNorth Sulawesi and theMoluccas (Dutch East Indies (VOC)).Cebu was the first seat of government when the Spanish first arrived in the Philippines, which was later transferred to Manila.
After thefall of Manila during theSpanish–American War in 1898, theUnited States occupied the city and the Spanish colonial government moved its capital toIloilo, their strongest remaining stronghold in the Philippines. However, they soon surrendered the city to local revolutionary forces beforeAmerican occupation. Spain later sold other smaller islands toGermany in theGerman–Spanish Treaty of 1899, and the few remaining islands were ceded to the United States when theTreaty of Washington was ratified in 1901.
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With thePortuguese guarding access to theIndian Ocean aroundthe Cape, a monopoly supported bypapal bulls and theTreaty of Tordesillas, Spanish contact with theFar East waited until the success of the 1519–1522Magellan–Elcanoexpedition that found aSouthwest Passage aroundSouth America into thePacific. The expedition reached the outskirts of the East Indies on 6 March 1521, sighting theMarianas. Upon reaching thePhilippines, Magellan was able toconvert and ally withRajah Humabon, theRajah ofCebu at that time, but died shortly thereafter in theBattle of Mactan while trying to shore up Humabon's control over nearby islands. When the expedition's new leaders refused to honor Magellan's will andfree hisMalayslaveEnrique, Enrique—who also acted as their interpreter—was able to turn Humabon against them, provoking a massacre of the Spanish on 1 May. Consolidated onto theTrinidad and theVictoria, the survivors were able to reach thecity-state ofTidore in theSpice Islands on 8 November. Its sultanAl-Mansur promptly pledged his realm as Spain's vassal the next day,[3] hoping to use them as a counterweight to Portuguese support of his rivalBayan Sirrullah ofTernate. (Within a year, he was joined in this by Yusuf, sultan ofJailolo on nearbyHalmahera.) However, by 14 May 1522 the Portuguese (under Antonio de Brito) forced Al-Mansur to surrender the Spaniards who had stayed in his realm and abjure any connection to Spain.[4] TheVictoria limped back to Spain to complete the firstcircumnavigation of the globe on September 6, and theTrinidad surrendered herself to de Brito to avoid starvation in November.[5]Charles I signed away any remaining interests in the East Indies for 350,000ducats in theCapitulation of Zaragoza on 22 April 1529.
Seeking to develop trade between theEast Indies and theAmericas across the Pacific Ocean,Antonio de Mendoza encouraged the exploration of these Asian territories and commissioned the expedition of hisin-lawRuy López de Villalobos to the Philippines in 1542–1543.Miguel López de Legazpi set out from Mexico, and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines in 1565, which became the town ofSan Miguel in present-day Cebu. That same year, another member of the expedition,Andrés de Urdaneta, discovered a maritime route from the Philippines to Mexico, across the Pacific, leading to the important transpacific transport link of theManila-Acapulco galleons.
In 1571, exploiting a rivalry between the states of Tondo and Maynila, the later being a city-state established by Bruneian Islamic colonists, meant to supplant Tondo, the Spaniards captured Maynila and renamed itManila, a former satellite-state of the Brunei Sultanate and then Manila was made the seat of the SpanishCaptaincy General of the Philippines. The HinduRajahnate of Butuan and theKedatuans of Dapitan andMadja-as willingly joined the Spaniards to ally against their common Muslim rivals (Spain recently expelled the Muslims who invaded their homeland at the culmination of theReconquista), Zamboanga was also taken from theSultanate of Sulu via the efforts of Spanish and Peruvian soldiers[6] and native allies as all these territories were incorporated into the Spanish East Indies.
The Philippines became the center of operations for further Spanish wars in Asia including theCastilian War against the Sultanate of Brunei, raids against the Ottoman protectorate of the Sultanate of Aceh, the brief conquests of the Sultanates of Tidor and Ternate as well as Spanish campaigns intoCambodia and Taiwan. These and other Asian territories claimed by the Spanish crown were to be governed from the Viceroyalty of New Spain in Mexico City.
The Manila-Acapulco galleons shipped products gathered from both Asia-Pacific and the Americas, such as silk, spices, silver, gold and other Asian-Pacific islander products to Mexico. Products brought from Asia-Pacific were sent toVeracruz and shipped to Spain and, via trading, to the rest of Europe, while Spanish-Mexican navigators brought with them Hispanic and indigenous Mexican customs, religion, languages, foods, and cultural traditions to the Philippines, Guam, and the Mariana Islands.
In 1606, the Spaniards established trade links with theMaluku Islands, which continued until 1663. Contacts withJapan were also established andSebastián Vizcaíno was sent as ambassador in 1611, until Japan closed its trading post in 1630. In northeastern Taiwan, the Spaniards builtFort Santo Domingo nearKeelung in 1626 and a mission inTamsui in 1628, which they occupied until they lost in theSecond Battle of San Salvador. Several Pacific islands were visited by Spanish ships in the 16th century, includingNew Guinea (Yñigo Ortiz de Retez in 1545), theSolomon Islands (Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1568), and theMarquesas Islands (Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1595), but they made no effort to trade with or colonize them.
During the first half of the seventeenth century, there were a number of clashes with the Dutch in and around the Spanish East Indies as the Dutch expanded their interests in Southeast Asia. The most important of these werea series of naval battles in 1646, when the local Spanish forces defeated a concerted effort of the Dutch to take control of the Philippines.
In 1668,BlessedDiego Luis de San Vitores established the first mission on Guam, where he and SaintPedro Calungsod were later martyred.
In October 1762, a British expeditionary forcecaptured Manila and occupied it for twenty months as part of theSeven Years' War. Subsequent British attempts to expand intoBulacan,Pampanga andIlocos were frustrated by Spanish and native resistance, and the expeditionary force remained confined to Manila andCavite. Several native leaders, such asDiego Silang, revolted against the Spanish after being promised British support, but none were successful. Under the terms of the 1763Treaty of Paris, all British-occupied territories in the Spanish East Indies were returned to Spain, with the handover occurring in April 1764. The loss of Manila was a large blow to Spanish pride and partly prompted theBourbon Reforms.[7]
The Seven Years' War promptedCharles III to initiateextensive governmental reforms throughout the overseas possessions. Anintendencia was established in Manila in 1784 to handle the government finances and to promote the economy. (The plan to introduce more intendencias throughout the Philippines did not materialize.) In a similar vein, to promote innovation and education among the residents of the islands,Governor-GeneralJosé Basco y Vargas established theEconomic Society of the Friends of the Country.
For over 256 years, the Spanish East Indies were governed by a governor-captain general, and anaudiencia. All economic matters of the Philippines were managed by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, located in Mexico. Because the eastward route was more widely used for military purposes, in addition to commerce that included theManila-Acapulco galleon trade, most government correspondence went through Mexico, rather than directly to Spain (with the exception of a short period at the end of the 18th century).
In 1821, the New Spanish Viceroyalty collapsed following theMexican War of Independence, which resulted in theFirst Mexican Empire. All control of the Spanish East Indies government was then transferred to Madrid, until the United States annexed most Spanish territories in the Asia-Pacific region after theSpanish–American War of 1898.
In 1574, theCaptaincy General of the Philippines was created as a dependency of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Real Audiencia of Manila was created on 5 May 1583 and the first session was held on 15 June 1584[8] as the highest tribunal of the Spanish Empire in the East Indies, that had the Governor-General of the Philippines as itsex officio highest judge. Both institutions were created by the Royal Decree ofKing Felipe II.
Law XI (Audiencia y Chancillería Real de Manila en las Filipinas) of Title XV (De las Audiencias y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias) of Book II of theRecopilación deLeyes de los Reynos de las Indias of 1680—which compiles the original decree and the one of 25 May 1596—describes the limits and functions of the Audiencia and its president.[9]
"In the city of Manila on the Island of Luzon, Head of the Philippines, shall reside another Royal Audiencia and Chancellery of ours, with a president, who shall be governor and captain general; four judges ofcivil cases [oidores], who will also be judges ofcriminal cases [alcaldes del crimen]; a crown attorney [fiscal]; a bailiff [alguacil mayor]; a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials; and which shall have for district said Island of Luzon, and the rest of the Philippines, the Archipelago of China, and its Mainland, discovered and to be discovered. And we order that the governor and captain general of said Islands and Provinces, and president of their Royal Audiencia, have exclusively the superior government of the entire district of said Audiencia in war and peace, and shall make provisions and favors in our Royal Name, which in conformity to the laws of this Compilation and the rest of theKingdoms of Castile and the instructions and powers that We shall grant, he should and can do; and in gubernatorial matters and cases that shall arise, that are of importance, said president-governor should consult on them with the judges of said Audiencia, so that they give their consultive opinions, and having heard them, he should provide the most convenient to the service of God and ours and the peace and tranquility of said Province and Republic".
The Spanish East Indies came to be defined as:[citation needed]
The timeline of the territories ruled by Spain included:[citation needed]
The Spaniards used several names that are not currently used. Gran Moluca (Great Molluccas) for the island of Mindanao and Nueva Castilla (New Castile) for Luzon.
Because Spanish interest in the region was primarily focused on its use as a base for trade with East Asia, direct Spanish control over the area expanded slowly. TheBatanes Islands were conquered in the 18th century byJosé Basco. The highlands of Luzon remained outside Spanish control until the early 19th century, and the southernmost tip ofPalawan, not until the late 1890s. The rest ofMindanao (Caesarea Karoli)—aside from outposts in Northern Mindanao,Zamboanga,Cotabato, and the islands ofBasilan andJolo, the rest was nominally under Spanish control, recognizing Spanish rule, but left to administer their own affairs, as in the cases of theSulu, and theMaguindanao sultanates, as well as a number of otherLumad tribes not affiliated with either. Similarly, Palau and the vast majority of the Caroline Islands were not governed by Spanish missions until the early 19th century.
Spain's influence on its former territories in Asia-Pacific is significant to this day. The majority of the people of the Philippines, Guam and the Mariana Islands belong to theCatholic faith which was introduced by Spanish missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. A large part of the population in these countries were forced to useSpanish names and surnames, many of which are still in use. Also, because of the introduction of new tools, products, crops and technology by Spaniards in the three centuries of colonial rule, many Spanish loanwords entered the native languages of these countries. Art forms such as music, architecture and fashion also have much Spanish influence. The national cuisines of these countries also have several Spanish elements.
A sizeable proportion of the current population of the Northern Marianas Islands (45–55%) and Guam (30–45%), as well as that of Palau (15–25%) is of Filipino descent. Some of the local peoples in the previously stated territories also use Filipino names and surnames (one example is the surname Pangelinan, which comes from the Filipino surname Pangilinan). The currentChamorro population is believed to be partly of Filipino descent, both because of the historic links between Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands and the Philippines during Spanish rule, and currently through different waves of migration.[10] The cuisines of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau are also heavily influenced by Filipino cuisine, with dishes likepancit,lumpia,kelaguen,halo-halo, andokoy being the most noticeable.
Títulos:i De las leyes, provisiones, cedulas, y ordenanças Reales.ii Del Consejo Real, y Iunta de Guerra de Indias.iii Del Presidente, y los del Consejo Real de las Indias.iv De el Gran Chanciller, y Registrador de las Indias, y su Teniente en el Consejo.v Del Fiscal de el Consejo Real de las Indias.vi De los Secretarios de el Consejo Real de las Indias.vii Del Tesorero general [receptor] de el Consejo Real de las Indias.viii Del Alguazil mayor del Consejo Real de las Indias.ix De los Relatores de el Consejo Real de las Indias.x Del Escrivano de Camara del Consejo Real de las Indias.xi De los Contadores del Consejo Real de Indias.xii De el Coronista mayor del Consejo Real de las Indias.xiii De el Cosmografo, y Catedratico de Matematicas de el Consejo Real de las Indias.xiv De los Alguaziles, Avogados, Procuradores, Porteros, Tassador, y los demás Oficiales del Consejo Real de las Indias.xv De las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xvi De los Presidentes, y Oidores de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xvii De los Alcaldes del Crimen de las Audiencias de Lima y Mexico.xviii De los Fiscales de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xix De los Iuzgados de Provincia de los Oidores, y Alcaldes de el Crimen de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xx De los Alguaziles mayores de las Audiencias.xxi De los Tenientes de Gran Chanciller de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxii De los Relatores de la Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxiii De los Escrivanos de Camara de las Audiencias Reales de la Indias.xxiv De los Avogados de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxv De los Receptores, y penas de Camara, gastos de Estrados, y Iusticia, y Obras pia de las Audiencias y chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxvi De los Tassadores, y Repartidores de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxvii De los Receptores ordinarios, y su Repartidor de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxviii De los Procuradores de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxix De los Interpretes.xxx De los Porteros, y otros Oficiales de las Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxxi De los Oidores, Visitadores ordinarios de los distritos de Audiencias, y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias.xxxii Del Iuzgado de bienes de difuntos, y su administracion, y cuenta en las Indias, Armadas, y Vageles.xxxiii De las informaciones, y pareceres de servicios.xxxiv De los Visitadores generales, y particulares.
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