History of the Philippines (900–1565)
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Horizon | Philippine history |
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Geographical range | Southeast Asia |
Period | c.900–1560s |
Dates | c. Before 900 AD |
Major sites | Tundun, Seludong, Pangasinan, Limestone tombs, Idjang citadels, Panay, Rajahnate of Cebu, Rajahnate of Butuan, Kota Wato, Kota Sug, Ma-i, Dapitan, Gold artifacts, Singhapala, Ifugao plutocracy |
Characteristics | Indianized kingdoms, Hindu and Buddhist Nations, Islamized Indianized sultanates Sinicized Nations |
Preceded by | Prehistory of the Philippines |
Followed by | Colonial era |
History of the Philippines |
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Timeline |
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The history of the Philippines between 900 and 1565, also known as the pre-colonial period, begins with the creation of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) in 900 and ends with the Spanish colonization in 1565. The LCI is the first written document found in an ancient Philippine language. The inscription itself identifies the date of its creation, and its deciphering in 1992 made it possible to put the end prehistorical Philippines around 900 AD. Prior to the LCI, the earliest record of the Philippine Islands corresponded with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
Magellan was a Portuguese explorer in charge of a Spanish expedition to circummavigate the globe. Spanish forces were defeated by the chieftain Lapu-Lapu at the Battle of Mactan, and the Spanish conquest was delayed until a new expedition in 1565 during the reign of Philip II of Spain. Prior to the Spanish conquest, the Philippines were composed of different kingdoms, rajahnates and sultanates. Some were even part of a larger Empire outside of the modern day map of what is now the Philippines. For example, Manila was once part of the Bruneian Empire, and many parts of the modern day Mindanao are theorized to have been part of the Majapahit empire with its capital being located in East Java in modern day Indonesia. It was the Spaniards who named the collection of Southeast Asian islands they conquered as Las Islas Filipinas, after the aforementioned Philip II of Spain, the geographical locations of which the modern day country of the Philippines based its territories today.
Other sources of pre-colonial history include archeological findings, records from contact with the Song Dynasty, the Bruneian Empire, Japan, and Muslim traders, genealogical records of Muslim rulers, and the collected accounts which were put into writing by Spanish chroniclers in the 17th century, as well as then-extant cultural patterns which had not yet been swept away by the coming tide of hispanization. The period prior to Spanish colonization made the Philippines a part of both the Indosphere and Sinosphere.[1][2][3][4]
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and its context (c. 900)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription.gif/280px-Laguna_Copperplate_Inscription.gif)
In January 1990, the Laguna Copperplate, then just a thin piece of crumpled and blackened metal, was offered for sale to and was acquired by the National Museum of the Philippines after previous efforts to sell it to the world of antiques had been unsuccessful. On examination, it was found to measure about 20 cm square and to be fully covered on one side with an inscription in ten lines of finely written characters. Antoon Postma deciphered the text and discovered that it identified the date of its creation as the "Year of Sakya 822, month of Vaisakha." According to Jyotisha (Hindu astronomy), this corresponded with the year 900. Prior to the deciphering of the LCI, Philippine history was traditionally considered to begin at 1521, with the arrival of Magellan and his chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta. History could not be derived from pre-colonial records because such records typically did not survive: most of the writing was done on perishable bamboo or leaves. Because the deciphering of the LCI made it out to be the earliest written record of the islands that would later become the Philippines, the LCI moved the boundary between Philippine history and prehistory back 600 years.[5][6][7]
The inscription forgives the descendants of Namwaran from a debt of 926.4 grams of gold, and is granted by the chief of Tondo (an area in Manila) and the authorities of Paila, Binwangan and Pulilan, which are all locations in Luzon. The words are a mixture of mostly Sanskrit along with some Old Malay, Old Javanese and Old Tagalog. The subject matter proves conclusively that a developed society with traders, rulers and international trading existed in the Philippines prior to the Spanish colonization. The references to the Chief of Medang Kingdom in Indonesia imply that there were cultural and trade links with empires and territories in other parts of Maritime Southeast Asia, particularly Srivijaya. The copperplate indicate the presence of writing and of written records at the time, and the earliest proof of Philippines language.[5]
Sam-Ma nation capital shift to the Philippines
According to Benjamin Han’s Mundaan Komkoman (Han, 1990), in the Chinese text Hai-Wai-Nan-Ching, as translated by Wang (1989;31), the country of Sam-Ma is located to the east of Chhi-Sui (red river in Mandarin). Emperor Yao (2357-2258 B.C.) killed the leader of Sam-Ma which triggered the latter to rise in rebellion. The Sam-Ma then fled to the South Sea where they established their community's new nation.[8] Scholars agree that Chhih Sui is either the Mekong or Red river of Vietnam today, while the Sam-Ma country is most likely in the Philippines, specifically in areas identified as the ancestral lands and seas of their descendants, the Sama-Bajau people.[9]
Barangay city-states and thalassocracies
Since at least the 3rd century, the indigenous people were in contact with the other Southeast Asian and East Asian nations. Fragmented ethnic groups established several polities formed by the assimilation of several small political units known as barangay each headed by a Datu, who was then answerable to a Rajah or a Lakan, who headed the city state. Each barangay consisted of about 100 families. Some barangays were big or city-sized, such as Zubu (Cebu), Maktan (Mactan), Butuan, Ogtong (Oton)[10] and Halaud (Araut or Halaur, which is Dumangas at present) in Panay,[11] Mait (Ma-i), Bigan (Vigan) and Selurong (Manila). Each of these big barangays had a population of more than 2,000. The city-statehood system was also used by the freedom-loving Waray people of Samar and eastern Leyte, the head-hunting Ilongots of the Cagayan Valley (now primarily live in Nueva Viscaya and Nueva Ecija after the Ilokano migrations to the Cagayan Valley), and the peacock-dressed Gaddang people of the Cagayan Valley. Unlike other areas in the country like Tondo or Cebu which had royal families, the ancient city-states of the Warays, Ilongots and Gaddangs were headed through an indigenous leadership system. Both civilizations developed their own tools and craftsmanship as proven by archaeological evidences in central Cagayan Valley and southwest Samar. The head of the Ilongot was known as the Benganganat, while the head of the Gaddang was the Mingal.[12][13][14]
The Ilokano people at the northwest side of Luzon, who classically were located in what is now Ilocos Sur, was headed by the Babacnang. The traditional name of the polity of the Ilokano was Samtoy. The polity did not have a royal family, rather, it was headed by its own chieftaincy. The polity had trade contacts with both China and Japan.[citation needed]
The people of the Cordilleras, collectively known by the Spanish as Igorot, were headed by the Apo. These civilizations were highland plutocracies with their very own distinct cultures, where most were headhunters. According to literature, some Igorot people were always at war with the lowlanders from the west, the Ilokanos.[15][16]
The Subanons of Zamboanga Peninsula also had their own statehood during this period. They were free from colonization, until they were overcame by the Islamic subjugations of the Sultanate of Sulu in the 13th century. They were ruled by the Timuay. The Sama-Bajau peoples of the Sulu Archipelago, who were not Muslims and thus not affiliated with the Sultanate of Sulu, were also a free statehood and was headed by the Nakurah until the Islamic colonization of the archipelago. The Lumad (autochthonous groups of inland Mindanao) were known to have been headed by the Datu.
By the 14th century, these polities were organized in strict social classes: The Datu or ruling class, the Maharlika or noblemen, the Timawa or freemen, and the dependent class which is divided into two, the Aliping Namamahay (Serfs) and Aliping Saguiguilid (Slaves).
In the earliest times, the items which were prized by the people included jars, which were a symbol of wealth throughout South Asia, and later metal, salt and tobacco. In exchange, the people would trade feathers, rhino horn, hornbill beaks, beeswax, birds nests, resin and rattan.
Indianization and the emergence of Suyat scripts (800 onwards)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Baybayin_alpha.jpg/250px-Baybayin_alpha.jpg)
The script used in writing down the LCI is Kawi, which originated in Java, and was used across much of Maritime Southeast Asia. But by at least the 13th century or 14th century, its descendant known in Tagalog as Baybayin was in regular use. The term baybayin literally means syllables, and the writing system itself is a member of the Brahmic family.[17] One example of the use of Baybayin from that time period was found on an earthenware burial jar found in Batangas. Though a common perception is that Baybayin replaced Kawi, many historians believe that they were used alongside each other. Baybayin was noted by the Spanish to be known by everyone, and was generally used for personal and trivial writings. Kawi most likely continued to be used for official documents and writings by the ruling class.[18] Baybayin was simpler and easier to learn, but Kawi was more advanced and better suited for concise writing.
Although Kawi came to be replaced by the Latin script, Baybayin continued to be used during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines up until the late 19th century. Closely related scripts still in use among indigenous peoples today include Hanunóo, Buhid and Tagbanwa.[19]
The indigenous scripts of the Philippines like Baybayin have been abandoned in exchange of the Roman alphabet and the complete absence of pre-Hispanic specimens of usage of the Baybayin script has led to a common misconception that fanatical Spanish priests must have burned or destroyed massive amounts of native documents.[20] One of the scholars who proposed this theory is the anthropologist and historian H. Otley Beyer who wrote in "The Philippines before Magellan" (1921) that, "one Spanish priest in Southern Luzon boasted of having destroyed more than three hundred scrolls written in the native character". Historians have searched for the source of Beyer's claim and no one has verified the name of the said priest.[21] There is no direct documentary evidence of substantial destruction of native pre-Hispanic documents by Spanish missionaries and modern scholars such as Paul Morrow[22] and Hector Santos[23] accordingly rejected Beyer's suggestions. In particular, the scholar Hector Santos suggested that only the occasional short documents of incantations, curses and spells that were deemed evil were possibly burned by the Spanish friars, and that the early missionaries only carried out the destruction of Christian manuscripts that were not acceptable to the Church, but Hector Santos rejected the idea that ancient pre-Hispanic manuscripts were systematically burned.[24] The scholar Paul Morrow also noted that there are no recorded instance of ancient Filipinos writing on scrolls, and that the most likely reason why no pre-Hispanic documents survived is because they wrote on perishable materials such as leaves and bamboo.[25] He also added that it is also arguable that Spanish friars actually helped to preserve Baybayin by documenting and continuing its use even after it had been abandoned by most Filipinos.[26]
The scholar Isaac Donoso stated that the documents written in the native language and in the native script (particularly Baybayin) played a significant role in the judicial and legal life of the colony and that many colonial-era documents written in Baybayin are still present in some repositories, including the library of the University of Santo Tomas.[27] He also noted that the early Spanish missionaries did not suppress the usage of the Baybayin script but instead they may have even promoted the Baybayin script as a measure to stop Islamization, since the Tagalog language was moving from Baybayin to Jawi, the Arabized script of Islamized Southeast Asian societies.[28]
Sinicization and Chinese trade (982 onwards)
The earliest date suggested for direct Chinese contact with the Philippines was 982. At the time, merchants from "Ma-i" (now thought to be either Bay, Laguna on the shores of Laguna de Bay,[29] or a site on the island of Mindoro[30][31]) brought their wares to Guangzhou and Quanzhou. This was noted by the Sung Shih (History of the Sung) by Ma Tuan-lin who compiled it with other historical records in the Wen-hsien T'ung-K'ao at the time around the transition between the Sung and Yuan dynasties.[30]
Present-day Siquijor also had its fair share of royalties during this period. The island kingdom was called 'Katugasan', from tugas, the molave trees that cover the hills, which abounded the island along with fireflies. During this time, the people of the kingdom was already in contact with Chinese traders, as seen through archaeological evidences which includes Chinese ceramics and other Chinese objects. The art of traditional healing and traditional witchcraft belief systems also developed within this period.[32] During the arrival of the Spanish, the ruler of the island was King Kihod, as recorded by de Legazpi's chronicles. Out of natural hospitality, the Spaniards were greeted by King Kihod, who presented himself with the words 'si Kihod' (I am Kihod). The Spaniards mistakenly thinking that he was talking about the island, adopted the name Sikihod which later changed to Siquijor, as it was easier to pronounce.[33][34]
Islamization and the growth of Islamic sultanates (1380 onwards)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Naturales_2.png/250px-Naturales_2.png)
In 1380, Makhdum Karim, the first Islamic missionary to the Philippines brought Islam to the Archipelago. Subsequent visits of Arab, Malay and Javanese missionaries helped strengthen the Islamic faith of the Filipinos, most of whom (except for those in the north) would later become Christian under the Spanish colonization. The Sultanate of Sulu, the largest Islamic kingdom in the islands, encompassed parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The royal house of the Sultanate claim descent from Muhammad.
Around 1405, the year that the war over succession ended in the Majapahit Empire, Muslim traders introduced Islam into the Hindu-Malayan empires and for about the next century the southern half of Luzon and the islands south of it were subject to the various Muslim sultanates of Borneo. During this period, the Japanese established a trading post at Aparri and maintained a loose sway over northern Luzon.
Attack by the Bruneian Empire (1500)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Brunei_territories_%281500%29.png/220px-Brunei_territories_%281500%29.png)
Around the year 1500, the Sultanate of Brunei under Sultan Bolkiah attacked the Kingdom of Tondo and established a city with the Malay name of Selurong (later to become the city of Maynila)[1][19] on the opposite bank of Pasig River. The traditional Rajahes of Tondo, the Lakandula, retained their titles and property but the real political power came to reside in the House of Soliman, the Rajahs of Manila.[35]
Spanish explorations (1521–1565)
Lapu-Lapu
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Ferdinand_Magellan_%28Retouched%29.jpg/220px-Ferdinand_Magellan_%28Retouched%29.jpg)
Although the Portuguese reached the Maluku Islands in 1511, the earliest documented European expedition to the Philippines was the one led by Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of the King of Spain, in 1521.
Magellan's expedition sighted the mountains of Cebu at dawn on the 17th March 1521, making landfall the following day at the small, uninhabited island of Homonhon at the mouth of the Leyte Gulf.[36] On Easter Sunday, 31 March 1521, at Mazaua (today believed to be Limasawa island in Southern Leyte) as is stated in Antonio Pigafetta's Relazione del potragues viaggio intorno al mondo (First Voyage Around the World), Magellan solemnly planted a cross on the summit of a hill overlooking the sea and claimed for the King of Spain possession of the islands he had seen, naming them Archipelago of Saint Lazarus.[37]
Magellan conquered and sought alliances among indigenous Filipinos beginning with Datu Zula, the chieftain of Sugbu (now Cebu), and took special pride in converting them to Christianity in form of Catholicism. Magellan's expedition became involved in the political rivalries between the Cebuano natives and took part in a battle against Lapu-Lapu, chieftain of Mactan Island and a mortal enemy of Datu Zula. At dawn on 27 April 1521, the Battle of Mactan occurred. Magellan with 60 armed men and 1,000 Cebuano warriors had great difficulty landing on the rocky shore of Mactan where Lapu-Lapu had an army of 1,500 waiting on land. Magellan waded ashore with his soldiers and attacked Lapu-Lapu's forces, ordering Datu Zula and his warriors to remain on the ships and watch. Magellan seriously underestimated Lapu-Lapu and his men, 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 the Spice Islands in present-day Indonesia. From there, the expedition split into two groups. The Trinidad, commanded by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinoza tried to sail eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the Isthmus of Panama. Disease and shipwreck disrupted Espinoza's voyage and most of the crew died. Survivors of the Trinidad returned to the Spice Islands, where the Portuguese imprisoned them. The Victoria continued sailing westward, commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano, and managed to return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain in 1522.
From Magellan to Legazpi
Lapu-Lapu's victory and Magellan's death delayed the Spanish occupation of the islands by over forty years until the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1564. Legazpi was responsible for establishing the first Spanish settlements, the Captaincy General of the Philippines, and the Spanish East Indies. Between Magellan's voyage and Legazpi's conquest, four expeditions were dispatched to the islands: that of García Jofre de Loaísa in 1525, of Sebastian Cabot in 1526, of Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón in 1527, of Ruy López de Villalobos in 1542.[38]. As the historian Ambeth Ocampo noted, although Magellan's arrival in 1521 marked the first documented arrival of European colonizers to this country, it was not until the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565 that the Europeans had any marked impact on the lifestyle of the residents of the Philippine Archipelago.[39]
When | Who | Ship(s) | Where |
---|---|---|---|
1521 | ![]() ![]() |
Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago and Victoria | Visayas (Eastern Samar, Homonhon, Limasawa, Cebu) |
1525 | ![]() |
Santa María de la Victoria, Espiritu Santo, Anunciada, San Gabriel, Jayson Ponce, Santa María del Parral, San Lesmes and Santiago | Surigao, Islands of Visayas and Mindanao |
1527 | ![]() |
3 unknown ships | Mindanao |
1542 | ![]() |
Santiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristóbal, San Martín, and San Juan | Visayas (Eastern Samar, Leyte), Mindanao (Saranggani) |
1564 | ![]() |
San Pedro, San Pablo, San Juan and San Lucas | first landed on Eastern Samar, established colony as part of Spanish Empire |
Conquest under Philip II
In 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos had named the islands of Leyte and Samar Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip of Spain, at the time Prince of Asturias.[40] Philip became Philip II of Spain on January 16, 1556, when his father, Charles I of Spain (who also reigned as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor), abdicated the Spanish throne. Philip was in Brussels at the time and his return to Spain was delayed until 1559 because of European politics and wars in northern Europe. Shortly after his return to Spain, Philip ordered an expedition mounted to the Spice Islands, stating that its purpose was "to discover the islands of the west".[41] In reality its task was to conquer the Philippines for Spain.[42]
On November 19 or 20, 1564 a Spanish expedition of a mere 500 men led by Miguel López de Legazpi departed Barra de Navidad, New Spain, arriving off Cebu on February 13, 1565, conquering it despite Cebuano opposition.[43]: 77 The Legazpi expedition was successful as it established the first colony in the Philippined and resulted in the discovery of the tornaviaje on the return trip to Mexico across the Pacific by Andrés de Urdaneta.[44] This discovery started the Manila galleon trade, which lasted for two and a half centuries.
See also
- Antonio de Morga
- Anito
- Antonio Pigafetta
- Babaylan
- Barangay (pre-colonial)
- Baybayin
- Boxer Codex
- Cainta (historical polity)
- Huangdom of Pangasinan
- Dambana
- Datu
- Enrique of Malacca
- Ferdinand Magellan
- First Mass in the Philippines
- Kingdom of Tondo
- Lakan
- Lacandola Documents
- Lapu-Lapu
- List of sovereign state leaders in the Philippines
- Luções
- Ma-i
- Madja-as
- Maginoo
- Maharlika
- Pintados
- Rajah Humabon
- Rajahnate of Butuan
- Rajahnate of Cebu
- Sultanates in Lanao
- Rajahnate of Maynila
- Sultanate of Maguindanao
- Sultanate of Sulu
- Suyat
- Timawa
- Warfare in pre-colonial Philippines
- Thimuay
- Subanon people
- Rajah
- Tawalisi
- History of the Philippines
- Prehistory of the Philippines
- History of the Philippines (Spanish Era 1521–1898)
- History of the Philippines (American Era 1898–1946)
- History of the Philippines (Third Republic 1946–65)
- History of the Philippines (Marcos Era 1965–86)
- History of the Philippines (Contemporary Era 1986–present)
Notes
References
- ^ a b *Scott, William Henry (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. ISBN 971-550-135-4.
- ^ "Philippines | The Ancient Web". theancientweb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
- ^ Scott, William Henry (1992), Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino. New Day Publishers, Quezon City. 172pp. ISBN 9711005247.
- ^ Patricia Herbert; Anthony Crothers Milner (1989). South-East Asia: Languages and Literatures : a Select Guide. University of Hawaii Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8248-1267-6.
- ^ a b Laguna Copperplate Inscription Archived 2008-02-05 at the Wayback Machine[unreliable source?]
- ^ The Laguna Copperplate Inscription Archived 2014-11-21 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 04, 2008.
- ^ Postma, Antoon (June 27, 2008). "The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary". Philippine Studies. 40 (2). Ateneo de Manila University: 182–203.
- ^ Benjamin Han’s Mundaan Komkoman (199)
- ^ Ethnographic Reading of Silungan Baltapa: Ancestral Tradition and Sufic Islam Values of Sama Bajau, 2013
- ^ http://ovcrd.upd.edu.ph/asp/article/view/5493/4927 Victor Estella, The Death of Gold in Early Visayan Societies: Ethnohistoric Accounts and Archaeological Evidences.
- ^
"También fundó convento el Padre Fray Martin de Rada en Araut – que ahora se llama el convento de Dumangas – con la advocación de nuestro Padre San Agustín...Está fundado este pueblo casi a los fines del río de Halaur, que naciendo en unos altos montes en el centro de esta isla (Panay)...Es el pueblo muy hermoso, ameno y muy lleno de palmares de cocos. Antiguamente era el emporio y corte de la más lucida nobleza de toda aquella isla."
de SAN AGUSTIN OSA (1650–1724), Fr Gaspár; DIAZ OSA, Fr Casimiro (1698). Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas. Parte primera : la temporal, por las armas del señor don Phelipe Segundo el Prudente, y la espiritual, por los religiosos del Orden de Nuestro Padre San Augustin; fundacion y progreso de su Provincia del Santissimo Nombre de Jesus (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta de Manuel Ruiz de Murga. ISBN 978-8400040727. OCLC 79696350. "The second part of the work, compiled by Casimiro Díaz Toledano from the manuscript left by Gaspár de San Agustín, was not published until 1890 under the title: Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas, Parte segunda", pp. 374-376.
- ^ "The Islands of Leyte and Samar - National Commission for Culture and the Arts".
- ^ "ILONGOT - National Commission for Culture and the Arts".
- ^ "GLIMPSES: Peoples of the Philippines".
- ^ "Politico-Diplomatic History of the Philippines - National Commission for Culture and the Arts".
- ^ "Biag ni Lam-ang: Summary / Buod ng Biag ni Lam-ang". 28 August 2017.
- ^ Baybayin, the Ancient Philippine script Archived 2010-08-08 at WebCite. Accessed September 04, 2008.
- ^ Hector Santos. Kavi, a borrowed Philippine script. bibingka.com. Accessed April 35, 2010.
- ^ a b del Mundo, Clodualdo (September 20, 1999). "Ako'y Si Ragam (I am Ragam)". Diwang Kayumanggi. Archived from the original on October 25, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ Morrow, Paul. "Baybayin, The Ancient Script of the Philippines". paulmorrow.ca.
The complete absence of truly pre-Hispanic specimens of the baybayin script is puzzling and it has led to a common misconception that fanatical Spanish priests must have burned or otherwise destroyed massive amounts of native documents as they did so ruthlessly in Central America.
- ^ Morrow, Paul. "Baybayin, The Ancient Script of the Philippines". paulmorrow.ca.
Even the prominent Dr. H. Otley Beyer wrote in The Philippines before Magellan (1921) that, "one Spanish priest in Southern Luzon boasted of having destroyed more than three hundred scrolls written in the native character." B19 Historians have searched for the source of Beyer's claim, but until now none have even learned the name of that zealous priest.
- ^ Morrow, Paul. "Baybayin, The Ancient Script of the Philippines". paulmorrow.ca. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
Historians have searched for the source of Beyer's claim, but until now none have even learned the name of that zealous priest.
- ^ Santos, Hector. "Extinction of a Philippine Script". www.bibingka.baybayin.com.
However, when I started looking for documents that could confirm it, I couldn't find any. I pored over historians' accounts of burnings (especially Beyer) looking for footnotes that may provide leads as to where their information came from. Sadly, their sources, if they had any, were not documented.
- ^ Santos, Hector. "Extinction of a Philippine Script". www.bibingka.baybayin.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
But if any burnings happened as a result of this order to Fr. Chirino, they would have resulted in destruction of Christian manuscripts that were not acceptable to the Church and not of ancient manuscripts that did not exist in the first place. Short documents burned? Yes. Ancient manuscripts? No.
- ^ Morrow, Paul (15 September 2019). "Baybayin, The Ancient Script of the Philippines". Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
Furthermore, there has never been a recorded instance of ancient Filipinos writing on scrolls. The fact that they wrote on such perishable materials as leaves and bamboo is probably the reason why no pre-Hispanic documents have survived.
- ^ Morrow, Paul. "Baybayin, The Ancient Script of the Philippines". paulmorrow.ca. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
Although many Spaniards didn't hide their disdain for Filipino culture, the only documents they burned were probably the occasional curse or incantation that offended their beliefs. There simply were no "dangerous" documents to burn because the pre-Hispanic Filipinos did not write at length about such things as their own beliefs, mythology, or history. These were the subjects of their oral record, which, indeed, the Spanish priests tried to eradicate through relentless indoctrination. But, in regard to writing, it can be argued that the Spanish friars actually helped to preserve the baybayin by continuing to use it and write about it even after it fell out of use among most Filipinos.
- ^ Donoso, Isaac (14 June 2019). "LETRA DE MECA: JAWI SCRIPT IN THE TAGALOG REGION DURING THE 16TH CENTURY". Journal of Al-Tamaddun. 14 (1). doi:10.22452/JAT.vol14no1.8. ISSN 2289-2672.
What is important to us is the relevant activity during these centuries to study, write and even print in Baybayin. And this task is not strange in other regions of the Spanish Empire. In fact indigenous documents placed a significant role in the judicial and legal life of the colonies. Documents in other language than Spanish were legally considered, and Pedro de Castro says that "I have seen in the archives of Lipa and Batangas many documents with these characters". Nowadays we can find Baybayin documents in some repositories, including the oldest library in the country, the University of Santo Tomás.
- ^ Donoso, Isaac (14 June 2019). "LETRA DE MECA: JAWI SCRIPT IN THE TAGALOG REGION DURING THE 16TH CENTURY". Journal of Al-Tamaddun. 14 (1): 92. doi:10.22452/JAT.vol14no1.8. ISSN 2289-2672. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
Secondly, if Baybayin was not deleted but promoted and we know that Manila was becoming an important Islamic entrepôt, it is feasible to think that Baybayin was in a mutable phase in Manila area at the Spanish advent. This is to say, like in other areas of the Malay world, Jawi script and Islam were replacing Baybayin and Hindu-Buddhist culture. Namely Spaniards might have promoted Baybayin as a way to stop Islamization since the Tagalog language was moving from Baybayin to Jawi script.
- ^ Go, Bon Juan (2005). "Ma'l in Chinese Records - Mindoro or Bai? An Examination of a Historical Puzzle". Philippine Studies. 53 (1). Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University: 119–138. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ^ a b Patanne, E. P. (1996). The Philippines in the 6th to 16th Centuries. San Juan: LSA Press. ISBN 971-91666-0-6.
- ^ Scott, William Henry. (1984). "Societies in Prehispanic Philippines". Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 971-10-0226-4.
- ^ "Siquijor History". 5 October 2014.
- ^ "History of Siquijor". Archived from the original on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "The Mystical Island of Siquijor - Philippines Tour Guide". www.phtourguide.com.
- ^ Santiago, Luciano P.R., The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman [1571-1898]: Genealogy and Group Identity, Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society 18 [1990]
- ^ Zaide 2006, p. 78
- ^ Zaide 2006, pp. 80–81
- ^ Zaide 2006, pp. 86–87 .
- ^ Ocampo, Ambeth (January 22, 2009). "Legaspi's wish list". Looking Back: Legaspi’s wish list. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
"Contrary to popular belief, the so-called “Spanish period” in Philippine history does not begin with Magellan’s arrival in Cebu and his well-deserved death in the Battle of Mactan in 1521. Magellan may have planted a cross and left the Santo Niño with the wife of Humabon, but that is not a real “conquista” [conquest]. The Spanish dominion over the islands to be known as “Filipinas” began only in 1565, with the arrival of Legazpi."
- ^ Scott 1985, p. 51 .
- ^ Williams 2009, p. 14
- ^ Williams 2009, pp. 13–33 .
- ^ M.c. Halili (2004). Philippine History' 2004 Ed.-halili. Rex Bookstore, Inc. ISBN 978-971-23-3934-9.
- ^ Zaide 1939, p. 113
Further reading
- Scott, William Henry. (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (Revised Edition). New Day Publishers, Quezon City. ISBN 9711002264.