Cultural and technological achievements

Mining in the Philippines began around 1000 BC. However, the discovery of a brass needle in Musang Cave, Cagayan pushed back the date to 2160 BC, the date the needle was made.^[10] Metal smiths from this era had already developed a crude version of modern metallurgical processes, notably the hardening of soft iron through carburization. However, unlike the typical pattern, there had been no shift to copper or bronze implements before iron implements, it had been from stone to iron.^[11]

Luzon in early world maps

Greeks may have reached the Visayan Islands around AD 21^[12] and some scholars^[who?] conflate accounts of the Golden Island (Sumatra) and Golden Chersonese (Malaysia) by classical writers such as Josephus, Pomponius Mela, and Ptolemy with locations in the Philippines.^{[citation needed]} Gold jewelry of Philippine origin has been found in 1st-century Egypt.^{[13][14][15][dubious – discuss][verification needed]}

Laguna Copperplate Inscription

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the earliest known written document found in the Philippines. The plate was found in 1989 by a sand labourer near the mouth of the Lumbang River in Barangay Wawa, Lumban, Laguna. The inscription on the plate was first deciphered by Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma.^[16][17]

The inscription is on a thin copper plate measuring less than 20 × 30 cm (8 × 12 inches) in size with words directly embossed onto the plate. It differs in manufacture from other Javanese scrolls of the period, which had the words inscribed onto a heated, softened scroll of metal.^[18]

Inscribed on it the Saka era date year of Saka 822, month of Waisaka, the fourth day of the waning moon, which corresponds to Monday, 21 April 900 AD in the Gregorian calendar.^[19] The writing system used is the Kawi Script, while the language is a variety of Old Malay, and contains numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay vocabulary elements whose origin is between Old Tagalog and Old Javanese.^[20] The document states that it releases its bearers, the children of Namwaran, from a debt in gold amounting to 1 kati and 8 suwarnas (865 grams).^[18][19] The original text was written with an English translation below. (Place names are in bold.)

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, among other recent finds such as the Golden Tara of Butuan and 14th century pottery and gold jewellery in Cebu, is significant in revising precolonial Philippine history, which was until then considered by some Western historians to be culturally isolated from the rest of Asia, as no evident pre-Hispanic written records were found at the time. Noted Philippine historian William Henry Scott debunked these theories in 1968 with his Prehispanic Source materials for the Study of Philippine History which was subsequently published in 1984.^[22]

The Barangay government

The barangay government emerged in around 200 AD, which owed the name from the Malay boat balangay. In more developed barangays in the Visayas (e.g. Cebu, Bohol, and Panay) which were the first to be conquered by Spain by means of pacts, peace treaties, and reciprocal alliances,^[23] the datu was at the top of the social order in a sakop or haop (elsewhere referred to as barangay).^[24] In Luzon, the social structure had been less stable and more complex as compared to the barangays in the Visayas. Enjoying a more extensive commerce than those in Visayas, having the influence of Bornean political contacts, and engaging in farming wet rice for a living, the Tagalogs, who had established the dominant pre-colonial barangays in Luzon, were described by the Spanish Augustinian friar Martin de Rada as more traders than warriors.^[25]

The more complex social structure of the Luzon barangays was less stable because it was still in a process of differentiating. A Jesuit priest Francisco Colin made an attempt to give an approximate comparison of it with the Visayan social structure in the middle of the 17th century. The term datu or lakan, or apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the datu belonged to was known as the maginoo class. Any male member of the maginoo class can become a datu by personal achievement.^[26]

The Yongle Emperor instituted a Chinese Governor on Luzon during Zheng He's voyages and appointed Ko Ch'a-lao to that position in 1405.^{[27][excessive citations]} China also had vassals among the leaders in the archipelago.^[28][29] China attained ascendancy in trade with the area in Yongle's reign.^[30]

In circa 1595, the Spanish made a manuscript known as the Boxer Codex which contained illustrations of Filipinos during the early Spanish era. Aside from a description of, and historical allusions to the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored drawings of the inhabitants of these regions and their distinctive costumes. At least fifteen illustrations deal with the natives of the Philippine Archipelago.^[31]

In the period between the 7th century to the beginning of the 15th century, numerous prosperous centers of trade had emerged, including the three city-states that formed in what is now Metro Manila,^[32] Cebu, Iloilo,^[33] Butuan, the Kingdom of Luyag na Caboloan situated in Pangasinan, the Kingdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak situated in Pampanga and Aparri (which specialized in trade with Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa).

Ma-i Kingdom

Ma-i (also spelled Ma'i, Mai, Ma-yi or Mayi; Chinese: 麻逸; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má it) was a Prehispanic Philippine state whose existence was recorded in the Chinese Imperial annals Zhu Fan Zhi and History of Song.^[34][35] It is also recorded in the Sultanate of Brunei's royal records as the nation of Maidh.^[36] This state was said to have been centered on the island of Mindoro.^[34][37]

In Zhao Rugua's account, Zhu fan zhi, Liu-sin (刘罪) was one of the islands in the country known as Ma-i. This is presumed to be Luzon (吕宋).^[38]

Traders from Ma-i (麻逸, present-day Mait in northern Mindoro) came to Canton as early as 971 during the Northern Song dynasty (960‒1127). Their activities received the attention of officials at the Chinese Bureau of Maritime Trade. The traders came again in 982. During the Southern Song dynasty, officials at the Chinese Bureau of Maritime Trade in Fujian reported the arrival of more merchants from various Philippine islands: Ma-i, Baipuer 白蒲邇 (present-day Babuyan Islands), and Sandao 三嶋, which was known also as Sanyu 三嶼, a term that was used collectively to refer to the following three islands: Jamayan 加麻延 (present-day Calamian), Balaoyou 巴姥酉 (present-day Palawan),and Pulihuan 蒲裏喚 (perhaps Tuliahan River, near present-day Manila). Their trading activities, especially those by merchants from Sanyu, continued well into the Yuan dynasty (1271‒1368).^[39]

The country of Mai is to the north of Borneo. The natives live in large villages on the opposite banks of a stream and cover themselves with a cloth like a sheet or hide their bodies with a loin cloth. There are metal images (Buddhas) of unknown origin scattered about in the tangled wilds. Few pirates reach these shores. When trading ships enter the harbor, they stop in front of the official plaza, for the official plaza is that country's place for barter and trade and once the ship is registered, they mix freely. Since the local officials make a habit of using white umbrellas, the merchants must present them as gifts.

— ^[40]