Maynila, also known commonly as Manila and as the Kingdom of Maynila, was a major Tagalog bayan ("country" or "city-state") situated along the modern-day district of Intramuros in the city of Manila, at the southern bank of the Pasig River. It was considered to be one of the most cosmopolitan of the early historic settlements on the Philippine archipelago, fortified with a wooden palisade which was appropriate for the predominant battle tactics of its time. At the northern bank of the river lies the separately-led polity of Tondo.
Maynila was led by paramount rulers who were referred to using the Malay title of "Raja". Maynila is sometimes interpreted to be the Kingdom of Luzon, although some historians suggest that this might rather refer to the Manila Bay region as a whole, expanding the possible dominion of the kingdom.
The earliest oral traditions suggest that Maynila was founded as a Muslim settlement as early as the 1250s, supposedly supplanting an even older pre-Islamic settlement. However, the earliest archeological findings for organized human settlements in the area dates to around 1500s. By the 16th century, it was already an important trading center, with extensive political ties with the Sultanate of Brunei and extensive trade relations with traders from the Ming dynasty. With Tondo, the polity on the northern part of the Pasig River delta, it established a duopoly on the intraarchipelagic trade of Chinese goods.
For political reasons, the historical rulers of Maynila maintained close cognatic ties through intermarriage with the ruling houses of the Sultanate of Brunei, but Brunei's political influence over Maynila is not considered to have extended to military or political rule. Intermarriage was a common strategy for large thalassocratic states such as Brunei to extend their influence, and for local rulers such as those of Maynila to help strengthen their family claims to nobility. Actual political and military rule over the large distances characteristic of Maritime Southeast Asia was not possible until relatively modern times.
By 1570, Maynila was under the rule of two paramount rulers (the more senior Rajah Matanda and the younger Rajah Sulayman), who in turn had several lower-ranked rulers ("datu") under them. This was the political situation encountered by Martin de Goiti when he attacked Maynila in May of that year. This "Battle of Maynila" ended with a fire that destroyed the fortified settlement of Maynila, although it is not clear whether the fire was set by Goiti or by the inhabitants themselves as part of the scorched earth tactics typically used in the archipelago during that era.
Maynila had been partially rebuilt by the following year, 1571, when the full forces of de Goiti's superior, Miguel López de Legazpi, arrived in the city to claim it as a territory of New Spain. After extensive negotiations with the leaders of Maynila and those of the neighboring settlement in Tondo, Maynila was declared as the new Spanish city of Manila on June 24, 1571, effectively ending Maynila's history as an independent polity.
Etymology
Maynilà comes from the Tagalog phrase may-nilà, which translates to "where indigo is found". Nilà is derived from the Sanskrit word nīla (नील) which refers to indigo, and, by extension, to several plant species from which this natural dye can be extracted. The Maynilà name is more likely in reference to the presence of indigo-yielding plants growing in the area surrounding the settlement, rather than Maynilà being known as a settlement that trades in indigo dye, since the settlement was founded several hundred years before indigo dye extraction became an important economic activity in the area in the 18th century. The native Tagalog name for the indigo plant, tayum (or variations thereof) actually finds use in another toponym within the Manila area: Tayuman, "where the indigo (plant) is."
An inaccurate but nevertheless persistent etymology asserts the origin of the placename as may-nilad ("where nilad is found"). Here, nilad refers to either: (incorrectly) the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), which is a colonial introduction to the Philippines from South America and therefore could not have been the plant species referred to in the toponym; or (correctly) a shrub-like tree (Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, formerly Ixora manila Blanco) found in or near mangrove swamps, and known as nilád or nilár in Tagalog.
From a linguistic perspective, it is unlikely for native Tagalog speakers to completely drop the final consonant /d/ in nilad to achieve the present form Maynilà. Historian Ambeth Ocampo also states that in all early documents the place had always been called "Maynilà" (eventually adopted into Spanish as Manila) — and never referred to with the final /d/. Despite the may-nilad etymology being erroneous, it continues to be perpetuated through uncritical repetition in both literature and popular imagination.
Prehistory
Tagalog migrations
Not much is known about when the Tagalog people came to occupy the lands surrounding Manila Bay, but linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust speculate that the Tagalogs and other Central Philippine ethno-linguistic groups originated in Northeastern Mindanao or the Eastern Visayas. The Tagalog language is believed to have branched out from a hypothesized "proto-language" which linguists have dubbed "Proto-Philippine language," another branch of which was the Visayan languages.
Some Filipino historians such as Jaime Tiongson have asserted that some of the words used in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription came from Old Tagalog, although the text itself used the Javanese Kawi script.
Like most peoples of Maritime Southeast Asia, the Tagalog people who established the fortified polity of Maynila were Austronesians. They had a rich, complex culture, with its own language and writing, religion, art, and music. This Austronesian culture was already in place before the cultural influences of China, Majapahit, Brunei, and eventually, the foreign conquest. The core elements of this Austronesian culture also persisted despite the introductions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and, later, Christianity. Elements of these belief systems were syncretized by the Tagalogs to enrich their already-existing worldviews, elements of which still persist today in the syncretic forms of folk Catholicism and folk Islam.
These Austronesian cultures are defined by their languages, and by a number of key technologies including the cultural prominence of boats, the construction of thatched houses on piles, the cultivation of tubers and rice, and a characteristic social organization typically led by a “big man” or “man of power”.
History
Theories and legends about Maynila (mid-13th century)
Establishment through defeat of Rajah Avirjirkaya by Rajah Ahmad of Brunei (c. 1258)
According to Mariano A. Henson's genealogical research (later brought up by Majul in 1973, and by Santiago in 1990) a settlement in the Maynila area already existed by the year 1258. This settlement was ruled by "Rajah Avirjirkaya" whom Henson described as a "Majapahit Suzerain".
According to Henson, this settlement was attacked by a Bruneian commander named Rajah Ahmad, who defeated Avirjirkaya and established Maynila as a "Muslim principality".
Nanhai Zhi annals (1304)
The Chinese History Annals, the Nanhai Zhi (South Seas Chronicles) made mentions of polities such as Malilu (麻裏蘆), Mayi (麻逸), Meikun (美昆), Puduan (蒲端), Sulou (苏录), Shahuchong (沙胡重), Yachen (哑陈), Manaluonu (麻拿囉奴) and Wenduling (文杜陵), which were locations said to be ruled by Foni (佛坭). According to Chinese historian Wang Zhenping, the locations mentioned in the chronicle can be attributed to the following modern equivalent places:
- Foni (佛坭) - Brunei
- Malilu (麻裏蘆) - Manila or Polillo
- Mayi (麻逸) - Mindoro
- Meikun (美昆) - Manukan or Camiguin
- Puduan (蒲端) - Butuan
- Sulou (苏录) - Sulu
- Shahuchong (沙胡重) - Siocon or Siaton
- Yachen (哑陈) - Oton
- Manaluonu (麻拿囉奴) - Maranao or the Malanu tribe in Sarawak
- Wenduling (文杜陵) - Mindanao or Bintulu
Influence of Brunei (early 16th century)
Maynila, along with Tondo, was a prosperous trading settlement by the 16th century, ruled by Bruneian aristocrats intermarried with the Tagalog elite. The ruling class were fluent in both Malay and Tagalog, and many of the people in Maynila were literate, compared to those of the Visayas. It was because of this relationship that the Tagalog language used in Maynila began absorbing Malay words into their own vocabulary. Somewhere in the early 16th century, the ruler of Maynila, Rajah Salalila or Panguiran Salalila, was married to a daughter of Sultan Bolkiah and princess Puteri Laila Menchanai of Sulu. Apart from ruling over Maynila, Panguiran Salalila was also acknowledged by the chiefs of Mindoro to be their overlord.
Maynila as Saludang/Selurong
In the 14th century, according to the epic eulogy poem Nagarakretagama, which was dedicated to Maharaja Hayam Wuruk of the Majapahit, a place called "Saludang", also called "Seludong" or "Selurung" was listed in Canto 14 alongside "Sulot" and "Kalka" as its territories.
The idea of Maynila being "Saludang", along with "Sulot" being identified with Sulu, was first mentioned in a book by Cesar A. Majul titled 'Muslims in the Philippines' (1973), stating:
"Brunei Sultan Bulkeiah (Nakhoda Ragam), who "was the Rajah who conquered the kingdom of Soolook and made a dependency of the country of Selurong, the Rajah of which was called DATOH GAMBAN", according to the Brunei Selesilah. Now, according to Brunei tradition, Selurong is said to be "in the island of Luzon and the site of the present town of Manila".
Many other scholars, such as William Henry Scott (1994) and Mohammed Jamil Al-Sufri (2000), acknowledged the theory of Maynila as Selurong/Saludang. Scott noted that "according to Bruneian folk history", [ ] "Manila was probably founded as a Bornean trading colony about 1500, with a royal prince marrying into the local ruling family."
In the original Selesilah however,Datu Imam Aminuddin mentions:
"... and the Sultan begot Sultan Bolkiah, who fought a war with the people of Sulu and defeated the kingdoms of Sulu and Seludang whose ruler was Datu Gamban. Sultan Bolkiah was also named by the elders as 'Nakhoda Ragam'. He married Princess Lela Manjani (Menchanai)."
French linguist Jean-Paul Potet notes that "According to some, Luzon and Manila would have been called Seludong or Selurong by the Malays of Brunei before the Spanish conquest (Cebu 1565, Manila 1571)." However, Potet also points out that "there is no text to support this claim. Conversely, Borneo has a mountain site called Seludong." Saunders (1994) meanwhile suggests that Saludang or Seludang is located on the Serudong River in eastern Sabah.
Portuguese presence (1511 – 1540s)
During the early 16th century, Portuguese sailors in Malaysia referred to the Tagalog people who lived in Manila Bay ("Lusong", Portuguese: Luçon) using the demonym Luções (Portuguese pronunciation: [luˈsõjʃ], Spanish: Luzones).
Surviving primary documents referring to these Luções include the accounts of Fernão Mendes Pinto (1614); Tomé Pires (whose written documents were published in 1944); and the survivors of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, including expedition members Gines de Mafra and Rodrigo de Aganduru Moriz and the Italian scholar Antonio Pigafetta who served as the expedition's primary scribe, and published his account in 1524.
The Portuguese first established a presence in Maritime Southeast Asia with their capture of Malacca in 1511, and their contacts with the seafarers they described as Luções (lit. people from "lusong", the area now known as Manila Bay) became the first European accounts of the Tagalog people, as Anthony Reid recounts:
The first European reports on the Tagalogs classify them as "Luzons", a nominally Muslim commercial people trading out of Manila, and "almost one people" with the Malays of Brunei.
The Portuguese chronicler Tome Pires noted that in their own country, the Luções had "foodstuffs, wax, honey, inferior grade gold", had no king, and were governed instead by a group of elders. They traded with tribes from Borneo and Indonesia, and Filipino historians note that the language of the Luções was one of the 80 different languages spoken in Malacca.
As skilled sailors, the Lucoes were actively involved in the political and military/naval affairs of those who sought to take control of the economically strategic highway of the Strait of Malacca, serving in the fleets of the Sultans of Ache and Brunei, and the former Sultan of Malacca, Scholars have suggested that they may have served as highly skilled naval mercenaries sought after by various fleets of the time.
Portuguese and Spanish accounts from the early to mid 1500s state that the Maynila polity was the same as the "kingdom" that had been referred to as the "Kingdom of Luzon" (Portuguese: Luçon, locally called "Lusong"), and whose residents had been called "Luções".
However, Kapampangan scholars such as Ian Christopher Alfonso add that it is also possible that while the Portuguese and Spanish chroniclers specifically equated "Luçon" with Rajah Matanda's Maynila polity, the description may have been expansive enough to describe other polities in the Manila bay area, including Tondo as well as the Kapampangans of Hagonoy and Macabebe.
Territorial conflicts with Tondo (before 1521)
According to the account of Rajah Matanda as recalled by Magellan expedition members Gines de Mafra, Rodrigo de Aganduru Moriz, and expedition scribe Antonio Pigafetta, Rajah Matanda's father (whose name was not mentioned in the accounts) died when he was still very young. Rajah Matanda's mother (also unnamed in the Spanish accounts) then became the paramount ruler of the Maynila polity. In the meantime, Rajah Matanda, then simply known as the "Young Prince" Ache, was raised alongside his cousin, who was ruler of Tondo, although not specifically named in the Spanish accounts.
During this time, Ache realized that his cousin, who was ruler of Tondo, was "slyly", taking advantage of Ache's mother, by taking over territory belonging to Maynila. When Ache asked his mother for permission to address the matter, his mother refused, encouraging the young prince to keep his peace instead. Prince Ache could not accept this and thus left Maynila with some of his father's trusted men, to go to his "grandfather", the Sultan of Brunei, to ask for assistance. The Sultan responded by giving Ache a position as commander of his naval force.
Pigaffetta noted that Ache was "much feared in these parts", but especially the non-Muslim locals, who considered the Sultan of Brunei an enemy.