Pr

e-c
oloni
alper
iod(
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o1565)–I
ndependentpol
i
ties

Byt he1300s ,anumberoft helargec oastals et

tlement shademer gedast radi
ngc enters
,and
becamet hefocalpointofsocietalchanges .TheBar angi cPhaseofhistoryc anbenot edfori
ts
highlymobi l
enat ure,wit
hbar angayst r
ans formingf r
om bei ngsett
lement sandt urninginto
fl
eetsandv i
ceversa,withthewoodc ons t
ant l
yr e-pur pos edacc
ordingt ot hesi
tuation.Poli
ti
cs
duringt hi
serawasper s
onalit
y-driv
enandor ganiz ati
onwasbas edons hif
t i
ngall
iancesand
contestedloyal
tiessetinabac kdropofc ons tanti nter-polit
yint
eracti
ons ,boththroughwarand
peac e.

Legendaryaccountsoft
enmentiontheinterac
tionofearlyPhil
i
ppi nepol
it
ieswit
ht heSriv
ij
aya
empire,butther
ei snotmucharchaeol
ogicalevidencet
odefinit
ivelys
upportsuchar el
ati
onshi
p.
Consider
ableevidenceexi
st
s,ontheotherhand,f orext
ensi
vetradewi t
htheMaj apahitempir
e.

Theex ac ts c
opeandmec hani s
msofI ndianc ul
turalinfl
uencesonear lyPhi l
i
ppinepol i
tiesar e
sti
llthes ubjectofsomedebat eamongSout heastAs ianhis
tori
ographer s,butthec urr
ent
scholarl
yc onsens
usi sthatt herewaspr obablylit
tleornodi rectt
radebet weenI ndi
aandt he
Phili
ppines ,andIndianc ult
ur altr
ait
s,suchasl i
ngui s
ticter
msandr el
igiouspr acti
ces,f
ilteredin
duringt he10t hthrought heear l
y14thc enturi
es,throughear l
yPhili
ppinepol it
ies'rel
ationswi t
h
theHi nduMaj apahitempi re.ThePhi l
i
ppi nearchipel
agoi sthusoneoft hec ountri
es,(ot hers
i
nc l
udeAf ghanist
anandSout hernVietnam)j ustatt heouteredgeofwhati scons i
deredt he
"GreaterI ndiancult
ur alzone" .

Theear l
ypol i
ti
esoft hePhi li
ppi near chipelagower et ypi
call
ychar acteri
zedbyat hr
ee-ti
ersoci
al
structure.Al t
houghdi ff
erentc ultureshaddi fferenttermst odesc ri
bet hem,t histhree-t
ier
structureinv ari
ablyc onsist
edofanapexnobi li
tyclass,ac l
assof" fr
eemen" ,andac l
assof
dependentdebt or-bonds menc alled"al i
pin"or" ori
pun. "
Amongt hemember softhenobili
ty
classwer el eaderswhohel dt hepol i
ti
c alofficeof" Dat u,
"whi c
hwasr espons i
bleforleadi
ng
aut onomouss oci
algr oupsc alled" barangay "or" dulohan".Whenev erthesebar angay sbanded
toget her,eithertof orm al argers ett
lementorageogr aphi
call
yl ooseral l
i
anc egr oup,themore
seniororr espectedamongt hem woul dber ecognizedasa" paramountdat u",vari
edlycal
leda
Lak an,Sult an,Rajah,ors impl yamor es eniorDat u.

I
nit
ialr
ecor
dedhi
st
ory
Edi
t
Dur
ingtheperi
odofthesout
hIndi
anPal
lav
adynas
tyandthenor
thIndi
anGuptaEmpi
re,
I
ndi
anc ul
tur
espreadtoSout
heas
tAsi
aandthePhi
l
ippi
neswhi
chledtothees
tabl
i
shmentof
I
ndi
aniz
edk i
ngdoms.

Thedat einscri
bedi ntheol destPhil
ippinedoc umentf ounds ofar,theLagunaCopper pl ate
Insc
ript i
on,is900AD.Fr om thedetailsofthedoc ument ,wri
tteninKawis cri
pt,t hebear erofa
debt,Namwar an,alongwi t
hhisc hi
ldrenLadyAngk atanandBuk ah,areclearedofadebtby
therul erofTondo.I tist heearli
estdoc umentt hatshowst heus eofmat hemat icsinpr ecol
onial
Phil
ippi nesoc i
eti
es.As tandardsystem ofwei ghtsandmeas uresisdemons tratedbyt heus eof
preci
semeas urementf orgold,andf ami li
ari
tywithrudimentaryas t
ronomyi ss hownbyf i
xi
ng
thepr ec i
sedaywi thinthemont hinr elati
ontot hephas esofthemoon.Fr om t hevarious
Sanskrittermsandt it
less eeninthedoc ument,thec ul
tureands ociet
yofMani laBaywast hat
ofaHi ndu–Ol dMal ayamal gamat i
on,s i
milartothec ul
turesofJava,PeninsularMal ay si
aand
Sumat r aatthet i
me.

Therearenoothersignif
icantdoc ument sf
rom thisperiodofpre-His
panicPhi
li
ppinesoci
etyand
cul
tureunti
ltheDoctri
naChr i
sti
anaoft hel at
e16thc entury,wri
tt
enatthestar
toft heSpani
sh
peri
odinbothnativeBay bayins c
riptandSpani s
h.Otherar ti
fac
tswit
hKawis cr
iptandbaybayi
n
werefound,suchasanI vorys ealfrom Butuandatedt ot heearl
y10th-
14thcenturi
esandthe
Calat
aganpotwi t
hbay bay i
nins c
ripti
on,datedtonotl aterthanearl
y16thcentury.