Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription:

Text and Inscription (LCI)

by Antoon Postma

Prepared by cj zamoranos-abordo
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Saint Louis University
LAGUNA COPPERPLATE
INSCRIPTION
(Inskripsyon sa Binatbat na Tanso ng Laguna)
Prehistory 1521 History
10th century A.D.

Khmer Empire Chinese (N)

Kingdom of
Champa (S)

Seas below SEA mainland =

controlled by Srivijaya
 The original Laguna Copperplate Inscription
(National Museum)
 darkened rolled metal (approx. 8 x 12 inches)
 inscribed with small writing hammered into its surface
 Alfredo
Ernesto Alberto Evangelista
Dealino (Head,
Legisma
Anthropology
(sand (antique
Div. of the
laborer) dealer)
National
Museum)
 ANTOON
POSTMA HECTOR SANTOS
(Dutch
(Filipino
Anthropologist; LCI anthropological
ancient writing
enthusiast)
scripts in SEA
region
ancient Indonesian
writing called Kavi Monday, April 21,
900 C.E.
Saka year 822
DR. JOHANN DE
CASPARIS
(Dutch expert on
Indonesian
writing)

old Hindu calendar

(900 C.E.)
Wawa, Lumbang River, Laguna
CONTENTS
Laguna Copperplate Inscription

* a documented pardon from the Chief of Tundun

(Tondo)

* debt of Namwaran and his living descendants

* 1 kati and 8 suwarna (about 926.4 grams of gold)

* to Chief Dewata
• A semi-official certificate of
acquittal of debt incurred by a
person in high office

• Said certificate of acquittal

covers the person’s whole family,
all his relatives and descendants

• The document of acquittal is

confirmed by other leaders and
officials, some of whom are
mentioned by name as well as
the place of their jurisdiction
 DATE AND
PROVENANCE
Inscription is supplied with a date

Saka Year 822 (900 A.D.) situates with the

beginning of the reign of King Balitung of
Central Java
(in connection with the reign of King Balitung, a great
number of inscriptions on copperplate have been found) [OJ
language, most are charters or official royal decrees,
customary mention of the name of the king]
TEXT AND ANALYSIS
 mawara

dang hwan
sang
barja tuhan

lapas ka, su

Mdang

missing
1. The second day of the seven-day week

2. Dang is an honorific particle occurring in

OJ and OM texts

3. Kwan seems to be an honorific particle,

but not known in any OJ or OM
inscription. Could it be Old-Tagalog (OT)?
4. Sang is a typical OJ honorific particle, used
frequently I OJ inscriptions and usually
combined with hyang. It occurs in
combination with pam(a)tat as well

5. Barja should be read as barjadi (to

become delegate) as in lines 6, 7, & 8 (error
of the engraver)
6.Tuhan is related to tuha (old, The
Elder)and to Tua of Malay and Kapampangan
in the same meaning. Here it means, Leader

7. Lapas in OT has the same meaning as OM

in the expression found in the
Vocabulario…of San Buenaventura. “lapas na
ang utang ko sa iyo”
8. ka is an abbreviation of kati, su of
suwarna

9. Mdang occurs as an old place name in

Indonesia. The Mdang of the LCI might have
been introduced to the Phils. by Indonesian
migrants in memory of their original
homebase in Java.

10. From here the text continues on a

second plate
 Commander
Jayadewa
Honorable
weight of
Salary-related Scribe
gold
debt

hulun

Namwran
1. To be considered as preliminary

2. The Chief of Tundun seems to have

occupied a higher position than the others,
because he additionally was a Senapati
(Commander)
3. Although the name Jayadewa is Sanskrit,
meaning “Divine (or Royal) Victory,” it does
not mean that this person was a foreigner.
Preferring foreign names to indigenous ones,
was much of a fashion in former times as it
is today; Ganasakti (Host of Power), Bisruta
(Famous)
4. Official clerks were usually employed for
important documentary transactions
5. The word is obscure in this context.
However, if walanda could be read as
welanda, it could be translated as (a debt)

6. One kati is about 617.6 grams, and one

suwarna (the 16th part of a kati) is about
38.6 grams. The total weight of gold to be
paid was 1.5 kati or 926.4 grams
7. OJ hulun means slave, but also
covers: being subordinate subservient.”
It might be that Sir Namwran had
technically become a slave, because of
his debt, including his family and
descendants, as was usually the case
 LCI in Tagalog

Mabuhay! Taóng Siyaka 822, buwán ng Waisaka, ayon sa aghámtalà. Ang ikaapat na
araw ng pagliít ng buwán, Lunes. Sa pagkakátaóng itó, si Dayang Angkatán sampû ng
kaniyáng kapatíd na nagngangalang Buka, na mga anák ng Kagalang-galang na si
Namwarán, ay ginawaran ng isáng kasulatan ng lubós na kapatawarán mulâ sa
Punong Pangkalahatan sa Tundún sa pagkatawán ng Punong Kagawad ng Pailáh na
si Jayadewa.
Sa atas na itó, sa pamamagitan ng Tagasulat, ang Kagalang-galang na si Namwarán
ay pinatawad na sa lahát at inalpasán sa kaniyáng utang at kaniyáng mga náhulíng
kabayarán na 1 katî at 8 suwarna sa harapán ng Kagalang-galang na Punong
Kagawad ng Puliran na si Ka Sumurán, sa kapangyarihan ng Kagalang-galang na
Punong Kagawad ng Pailáh.
Dahil sa matapát na paglilingkód ni Namwarán bilang isáng sakop ng Punò, kinilala
ng Kagalang-galang at batikáng Punong Kagawad ng Binwangan ang lahát ng
nabubuhay pang kamag-anak ni Namwarán na inangkín ng Punò ng Dewatà, na
kinatawán ng Punò ng Medáng.
Samakatwíd, ang mga nabubuhay na inapó ng Kagalang-galang na si Namwarán ay
pinatawad sa anumán at lahát ng utang ng Kagalang-galang na si Namwarán sa
Punò ng Dewatà. Itó, kung sakalì, ay magpapahayag kaninumán na mulâ ngayón
kung may taong magsasabing hindî pa alpás sa utang ang Kagalang-galang...
AUTHENTICITY
AND
SCRIPT
 Genuine and authentic , based on the
identical script type known to have
existed in the 10th Century
 The type of script belongs to the early
Kawi Script that was also employed in the
inscriptions found in Indonesia (750-925
AD)
 Correctness of the language(s) was
observed.
 Substantial elements would be hard to
imitate or falsify
 Place names mentioned were situated in
the Philippines
 Writing errors with corrections were also
noticed ( line 3 , tra was inserted)
THE LANGUAGE
 Presence of words expressing ceremonious
forms of address (pamgat, tuhan)
 Main language is Old Malay containing
words closely related to Old-Tagalog
Language ( anak, dayang, ngaran)
 OM is the ligua franca or trade language of
the whole Malayan Area during those
times.
 A number of pure OJ words like ngaran,
pamgat appear and these could also be OT
words as well
 LCI was written in OM with the possible
intended purpose of communicating with a
foreign country.
 It was in OM because it was issued by
Srivijayan authorities in Sumatra where
OM was the vernacular
Aksara Kawi (from Sanskrit
kavi "poet") is the name
given to the writing system
originating in Java and
used across much of
Maritime Southeast Asia
from the 8th century to
around 1500 AD.

Kawi is the ancestor of

traditional Indonesian
scripts, such as Javanese
and Balinese, as well as
traditional Philippine
scripts such as Baybayin.
 PERSONAL
AND
PLACENAMES
Possible Personal Names

* Angkatan (line 2)
* Namwran & Jayadewa (line 4)
* Kasumuran & Ganasakti (line 6)
* Bisruta (line 7)
Placenames

* Pailah (line 4 and 6)

* Tundun (line 3)
* Puliran (line 6)
* Binwangan (line 7)
* Dewata and Mdang (line 8) –personal or
placenames
Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos (appended
to a decree in 1849 by the Spanish Gov’t)

POSSIBLE SURNAMES
* Angcatan
* Buca
* Dewata
* Paela
* Puriran
* Somuran
* Tundo
Postma :
Map showing the places inscribed in LCI
 ancient Malay
 Tundun (Tondo)
 Pailah and Puliran (Pulilan, Bulacan)
 Map showing the places inscribed in LCI

Jaime Figueroa Tiongson:

 Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala (first Spanish-Filipino dictionary)
 LCI is an old Tagalog with technical words in Sanskrit
 Paila = Pila, Laguna
 Puliran = X Pulilan, Bulacan / Laguna de Bay
 Binawangan = Paracale in Bicol
Laguna de Bay or Pulilan, Bulacan?
Accdg. To Postma:
* sumur -“well” (Malay and Java )
*bukal” - pinagmumulan ng tubig (Tagalog)

Kasumuran is not a name of a person but a placename

• region of wells and springs

• Puliran Kasumuran = Laguna de Bay

 GOLD, DEBT,
SLAVERY & CLASS
If the debt could not be paid, either by
money or by temporary servitude, the
debtor could legally be forced to become a
slave, often together with his whole family
and descendants
CONCLUSION
 The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription (LCI) can
be considered the oldest calendar dated
Philippine "document" existing at present in the
Philippines, predating the Pigafetta account by
some 620 years.

the Philippines can now take its rightful place on

the tenth Century map of Southeast Asia, in the
presence of the Kingdoms of Sriwijaya
(Sumatera), Mataram (Java), Angkor
(Kampuchea), and the Cham Dynasty (Vietnam)
the Philippines has now been freed from its pre
Spanish isolation, a well-organized form of
government based on customary law has been
shown to exist for more than a thousand years.

an important link in the history of the Malay

(and the Tagalog) languages has been
established.
THANK YOU!