Pre-Colonial Philippines

• Barangay

  • “balangay”
  • smallest unit of the Tagalog society 
  • composed of around 30-100 families.
  • social unit rather than political unit 
  • located near bodies of water.
• The Dato/Datu

  • expected to govern his people 
  • “succor them in their struggles and needs”
  • “hukom” - convoked litigants, heard sworn statements, and handed decisions in the presence of his people.
  • had control over available arable lands and had the right to retain certain land use for himself.
  • received services, agricultural produce, and respect from his people
  • received personal services: 
  • (1) seasonal field labor
  • (2) participation in maritime and military expeditions, 
  • (3) other unscheduled occasions such as house construction or opening of new land.
• Timawa/Maharlika

  • nobles and free-born
  • exempted from tax or tribute to the dato, but must accompany him in war, at their own expense
  • enjoyed agricultural rights to a portion of the barangay land, both to use and bequeath, and to harvest without paying tribute. 
  • mostly descendants of mixed marriages between a ruling line and one out of power.
• Alipin/oripun

  • dependent rather than slaves 
  • acquired through captivity, birth-right, or debt.
  • they were all debtors: they had their price, and their owner or creditor might recover it by resale or manumission. 
  • subordination is obligatory until their debt is redeemed.
• Namamahay/luhay

  • commoners
  • can marry
  • Serve their master, whether he be a dato or not, with half of their cultivated lands
  • They accompany their master whenever he went beyond the island, and rowed for him
  • They live in their own houses, and are lords of their property and gold.
• Saguiguilid/ayuey

  • They serve their master on his house and on his cultivated lands
  • May be sold by their master
  • Can ransom himself and become a namamahay through payment of at least five taels of gold
• Sentence and Punishments

  • Investigations made and sentences passed by the dato must take place in the presence of those of his barangay.
  • An arbiter can be invited from another barangay if any of the litigants felt aggrieved.
  • There is a death penalty imposed for those who insult the child of a dato.
  • They condemned      no one to slavery, unless he merited the death penalty.
  • All other offenses were punished by fines in gold, which, if not paid with promptness, exposed the culprit to serve, until the payment should be made.
  • Trial by ordeal
• Position of Women

  • occupied a high position as keepers of knowledge and tradition, healers, mediators, babaylan priestesses
  • they could inherit property and engage in trade
  • they decide their own sexuality
  • during courtship and marriage, the parents of the girl were given dowry of gold and property as well as servitude
  • divorce was present on the grounds of sexual dissatisfaction, cruelty, etc;
• Rajahnates

  • More developed barangays where major trading ports were located 
  • Cebu, Butuan, Manila
  • led by Rajahs
• Sultanates

  • communities connected to Islamic traditions.
  • supra-barangay political institution Sulu and Maguindanao
  • led by Sultan Sharifs
• Economic Life

  • Agriculture as the main source of livelihood
  • abundance in rice, coconut, sugarcane, cotton, hemp, and bananas among others. 
  • farming two ways:
  • swidden/kaingin
  • tillage
  • subsistence farming
  • agricultural lands were communal
  • other livelihoods include pottery, weaving, blacksmithing, fishing, mining, and animal husbandry/livestock raising.
• Domestic and International Commerce

  • trading between islands were conducted especially in the   waterways 
  • use of barter system in business transactions
  • Contacts with the Great Traditions
  • Chinese 
  • Arabs 
  • Hindu
• Worship

  • worshiped nature spirits, gods of particular localities/activities, and their own ancestors.
  • paganito - acto of sacrifice performed by the babaylan to ask for favors
  • good harvest
  • fair weather 
  • victories during war 
  • recovery of illness
• The Babaylan

  • central figure in culture, rel igion, and medicine
  • women or men transvestites (asog) who initiates rituals, offerings, and sacrifices to the spirits
  • known to be as experts in conducting rituals
  • mediator between the physical and the spiritual world
  • had the capacity to treat afflictions, especially those by bad spirits.
• Burial Practices +

  • buried beside the house
  • chief - placed beneath a little house or porch which they constructed for this purpose
  • 4 days of mourning
  • laid him on a boat which served as a coffin or bier, placing him beneath the porch, where guard was kept over him by a slave
  • warrior - a living slave was tied beneath his body until in this wretched way he died
  • relatives of the dead man bewailed him, singing dirges, and praises of his good qualities, until finally they wearied of it. This grief was also accompanied by eating and drinking
• Clothing

  • kangan– collarless, short-sleeved jacket 
  • bahag– strip of colored cloth wrapped about the waist and between the legs
  • putong– headgear 
  • gold, pearl, tattoo adornments 
  • camisa – upper garment with sleeves
  • patadyong or saya– loose skirt
  • tapis – cloth wrapped around the waist
• Physical Appearance

  • Decorative Dentistry
  • Tattooing
  • Penis Pins (Tugbuk) / Penis Rings (Sakra)
  • Skull Moulding (Tangad)
  • Use of Jewelry (Gold)
• Literature

  • baybayin