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Namayan (
Baybayin (, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...
: Pre-Kudlit: or (''Sapa''), Post-Kudlit: ), also called Sapa,Locsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. ''Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines.'' Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Maysapan or Nasapan, and sometimes Lamayan, was an independent indigenous
polity A polity is an identifiable Politics, political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relation, social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize ...
on the banks of the
Pasig River The Pasig River ( fil, Ilog Pasig) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and Metro Manila, its surrounding urban area into northern and souther ...
in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. It is believed to have achieved its peak in 1175, and to have gone into decline some time in the 13th century, although it continued to be inhabited until the arrival of European colonizers in the 1570s. Formed by a confederation of
barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s, it was one of several polities on the Pasig River just prior to the
Spanish colonization of the Philippines Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, alongside Tondo,
Maynila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
, and
Cainta Cainta, officially the Municipality of Cainta ( fil, Bayan ng Cainta, ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 376,933 people. It is one of the oldest municipalit ...
. Archeological findings in Santa Ana, Namayan's former seat of power, have produced the oldest evidence of continuous habitation among the Pasig river polities, pre-dating artifacts found within the historical sites of Maynila and Tondo.Fox, Robert B. and Avelino M. Legaspi. 1977. ''Excavations at Santa Ana. ''Manila: National Museum of the PhilippinesTondo is mentioned in an even older document (the
Laguna Copperplate Inscription The Laguna copperplate inscription ( tl, Inskripsyon sa binatbat na tanso ng Laguna, literal translation: ''Inscription on flattened copper of Laguna'') is an official acquittance inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 (Gregorian A ...
), however, providing earlier evidence of a polity named "Tondo", even if the artifact was found in a different site.


Sources

Historians studying Namayan have the advantage of being able to draw both from written sources and from artifacts uncovered in controlled archeological digs. The most prominent primary written sources regarding precolonial Namayan is "''Estado Geográfico, Topográfico, Estadístico, Histórico-Religioso de la Santa y Apostólica Província de San Gregorio Magno''", published in 1865 by Franciscan scholar Fr.
Felix de Huerta Felix Huerta, O.F.M., was a Spanish Franciscan friar, Catholic priest, scholar and missionary to the Philippines during the 19th century, when it was still a colony of Spain. He is best known for authoring a history of local Catholic parishes which ...
. His description of Namayan included important details such as the extent of Namayan's territories, and the lineage of its rulers. Controlled archaeological excavations conducted by the National Museum of the Philippines in the 1960s, meantime, produced artifacts from a pre-Hispanic grave site within the Santa Ana Church complex, providing important information about maritime trade around Southeast Asia and China from 12th to 15th century AD, as well as the elaborate mortuary practices of Namayan's inhabitants.


Capital sites

Three present-day locations are identified as the political centres of Namayan. Two of these are within today's
Santa Ana, Manila Santa Ana is a district in the City of Manila, Philippines. It is located on the city's southeast, bordering the cities of Mandaluyong and Makati in the east, the city districts of Paco and Pandacan in the west, and Santa Mesa in the north. It is ...
, and the other is now a barangay of the
Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...
across the river from the other sites.


Sapa

The site most associated with the kingdom is the town proper of Santa Ana, which grew around the
Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish The Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned (Spanish: ''Santuario y Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados''; Tagalog: ''Dambanang Pandiyosesis at Parokya ng Ina ng mga Walang Mag-Ampon''), better known as Our Lady ...
. This site did not become the centre of the settlement until 1578, when
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
missionaries chose to build the parish church of Santa Ana de Sapa some distance away from the original town. Local referred to the site as "''Maysapan''", or more simply, "''Sapa.''" ''Sapa'' is the Tagalog and
Kapampangan Kapampangan, Capampañgan or Pampangan may refer to: *Kapampangan people of the Philippines *Kapampangan language Kapampangan or Pampangan is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. It is the primary ...
word for a small creek. Nearby bodies of water matching the description include what would eventually be called Estero de Tripa de Gallina, and a smaller creek in the vicinity of what are now Del Pan, Havana, and Tejeron streets. However, old Santa Ana was known for being "criss-crossed by brooks and creeks", and any number of these creeks could have been obscured by eventual urbanization. Christianised into ''Santa Ana de Sapa'', the name eventually encompassed the district of the City of Manila now known as Santa Ana. Fr. de Huerta notes that "''this town takes its name from the titular saint and the addition of Sapa for its having been established in a site immediately upon an estuary or rivulet proceeding from the Pasig River, which the natives call ''Sapa'' and the name of the town itself.''"


Lamayan

Instead of the Nasapan site, local traditions say that an area called ''Lamayan'' (Tagalog and Kapampangan for "the place where a wake was held"), on the banks of the Pasig itself. It was the site of the ancient capital from which Lakan Tagkan and Buwan once ruled. It is still recognisable today because the modern street still bears its name.


Namayan, Mandaluyong

A third location, Barangay
Namayan Namayan (Baybayin: Pre-Kudlit: or (''Sapa''), Post-Kudlit: ), also called Sapa,Locsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. ''Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines.'' Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. Maysapan or Nasapan, an ...
in the City of Mandaluyong bears the name of the kingdom, and was clearly part of its ancient territory, located as it is on the banks of the Pasig just opposite of Lamayan.


Territory

Namayan's territory has been described bordering
Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...
, the Pasig River, and
Laguna de Bay Laguna de Bay (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon/Lake of Bay, Laguna, Bay"; tl, Lawa ng Bay, ), also known as Laguna Lake, is the List of lakes of the Philippines, largest lake in the Philippines. It is located southeast of Metro Manila, b ...
. A more precise description of Namayan's administrative area is given by Fr. de Huerta, who, noting that Namayan was a confederation of several barangays, identified these component communities as they were named during the mid 19th century. Namayan citizens called by the Army of Datu Makitan ai-Saishortened in Visayan dialect means ai ang ilahang sala atong ihatag sa ilaha"Inilad" equivalent to deceived. Most are now districts or barangays within the modern
City of Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
: *Maysapan (the royal seat; now the district of Santa Ana) *Meycatmon (which literally means "a place with ''Catmon'' (''
Dillenia indica ''Dillenia indica'', commonly known as elephant apple or Ou Tenga, is a species of ''Dillenia'' native to China and tropical Asia. Description It is an evergreen large shrub or small to medium-sized tree growing to 15 m tall. The leaves are 15â ...
'') trees") *Calatondangan (''Kalatundungan'') *Dongos (''Dungos'') *Dibag *Pinacauasan *Yamagtogon *Dilao (
Paco Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order; his name was written in Latin by the order as ''Pater Communitatis'' (fath ...
) *
Pandacan Pandacan is a district in Manila, Philippines which is known in recent history for its former Pandacan oil depot which supplies the majority of oil exports in the country. Profile In 2000, Pandacan had a total population of close to 82,194. Th ...
* Quiapo * Sampaloc * San Miguel Four settlements are now separate
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in and around
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
: *San Juan del Monte (now San Juan) *San Felipe Neri (now
Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...
) *San Pedro de Macati (now
Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
) *
Taytay, Rizal Taytay, officially the Municipality of Taytay ( tgl, Bayan ng Taytay; ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. It is also known as the Garments Capital of the Philippines. Most occupation of the residents are relat ...
Administrative and political records of Spanish Manila indicate that these settlements mentioned as territories of the Kingdom of Sapa were recorded in 1578 as parts and ''visitas'' (satellite settlements) of Sta. Ana de Sapa. A number of these settlements' names are no longer used today, but
Philippine National Artist The Order of National Artists of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas'') is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philipp ...
for Literature
Nick Joaquin Nicomedes "Nick" Marquez Joaquin (; May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer and journalist best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila. Joaquin was conferr ...
, in his book "Manila My Manila: A History for the Young", says that the kingdom's territories included what are now Santa Ana, Quiapo, San Miguel, Sampaloc, Santa Mesa, Paco, Pandacan in Manila; Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, Taytay, and Parañaque.Joaquin, Nick. Manila My Manila: A History for the Young. City Government of Manila. Manila: 1990.


Economic activities

Huerta describes the original settlement in Sta Ana as a fishing village that had other industries including carpentry, masonry, piña (pineapple cloth) embroidery, '' tinapá'', cigars, bricks, sugar and bread. This contrasts sharply with the economic activities of the contemporaneous polities of Tondo and Maynila, which monopolized the influx of goods coming from China, and monopolized the re-sale of the same Chinese goods to other ports in the archipelago, respectively.


Gold as currency

The Namayans, like Tondo, used
Piloncitos Piloncitos (also known as bulawan, and as "granitos de oro" in very early records) are small "bead-like" pieces of gold which were used as currency during the Philippines' Archaic period and in the earliest years of the country's Spanish coloni ...
, small gold
ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...
s some of the size of a corn kernel—and weighing from 0.09 to 2.65 grams. Large Piloncitos weighing 2.65 grams approximate the weight of one mass. Piloncitos have been excavated from Mandaluyong,
Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...
and the banks of the Pasig River. Other than Piloncitos, the Namayans also used Gold rings, or gold ring-like ingots, very similar to the first coins invented in the Kingdom of Lydia in the present day Turkey. Barter rings were circulated in the Philippines up to the 16th century.


Rulers

Fray Huerta also recorded the genealogy of Namayan's ruling family, tracing it to a Lakan Tagkan (also known as Lacantagcan, or Lakan Takhan in some oral histories), and his wife Buan. Under the heading "''Santa Ana''", he records:
''"In origin of the natives of this town comes from a ruler (''"regulo"'') called Lacantagcan, and his wife named Bouan, lords (''"señores"'') of the Namayan territories ..The first Christian name found in the genealogical tree of this great (''"gran"'') family is a certain Martin in this form. Martin, son of Calamayin: Calamayin, son of Laboy, Laboy, son of Palaba, and Palaba, firstborn son of the ruler (''"regulo"'') Lacantagcan and his wife Bouan."''
Historian William Henry Scott notes that "Rajah Kalamayin" was the name of the ruler of Namayan at the point of colonial contact in the early 1570s, and Huerta here records that his son was baptized "Martin" upon conversion to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. Huerta only traces the genealogical tree of Lacan Tagcan back through Martin, and thus only mentions the eldest of Tagcan and Bouan's sons, Palaba. The other four sons of Tagcan are not named, and no daughters are mentioned. Huerta does go on, however, to mention that Tagcan had another male son, named Pasay, whose mother was a Bornean slave:
''"The said Lacantagcan, in addition to five children of his legitimate wife Bouan, had a bastard (''"bastardo"'') with a slave of Bornean lineage (''"esclava de casta bornea"''), called Pasay, who was the origin of the town known by the same name, for having fixed there his residence as land owner, supported by his father."''
While Huerta thus definitively establishes that the rulers of Namayan and the settlement called Pasay were related, the precise nature of their relationship during the 1500s is unclear: Scott records that during that period, Pasay's rulers interacted with the Spanish themselves instead of "Rajah Kalamayin" speaking on their behalf. Some local oral traditions cite Tagkan's child Pasay as a daughter, bestowing her with the title "''Dayang-dayang''" ("princess"). However, the descriptor "''bastardo''" (bastard), used by Huerta, is masculine in form. Historian Grace Odal-Devora notes that Kapampangan oral histories also mention a "Sultana Kalangitan", described as "the Lady of the Pasig" who ruled the Kingdom of Namayan. She is said to have been the grandmother of "Prinsipe Balagtas" (or Bagtas), and the legend says that the Kapampangan people are descended from him. Odal notes that this demonstrates the interconnections of the Tagalog ruling elites.


Documented rulers of Namayan

The rulers of Namayan from the period of colonial contact (the 1570s) back to three prior generations, were documented by Franciscan Historian Fray Felix Huerta in the work ''Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico- religioso de la santa y apostólica Provincia de San Gregorio Magno'' ("Geographical, topographical, statistical, historical and religious state of the holy and apostolic province of St. Gregory the Great"), a record of the histories of Franciscan missions which is now a primary resource for local histories of
Philippine municipalities A municipality ( tl, bayan/munisipalidad; hil, banwa; ceb, lungsod/munisipalidad/munisipyo; pag, baley; pam, balen/balayan; bcl, banwaan; war, bungto/munisipyo; ilo, ili) is a local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines. It is distin ...
.


Legendary rulers of Namayan

Aside from the records of Huerta, a number of names of rulers are associated with Namayan by folk/oral traditions, as recounted in documents such as the will of Fernando Malang (1589) and documented by academics such as Grace Odal-Devora and writers such as Nick Joaquin.


After colonisation

When the parish of Sta. Ana de Sapa was founded in 1578,
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
missionaries chose to build their church, and eventually another settlement, some distance away from the ancient town. The result is that the present-day Santa Ana is no longer located at the original site of the capital of Namayan. This has raised some questions about pre-colonial graves that have recently been excavated near the Santa Ana church.


See also

*
Rajahnate of Maynila In early Philippine history, the Tagalog Bayan ("country" or "city-state") of Maynila ( tl, Bayan ng Maynila; Pre-virama Baybayin: ) was a major Tagalog city-state on the southern part of the Pasig River delta, where the district of Intr ...
*
Tondo (historical polity) In History of the Philippines (900–1521), early Philippine history, the Tagalog people, Tagalog settlement at Tondo (; Baybayin: ) was a major trade hub located on the northern part of the List of islands in the Greater Manila Area, Pasig R ...
*
Cainta (historical polity) In early Philippine history, the Tagalog ''bayan'' ( pam, balen; "country" or "polity") of Cainta was a fortified upriver polity that occupied both shores of an arm of the Pasig River. It was located not far from where the Pasig River meets the ...
*
Hinduism in the Philippines Recent archaeological and other evidence suggests Hinduism has had some cultural, economic, political and religious influence in the Philippines. Among these is the 9th century Laguna Copperplate Inscription found in 1989, deciphered in 1992 to b ...
*
History of the Philippines (900–1521) Earliest hominin activity in the Philippine archipelago is dated back to at least 709,000 years ago. ''Homo luzonensis'', a species of archaic humans, was present on the island of Luzon at least 67,000 years ago. The earliest known anatomically ...
*
Tagalog people The Tagalog people ( tl, Mga Tagalog; Baybayin: ᜋᜅ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔) are the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering at around 30 million. An Austronesian people, the Tagalog have a well developed society due to their ...
*
History of Luzon The history of Luzon covers events that happened in the largest island of the Philippine Archipelago, Luzon. Luzon wrested the record of having the oldest man ever discovered in the Philippines with discovery of the Callao Man in 2007, which preda ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* * Nick Joaquin's Almanac for Manileños * The River Dwellers by Grace P. Odal * {{DEFAULTSORT:Namayan, Kingdom of 1175 establishments in Asia 1571 disestablishments Barangay states Historical regions Indianized kingdoms Former countries in Philippine history History of the Philippines (900–1565) History of Metro Manila History of Luzon