The historiography of the Philippines includes historical and archival research and writing on the history of the Philippine archipelago including the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Before the arrival of Spanish colonial powers the Philippines did not actually exist. Southeast Asia is classified as part of the

Indosphere Indosphere is a term coined by the linguist James Matisoff for areas of Indian linguistic and cultural influence in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is commonly used in areal linguistics in contrast with Sinosphere. Influence The Tibeto-Burma ...

and the

Sinosphere The East Asian cultural sphere, also known as the Sinosphere, the Sinic world, the Sinitic world, the Chinese cultural sphere, the Chinese character sphere encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically ...

. The archipelago has direct contact with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960-1279) and has been a part of the

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

and

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

empires.

Overview

Historiography of the Philippines refers to the studies, sources, critical methods and interpretations used by scholars to study the history of 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 ...

. The Philippine archipelago has been part of many empires before the Spanish empire has arrived in the 16th century. The pre-colonial Philippines uses the

Abugida An abugida (, from Ge'ez language, Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; ...

writing system that has been widely used in writing and seals on documents though it was for communication and no recorded writings of early literature or history Ancient Filipinos usually write documents on bamboo, bark, and leaves which did not survive unlike inscriptions on clays, metals, and ivories did like the Laguna Copperplate Inscription and

Butuan Ivory Seal The Butuan Ivory Seal or BIS is an ivory stamp or seal stamp or a privy seal associated with a Rhinoceros Ivory Tusk , dated 9th–12th century, was found in Libertad, Butuan in Agusan del Norte in southern Philippines. Inscribed on the seal is ...

. The discovery of the

also proves the use of paper documents in ancient Philippines. The arrival of the Spanish colonizers, pre-colonial Filipino manuscripts and documents were gathered and burned to eliminate pagan beliefs. This has been the burden of historians in the accumulation of data and the development of theories that gave historians many aspects of Philippine history that were left unexplained. The interplay of pre-colonial events, the use of secondary sources written by historians to evaluate the primary sources, do not provide a critical examination of the methodology of the early Philippine historical study.

Organizations

Scholarly organizations and societies have been formed which usually hold conferences, publish journals and promote historical knowledge and studies.

Government agency

The

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...

is a government agency of the Philippines whose mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritage through research, dissemination, conservation, sites management and heraldry works and aims to inculcate awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and ideals of our heroes and other illustrious Filipinos, to instill pride in the Filipino people and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through the lessons of history.

Professional association

The

Philippine Historical Association The Philippine Historical Association (''Kapisanang Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas'' in Tagalog) is a professional association of historians in the Philippines and is considered one of the oldest organizations of historians in the country. It was fo ...

is the largest professional association of historians in the Philippines founded in 1955 by a group of prominent Filipino historians which includes Encarnacion Alzona, Gabriel Fabella,

Gregorio Zaide Gregorio F. Zaide (May 25, 1907 – October 31, 1986) was a Philippines, Filipino historian, author and Politics of the Philippines, politician from the town of Pagsanjan, Laguna (province), Laguna in the Philippines. A multi-awarded author, Zaide ...

, Nicolas Zafra, Celedonio Resurreccion,

Teodoro Agoncillo Teodoro Andal Agoncillo (November 9, 1912 – January 14, 1985) was a prominent 20th-century Filipino historian. He and his contemporary Renato Constantino were among the first Filipino historians renowned for promoting a distinctly nationalist ...

and Esteban de Ocampo.

Non-governmental organization

The Philippine Association for the Study of Culture, History and Religion is a

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

founded in 2013. This group initiates, facilitates, and organizes conferences and other academic events. They disseminate information on scholarship and research opportunities and publication of journals, books, and newsletters in the national and international communities to increase awareness about Philippine culture, history, and religion.

Pre colonial period

Indian culture has long reached the archipelago during the period of

Pallava dynasty The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

and the

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...

that led to the

Indianized kingdoms Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere, is an area composed of many countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture, which itself formed from the various distinct indigenous cultures ...

established in the Philippines. A clear evidence is the use of pre-colonial Philippines use of

honorific titles An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

. No other significant historical documents from this period except for Laguna Copperplate Inscription, a legal document inscribed on a copper plate dated 900 CE which is the earliest known calendar dated document found in the Philippines. Ma-i, an ancient sovereign state located in what is now the

is notable in the history of the Philippines for being the first place in the archipelago ever to be mentioned in any foreign account which was first documented in 971 AD, in the

documents known as the

History of Song History of song (or History of Song) may refer to: * ''History of Song'', one of the Twenty-Four Histories of China * History of the Song dynasty * History of Song, a state during the Zhou dynasty * History of the Chinese surname, Song * History of ...

. Its existence was also mentioned in the 10th-century records of the

Sultanate of Brunei This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...

. Until the year 1000 CE, maritime societies exists in the archipelago but there was no significant political state unifying the entire Philippines. The region included only numerous small administrative divisions (ranging in size from villages to city-states) under the sovereignty of competing

thalassocracies A thalassocracy or thalattocracy sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples ...

ruled by

datu ''Datu'' is a title which denotes the rulers (variously described in historical accounts as chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs) of numerous indigenous peoples throughout the Philippine archipelago. The title is still used today, especial ...

raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

hs,

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

s or lakans.

Colonial period

The first recorded document that mentions the archipelago was Antonio Pigafetta's chronicle Report of the first trip around the world on his narrative record of the journey of a Spanish expedition in search of the Spice Islands published sometimes between 1524-1525. Another notable document was

Antonio de Morga Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (29 November 1559 – 21 July 1636) was a Spanish soldier, lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official for 43 years, in the Philippines (1594 to 1604), New Spain and Peru, where he was president of the Real Audienc ...

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (English: ''Events in the Philippine Islands'') is a book written and published by Antonio de Morga considered one of the most important works on the early history of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. It w ...

published in 1609 based on the author's personal experience and documentations from eye-witnesses of the survivors of

Miguel López de Legazpi Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, i ...

's expedition. Documents published are chronicles by the early Spanish explorers and navigators and religious records of Spanish friars of their Catholic mission during the Spanish colonial period.

Early chroniclers

* Antonio Pigafetta * Rodrigo de Aganduru Moriz * Hernando de Riquel *

Juan de Plasencia Miguel Juan de Plasencia () was a Spanish friar of the Franciscan Order. He was among the first group of Franciscan missionaries who arrived in the Philippines on 2 July 1578. He spent most of his missionary life in the Philippines, where he fou ...

Pedro de San Buenaventura ''Vocabulario de la lengua tagala'' () was the first dictionary of the Tagalog language in the Philippines, It was written by the Franciscan friar Pedro de San Buena Ventura and published in Pila, Laguna in 1613. Juan de Plasencia had written a vo ...

* Pedro Chirino

Colonial Era Historians

Emma Helen Blair Emma Helen Blair (September 12, 1851 – September 25, 1911) was a United States historian, journalist and editor, whose most notable work was a documentary history of the Philippines. Biography Emma Helen Blair was born on September 12, 1851, ...

and

James A. Robertson James Alexander Robertson (August 19, 1873 – March 20, 1939) was an American academic historian, archivist, translator and bibliographer. He is most noted for his contributions to the history and historiography of the Philippines and other ...

Francisco Ignacio Alcina Francisco Ignacio (de) Alcina SJ (also Alzina, Alçina) (February 2, 1610 – July 30, 1674) was a Spanish historian and a Jesuit missionary in the Philippines. He served as parish priest in the Visayan islands for 37 years. Most of those years ...

* Francisco Colin, S.J. * Felix Huerta, O.F.M *

Ferdinand Blumentritt Ferdinand Johann Franz Blumentritt (10 September 1853, Prague – 20 September 1913, Litoměřice) was an Austrian teacher, secondary school principal in Leitmeritz, lecturer, and author of articles and books in the Philippines and its ethno ...

* Isabelo de los Reyes *

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

* Pedro Paterno * Trinidad Pardo de Tavera

Post colonial period

The

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

of the post-colonial period focused on the Philippine revolutions and the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

as historians saw the colonial era as a prelude. The critical role played by the Filipinos in shaping the Philippine national history in this period is well highlighted and analyzed based on the accounts on the revolution and the Philippine–American War as it describes the social, economic, political, and cultural conditions of the Philippines. Historian Reynaldo C. Ileto in his seminal work on ''Pasyon and Revolution: Popular Movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910'', the historiography of the Philippine Revolution was explored in a new meaning. Historian

Vicente L. Rafael Vicente L. Rafael is a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Washington, Seattle. He received his B.A. in history and philosophy from Ateneo de Manila University in 1977 and his Ph.D. in history at Cornell University in 1984. ...

introduced

poststructuralist Post-structuralism is a term for philosophical and literary forms of theory that both build upon and reject ideas established by structuralism, the intellectual project that preceded it. Though post-structuralists all present different critique ...

theories in the analysis of the colonial society on his ''Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule''.

Writers and Historians from the Nationalist History tradition

Horacio de la Costa Horacio Villamayor de la Costa (May 9, 1916 – March 20, 1977) was the first Filipino Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, and a recognized authority in Philippine and Asian culture and history. A writer, scholar, and ...

* O.D. Corpuz *

Cesar Adib Majul Cesar Adib Majul (October 21, 1923 - October 11, 2003) was a Philippine historian best known for his work on the history of Islam in the Philippines, and on the life of Apolinario Mabini. Majul was born in Aparri, Cagayan, Philippine Islands, to ...

* Nick Joaquin

Historians from the Critical Historiography tradition

* Carlos Quirino *

F. Landa Jocano Felipe Landa Jocano (February 5, 1930 – October 27, 2013) was a Filipino anthropologist, educator, and author known for his significant body of work within the field of Philippine Anthropology, and in particular for documenting and translatin ...

Felix M. Keesing Felix M. Keesing (January 5, 1902 – April 1961) was a New Zealand-born anthropologist who specialized in the study of the Philippine Islands and the South Pacific. He came to the United States in the 1940s and taught at Stanford University, Calif ...

* William Henry Scott * Laura Lee Junker * Damon L. Woods

Writers from the Folkloristics tradition

* Damiana Eugenio * Gilda Cordero-Fernando * Grace Odal-Devora

Historians and Writers from the Postmodern, Local/Ethnic History, and Religious History traditions

* Ambeth Ocampo *

Bambi Harper Anna Maria "Bambi'" Lammoglia Harper (January 10, 1941 – August 4, 2023) was a Filipino cultural writer and socialite. She was a founding member of the Concerned Citizens for the National Museum (now the Museum Foundation of the Philippines) ...

Melba Padilla Maggay Melba Padilla Maggay (born 1950) is a Filipina writer, social anthropologist, and social activist best known for her academic work and books on culture, social change and development issues, and as the founder of the Institute for Studies in Asia ...

* Go Bon Juan *

Luciano P.R. Santiago Luciano Perez-Rivera Santiago (21 June 1942 – 1 February 2019) was a Filipino people, Filipino writer, historian, and psychiatrist best known for his award-winning books on Philippine history and the arts. He was a psychiatrist by profession. E ...

* Luis Camara Dery

References

{{reflist History of the Philippines