Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Unmasking the Great Kingdoms of Ancient Philippines: The Tagalog Kingdoms


Madayaw, my peeps!
Welcome to Maita Unmasks History! This is the third episode of Unmasking the Great Kingdoms of Ancient Philippines. In this episode, we are tracing the steps of who the first Tagalogs were.
Please watch the first two videos of Great Kingdoms or Ancient Philippines. You don’t have to watch them in order since these kingdoms overlapped each other.
This episode will be done Story-style. Sit back and relax. I hope you Enjoy!



Once upon a time, there were 10 Bornean Datus under a power-hungry sultan named Sultan Makatunaw. Sultan Makatunaw took the wives and lands of the 10 Datus. The 10 led by Datu Puti decided it was time they left Borneo. They took their Balangays or long boats, filled it with family and supporters and rowed away. They landed in Panay which was, at that time, owned by the Negritos. Datu Puti befriended King Marikudo and purchased a large portion of land. It was said he paid it with a golden sukud or salakot. Datu Puti divided the land into three: Hantik (Later called Antique), Aklan and Irong-Irong (later called Ilo-ilo). They called this the Confederation of Madia-as. Many Chinese chronicle stated that this confederation thrived because of their cooperation. Soon, they were getting too crowded and Datu Puti took three of his fellow Datus to seek other places. He put Datu Sumakwel in charge of the confederation. He was said to be the wisest of the 10.
Datu Puti settled into the Taal Region. He cobbled a 40-kilometer road around this district. It was said to be the Philippine’s first highway. It was here he established the Kingdom of the Tagalog for it was the river that flowed to the lake in which they prospered. They spread out and settled many of what is Tagalog Territories of today: Balayan, Bataan, Quezon, Rizal, Cavite, Even as far as Romblom and Palawan.
Still, Datu Puti wanted to liberate his fellow countrymen from Makatunaw. In 1234AD, he divided the kingdom to the remaining six datus and sailed back to Borneo. Datu Balensusa was their next acknowledged leader. Datu Puti was never heard from again. Nobody knew if his quest was successful or not.
When Datu Balensusa was old, he named his successor Datu Kumintang. Datu Kumintang founded the Kingdom of Kumintang. The Chinese later called this Ma-i. The seat of power was in Balayan, present-day Batangas. In the 16th Century, When conquistador Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo explored the region, they were still able to interact with the progressive Kumintangs. The peace-loving Balayans were unsure of the Spaniards’ intentions so they were guided in the area and offered hospitality. With 300 gunmen, they laid to waste the Taal Kingdom.
Thus, the Spanish conquered the large Tagalog Region.

Fun Facts
Tagalog takes its name from Tag-Alog. Alog means river delta. So Tagalog means people of the river delta. Many argue that it could also come from a shortened Taga-ilog. Ilog means river. Taga-ilog meant People from the River.

Hat of the Day
The golden sukud is a hat worn by the datus. It is the equivalent of a crown. It was considered very expensive and passed on from father to son. Perhaps the value is great for the Datus were able to purchase most of Panay with it.

I hope you liked this segment. I’ll put a link to the previous videos in the series down in the description. Please like and share. You may also drop a comment. Which kingdoms have you heard of and which you liked? I really hope that this enlightened you as to who the people living in this country was. Magellan did not discover the Philippines. It was already populated and trading with fellow Asia Countries and some European Countries by the time the Spanish bumped into us.
Please follow my social media channels: YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. I’ll also be posting these fun facts in my website.
Bye!

Ep1: The Namayan Kingdom
Ep2: The Rajanate of Tunduk
This episode will be done Story-style. If you want to read the script/text of this video, I'll be posting it on my website. Sit back and relax. I hope you Enjoy!
Instagram & Twitter: BabymoonMaita
Website: www.maitarue.com




Reference:
Looking Back at the Lost Kingdoms of the Moro by Yusuf Roque Santos Morales and Dr. Meinrado Martinez y Dimaandal, 2011.

1 comment:

  1. I am intrigued on the Kumintang Kingdom of Batangas and a certain Kalipulako.I wish to read more about these in the future.

    ReplyDelete