EARLY CONTACTS

WITH
ASIAN NATIONS
INDIA
Indianization of Southeast Asia

• 1st Century A.D. - Indians' exodus to

Southeast Asia
• In search for gold, glory, and a better life
• Sailed to Indochina, Burma, Siam, Malay
Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, and other
Southeast Asian lands
• Formation of Indianized kingdoms and
Indianization of Southeast Asian
countries
Indianization of Southeast Asia

• "two-way" process

– Southeast Asian people also visited the ports

of India where they acquired cultural
influences and brought them back to their
native countries.
Indianization of Southeast Asia

• Indo-Malayan maritime Empires

– Sri Vijaya (638-1377)

– Majapahit (ca. 1293-1528)

Indianization of Southeast Asia

• SRI VIJAYA
– "Sin-fo-tsi", Chinese
– "Zabagin", Arabic writings
– Malayan in nationality
– Indianized in culture
– Mahayana Buddhist in religion
– Capital: Palembang on the southern coast of
Sumatra
Indianization of Southeast Asia

• MAJAPAHIT
– successor of the Sri Vijaya
– Malayan in nationality
– Indianized in culture
– Brammanistic (Hindu) in religion
– Capital: Majapahit (a city-kingdom in Southern
Java)
Orang Dampuan (Men of
Champa)

• Champa - Southern Annam (present day

Vietnam)
• Champa is one of the vassal states of the
Sri Vidjaya Empire
• Indianized kingdom in Indochina
STORY
• Between the 900 and 1200 A.D., the Orang
Dampuan established trading posts in Sulu.
• The Buranun (people of Sulu) had a flourishing
trade with the Champa. The trade was said to be
favorable to the Orang Dampuan that it drew ire
from the Buranuns
• So, out of jealousy, the latter massacred some
of the Dampuans, causing the others to flee
back to Champa.
• It was not until 13th century that they’d returned
to Sulu trade peacefully again.
Banjar (Banjamassin, Borneo)

• Banjarmassin

– a vassal state of the Sri Vijaya empire

– an Indianized kingdom
– People: Banjar
STORY
• The famous pearl trade of Sulu also attracted
the Banjar so they had regular trade relations.
• The Buranuns, however, were also suspicious of
the Banjars but the traders of Banjar (who were
aware of what happened with the Orang
Dampuan) were more diplomatic.
• Instead of antagonizing the Buranuns, they
brought their beautiful princess to Sulu and
offered her to the Buranun prince, who
eventually married her.
Beyer Theory

• "Philippines was within the political orbit of

Sri Vijaya and Majapahit empires."
• Professor Beyer, 1921

Evidently, this theory fascinated some

historical writers so it became popular in
Ph historiography.
• Recent findings in Malaysian archaeology
and history have blasted the validity of this
theory

»HISTORICAL FICTION
• Contemporary historians now have historical and
epigraphical sources that proved that the
Philippines was never conquered or ruled
by the said empires.

• The Chinese dynastic histories that had plenty of

historical materials regarding the growth of the
Sri Vijjaya as a maritime power did not mention
about the Philippines being its vassal state.
• It was also noted by the Early Chinese
who wrote about Sri Vijaya (Chou Ku-fei,
1178, Chau Ju-Kua, 1225, and Wang Ta-
yuan, 1349).
• Chau Ju-Kua also listed fifteen vassal
states of the empire and Philippines is not
one of them.
• Contemporary authorities on the history of
Southeast Asia never claimed that
Philippines was not a vassal state of Sri
Vijaya

George Coedes (French), Gabriel Ferrand (French),

Paul Pelliot (French), Nicholas J. Krom (Dutch),
Bernard H.M. Vlekke (Dutch), R.C. Majumdar (Indian),
K.A. Nilakanta Sastri (Indian), D.G.E. Hall (British),
Brian Harrison (British), O.W. Wolters (British), and
John Cady (American).
Prapanca’s claim

• Prapanca (in his eulogistic poem,

Nagarakertagama):
–Majapahit had ninety-four vassal
states, including Solot (mentioned
twice)

»Phantasmagoric Figment of his

imagination
Against Prapanca's claim
• A distinguished Dutch scholar, Professor
C. Berg made a critical study of the list of
vassal states in the poem and found it to
be a historical myth.
• The two Solots mentioned did not refer to
Sulu. Most likely, they are the tiny islands
in the Lesser Sundas which still bears the
name Solot and the northeastern portion
of Borneo until recent times was called
Solot.
President Sukarno’s statement

• Some modern Indonesian leaders accept

the gradiose extent of the Majapahit
empire, like the late President Sukarno.
• On the wall of his office at Jakarta, he had
a huge map of Great Indonesia which
included the Republic of Indonesia, West
New Guinea, Malay Peninsula, and the
Philippines.
President Sukarno’s statement
• In February 1951, when the FEU in Manila
conferred upon him the honorary title of
Doctor Of Laws, he proudly told the vast
assemblage of faculty members, students,
and many distinguished giests that once
upon a time, the Philippines (then
named Saludung) was a vassal state of
Majapahit.
• They were said to be wrong because
Saludung was really a place in northwest
Borneo and not Ph.
Contacts with India

• Another evidence in the Philippines'

intercourse with Indianized countries in
Southeast Asia is found in the manuscript
Tome Pires which was written in 1512-
1515 entitled Suma Oriental. Tome
Pires lived in Malacca from 1512-1517.
• Pirex Codex: the Lucoes (people of
Luzon) annually sent trading vessels to
Borneo and Malacca and the Bornean
traders used to sail to Luzon “to buy gold
and food- stuffs as well” and sold them in
Borneo, Malacca and other islands in
Southeast Asia.
• Moreover, this rare manuscript mentioned
a Filipino trading colony consisting of
500 people in Minjam (now “Dingding)
near Malacca.
• Speaking highly of these Fil settlers, Pires
comments: “They are a useful people;
they are hard-working... Some of them
were important people and good
merchants.”
CHINA
The Beginning of Contact

• 226 A.D. when the ruler of the Kingdom

of Wu named Sun Chan sent envoys,
Chu Yung and Kand Tai, on diplomatic
missions to countries of Southeast Asia.
• The trip was recorded in the San Kuo Chi
(History of the Three Kingdoms) written by
Chen Shou in 280-290.
The Beginning of Contact
• Historically speaking, it started during the
Sung Dynasty (960-1280 A.D.) when the
Chinese were beginning to expand ther
maritime activities in Nanyang (Southeast
Asian world).
• The earliest known authentic date of the
Sino-Philippine relations was 982 A.D.
when several traders from Ma-i (Ma-yi or
Mo-yi) arrived in Canton on Arab ships
and sold their valuable merchandise.
The Beginning of Contact
• This incident was recorded by a Chinese
chronicler, Ma-Tuan-Lin, in his
monumental work entitled, “Wen Shiann
Tung Kao” (General Investigation on the
Chinese Cultural Sources), written in
1317-1319.
• Perceptive scholars (foreign and Filipino)
accept Ma-i as an old Chinese name for
Philippines.
Early Chinese Traders and
Immigrants
• After 982 A.D., the trade expanded,
especially during the Southern Sung
(1127-1280), Yuan (1280-1368), and Ming
(1368-1644) dynasties.
• Every year, Chinese merchants board
their sea-going junks to Lingayen Gulf,
Manila Bay, Mindoro, and Sulu for trade.
The Filipinos welcomed them and
amicably bartered their native products.
Filipino Goods

• hardwoods, bulak or raw cotton,

abaca, cloth of various patterns,
gums, resins, betelnuts, peral shell,
pink and blue coral trees, lanrge
conch shells, tortoise shells, sponges,
rattan, beeswax, musk, sandalwood,
leather, mats, and pepper.
Chinese Goods

• iron bars, porcelain and pottery, silk,

chintz, black damask, Java cloths, red
tafetta, blue cloth, bronze gongs, small
bells, mirror, scales, coins, jade,
projectiles, gold, silver, censers, lead,
colored glass beads, iron needles, tin, lead
sinkers for fishing nets, lacquered ware,
copper cauldrons, wine, ivory and “tint” (a
kind of Chinese silver money), umbrellas,
and fans
Influences of China

• Mainly economical and social

• COMMERCIAL PROFIT and

BETTER LIFE
Influences of China
• Manufacture of gunpowder
• the method of placer gold mining
• the art of metallurgy
• the use of porcelain, gongs, lead, silver, tin, and
other metals
• certain occupations like blacksmitihing, truck
gardening, and goldsmithing,
• kite-flying and other games,
• various forms of gambling, including juweteng ,
kuwaho, and panggigi.
Influences of China
• Sleeved jackets (kangan) of the pre-
Spanish Fil males, loose trousers of the
Muslim women in Mindanao and Sulu,
slippers, bakya (wooden shoes), fans and
umbrellas

• Arranged marriage, wearing white clothing

instead of black when mourning ( esp.
Visayans)
ARABIA
Early Relations with Arab

• Tuan Masha’ika (1240s)

– Trader from Malaya

– Introduced Islam in the Philippines
– Came to Sulu with his companion Tuan
Maqbalu
– His wealth increased and with it, status of the
Muslims commuities was raised.
• Karim ul’ Makhdum

– An Arab missionary from Java, came from

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

– Spread Islam and built the1st mosque built in

Tubig Idangan, Tawi-tawi at Simunul,Sulu
• Raja Baginda

– Muslim prince of Sumatra

– further deepened Islamic consciousness
among the Muslims in Sulu by building more
madrasahs (schools)
– later rose to a position of power in Sulu
– Conquered Jolo
• Abu Bakr

– also an arab missionary

– went to Jolo
– married the princess of Jolo, *Princess
Paramisulu and founded the Sultanate of
Sulu

* Daughter of Raja Baginda

• Serif Muhamad Kabungsuwan

– Son of an Arab Father and Johre Princess

– Arrived from Jahore, landed at Cotabato.
– with his warrios, he conquered the native
– Also married the Local princess Putri
Tunina and founded the sultanate of
Maguindanao.
– 1st Sultan in Maguindanao
Arabic Heritage

• 1. Religion- Islam
– Qur’an (Koran): holy book
– Allah-Supreme Creator

• 2. Politics - Sultanate
(form of government). Unlike the barangay of
non-Muslim Ancient Filipinos, which were
smaller in size and very much decentralized,
Sultanate governed a much larger territory
trhough a centralized network of officials with
the Sultan at the top.
Titles that came from the Arabs:

• Sultan - king

• Raha - heir

• Dayang-princess

• Kali- judge
The Sultanate

• Sultan
- With royal or Arab Ancestry

• Ruma Bichara
- A council of elders composed of datus
and panglimas (teachers)
Other Officials:

• Waiir -1st minister/datu

• Maja raja - custom chief
• Raja laut - chief of the seas
• Qadi - chief interpreter of the Muslim
atads(traditions) and law

• Shariah
- Muslim court
• 3. Social Life - Ramadan

– muslim holy festival of fasting ang prayer

– Examples of Tagalog words that have Arabic
Origins: Alak, Apo,Bukas,Pilat,Sulat Salamat

Examples of Muslim customs: Poligamy ,

Divorce and Pilgrimage to Mecca
JAPAN
Early Relations with Japan

• Nihonji (Ancient Japanese Chronicle)

• Two men and two women of the “Land of Tukhara”

drifted to Kyushu. Their ship was wrecked at sea.
Tukhara refers to the Philippines. As japanese scholars
have asserted, then our realtions with Japanese are also
long-standing. From early historical records in Ryukiu,
trade flourished between Japan and the Philippines in
the 13th century A.D. Adventurous Japanese wakos
(pirate-traders) sailed the orient waters, and it is possible
that many of them visited our shores either to trade or to
settle down.
• The region settled by the japanese during pre-
Spanish times were the delta of Cagayan river, the
Lingayen Gulf region, and Manila. The town of Agoo,
which was located at the shore of Lingayen Gulf was a
busy center of trade with Japan. Spaniards who came
later called it "Puerto de Japon". In 1570, Marshal De
Goiti found 20 Japanese residents already living in
Manila.

• The Japanese made some early contributions to our

culture and economy. They taught our people certain
industries, such as; manufacture of arms and tools,
tanning of deer skins, artificial breeding of ducks
and fishes.
References
References