The recorded pre-colonial history of the Philippines, sometimes also referred to as its "protohistoric period," begins with the creation of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription in 900 AD and ends with the beginning of Spanish colonization in 1565. The inscription on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription itself dates its creation to 822 Saka (900 AD). The creation of the document is considered to mark the end of the prehistory of the Philippines on Monday, April 26, 900 AD, and the formal beginning of its recorded history. During this period, the Philippine archipelago was home to numerous kingdoms and sultanates

Sources of precolonial history include archaeological findings; records from contact with the Song dynasty, the Brunei Sultanate, Korea, Japan, and Muslim traders; the genealogical records of Muslim rulers; accounts written by Spanish chroniclers in the 16th and 17th centuries; and cultural patterns that at the time had not yet been replaced through European influence.

Societal categories Early Philippine society was composed of diverse subgroups such as fishermen, farmers and hunter-gatherers, with some living in mountainside swiddens, some on houseboats and some in commercially developed coastal ports. Some subgroups were economically self-sufficient, and others had symbiotic relationships with neighboring subgroups. Society can be classified into four categories as follows:

Social classes The fourth societal category above can be termed the datu class, and was a titled aristocracy.

The early polities were typically made up of three-tier social structure: a nobility class, a class of "freemen", and a class of dependent debtor-bondsmen: Datu (ruling class) and Maginoo (noble class, where the datu ascends from) Maharlika/Timawa (freemen; warrior class) Alipin (dependent class), classified into aliping namamahay (serfs) and aliping saguiguilid (slaves)

Laguna Copperplate Inscription

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) is the earliest record of a Philippine language and the presence of writing in the islands. The document measures around 20 cm by 30 cm and is inscribed with ten lines of writing on one side.

Text The text of the LCI was mostly written in Old Malay with influences of Sanskrit, Tamil, Old Javanese and Old Tagalog using the Kawi script. Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma deciphered the text. The date of the inscription is in the "Year of Saka 822, month of Vaisakha", corresponding to April–May in 900 AD.

The text notes the acquittal of all descendants of a certain honorable Namwaran from a debt of 1 kati and 8 suwarna, equivalent to 926.4 grams of gold, granted by the Military Commander of Tundun (Tondo) and witnessed by the leaders of Pailah, Binwangan and Puliran, which are places likely also located in Luzon. The reference to the contemporaneous Medang Kingdom in modern-day Indonesia implies political connections with territories elsewhere in the Maritime Southeast Asia.

Politics Emergence of independent polities

Early settlements, referred to as barangays, ranged from 20 to 100 families on the coast, and around 150–200 people in more interior areas. Coastal settlements were connected over water, with much less contact occurring between highland and lowland areas. By the 1300s, a number of the large coastal settlements had emerged as trading centers, and became the focal point of societal changes. Some polities had exchanges with other states across Asia.

Polities founded in the Philippines from the 10th to 16th century include Pila, Maynila, Tondo, Namayan, Kumintang, Pangasinan, Caboloan, Cebu, Butuan, Maguindanao, Buayan, Lanao, Sulu, and Ma-i. Among the nobility were leaders called datus, responsible for ruling autonomous groups called barangay or dulohan. When these barangays banded together, either to form a larger settlement or a geographically looser alliance group, the more esteemed among them would be recognized as a "paramount datu", rajah, or sultan which headed the community state. There is little evidence of large-scale violence in the archipelago prior to the 2nd millennium AD, and throughout these periods population density is thought to have been low.

+Pre-colonial polities in the Philippine archipelagoPolity / KingdomPeriodToday part ofIjang SettlementsUnknown – 1790BatanesLawangUnknown − 1605Samar, parts of Eastern VisayasSamtoyUnknown – 1572Ilocos RegionIbalonUnknown – 1573Bicol RegionKumintangUnknown – 1581Batangas CityTaytayUnknown – 1623Northern PalawanCaintaUnknown – 1571RizalBo-olUnknown − 1595Bohol, parts of Northern MindanaoPilaBefore 900-1575Pila, Laguna and parts of RizalTondoBefore 900–1589Manila, parts of Central Luzon, Calabarzon and BicolMa-iBefore 971 – c. 1339Mindoro Island, parts of Southern LuzonSanmalanBefore 982 – 1500sZamboangaButuanBefore 989 – 1521Butuan, parts of Northern Mindanao and CaragaNamayanBefore the 11th century – 1571Manila, parts of CalabarzonCaboloanBefore 1225 – 1572San Carlos City, PangasinanSandaoBefore 1225 – c. 1300sCalamian, Palawan, and parts of LuzonPuliluBefore 1225 – 1571Polillo, QuezonPangasinanBefore 1225 – 1576Pangasinan, parts of Northern LuzonMadja-asAfter the 11th centuryWestern VisayasLubao14th century – 1571PampangaSultanate of Buayanc. 1350–1905Parts of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Cotabato, South Cotabato and General Santos CitySugbuc. 1400–1565Cebu, parts of Central VisayasSultanate of Sulu1457–1915Sulu Archipelago, parts of Southern Palawan, Sabah, North and East Kalimantan in north-eastern BorneoMaynilac. 1500–1571Manila, parts of Central LuzonSultanate of Maguindanao1515–1899Maguindanao, parts of Bangsamoro, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen and Davao RegionConfederate States of Lanao 1616 – presentLanao, parts of Bangsamoro

Other political systems by ethnic group

In Luzon In the Cagayan Valley, the head of the Ilongot city-states was called a benganganat, while for the Gaddang it was called a mingal.

The Ilocano people in northwestern Luzon were originally located in modern-day Ilocos Sur and were led by a babacnang. Their polity was called samtoy which did not have a royal family but, rather, was a collection of certain barangays (chiefdoms).

In Mindanao The Lumad people from inland Mindanao are known to have been headed by a datu.

The Subanon people in the Zamboanga Peninsula were ruled by a timuay until they were overcome by the Sultanate of Sulu in the 13th century.

The Sama-Bajau people in Sulu who were not Muslims nor affiliated with the Sultanate of Sulu were ruled by a nakurah before the arrival of Islam.

Trade Trade with China is believed to have begun during the Tang dynasty, but grew more extensive during the Song dynasty. By the 2nd millennium AD, some Philippine polities were known to have sent trade delegations which participated in the Tributary system enforced by the Chinese imperial court, trading but without direct political or military control. The items much prized in the islands included jars, which were a symbol of wealth throughout South Asia, and later metal, salt and tobacco. In exchange were traded feathers, rhino horns, hornbill beaks, beeswax, bird's-nests, resin, and rattan.

Indian influence

Indian cultural traits, such as linguistic terms and religious practices, began to spread within the Philippines during the 10th century, likely via the Hindu Majapahit empire.

Writing systems Brahmic scripts reached the Philippines in the form of the Kawi script, and later the Baybayin writing system.Baybayin, the Ancient Philippine script . Accessed September 4, 2008. The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was written using the Kawi script.

Baybayin

By the 13th or 14th century, the baybayin script was used for the Tagalog language. It spread to Luzon, Mindoro, Palawan, Panay and Leyte, but there is no proof it was used in Mindanao.

There were at least three varieties of baybayin in the late 16th century. These are comparable to different variations of Latin which use slightly different sets of letters and spelling systems.

In 1521, the chronicler Antonio Pigafetta from the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan noted that the people that they met in Visayas were not literate. However, in the next few decades the Baybayin script seemed to have been introduced to them. In 1567 Miguel López de Legaspi reported that "they [the Visayans] have their letters and characters like those of the Malays, from whom they learned them; they write them on bamboo bark and palm leaves with a pointed tool, but never is any ancient writing found among them nor word of their origin and arrival in these islands, their customs and rites being preserved by traditions handed down from father to son without any other record."

Earliest documented Chinese contact The earliest date suggested for direct Chinese contact with the Philippines was 982. At the time, merchants from "Ma-i" (now thought to be either Bay, Laguna on the shores of Laguna de Bay, or a site called "Mait" in Mindoro) brought their wares to Guangzhou and Quanzhou. This was mentioned in the History of Song and Wenxian Tongkao by Ma Duanlin which were authored during the Yuan Dynasty.

Arrival of Islam

Beginnings

Muslim traders introduced Islam to the then-Indianized Malayan empires around the time that wars over succession had ended in the Majapahit Empire in 1405. Islam in the Philippines had established itself in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi, the oldest mosque in the country. By the 15th century, Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and spread from there. Subsequent visits by Arab, Persians, Malay and Javanese missionaries helped spread Islam further in the islands.

the Islamic "Raja" of the Philippines were good at defending the island nations, they often built their own: fleets, outposts, fortifications and ports. The Islamic community often ruled the country from their presence in Manila. Their legitimacy is known through their diplomatic relations that extended from China to India.

At the peak of Islam in the Philippines the Sultanate of Sulu once encompassed parts of modern-day: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Their progress is recognized on the maps as evidence of political and military strength.

Spanish expeditions

The following table summarizes expeditions made by the Spanish to the Philippine archipelago.

+Spanish expeditions reaching the Philippine archipelago Year Leader Ships Landing1521 / Ferdinand MagellanTrinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago, and VictoriaHomonhon, Limasawa, Cebu1525 García Jofre de LoaísaSanta María de la Victoria, Sancti Spiritus, Anunciada, San Gabriel, Santa María del Parral, San Lesmes, and SantiagoSurigao, Visayas, Mindanao1527 Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón Florida, Santiago, and Espiritu SantoMindanao1542 Ruy López de VillalobosSantiago, Jorge, San Antonio, San Cristóbal, San Martín, and San JuanSamar, Leyte, Saranggani1564 Miguel López de LegazpiSan Pedro, San Pablo, San Juan, and San LucasFirst landed on Samar, established colonies as part of Spanish Empire

First expedition

Although the archipelago may have been visited before by the Portuguese (who conquered Malacca City in 1511 and reached Maluku Islands in 1512), the earliest European expedition to the Philippine archipelago was led by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan in the service of King Charles I of Spain in 1521.

The Magellan expedition sighted the mountains of Samar at dawn on March 17, 1521, making landfall the following day at the small, uninhabited island of Homonhon at the mouth of Leyte Gulf. On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521, on the island of Mazaua, Magellan planted a cross on the top of a hill overlooking the sea and claimed the islands he had encountered for the King of Spain, naming them Archipelago of Saint Lazarus as stated in First Voyage Around The World by his companion, the chronicler Antonio Pigafetta.