Pre Colonial Agrarian

7/27/2019 Pre Colonial Agrarian

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Pre-Spanish SettlementsMost communities were coastal, near-coastal or near the River. This was because theprincipal sources of protein came from the seas and rivers, the people relying more onfishing than on hunting for sustenance. Moreover, the principal means of travel was by

water. Most of the members of the community were related to one another by blood ormarriage. Besides kinship, common economic interests and shared rituals formed thebases for community cohesion. The barangay was more of a social rather than apolitical unit. Of various linguistic groups that inhabited the archipelago at the time of

Spanishconquest, the Muslims of the South had the most developed socialorganization. Islam had already been well established in the archipelago at the time ofthe conquest. This Faith was introduced in the archipelago by an Arabian missionary,Makdum, during the middle of the 14

thcentury. If history had taken its course

undisturbed, the Muslims might have Islamized the whole archipelago. They could haveseized the leadership in nation building. In fact, as far as Manila in the north andits neighboring districts, Islamic influence had already been exhibited. The archipelago

already had trade relations with the neighboring Asian countries: China, Japan, Siam,Borneo, and other Southern Islands. This is shown by some cultural penetrations. Forone, Chinese influences: adopted Chinese customs filial piety, marriage arrangementsby parents, close family ties, and many others. The use of umbrellas, porcelain, themanufacture of gunpowder, mining methods, and metallurgy were of Chineseinfluence. In our language, there are several Chinese and Hindu words integrated, aclear indication of cultural penetrations before the Spanish colonization.Concepts of PropertyThe idea of personal private property was recognized insome advanced communities.However, private property in its most significant sense, in its exploitative sense, didnot yet exist. In an agricultural society, land is the primarysource of wealth, the principalsource of production. Therefore, if the real concept of private property had existed, thenland would havebeen privately owned. Baranganic society had one distinguishingfeature: the absence of private property in land. The chiefs merely administered thelands in the same of the barangay. Each individual participated in the communityownership of the soil andinstruments of production as a member of the barangay.Generally speaking, the societies that were encountered by the conquistadors wereprimitive economies where most production was geared to the use of producers and tothe fulfillment of kinship and obligations. They were not economies geared for exchangeand profits.http://romeobacharo.com/philhistory_precolonial.html

Pre-Colonial Period

The island nation of the Philippines has a rich history. The Philippines today is a

tapestry of different cultural influences, each stemming from a particular event in the
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history of the islands. Examining this history provides a lot of insight into how the

Philippines became the country that it is today. Philippine history can be conveniently

divided into 2 different sections-before and after European colonization. To start, we

will look at the cultures that existed and the events that occurred before the arrival of

settlers from Spain, and how they have influenced the modern-day Philippines. The

original settlers of the Philippines were a dark-complexioned Australo-Melanesian

people who lived as hunter-gatherers in small bands. They arrived around 30,000 years

ago. Gradually, they became small in stature to adapt to a life in the Philippine jungles.

These people still survive in isolated mountainous areas of the islands, and are known

today as Negritos, or the Aeta (www.ualberta.ca/~vmitchel/rev1.html). However, these

hunter-gatherers were overwhelmed during a period known as the Austronesian

expansion (around 2500 BC), when groups of Asian natives spread out from Taiwan and

began island-hopping, forming colonies wherever they landed. These people were ahorticultural people, who survived via a combination of light agriculture and fishing,

and they out-competed the hunter gatherers.

http://allanrepalda88.wordpress.com/history101/pre-colonial-period/

Pre-Colonial Times (Before 16th Century)What was the type of land ownership during the pre-Spanish time and how was itcultivated?

Land was commonly owned by the community known as barangaya small unit ofgovernment consisting of 30-100 families administered by the chiefs.Land cultivation was done commonly by kaingin system or the slash and burnmethodwherein land was cleared by burning the bushes before planting the crops or eitherland was plowed and harrowed before planting.How do they practice mutual sharing of resources?Everyone in the barangayregardless of status had access on the land and mutuallyshare resources and the fruits of their labor.They believed in and practiced the concept ofstewardship where relationshipbetween man and nature is important.

What was the economic system during this period?Food production was intended for family consumption only. Later, neighboringcommunities where engaged in a barter trade, exchanging their goods with others.Some even traded their agricultural products with luxury items of some foreigntraders like Chinese, Arabs and Europeans.Was leasing and selling of lands exercised during this period?The Maragtas Code seems to be the only recorded transaction of land sale duringthis
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time. This tells us about the selling of the Panay island by the natives to the tenBornean datusin exchange of a golden salakotand a long gold necklace.Although the Code of Luwaran was one of the oldest written laws of the Muslimsociety which contains provision on the lease of cultivated lands, there was norecordhow this lease arrangement was practiced.

F R I D A Y , M A Y 2 2 , 2 0 0 9

The Pre-Colonial PeriodTHE PRE COLONIAL PHILLIPNES

GOVERNMENT

BARANGGAY- FILIPONOS EARLIEST FORM OF GOVERNMENT

EACH BARANGAY IS RULED BY CHIEFTAINS (DATU)

CHIEFTAINS (DATU)RULE AND GOVERN HIS SUBJECTS AND TO PROMOTE

THEIR WELL BEING. IN TIMES OF PEACE, HE WAS THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE,

LEGISLATOR, AND THE JUDGE.

LAWS WERE MADE BY CHIEFTAINS AND THE ELDERS

RELIGION

BELIEVE IN ANITOS, PRIMORDIAL FORCES OF NATURE THAT COULD

ACOMMPANY OR POSSESS PEOPLE

THEY BELIEVE ILLNESS IS CAUSE BY EVIL SPIRITS


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BATHALA- THE MOST POWERFULL GOD

PRAISE MANY GODS& GODDESSES

ECONOMY

Not much different from that found today in many remote barrios.

During those halves- forgotten days, life was placid and characterized by less economic

and social pressure than it is today..

Agriculture the main source of livelihood. There was an abundance of rice, coconuts,

sugar cane, etc.

Land cultivation

Productivity was increased by the use of irrigation ditches, as evidenced by the world- famous

Ifugao rice terraces of mountain province.

There was a system of landholding which was public and private.

Mining was comparatively developed

lumbering and shipbuilding were flourishing industries in those precolonial days

weaving was a home industry

There were probably more commerce and business transactions along the waterways than

along pathways.

There was foreign trade, too, with china, Japan, Siam, Cambodia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and

other islands of the old Malaysia.

ARTS


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The first glimpse of the artistic sense of the primitive inhabitants of the Philippines can be had in

the remains of their tools and weapons

With the advance of the New Stone age the primitive inhabitants began to show signs of artistic

improvement in the form of beads, amulets, bracelets and earings

In the early Iron Age, the artistic variety of the ancient Filipinos reached its apogee. Ornaments

with different forms and sizes began to appear.

There were several influences on Filipino primitive art which are apparent in the surviving

artifacts.

TECHNOLOGIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Negritos

Homes- temporary sheds made of jungle leaves and branches of trees

Made fire by rubbing two dry sticks together to give them warmth

Didnt know how to cook food

Used bow and arrow as weapon and for hunting.Indones

More advanced

Lived in grass-covered homes built above the ground or on top of trees.

Practiced dry agriculture

Clothing was made from beaten bark and decorated designs

Cooked food in bamboo tubes


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Implements: polished stone axes, adzes and chisels

Weapons: Bow and arrows, spears, shield and blow guns (sumpit).Malays

Culturally more advanced that Negritos and Indones

possessed the Iron Age culture

introduced into the Philippines both lowland and highland methods of rice cultivation,

including the system of irrigation

domestication of animals (dogs, fowls, and carabaos)

manufacture of metal tools and weapons; pottery and weavingWeapons: bows and arrows, spears, bolos, daggers, krises (swords), sumpits

(blowguns), shields and armors made of animal hide and hardwood, and lantakas

(bronze cannons).

SOCIAL CLASSES

Divided into three social classes. Nobles, Freemen and the dependents.Nobles:

consist of chiefs and their families

Wielded tremendous influence in the baranggay

Enjoyed rights that were not usually enjoyed by the other members of the society.

In tagalong region, usually carried the title of Gat or Lakan. Lakan Dula Gat Maitan


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when the Spaniards came to the Philippines, they noted that Cebu and Palawan were abundant

in many agricultural foodstuffs

agricultural productivity was enhanced by use of irrigation ditches like those found in the Ifugao

Rice Terraces

landholding was either public (less arable land that could be tilled freely by anyone) and private

(rich and cultivated lands belonging to nobles and datus)

some rented land and paid in gold or in kind

the daily fare consisted of rice and boiled fish, or sometimes pork or venison, carabao or wild

buffalo meat

fermented the sap of palm trees and drank it as liquor called tuba

http://philippineculture.ph/filer/PHILIPPINEHISTORY-Pre-Colonial-Period.ppt
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Pre Colonial Agrarian