Part of a series on the |
Pre-colonial history of the Philippines |
---|
See also: History of the Philippines |
The polity of Sanmalan is a precolonial Philippine state centered on what is now Zamboanga.[1] Labeled in Chinese annals as "Sanmalan" 三麻蘭 (Hokkien Chinese: 三麻蘭; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sam-mâ-lân; Mandarin Chinese: 三麻蘭; pinyin: Sānmálán). The Chinese recorded a year 1011 tribute from Rajah Chulan, ruler of Sanmalan, who was represented at the imperial court by his emissary Ali Bakti.[2][3][4] The capital, located in modern-day Zamboanga City, may have been Jambangan, which is part of the ancestral land of the indigenous Subanon people, who were the majority in the Zamboanga peninsula at the time.[5][6]
The tribute born by Rajah Chulan to the Chinese Emperor included aromatics, dates, glassware, ivory, peaches, refined sugar, and rose- water, which suggests that Sanmalan had trade links into Western Asia.[1]
The later Chinese historical chronicle Zhufan Zhi 諸蕃志 published at 1225; wrote once again about Sanmalan but it was now known as Shahuagong. In contrast to its previous mention as a trade emporium, it became a pirate-state driven by slave raiding.[7]
Many of the people of the country of Shahuagong go out into the open sea on pirate raids. When they take captives, they bind them and sell them to Shepo (Java) (as slaves)
— ~Zhufan zhi 1225
When the Spanish arrived, they gave protectorate status to the ancient semi-independent Sanmalan which was before them, was previously a protectorate of the Sultanate of Sulu.[8] Under Spanish rule, the location of Sanmalan received Mexican and Peruvian military immigrants.[9] After a rebellion against Spanish rule, the state that replaced Spain and had subsisted on what was once Sanmalan's location, was the short-lived Republic of Zamboanga.