Pila, formerly known as Pailah (Kawi: 𑼦𑼿𑼭𑼲𑽁, Baybayin: ᜉᜒᜎ/ᜉᜁᜎ), was an ancient Tagalog polity in what are the modern-day municipalities of Pila and Victoria in the province of Laguna in Luzon.
Pila was first mentioned in 900 as Pailah in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, a document regarding a debt acquittance. Although once disputed by Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma, recent scholarship such as the works of Luciano P.R. Santiago and Jaime F. Tiongson identified Pailah as Pila, as the document was found adjacent to Pila itself.
Pila was once one of the economic centers of the Laguna region, known for its sophisticated pottery, flat and fertile land as well as other archaeological artifacts as a result of maritime trade with regions the Malay Peninsula and China, as well as having diplomatic ties with Butuan.
Etymology In the early 17th century, Fr. Pedro de San Buenaventura claims that the name “Pila” took its name from the soft stone (piedra blanda) which “formed its entire floor”.
According to historian Luciano P.R. Santiago, the name Pila means “stone” or “soil” in Tagalog, and that pila pila or pilapil is a term used to refer to the mixture of soils and stones, which typically form the bed land of rice fields in the Philippines. In the present day, the word pila is used to refer to clay soil.
Location
Geography Pila is situated in between Pulilan or Puliran, a term used to refer to the coastal region from Bay to Pila, as well as Silangan, which was the eastern region ranging from Lumbang to Siniloan. Both Pulilan and Silangan combined constituted the Dagatan ng Baé (Lake of Bay), which was the ancient name for Laguna de Bay.
LCI Dispute
When the Laguna Copperplate Inscription was first discovered and analyzed by historians like Antoon Postma in 1990, he first speculated that Pailah was situated in Pila, but later in his study he changed his mind and suggested it was in modern-day Norzagaray in Bulacan. One of his main reasons was due to ‘Pailah’ being a diphthong, which made it apparent that the term Pailah could not have transitioned into Pila. The Pila Historical Society and Jaime F. Tiongson (2006) however suggested that it was possible for the name Pailah to have transitioned into Pila in the same logic as the Tagalog terms transitioning from baywang to bewang or tainga to tenga. Tiongson’s theory is supported by other scholars such as Nancy Kimuell-Gabriel as well as Elsa Clavé and Arlo Griffiths.
History
Prehistory
Laguna de Bay was considered to be one of the most prosperous sites of habitation in the early Tagalog migration period. Its geography is flat and richly irrigated, and a rich source of freshwater. Many settlements formed along the coast of the large lake.
The earliest evidence for human habitation in Pila dates back to the 10th century archaeological findings from 1967, when an early-10th century cemetery was discovered in the area which included 150 graves accompanied by ceramics from other parts of Asia including China. The pits and jars showed hints of cremation. The inhabitants of Pila were also known for making clay pottery, due to the inherent softness of the area’s soil, which is where the name of the settlement was derived from.
Laguna Copperplate Inscription
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was an official acquittance document discovered in 1987 in Wawa at the town of Lumban in Laguna which dates back to the Shaka year 822, equivalent to the date of Monday, 21 April 900 in the Julian calendar. It was written on a copper plate in Old Malay with incorporated words from Sanskrit and Old Tagalog using the Kawi script, first translated by Dutch anthropologist Antoon Postma. The first part of the document says that:On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Bukah, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Senepati of Tundun, with the title of His Honor the Lord of Pailah, Jayadewa.The acquittal document mentions Namwaran, who along with his relatives such as Lady Angkatan and Bukah, were acquitted of a debt owed to the Lord of Devata by Jayadewa (meaning “Royal Victor”), who was the Senepati (army commander) of Tundun and Lord of Pailah. The document also specifies that Pailah was the seat of power (ganashakti) of Jayadewa.
Trade with Song China
In the 12th to 14th centuries, Pila engaged in extensive trade with the Chinese, often regarding ceramics. This was evidenced by archaeological findings in the Pila capital of Pinagbayanan around the same time period. This point in time was regarded as a prosperous age for Pila, flourishing into a commercial and cultural center in the Laguna de Bay region. However, Pinagbayanan was abandoned due to flooding in 1375.
Legend of Gat Salian Maguinto According to Go Bon Juan (2005), legends and oral histories mention a kingdom that flourished in the vicinity of Laguna de Bay. This was corroborated by Vitales (2013) who mentioned that the area around Pila, Talim Island, Tanay and other lakeshore towns were said to have belonged to a single state.
The bards of the shores of the Morong peninsula once sang of the exploits of a lord known as Gat Salian Maguinto, who was a gold-rich datu of Pila whose control encompassed Pila, Talim, Pililla, Jalajala, Tanay, Baras and Morong. Pililla itself is a diminutive which meant ‘minor Pila’, suggesting that Pililla was once a dependency of Pila. “Maguinto” was a regal title which meant “full of gold”. The descendants of Gat Salian Maguinto were regarded as the founders of various towns in modern-day Rizal province, bearing the surname Gatchalian.
Transfer to Pagalangan Oral traditions such as the one mentioned by Fr. Juan de Plasencia (1589) stated that the datu of Pila once bought a new site with his gold to make use of as a field. Santiago suggested that the datu may have been Gat Salian, and that the transaction occurred around the year 1375, when the old site of Pila (Pinagbayanan) and Bulilan were abandoned due to severe flooding and transferred to Bagong Pook (new place). However, the new site failed to thrive due to its poorer location, pressuring the datu to buy a new site called Pagalangan (meaning "place of reverence") from another lord, which was a higher and more solid location.
Expansion and rivalry with Namayan During this period, Gat Salian Maguinto was a fierce opponent of Lakantagkan of Namayan as he was said to have been a leader who frequently engaged in violent raids, especially towards the Aeta settlements of Ironga or Paidas, having formed an alliance, located in the coasts of modern-day Rizal Province. The Aetas formed an alliance with the leader of Tan-ay against Pila, but to no avail. During this encounter, the Aeta leader Baug was killed by Gat Salian and the settlements were burned. He proceeded to conquer these areas as well as the eastern part of Talim Island.
Spanish colonial rule
After the Battle of Bangkusay in June 1571, Legazpi, Governor-General of the Philippines, awarded encomiendas to various subjects, as well as the Spanish crown. One of the benefactors was Don Francisco de Herrera, who received Pagalangan and other villages around Laguna as part of his encomienda. With the reorganization of the encomienda system in 1575, Pila was granted to Don Hernando Ramírez on 29 July of the same year. Pila, now a Spanish settlement, was given the title “La Noble Villa de Pila” (The Noble Town of Pila). The Franciscans led by Fr. Juan de Plasencia and Fr. Diego de Oropesa eventually took control of Pila and adjacent areas around Laguna and Tayabas in 1578. The first church of Pila was built in 1581 at Pagalangan, in dedication to San Antonio de Padua before a much sturdier church was completed in 1617.
Language
The primary language of Pila was Old Tagalog according to the account of Fr. Juan de Plasencia, a very influential missionary responsible for the conversion of Laguna Tagalogs into Christianity.Felix de Huerta, OFM. Estado, geografico, topografico, Estadistico, Historico-Religioso de la Santa y apostolica provincia de San Gregorio Magno,. Binondo, Manila: 1885 p. 71 This was corroborated by linguistic evidence provided by R. David Zorc, who theorized that Tagalogs came from Eastern Visayas or Northern Mindanao and settled in Luzon sometime in the 9th-10th centuries, roughly around the same time period as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. However, as the LCI shows, Old Malay was also spoken in Pila, and Sanskrit titles and honorifics were used frequently throughout the document.
For written communications, the people of Pila used both Kawi and Baybayin scripts. The Kawi script used in the copperplate was different from the Kawi used in Java, suggesting a different variant.
Social Structure
Social Hierarchy
According to Fr. Juan de Plasencia, there were six overall classes of people in the society of old Pila, the highest of which, is the datu, who is the leader and the judge of a domain. The leader of Pila was also referred to as a datu. The elite or the nobility of a datu's bayan is referred to as the maginoo. Meanwhile, there were two kinds of commoners. The first was the timawa, who were neither slaves nor part of the elite. However, they were not confined towards anything. This contrasts the maharlikas, who were the warrior class and have an obligation to serve their datu in battle. The maharlikas could not transfer their allegiance except through marriage or through payment of a fee. The maharlika class was only present in Laguna during the period and nowhere else.
There was slavery, but it was distinguished into two types of slaves (alipin). The higher of the two are the aliping namamahay, who had their own houses and served their lords, comparable to serfs. This mainly happens due to debt or when petty crime is committed. Most often, they only provide a portion of their harvest and had access to land controlled by the overall bayan or barangay. They also had the chance to be freed after the payment of a debt. The latter, the aliping sagigilid, is more unfortunate, as they did not own anything, and had no chance of freedom in the future. Their offspring were also destined to be slaves.
Titles were also commonly used in daily communication. Ginoo for instance was used as a title of respect for both sexes historically, although it is still used today but only for men. Meanwhile, the titles Gat or Dayang were equivalent to Lord and Lady respectively. Maginto or Maygintawo, literally meaning 'full of gold' or 'has gold', were used to people with extreme wealth, as in the case of Gat Salian Maguinto, who both have the titles Gat and Maginto.
Sanskrit titles An organized political structure had already existed in the Laguna de Bay area, including Pila since early antiquity, as evidenced by the common use of Hindu titles among the leaders in Laguna de Bay in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. The use of titles such as Dang Hwan (His Honor), Nayaka Tuhan (the Lord/Master), Senepati (army commander or general) indicate high levels of Sanskrit influence in the region, as well as evidence that the inhabitants of Pila held great respect to its rulers. The most prominent leader who used such titles during the period was Jayadewa, who was the Senepati of Tundun and Lord of Pailah.
Women in Pila In ancient Pila, women were often held almost in the same regard as with men. A woman could succeed to a chiefdom in absence of a male heir and inherited equal shares with their brothers. Various priestesses called the katalungan or catalonan were held in high esteem.
Customs
Burials The early inhabitants of Pila often washed the bones and wrapped up the corpses of the dead, as well as placing grave goods in the burial jars. They also practiced cremation, although it was a short-lived tradition.