Philippine History: Early Inhabitants and Settlements

Early Inhabitants of the Philippines

• The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived between 3000 and 2000 B.C.
• They were of Malay-Polynesian descendants.

Barangay Societies

• People lived in groups of 30-100 families in societies known as barangays.
• Barangays were led by a datu or raha/hari or lakan (leader of the barangay).

Introduction of Islam

• Islam was introduced in Sulu in the 14th century and in Mindanao in the 15th century.

Early Shelters

• Caves were used as early shelters by Filipinos.

Traditional Houses

• Pre-Hispanic houses were rectangular structures elevated on stilts, with voluminous thatched roofs ornamented with gable finials.
• Houses could be lifted as a whole and carried to a new site.

House Components

• Balai: a traditional type of house in Apayao with an elevated rectangular one-room structure and a high-pitch thatch roof.
• Atap: a high-pointed arch-shaped roof with layers of thick cogon grass or nipa leaves.
• Dinding: wallboards, rectangular wooden panels vertically fitted on a groove of the wall sill and girt to enclose upper floor space.
• Ribayan: eaves, the lower end of the thick cogon roof projecting beyond the wallboards.
• Tapi: floor beam, a horizontal timber member attached above the floor joist and the outer post to provide support for the raised section of the floor.
• Lawang: drain gutter, a shallow drain canal located just below the roof eaves, constructed along the perimeter of the house to capture and redirect rainwater.
• Bobong: roof ridge, layers of thick cogon grass meticulously laid above the ridge to cover the space created along the ridge after cogon roof was installed.
• Sakkar: tie beam, a camber-shaped rectangular beam that holds the roof beam on its ends to keep the roof beam in place.
• Toldog: floor joist, a hand-hewn rectangular lumber with cove ends laid above the posts to hold the flooring.
• Sidung/Linung: basement, the unusable space below the house primarily intended to keep the house from dampness and humidity of the ground.
• Talaxatag: wood floor, a fixed wooden floor attached to the floor joist with spacing, almost twice its size.
• Anadixiyan: girder, a rectangular member connecting posts and supporting floor beams.

House Features

• Tabungan: gable opening, an opening above the upper-end of the gable wall used as smoke exhaust.
• Rarat: roof undersheating, an undersheating for the roof made from closely-knit dried reed grass which forms a mat.
• Dapug: hearth, the earthen hearth of the house located inside the bamboo extension and attached to the main house.
• Soba: breadth of the house, the overall width of the main house.
• Sotan/Lamdaw: window, a portion along the exterior wall where wallboards can be removed to have an opening for windows.
• Banga: cooking jar, earthen pot used for cooking.
• Amoto: jar for holding water, earthen jar used for storing water for cooking, washing, and drinking purposes.
• Arangat: shelf, the shelf above the dishwashing area used for storing plates, bowls, etc.
• Padurot: length of the house, the overall length of the main house.
• Gawayan: interior of the house, the spacious hall of the main house, without partitions and with a portion of the floor raised to about 4" which can function as a seat or any related use.
• Agdan: ladder, the wooden or bamboo ladder used both at the main house and the kitchen extension.
• Balatad: path walk, stone pavers laid over muddy ground serving as a path walk from one house to another, or from one settlement to another.
• Irat: binding rafter, a horizontal roof member made from wooden branches, tied under the rafter to prevent them from moving.
• Sokar: collar beam, a three-layer wooden branch, placed below the binding rafter which serves to tie and unite the two opposing bent rafters.
• Talabawan: ridge beam, a horizontal member at the apex of the roof, made from wood branches and used to support the roof of the house.
• Patuna/Pantud: king post, a hand-hewn lumber, vertically fitted on its ends with mortise joints to the tie and collar beams, used to provide additional support to the heavy roof.
• Tadawag/Baday: rafter, a thin, pliable board, hand-hewn into bent form, tied to the ridge beam at the apex of the roof and the roof beam above the wall to support the thick cogon grass roof.
• Adixi: outer post, a square hand-hewn timber post, approximately twice the length of the inner post, which supports the heavy roofing framework and its thick cogon grass roof.
• Sinit: inner post, a square hand-hewn timber post supporting the elevated floor space.
• Datag/Xassaran: flooring made of bamboo or rattan mat, a flooring made from closely knit bamboo strips or dried reed mat which can be removed and washed along rivers.
• Ampakan: roof beam, a rectangular beam connecting the outer columns that support the roof's structural framework.
• Agdanan: wall sill, a horizontal wooden member placed above floor beams and grooved to hold the enclosing wallboards.
• Axeran: girt, a rectangular horizontal wooden member along the perimeter of the house supporting the closing wallboards and the upper roofing frameworks.

Badjao Houses

• Badjao houses are elevated rectangular one-room structures with a steep hip type cogon roof.
• Jambatan: footbridge, a bridge connecting the house to the shore or land.
• Taytayan: catwalk, a walkway leading to the badjao house.
• Harunan/Harun: ladder of a badjao house.
• Luma: the traditional badjao landhouse.
• Lepa: traditional badjao boat house.
• Djening: a lepa that has outriggers, roofed, and walled in on all sides by wooden boards.
• Dapang or Vinta: not roofed, only used for fishing and short trips.

Sagada Houses

• Tinokbob: one of the earliest houses in Sagada, windowless with a thick and steep roof intended to withstand the cold weather conditions.
• Atep: a steep roof with thick piles of cogon grass gathered into bundles and inserted into the rafters.
• Dapogan: cooking area, the area located at the rear section of the house used for cooking and storing kitchen implements.
• Kamalig: storage space, an elevated wooden platform for storing baskets and pots.
• Lomeng: pig pen, a shallow pit enclosed with stones and boulders intended as pigs' pen.
• Segpan: doorway, an opening as entrance into the house.
• Agdan: ladder, a wooden ladder utilized for accessing the granary of the house.
• Agamang: central granary, an elevated wooden structure, regarded as the heart of the house, and intended for storing rice grain and for offering sacrifices to the anito.
• Dingding: upper wall, wooden boards for sheathing interior walls of granary.
• Pamobbongan: ridge beam, a horizontal wooden section at the apex of the sloping roof which supports the upper end of the rafters.
• Todog: roof undersheating, a horizontal support for roof grass made from "runo" sticks.
• Kammanga: wall sill, a horizontal timber resting above the floor joist used to hold up the granary wallboards.
• Desa: floor joist, a rectangular member attached to the girders which keeps up the granary structure.
• Tokod: post, a square wood post used to support the roof and the lower horizontal plank wall.

Samal Houses

• Samal houses are elevated rectangular one-room structures near the coastal waters of Southern Mindanao, Palawan, Zamboanga, and Sulu archipelago.
• Bubung: roof, the gable roof with moderate slope usually made of nipa thatch material on bamboo or wood purlins.
• Tukalog: stud, secondary posts along the perimeter of the wall used as vertical support for the exterior thatch wall.
• Taytayan-Tikus: roof beam, the lumber or bamboo laid horizontally throughout the perimeter of the wall to hold the upper-end portion of the posts.
• Salsal: joist, a whole bamboo laid horizontally at about 0.40-0.60 meter spacing to support the flooring of the house.
• Hanglad: girder, a thick lumber or bamboo which holds the floor joists of the house.
• Gaob: wallboard, rectangular wooden planks of about 1 inch thick with varying widths and heights vertically fitted at an angle on grooved floor beams, joists, and wall headers.
• Tukud: post, made of large round logs, 8-12 inches wide by 6-10 feet in length and buried about 2-3 feet below the ground and secured in with stone boulders around.

Ifugao Houses

• Palan: attic, the third level space of an Ifugao house with reed mat flooring and used as storage area for rice grains.
• Patrie: shelf, a shelf formed by fitting### Traditional Houses of Muslim Communities in the Philippines
• Badjao House: windowless one-room house of light materials and thatch roof built above coastal waters in Southern Philippines
• Bay Sinug: traditional house of the Tausug people, comprised of two or more houses on stilts connected by an elevated open space serving as house extensions
• Samal House: elevated rectangular one-room structures near coastal waters of Southern Mindanao, Palawan, Zamboanga, and Sulu archipelago
• Torogan: sultan's house, place of residence and office of the reigning sultan and immediate members of his family; a venue for important social events and cultural rituals

Architectural Features and Structures

• Batangan: tie beam; a rectangular timber constructed horizontally at the mid-section of the rafters to hold the two opposing rafters in place
• Dingding: perimeter wall enclosure made of hand-hewn wooden planks laid horizontally above every panel
• Harunan: ladder; a thick piece of lumber tightly secured to the grider to serve as a ladder with a carved and closely-spaced conical-shaped foot rest
• Langgal: mosque
• Libut: pyramidal roof with vents at the apex
• Liug: central post; the shortest column placed at the center of the house to hold the crossing of floor beams
• Lumah: traditional house of the Yakans in the mountainous interior of Basilan Island; elevated, rectangular, one-room structure with few small windows and protected by a high-pitch thatch roof
• Pusal: king post; a vertical member often in a form similar to a baluster with belly base, placed above the tie and roof beams to reinforce the ridge beam

Muslim Architecture and Structures

• Masjid: mosque; spiritual sanctuary for Muslim worship primarily governed by the liturgical axis towards Makkah (Mecca)
• Mihrab: prayer niche; space used for communal worship for men and women
• Mimbar: pulpit in a mosque, where the imam delivers sermons
• Minaret: tall slender tower of a mosque where the call to prayer is pronounced
• Kuta: fort; strong defensive place intended for military troops enclosed with ditches and ramparts and protected by bastions and bartizans

Cultural and Historical Significance

• Sultanate: independent datu who exercised paramount authority over the people
• Islam in the Philippines: first introduced by visiting foreign traders and systematically spread through the conversion of community leaders and the adoption of rituals and art
• Tarsila: written genealogical accounts interwoven with oral traditions or folklore
• Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuwan: singularly imparted the impression of tarsilas in Maguindanao around 1515
• Sharif Alawi: spread teachings in Lanao (Lake Lanao) and Bukidnon through marriage alliances with Muslim Iranuns and Maguindanao datus

Islamic Concepts and Beliefs

• Tawhid: fundamental Islamic doctrine which articulates Islamic Cosmology, meaning "Unity of Allah"
• Adhan: calling or summon for an obligatory prayer
• Iqamah: to stand up for a prayer
• Salat: formal prayer which requires space both physically and mentally
• Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca which demands space and time as it can only be performed in the 12th lunar month of the Islamic calendar### Defining Characteristics of Philippine Mosques
• Absence of sahn (wide enclosed courtyard) furnished with ablution fountain
• Seating area with benches for worshippers to sit and talk while waiting
• Mimbar (elevated pulpit) is not high; elevated platform, chair or any similar furniture used as replacement for the preacher to deliver sermons
• Call to prayer not done on tall minarets, but inside the mosques
• Minarets are present but not functional; reduced to mere decorative vertical appendages due to presence of electronic sound amplifiers

Unique Features of Mosques in the Philippines

• Use of hanging drums (tabo, jabu-jabu or dabu-dabu) to summon worshippers to the mosque
• Okir – Curvilinear carvings done in highly colorful decorations
• Presence of mythical winged creature, half-human and half-horse (burak) in decorations
• Obor-obor - An inverted jar placed at the apex of the dome in mosques of Lanao, originating from Sung or Ming dynasty
• Posaka – Heirloom among the Maranaos (Chinese jar) which provides evidence of strong Chinese influence among Maranaos

Division of Males and Females in Mosques

• Separate entrances for male and females most of the time
• White cloth hung to segregate males from females
• Mezzanine-like structure within interiors devoted for female prayer
• Women usually stay at the back of men during worship

Islamic Architecture in the Philippines

• Influenced by various cultures, including Chinese, Spanish, American, and Asian
• Use of geometric designs, calligraphy, and ornate decorations
• Bulbous domes (onion-shaped domes) emerged as a result of exposure to mosques in the Middle East
• High-style Islamic architecture introduced changes in terms of materials and methods of construction
• From circular dome to octagonal dome for convenience

Historical Development of Mosques in Mindanao

• First mosque built in 1515 by Sharief Kabungsuwan who founded the Sultanate of Maguindanao
• Post-World War II - increase in number of mosques in Mindanao
• Before: 44 made of austere and temporary materials, plain and unadorned, palm-leaf roofing
• Now: Hundreds, built of permanent materials inspired by domed mosques from West Asia and North Africa

Famous Mosques in the Philippines

• Golden Mosque (Masjid Al-Dahab) in Quiapo, Manila
• Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, Cotabato City
• King Faisal Mosque at the Mindanao State University
• Blue Mosque in Maharlika Village in Taguig
• Al Foqara Mosque in Manila Bay
• Jama Masjid in Manila

Other Features of Philippine Mosques

• Madrasa – A school for the study of Muslim law and religious science
• Iwan – In Islamic architecture, a vaulted rectangular recess opening onto a courtyard (porch area)
• Javanese mosque - Multilayered, pyramidal roof capped by an ornamental pinnacle at the rooftop, originating from China