# Namayan

Namayan (Baybayin: Pre-Kudlit: ᜈᜋᜌ or ᜐᜉ (Sapa), Post-Kudlit: ᜈᜋᜌᜈ᜔), also called Sapa and sometimes Lamayan, was an independent$^{:193}$ polity on the banks of the Pasig River in the Philippines. It is believed to have peaked in the 11th-14th centuries, although it continued to be inhabited until the arrival of European colonizers in the 1570s.
Formed as a polity occupying several barangays, it was one of several polities on the Pasig River just prior to the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, alongside Tondo, Maynila, and Cainta.
Archeological findings in Santa Ana have produced the oldest evidence of continuous habitation among the Pasig River polities, pre-dating artifacts found within the historical sites of Maynila and Tondo.

## Sources

Historians studying Namayan have the advantage of being able to draw both from written sources and from artifacts uncovered in controlled archeological digs.
The most prominent primary written sources regarding precolonial Namayan is "Estado Geográfico, Topográfico, Estadístico, Histórico-Religioso de la Santa y Apostólica Província de San Gregorio Magno", published in 1865 by Franciscan scholar Fr. Felix de Huerta. His description of Namayan included important details such as the extent of Namayan's territories, and the lineage of its rulers.
Controlled archaeological excavations conducted by the National Museum of the Philippines in the 1960s, meantime, produced artifacts from a pre-Hispanic grave site within the Santa Ana Church complex, providing important information about maritime trade around Southeast Asia and China from 12th to 15th century AD, as well as the elaborate mortuary practices of Namayan's inhabitants.

## Capital sites

Three present-day locations are identified as the political centers of Namayan. Two of these are within the present-day Santa Ana district in Manila, and Barangay Namayan in Mandaluyong across the river from the other sites.

### Namayan, Mandaluyong

Barangay Namayan in Mandaluyong bears the name of the polity, and was believed to be the seat of power of Lakantagkan. However, it would be incorporated into Santa Ana de Sapa as a barrio in 1578.

### Sapa

The site most associated with the Namayan polity is the town proper of Santa Ana, which grew around Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish. This site did not become the main settlement until 1578, when Franciscan missionaries built the first church some distance from the original town. Local referred to the site as "Sapà."
Sapà is the Tagalog and Kapampangan word for a small creek. Nearby bodies of water matching the description include what are now Estero de Tripa de Gallina ("Rooster’s Gut Estuary") and a smaller creek (Estero de Sta. Clara) in the vicinity of the present-day streets of Del Pan, Havana, and Tejerón. However, old Santa Ana was known for being "criss-crossed by brooks and creeks", any number of which could have been obscured by urbanization.
Christianised into Santa Ana de Sapa, the name eventually encompassed the modern Santa Ana district of Manila. De Huerta notes that "this town takes its name from the titular saint and the addition of Sapa for its having been established in a site immediately upon an estuary or rivulet proceeding from the Pasig River, which the natives call Sapa and the name of the town itself."

### Lamayan

Instead of the Sapa site, local traditions say that an area called Lamayan (Tagalog and Kapampangan for "the place where a wake was held"), on the banks of the Pasig itself. It was said to be the site of the ancient capital from which Lakantagkan and Buwan once ruled. It is still recognizable today, as a street in the area still bears its name.

## Territory

Namayan's territory has been described bordering Manila Bay, the Pasig River, and Laguna de Bay. A more precise description of Namayan's administrative area is given by Fr. de Huerta, who, noting that Namayan was a confederation of several barangays, identified these component communities as they were named during the mid 19th century.
Most are now districts or barangays within the modern City of Manila:
* Namayan (Lakantagkan's seat of power; modern-day Namayan, Mandaluyong)
* Sapa (now the district of Santa Ana)
* Meycatmon (which literally means "a place with Catmon (Dillenia indica) trees")
* Calatondongan
* Dongos
* Dibag
* Pinacauasan
* Yamagtogon
* Meysapan (now within Ususan, Taguig)
* Malate
* Dilao (Paco)
* Pandacan
* Quiapo
* Sampaloc
* San Miguel
Four settlements are now separate cities in and around Metro Manila:
* San Juan del Monte (now San Juan)
* San Felipe Neri (now Mandaluyong)
* San Pedro de Macati (now Makati)
* Taytay, Rizal
Administrative and political records of Spanish Manila indicate that these settlements mentioned as territories of Namayan were recorded in 1578 as parts and visitas (satellite settlements) of Sta. Ana de Sapa.
A number of these settlements' names are no longer used today, but Philippine National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, in his book "Manila My Manila: A History for the Young", says that Namayan's territories included what are now Santa Ana, Quiapo, San Miguel, Sampaloc, Santa Mesa, Paco, Pandacan in Manila; Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Pasay, Pateros, Taguig, Taytay, and Parañaque.

## Economic activities

Huerta describes the original settlement in Santa Ana as a fishing village that had other industries including carpentry, masonry, piña (pineapple cloth) embroidery, tinapá, cigars, bricks, sugar and bread.
This contrasts sharply with the economic activities of the contemporaneous polities of Tondo and Maynila, which monopolized the influx of goods coming from China, and monopolized the re-sale of the same Chinese goods to other ports in the archipelago, respectively.

### Gold as currency

The Namayans, like Tondo, used Piloncitos, small gold ingots some of the size of a corn kernel—and weighing from 0.09 to 2.65 grams. Large Piloncitos weighing 2.65 grams approximate the weight of one mass. Piloncitos have been excavated from Mandaluyong, Bataan and the banks of the Pasig River.
Other than Piloncitos, the Namayans also used gold rings, or gold ring-like ingots, very similar to the first coins invented in the Kingdom of Lydia in the present-day Turkey. Barter rings were circulated in the Philippines up to the 16th century.

## Rulers

Fray Huerta also recorded the genealogy of Namayan's ruling family, tracing it to a Lacantagcan or Lakantagkan, (also spelled Lakan Tagkan or Lakan Takhan, separating Lakan and Tagkan), and his wife Bouan. Under the heading "Santa Ana", he records:
   "In origin of the natives of this town comes from a ruler ("regulo") called Lacantagcan, and his wife named Bouan, lords ("señores") of the Namayan territories [...] The first Christian name found in the genealogical tree of this great ("gran") family is a certain Martin in this form. Martin, son of Calamayin: Calamayin, son of Laboy, Laboy, son of Palaba, and Palaba, firstborn son of the ruler ("regulo") Lacantagcan and his wife Bouan."
Historian William Henry Scott notes that "Rajah Kalamayin" was the name of the ruler of Namayan at the point of colonial contact in the early 1570s, and Huerta here records that his son was baptized "Martin" upon conversion to Roman Catholicism. Huerta only traces the genealogical tree of Lacantagcan back through Martin, and thus only mentions the eldest of Lacantagcan and Bouan's sons, Palaba. The other four sons of Lacantagcan are not named, and no daughters are mentioned.
Huerta does go on, however, to mention that Lacantagcan had another male son, named Pasay, whose mother was a Bornean slave:
   "The said Lacantagcan, in addition to five children of his legitimate wife Bouan, had a bastard ("bastardo") with a slave of Bornean lineage ("esclava de casta bornea"), called Pasay, who was the origin of the town known by the same name, for having fixed there his residence as landowner, supported by his father."
While Huerta thus definitively establishes that the rulers of Namayan and the settlement called Pasay were related, the precise nature of their relationship during the 1500s is unclear: Scott records that during that period, Pasay's rulers interacted with the Spanish themselves instead of "Rajah Kalamayin" speaking on their behalf.
Some local oral traditions cite Lakantagkan's child Pasay as a daughter, bestowing her with the title "Dayang-dayang" ("princess"), such as the one cited by Dery (2001), about a princess named Pasay, who married Rajah Sulayman of Maynila. However, the descriptor "bastardo" (bastard), used by Huerta, is masculine in form.
Historian Grace Odal-Devora notes that Kapampangan oral histories also mention a "Sultana Kalangitan", described as "the Lady of the Pasig" who ruled the "Kingdom of Namayan." She is said to have been the grandmother of "Prinsipe Balagtas" (or Bagtas), and the legend says that the Kapampangan people are descended from him. Odal notes that this demonstrates the interconnections of the Tagalog ruling elites.

### Documented rulers of Namayan

The rulers of Namayan from the period of colonial contact (the 1570s) back to three prior generations, were documented by Franciscan Historian Fray Felix Huerta in the work Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico- religioso de la santa y apostólica Provincia de San Gregorio Magno ("Geographical, topographical, statistical, historical and religious state of the holy and apostolic province of St. Gregory the Great"), a record of the histories of Franciscan missions which is now a primary resource for local histories of Philippine municipalities.
| Title | Name | Notes | Documented Period of Rule | Primary Sources |
| Lakan | Tagkan or Araw | Named "Lacantagcan" by Huerta and described as the ruler to whom the "original residents" of Namayan trace their origin According to Nick Joaquin, Lakan Tagkan was the descendant of Prince Balagtas, who was the descendant of Emperor Soledan and Empress Sasaban of Sapa.$^{:15}$According to Luis Camara Dery (2001), Lakantagkan was also called "Lakan Araw", and his wife Bouan was called "Ma-ilak" or "Maylac". | exact years not documented; three generations prior to Calamayin | Huerta |
| Lakan) | Palaba | Noted by Huerta as the "Principal Son" of Lakantagkan. | exact years not documented; two generations prior to Kalamayin | Huerta |
| Lakan) | Laboy | Noted by Franciscan genealogical records to be the son of Lakan Palaba, and the father of Kalamayin. | exact years not documented; one generation prior to Kalamayin | Huerta |
| Lakan | Kalamayin | Referred to by Scott (1994) as Rajah Kalamayin, described as the last ruler of Namayan before the Spanish period. | immediately prior to and after Spanish colonial contact according to Scott (fl. 1571–1575) | Huerta |
| (no title documented by Huerta) | Martin* | *Huerta does not mention if Kalamayin's son, baptized "Martin", held a government position during the early Spanish colonial period | early Spanish colonial period | Huerta |

### Legendary rulers of Namayan

Aside from the records of Huerta, a number of names of rulers are associated with Namayan by folk traditions, as recounted in documents such as the will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (1589) and documented by academics such as Grace Odal-Devora and Luis Camara Dery, as well as writers such as Nick Joaquin.
| Title | Name | Notes | Period of Rule | Primary Sources |
| "Princess" or "Lady" (term used in folk tradition, as documented by Odal-Devora) | Sasanban or Sasaban | In folk tradition recounted by Nick Joaquin and Leonardo Vivencio, a "lady of Namayan" who went to the Majapahit court to marry Emperor Soledan, eventually giving birth to Balagtas, who then returned to Namayan/Pasig in 1300.$^{:51}$ According to the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas cited by Luis Camara Dery (2001), a lady of Sapa who married Emperor Soledan and mother of Prince Balagtas. | Legendary antiquity | Batangueño folk tradition (cited by Odal-Devora, 2000), and folk tradition cited by Joaquin and Vicencio Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (cited by Dery, 2001) |
| Prince (term used in folk tradition, as documented by Odal-Devora) | Bagtas or Balagtas | In Batangueño Folk Tradition as cited by Odal-Devora, the King of Balayan and Taal who married Panginoan, daughter of Kalangitan and Lontok who were rulers of Pasig.$^{:51}$ In Kapampangan Folk Tradition as cited by Odal-Devora, the "grandson of Kalangitan" and a "Prince of Madjapahit" who married the "Princess Panginoan of Pampanga"$^{:47,51}$ Either the son in law (Batangueño Tradition) or grandson (Kapampangan Tradition) of Kalangitan In folk tradition recounted by Nick Joaquin and Leonardo Vivencio, the Son of Emperor Soledan of Majapahit who married Sasanban of Sapa/Namayan. Married Princess Panginoan of Pasig at about the year 1300 in order to consolidate his family line and rule of Namayan. According to Joaquin, Balagtas was the ancestor of Lakan Tagkan.$^{:47,51}$$^{:15}$ According to the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas cited by Luis Camara Dery (2001), a son of Emperor Soledan and Empress Sasanban of Sapa, who married Panginoan, daughter of Lontok and Kalangitan. | Somewhere in 1335–1380 according to folk tradition cited by Joaquin and Vicencio | Batangueño and Kapampangan folk traditions cited by Odal-Devora, and folk tradition cited by Joaquin and Vicencio Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (cited by Dery, 2001) |
| "Princess" or "Lady" (term used in folk tradition, as documented by Odal-Devora) | Panginoan | In Batangueño Folk Tradition as cited by Odal-Devora, the daughter of Kalangitan and Lontok who were rulers of Pasig, who eventually married Balagtas, King of Balayan and Taal.$^{:51}$ In Kapampangan Folk Tradition as cited by Odal-Devora, who eventually married Bagtas, the "grandson of Kalangitan."$^{:47,51}$ In folk tradition recounted by Nick Joaquin and Leonardo Vivencio, "Princess Panginoan of Pasig" who was married by Balagtas, the Son of Emperor Soledan of Majapahit in 1300 AD in an effort consolidate rule of Namayan$^{:47,51}$ According to the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas cited by Luis Camara Dery (2001), a daughter of Lontok and Kalangitan who married Prince Balagtas, son of the Emperor Soledan and Empress Sasanban of Sapa. | Legendary antiquity | Batangueño and Kapampangan folk traditions cited by Odal-Devora, and folk tradition cited by Joaquin and Vicencio Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (cited by Dery, 2001) |
| Gat | Lontok | In Batangueño Folk Tradition as cited by Odal-Devora, husband of Kalangitan, serving as "rulers of Pasig" together.$^{:51}$ According to the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas cited by Luis Camara Dery (2001), a son of Lakantagkan/Arao and Buwan/Maylac, who married Kalangitan of Pasig. | Legendary antiquity | Batangueño folk tradition (cited by Odal-Devora, 2000) Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (cited by Dery, 2001) |
| Dayang or Sultana | Kalangitan | Legendary "Lady of the Pasig" in Batangueño Folk Tradition and "Ruler of Sapa" in Kapampangan Folk Tradition (as documented by Odal-Devora). Either the mother in law (Batangueño Tradition) or grandmother (Kapampangan Tradition) of the ruler known as "Prinsipe Balagtas" According to the Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas cited by Luis Camara Dery (2001), a lady of the Pasig who married Lontok, son of Arao and Maylac. | Legendary antiquity | Batangueño and Kapampangan folk traditions (cited by Odal-Devora, 2000) Will of Fernando Malang Balagtas (cited by Dery, 2001) |

## After colonization

When the parish of Sta. Ana de Sapa was founded in 1578, Franciscan missionaries chose to build their church, and eventually another settlement, some distance away from the ancient town. The result is that the present-day Santa Ana is no longer located at the original site. This has raised some questions about pre-colonial graves that have recently been excavated near the Santa Ana church.