Namayan

Namayan, in pre-colonial times variously mentioned as Sapa, Maysapan or Nasapan; was an ancient Kingdom on the banks of the Pasig River in the Philippines, that flourished between the 11th and 14th centuries, and continued to be inhabited until the arrival of European colonizers in the 1570s. 

Namayan was one of three major kingdoms which dominated the upper eastern side of the Pasig River running along the coast of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines. Its capital was Sapa, what is now Santa Ana, Manila. The kingdom's territory reached present-day Mandaluyong, Makati, and Pasay, as far as the lakeside town of Taytay, Rizal, spanning an area approximately the size of modern Metropolitan Manila (246.5 square miles).

Formed as a polity occupying several ancient Barangay states, it was one of several such polities through the Pasig River just prior to the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, alongside the kingdom of ancient Tondo, the Rajahnate of ancient Maynila, and the polity of ancient Cainta.

See also: Santa Ana, Manila

Essential sources

 Wiliam Henry Scott
 Felix Huerta
 Nick JoaquinJoaquin, Nick.  Manila My Manila: A History for the Young. City Government of Manila. Manila: 1990.
 Ambeth Ocampo
 Robert B. FoxFox, Robert B. and Avelino M. Legaspi. 1977. Excavations at Santa Ana. Manila: National Museum of the Philippines

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 source 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 gravesite within the Santa Ana Church complex,Locsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines. Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company.  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.

Gallery

References

Category:Namayan
Category:1570s disestablishments