Maharlika

[kambriel]

I was pondering recently what the Phillipines would have been called in the era prior to colonialization since for an island nation in the heart of Asia, it's fairly obvious that wouldn't have been the original, indigenous name.

Turns out this was right and before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Philippine archipelago was collectively known as Maharlika, which may have come from the Old Malay language meaning "noble creation".

I guess that would have the natives at that time being called Maharlikans... Just thought any friends here with Filipino ancestral descent might find this interesting :)

Comments

[heresiarch.livejournal.com]

apparently the Phillippines were named for Spanish King Phillip, which isn't surprising. but the pre-colonial history of the archepelago is a little more complex, and contemporary Filipinos can be of Malaysian/Polynesian, Chinese, Spanish, or American descent (and often a mix of all of those). According to Wikipedia, pre-colonial Filipinos were made up of many many Malayo-Polynesian language groups. And of course, southeast Asia was a center of trade and migration, so I suspect there was a lot of movement and interaction of peoples with other parts of east and southest Asia.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Reminds me a lot of Sicily in a way with the continual influx of a variety of peoples coming from different lands over the centuries to such a strategic place, as well as being an island locale with an abundance of natural beauty.

Apparently at one point the Phillipines almost took on the name Malaysia, but by then that name was already spoken for ;)

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks for that. I like the idea of having blood from a place called noble creation!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

You're quite welcome!