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Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period Facts & Worksheets

The Philippines' pre-colonial period was filled with indigenous peoples engaged in healthy trade with various cultures and economies in the region and the foreign traders.

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The Philippines’ pre-colonial period was filled with indigenous peoples engaged in healthy trade with various cultures and economies in the region and the foreign traders.

See the fact file below for more information on the Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

FINDING PHILIPPINES

  • The Philippines is an archipelago made up of 7,107 islands divided into three geographical areas: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital is Manila.
  • It enjoys a tropical climate, with sunny summers from March to May, a rainy season from June to August, and cool temperatures from late November to early February.
  • Along with its 111 dialects, Filipinos speak two official languages: Filipino and English.
  • As Asia’s oldest democracy, the Philippines pays homage to the citizens by giving them power to select the leader they deem capable to lead.

PHILIPPINES PREHISTORY

  • The first Homo species on the Philippines arrived during the Pleistocene period (631,000 and 777,000 years ago). This is evidenced by unearthed artifacts found in Kalinga.
  • The earliest known hominin remains in the Philippines are the 67,000-year-old fossil discovered in 2007 in the Callao Caves, Cagayan.
  • An earlier find in Tabon Cave, Palawan (1962) was fossilized fragments of skull and jawbone of three individuals, called the “Tabon Man”. It was presumed a Negrito, who were among the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants.
  • Several models of early human migration to the Philippines were theorized:
    • Wave Migration Theory – H. Otley Beyer proposed that Filipino ancestors came to the islands first via land bridges and then later via seagoing vessels such as the balangay.
    • Core Population Theory – Felipe Landa Jocano proposed that early inhabitants of Southeast Asia were of the same ethnic group with a similar culture, but over time, they differentiated themselves.
    • Out of Sundaland – Modern authors proposed that the origin of the Austronesian peoples, including the early Filipinos, were from the sunken Sundaland landmass: modern Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula.
    • Out of Taiwan – Peter Bellwood proposed that the first Austronesians reached the Philippines in around 2,200 BCE from Taiwan to Batanes Islands, then settled downwards to the rest of the islands of the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
  • Upon settlement, different tribes and cultures flourished. The early FIlipinos developed a culture advanced enough to trade with the Tamil Nadu (South India) in the ninth and tenth centuries BCE.
  • Maritime trade in Southeast Asia expanded in the early centuries of the first millennium, with trade between China and the Philippines becoming regular by the fifth century.
  • From the 7th to the 15th century, centers of trade emerged in the country including the Kingdom of Namayan in Manila Bay, Cebu, Iloilo, Butuan, the Sanfotsi Empire in Pangasinan, the Kingdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak in Pampanga, and Kingdom of Aparri which specialized in trade with Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa.

PHILIPPINES PRE-COLONIAL CULTURE

  • Archeological findings, existing literature and other proof of pre-colonial communities in the Philippines provide evidence of Filipinos’ rich cultural heritage.

POLITICS

  • The majority of the political system in the early Philippines was led by leaders called “Datus”, responsible for ruling autonomous groups called “barangay” or “dulohan”.
  • The social structure was as follows:
    • Datu (ruling class, chief)
    • Maginoo (noble people/families)
    • Maharlika (Warriors)
    • Timawa (freemen, tribespeople)
    • Alipin (slave – dependent class), which can be aliping namamahay (serfs) or aliping saguiguilid (slaves)
  • Other areas called their leaders “benganganat” in Cagayan Valley, “mingal” in Gaddang, “babacnang” in Ilocos, and “timuay” in Zamboanga.

LITERATURE

  • Philippine folk tales, epics, poems, and chants existed in most ethnolinguistic groups and were passed from generation to generation through word of mouth.
  • Biag ni Lam-ang (Life of Lam-ang) of the Ilocanos narrates the adventures of epic hero, Lam-ang.
  • Other epics known to most Filipinos are the Ibalon of Bikol, Darangan a Muslim epic, the Kudaman of Palawan, the Alim of the Ifugao, Bantugan of the Maranao, the Hinilawod of Panay, and the Tuwaang of Manobos.
  • Pre-colonial literary pieces transferred in traditional narratives, speeches, and songs include Tigmo in Cebuano, Bugtong in Tagalog, patototdon in Bicol, and paktakon in Ilonggo.
  • Baybayin (to spell) was the pre-colonial writing system in the Philippines.
  • Some modern scripts in the Philippines descended from Baybayin. Those are Hanunó’o, Buhid, Tagbanwa, the Kapampangan script, and the Bisaya script.

RELIGION

  • Animism was widely practiced in the pre-colonial Philippines. This is a collection of beliefs in the idea that the world is inhabited by spirits and supernatural entities, both good and bad, and that respect must be accorded to them through worship.
  • These entities are commonly called the anitos, referring to spirits including household deities, deceased ancestors, nature-spirits, nymphs, and diwatas (minor gods and demigods).
  • Tagalog supreme deities include Bathala and his children Adlaw, Mayari, and Tala, or the Visayan deity Kan-Laon.
  • Folk healers were called the babaylan: shamans and spiritual leaders, and mananambal: the medicine men.
  • In 1380, Arabian trader Karim Al Makhdum reached the Sulu and later established Islam and the first Muslim mosque in Barangay Tubig Indangan on Simunul Island in Tawi-Tawi.
  • Their belief principally lies the unity of God (‘Allah’ in Arabic), and Muhammad as his final messenger in a series of revelations.

CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Farmers adapted the kaingin (swidden agriculture) to produce staple crops such as rice, millet, bananas, and root crops.
  • Weapons wielded by Filipino warriors were the balaraw, kris, and kampilan.
  • Early Filipinos worked in various mines for gold, silver, copper, and iron for jewels, gold ingots, chains, bangles, kalombigas, and earrings. These were handed down and passed from generation to generation.

Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Philippines’ pre-colonial period which was filled with indigenous peoples engaged in healthy trade with various cultures and economies in the region and the foreign traders.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Philippines: Pre-Colonial Period Facts
  • The Language
  • The People
  • Pre-colonial Men
  • Pre-colonial Women
  • Symbols of Power
  • Pre-colonial Meals
  • My Kubo Design
  • Bahay Kubo
  • Mariang Makiling
  • Lapu-Lapu

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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