Namayan

The ancient Kingdom of Namayan, alternately referred to as the "Kingdom of Sapa" after its capital, was one of three major Kingdoms that dominated the area around the upper portion of the Pasig River and the coast of Laguna Lake in the Philippines before the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 1500s.

Namayan is said to be the oldest of the three kingdoms, pre-dating Ancient Tondo and Manila. -- traveleronfoot Formed by a confederation of barangays, it is said to have achieved its peak in 1175.cite web | title = About Pasay -- History: Kingdom of Namayan | work = pasay city government website | publisher = City Government of Pasay | url =http://www.pasay.gov.ph/About%20Pasay/History.html | format = HTML | accessdate = 5 February 2008 ]

Territorial range

Namayan's territory has been described bordering Manila Bay, the Pasig river, and Laguna Lake. -- .pasay.gov -- traveleronfoot A more precise description of Namayan's administrative area is given by Franciscan scholar Fr. Felix de Huerta, who, noting that Namayan was a confederation of several barangays, identified these component communities as they were named during the mid 1800s. cite book | last = Huerta | first = Felix, de | authorlink = Felix Huerta | title = Estado Geografico, Topografico, Estadistico, Historico-Religioso de la Santa y Apostolica Provincia de San Gregorio Magno | publisher = Imprenta de M. Sanchez y Compañia | date = 1865 | location = Binondo ]

These were:
*Meycatmon,
*Calatondangan (or "Kalatundungan"),
*Dongos (or "Dungos"),
*Dibag,
*Pinacauasan,
*Yamagtogon,
*Maysapan (now Santa Ana),
*Malate,
*Dilao (Paco),
*Pandacan,
*Quiapo,
*Sampaloc,
*San Miguel,
*San Juan del Monte,
*San Felipe Neri (now Mandaluyong),
*San Pedro de Makati and
*Taytay.

Moreover, administrative and political records of Spanish Manila indicate that these settlements mentioned as territories of the Kingdom of Sapa were recorded in 1578 as parts and visitas of Sta. Ana de Sapa.cite web | title = The Kingdom of Namayan and Maytime Fiesta in Sta. Ana of Old Manila | work = Traveler on Foot: A Travel Journal | date =May 12, 2008 | url = http://traveleronfoot.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/the-kingdom-of-sapa-and-maytime-fiesta-in-sta-ana-of-old-manila/ | format = HTML | accessdate = 27 September 2008 ]

The capital, Sapa, would later be called Maysapan, and then Santa Ana de Sapa, and is known today simply as Santa Ana, a district of the City of Manila.

Fr. Huertas 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."”

Rulers of Namayan

Fr. Huertas also recorded the history of Namayan's rulers. It had been ruled from Sapa by Lakan Tagkan (Lacatagcan) or Takhan, and Lady Buan. They had five children, of whom the principal was named Palaba. Palaba had a son named Laboy, who had a son named Calamayin whose own son was christened Martin when he converted to Catholicism.

Of perhaps greater interest, however, is Tagkan's child by his Bornean slave-wife. This child was named Pasay, and inherited the territory now comprising the territories of Culi-culi, Pasay and Baclaran. Pasay city still bears the name of this individual. --traveleronfoot There is some discrepancy over whether Pasay was a son or daughter, with some legends referring to "Dayang-dayang (Princess) Pasay"

After colonization

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

During the spanish times, Santa was a fishing village whose other industries included carpentry and masonry, piña-embroidery, and the production of tinapa, cigar, bricks, sugar, and bread. A street named Lamayan (which in tagalog means "the site of a wake") is said to be the site of the ancient capital where Lacatagcan and Buan ruled.

Sources

Additional Reading

*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = History of Makati: PRE-SPANISH PERIOD
work = Makati City Portal
publisher = City Government of Makati
date =
url =http://www.makati.gov.ph/portal/contents/about_makati/makati_history/prespanish.htm
format = HTML
doi =
accessdate = 5 February 2008
* Nick Joaquin’s Almanac for Manileños
* The River Dwellers by Grace P. Odal