The
Laguna Copperplate Inscription (also shortened to
LCI) is the earliest known written document found in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The plate was found in 1989 by a sand laborer working on Lumbang River near the outlet to
Laguna de BayLaguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...
, in
BarangayA barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
Wawa,
LumbanLumban is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 28,443 people in 5,456 households. Lumban has an area of 96.08 square kilometers, the fourth largest in Laguna...
, in the Laguna
provinceThe Provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 80 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are autonomous from any provincial...
.The inscription on the plate was first deciphered by
DutchThe Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
anthropologist
Antoon PostmaAntoon Postma is a Dutch anthropologist who has married into and lives among the Hanunó'o, a Mangyan sub-tribe in Mindoro, Philippines. He is best known for being the first to decipher the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, and for documenting the Hanunó'o script, paving the way for its preservation...
.
The discovery of the plate has highlighted the evidence of cultural links present between the
Tagalog peopleThe Tagalog people are an ethnic group in the Philippines. The name Tagalog comes from either the native term tagá-ilog, meaning 'people living along the river', or another native term, tagá-alog, meaning 'people living along the ford', a ford being a shallow part of a river or stream where people,...
of this time and the various contemporary civilizations in Asia, most notably the
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
nese Medang Kingdom, the
SrivijayaSrivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
empire, and the
Middle kingdoms of IndiaMiddle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 3rd century BC after the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC...
, a topic in Philippine history of which not much is presently known.
Description
The LCI has inscribed on it a date in the Saka era calendar, year of Siyaka 822, month of Waisaka, the fourth day of the waning moon; which corresponds to Monday, April 21, 900 AD in the
Gregorian calendarThe Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
. The writing system used is the
Kawi ScriptKawi is the name given to the writing system originating in Java and used across much of Maritime Southeast Asia in inscriptions and texts from the 8th century to around 1500 AD...
. The language is a variety of
Old MalayThe Old Malay language, also called Classical Malay, is the ancestor of the modern Malay language, including Indonesian and Malaysian. It developed in the now Melayu Kingdom of Sumatra. It was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Kawi , and was grammatically quite similar to modern Malay.-Old...
containing numerous loanwords from
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and a few non-Malay vocabulary elements whose origin is ambiguous between Old Javanese and
Old TagalogTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
. The document states releasing its bearers, the children of Namwaran, from a debt in
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
amounting to 1 kati and 8 suwarnas (865 grams).
The document also mentions the places of
TondoTondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
(Tundun); Paila (Pailah), now a sitio of
Brgy.A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
San Lorenzo in
NorzagarayNorzagaray is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 105,470 inhabitants in 15,912 households....
; Binuangan (Binwangan), now a barangay of
ObandoObando is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. It is 16 kilometers away from the Philippine capital Manila. Obando is landlocked, bordered by two cities from Metro Manila namely Valenzuela City in the east, Navotas and Malabon City in the south, Bulacan in the north,...
; and Pulilan (Puliran), all in the area around
Manila BayManila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
; and Mdaη (the Javanese Kingdom of Medang),
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
as concluded by Postma. The present location of Pailah and Puliran are contested as they could mean the settlements of
PilaPila is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 44,227 people in 7,750 households...
and the southeastern part of the lake previously known are Puliran which are closer to where the plate was found.
Discovery
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription was found in 1989 near the mouth of the Lumbang River near
Laguna de BayLaguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia after Tonle Sap in Cambodia and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is on the island of Luzon between the provinces of Laguna to the south and Rizal to the north...
, by a man who was dredging sand to turn into concrete. Suspecting that the artifact might have some value, the man sold it to an antique dealer who, having found no buyers, eventually sold it to the
National Museum of the PhilippinesThe Museum of the Filipino People is a department of the National Museum of the Philippines that houses the Anthropology and Archaeology Divisions of the National Museum. It is located in the Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila adjacent to the main National Museum building...
landing in the hands of
Alfredo E. EvangelistaAlfredo E. Evangelista was a Filipino archeologist.-Biography:Evangelista obtained his Master's degree in anthropology in 1959 from the University of Chicago under the Fulbright Program...
, head of its
AnthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
Department..
It was in the National Museum a year later that the
DutchThe Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
anthropologist and
Mangyan languageHanunó’o is one of the indigenous scripts of the Philippines and is used by the Mangyan people of southern Mindoro to write the Hanunó’o language. It is an abugida descended from the Indic scripts, closely related to Baybayin, and is famous for being written vertical but written upward, rather than...
expert
Antoon PostmaAntoon Postma is a Dutch anthropologist who has married into and lives among the Hanunó'o, a Mangyan sub-tribe in Mindoro, Philippines. He is best known for being the first to decipher the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, and for documenting the Hanunó'o script, paving the way for its preservation...
noticed that the writing on the inscription was similar to an ancient Indonesian script called
KaviKavi may refer to:*Kavi is a Sanskrit term for thinker, intelligent man, man of understanding, leader; a wise man, sage, seer, prophet; a singer, bard, poet, and is applied to:...
. Postma translated the script and found the document dated itself to the Saka year 822, which in the old Hindu calendar corresponded to approximately 900 A.D. in the Gregorian calendar. This meant that the document pre-dated the arrival of
Ferdinand MagellanFerdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
in 1521, taking the pre-Hispanic written history of the Philippines to about the same time as the reference to the Philippines found in the official Chinese Sung History for the year 972.
Significance
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, among other discoveries made in recent years in the country such as the Golden Tara of Butuan and 14th century pottery and gold jewellery artifacts found in
CebuCebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, is highly important in revising the ancient history of the Philippines, which prior to the LCI discovery was considered by some western historians to be culturally isolated from the rest of Asia, as no evident pre-Hispanic written records were found at the time. Noted Philippines historian
William Henry ScottWilliam Henry Scott was a historian of the Gran Cordillera Central and Prehispanic Philippines. He personally rejected the description anthropologist as applying to himself.-Early life:...
debunked these theories in 1968 with his Prehispanic Source materials for the Study of Philippine History which was subsequently published in 1984. The LCI sheds light on the ancient
Philippine historyThe history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
, which until the time of Scott was largely ignored because of the dominantly Hispanic-derived culture present during the Spanish occupation. This document is considered a
National treasureThe idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of Romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology which supports the nation as the fundamental unit of human social life, which includes shared...
and rests in the
National Museum of the PhilippinesThe Museum of the Filipino People is a department of the National Museum of the Philippines that houses the Anthropology and Archaeology Divisions of the National Museum. It is located in the Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila adjacent to the main National Museum building...
in
ManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
.
The copper scroll differs in manufacture from the Javanese scrolls of the time in that the words are embossed into the plate, rather than being inscribed onto a heated, softened scroll of metal.
Cultural references
The transliteration of the LCI shows heavy
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
,
Old JavaneseKawi is a literary and prose language on the islands of Java, Bali, and Lombok, based on Old Javanese, a language with a sizable vocabulary of Sanskrit loanwords. Kawi is the ancestor language of modern Javanese. The name "kawi" is derived from the root ku, which in Sanskrit means “poet”, and, in...
and
MalayMalay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
linguistic influence. Among the observances made by
PigafettaPigafetta is a genus of two palm species in the family Arecaceae. They are native to the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi, and Western New Guinea where they grow near rivers and in forest clearings up to 900 m in elevation. It is named for Antonio Pigafetta and is sometimes misspelled as Pigafettia...
in the 16th century
Boxer CodexThe Boxer Codex is a manuscript written circa 1595 which contains illustrations of Filipinos at the time of their initial contact with the Spanish. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored...
,
Old MalayThe Old Malay language, also called Classical Malay, is the ancestor of the modern Malay language, including Indonesian and Malaysian. It developed in the now Melayu Kingdom of Sumatra. It was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Kawi , and was grammatically quite similar to modern Malay.-Old...
was spoken among pre-colonized Filipinos as a
lingua francaA lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
.
The use of Hindu references in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription could also suggest the people who authored this inscription, were followers of
HinduismHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
at this time in history. The Golden Tara icon, an ancient artifact discovered in Butuan,
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
dating from the same period, also highly suggests the influence of
HinduHinduism has been a major cultural, economic, political and religious influence in the archipelago that now comprise the Philippines. At present, however, it is limited to a small recent immigrant Indian community, though traditional religious beliefs in most parts of the country have strong Hindu...
and
BuddhistBuddhism is a relatively minor religion in the Philippines. It is largely confined to the Filipino Chinese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese communities. There are temples in Manila, Davao, and Cebu, and other places. Estimates at the Buddhist population of the Philippines varies...
religions being followed in the area (alongside
IslamIslam is the oldest recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam reached the Philippines between the 12th and 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from Persian Gulf and the Malabar Coast in Southern India, and their followers from several sultanate governments in the Malay...
in many places in the archipelago from the 14th century onwards) up until the 16th century, when Roman Catholicism was introduced to later become the dominant religion of the
Filipino peopleThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
.
Transliteration and translation
Transliteration
English translation
Swasti.
ṢS is the nineteenth letter in the ISO basic Latin alphabet.-History: Semitic Šîn represented a voiceless postalveolar fricative . Greek did not have this sound, so the Greek sigma came to represent...
aka warṣatita 822
WaisakhaVaishakha or Baisakha is a month of the Hindu calendar. It is the first month of the Nepalese calendar and the Bengali calendar . In the Indian national calendar Vaisakha is the second month of the year, beginning on April 21 and ending on May 20.In the Hindu solar calendar, Vaisakha begins in...
masa di(ng)
JyotiṣaHindu astrology , also Jyotish or Jyotisha, from Sanskrit , from "light, heavenly body") is the ancient Indian system of astronomy and astrology...
.
Long Live! Year of Syaka 822, month of
VaisakhaVaishakha or Baisakha is a month of the Hindu calendar. It is the first month of the Nepalese calendar and the Bengali calendar . In the Indian national calendar Vaisakha is the second month of the year, beginning on April 21 and ending on May 20.In the Hindu solar calendar, Vaisakha begins in...
, according to
JyotishaHindu astrology , also Jyotish or Jyotisha, from Sanskrit , from "light, heavenly body") is the ancient Indian system of astronomy and astrology...
(
Hindu astronomyThe hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada...
).
CaturthiChaturthi or Chaviti , is the fourth day of any lunar month in the Hindu calendar.-Festivals of Chaturthi:* Ganesh Chaturthi is one of prominent Chaturthi on which Lord Ganesha makes his presence on the earth....
Kriṣnapaksa Somawāra sana tatkala Dayang Angkatan lawan dengan nya sānak barngaran si Bukah anak da dang Hwan Namwaran di bari waradāna wi shuddhapattra ulih sang pamegat senāpati di
TundunTondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
barja(di) dang Hwan Nāyaka tuhan
PailahPila is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 44,227 people in 7,750 households...
Jayadewa.
The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Bukah, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in Chief of
TundunTondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa.
Di krama dang Hwan Namwaran dengan dang kayastha shuddha nu di parlappas hutang da walenda Kati 1 Suwarna 8 di hadapan dang Huwan Nayaka tuhan Puliran Kasumuran.
By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 Katî and 8 Suwarna before the Honourable Lord Minister of Puliran Kasumuran by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah.
dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan
PailahPila is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 44,227 people in 7,750 households...
barjadi ganashakti. Dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Binwangan barjadi bishruta tathapi sadana sanak kapawaris ulih sang pamegat dewata [ba]rjadi sang pamegat Medang dari bhaktinda diparhulun sang pamegat.
Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang.
Ya makanya sadanya anak cucu dang Hwan Namwaran shuddha ya kapawaris dihutang da dang Hwan Namwaran di sang pamegat Dewata.
Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable Namwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata.
Ini gerang syat syapanta ha pashkat ding ari kamudyan ada gerang urang barujara welung lappas hutang da dang Hwa
This, in any case, shall declare to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the Honourable...
See also
- Copperplate
- Tamil Copper-plate inscriptions
Tamil copper-plate inscriptions are copper-plate records of grants of villages, plots of cultivable lands or other privileges to private individuals or public institutions by the members of the various South Indian royal dynasties. The study of these inscriptions, has been especially important in...
- Indian copper plate inscriptions
Indian copper plate inscriptions play an important role in the reconstruction of the history of India. Prior to their discovery, historians were forced to rely on ambiguous archaeological findings such as religious text of uncertain origin and interpretations of bits of surviving traditions,...
- Vatteluttu
Vatteluttu alphabet, also spelled Vattezhuttu alphabet is an abugida writing system originating from the Tamil people of Southern India...
External links