History of Manila
The earliest recorded History of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, dates back to the year 900 AD, as documented in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription.
The city became the center of trade between Manila and Acapulco, which lasted for three centuries and brought goods from the Americas to Southeast Asia and vice versa.
The city remained the capital of the Spanish East Indies under the government of the provisional British governor, acting through the Archbishop of Manila and the Real Audiencia.
In 1898, Spain ceded control of the Philippines after over three hundred years of colonial rule to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which ended the Spanish-American War.
Manila is the evolved Spanish form of the native place name Maynilà, which comes from the Tagalog phrase may-nilà ("where indigo is found").
[5] From a linguistic perspective, it is unlikely for native Tagalog speakers to completely drop the final consonant /d/ in nilad to arrive at the present form Maynilà.
[20][21] There are no references that state whether a settlement south of the river, on the southern part of the delta where Maynila was eventually located, also existed at the time the LCI was written.
[10] Ample archeological evidence exists, however, that the settlement of Namayan (also called Sapa) flourished further up the Pasig River some time in the tenth or eleventh century.
[22] The many myths and traditions surrounding early Maynila's founding all point to a Tagalog settlement south of the Pasig River, which gained prominence as a result of an alliance with or annexation by an outside force.
According to Henson, this settlement was attacked by a Bruneian commander named Rajah Ahmad, who defeated Avirjirkaya and established Maynila as a "Muslim principality".
[23] In the 14th century, according to the epic eulogy poem Nagarakretagama, which was dedicated to Maharaja Hayam Wuruk of the Madjapahit, Seludong/Selurung was listed in Canto 14 alongside Sulot (Sulu) and Kalka as its territories.
Scott noted that "according to Bruneian folk history",[29]: 191 [ ] "Manila was probably founded as a Bornean trading colony about 1500, with a royal prince marrying into the local ruling family.
[25][37] Governor-General Miguel López de Legazpi, searching for a suitable place to establish his capital after being compelled to move from Cebu to Panay by Portuguese pirates, heard of prosperous kingdoms in Luzon.
[42] Manila became famous because of this trade, which transported goods and slaves from a wide area of Eastern and Southern Asia and even East Africa.
In order to safeguard the city from similar uprisings later, the Spanish authorities confined the Chinese residents and merchants to a separate district called Parian de Alcaceria.
[43] On June 19, 1591, after the commencement of the construction of a fort there, López de Legazpi made overtures of friendship with the Lakandula of Tondo, which was prudently accepted.
However, the Muslim, Rajah Sulayman, refused to submit to the Spaniards and gathered together a force composed of Tagalogwarriors after failing to get the support of Lakandula and that of the leaders of Hagonoy and Macabebe.
Legazpi then ordered the creation of a municipal government or cabildo with a set of Spanish-style houses, monasteries, nunneries, churches, and schools giving birth to Intramuros.
Intramuros, one of the oldest walled cities in the Far East, was constructed and designed by Spanish Jesuit missionaries to provide protection from invading Chinese pirates and native uprisings.
[citation needed] These events led to the expulsion of the Chinese from Manila and the entire country by virtue of the decrees that were made by the Spanish authorities to that effect.
[48] The city remained the capital and key to the Spanish East Indies under the government of the provisional British governor, acting through the Archbishop of Manila and the Real Audiencia.
Under the direction of the provisional British governor, the Spanish East Indies was to be governed by the Audencia Real, the expenses of which were agreed to be paid for by Spain.
[50] So successful was Salazar's efforts at harassing the British that Captain Thomas Backhouse reported to the Secretary of War in London that "the enemy is in full possession of the country".
The seeds of revolution germinated in 1886 with the publication of José Rizal's book Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), a novel critical of the way the Spanish friars were governing the Philippines.
In 1935, the United States government committed itself to granting the Philippines Independence after a ten-year transition, a period that was extended by one year due to World War II.
On December 24, 1941, they were closed down following the arrival and occupation of the capital city by the Japanese Imperial forces, who took control of the main general headquarters of the Commonwealth Army on January 3, 1942.
Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita ordered the commander of Shimbu Group, Gen. Shizuo Yokoyama, to destroy all bridges and other vital installations and evacuate the city.
During the Marcos Era, the region of the Manila Metropolitan area was enacted as an independent entity in 1975 encompassing several cities and towns, being a separate local-regional unit and the seat of government of the Philippines.
It was followed by another battle in 1571, wherein the conquistador Martín de Goiti arrived from Mexico to drive out the Muslim elite, and the city was razed to the ground.
[73] Folk tradition in Parañaque suggested that Dongalo was named after a figure known as Don Galo, who supposedly repelled Limahong out of the region.
