[6][7] It was considered to be one of the most cosmopolitan of the early historic settlements on the Philippine archipelago,[8] fortified with a wooden palisade which was appropriate for the predominant battle tactics of its time.

[8] Intermarriage was a common strategy for large thassalocratic states such as Brunei to extend their influence, and for local rulers such as those of Maynila to help strengthen their family claims to nobility.

[1] Actual political and military rule over the large distances characteristic of Maritime Southeast Asia was not possible until relatively modern times.

"[8] Primary sources for the history of Rajah Kalamayin's Namayan, further upriver, include artifacts dug up from archaeological digs (the earliest of which was Robert Fox’s[15] work for the National Museum in 1977) and Spanish colonial records (most notably those compiled by the 19th century Franciscan Historian Fray Felix Huerta).

[21] From a linguistic perspective, it is unlikely for native Tagalog speakers to completely drop the final consonant /d/ in nilad to achieve the present form Maynilà.

[17] Historian Ambeth Ocampo also states that in all early documents the place had always been called "Maynilà" (eventually adopted into Spanish as Manila) — and never referred to with the final /d/.

This traditional hand-pounding chore, although very laborious and resulted in a lot of broken rice, required two to three skilled men and women to work harmoniously and was actually a form of socializing among young folks in the villages.

According to Henson, this settlement was attacked by a Bruneian commander named Rajah Ahmad, who defeated Avirjirkaya and established Maynila as a "Muslim principality".

[45] The Chinese History Annals, the Nanhai Zhi (South Seas Chronicles) made mentions of polities such as Malilu (麻裏蘆), Mayi (麻逸), Meikun (美昆), Puduan (蒲端), Sulou (苏录), Shahuchong (沙胡重), Yachen (哑陈), Manaluonu (麻拿囉奴) and Wenduling (文杜陵), which was ruled by Foni (佛坭).

[48] According to Chinese historian Wang Zhenping,[49] the locations mentioned in the chronicle can be attributed to the following modern equivalent places: Maynila, along with Tondo, was a prosperous trading settlement by the 16th century, ruled by Bruneian aristocrats intermarried with the Tagalog elite.

[1] In the 14th century, according to the epic eulogy poem Nagarakretagama, which was dedicated to Maharaja Hayam Wuruk of the Madjapahit, Saludang, also called Seludong/Selurung was listed in Canto 14 alongside Sulot (Sulu) and Kalka as its territories.

Scott noted that "according to Bruneian folk history",[54]: 191  [ ] "Manila was probably founded as a Bornean trading colony about 1500, with a royal prince marrying into the local ruling family.

[63]The Portuguese chronicler Tome Pires noted that in their own country, the Luções had "foodstuffs, wax, honey, inferior grade gold", had no king, and were governed instead by a group of elders.

In the meantime, Rajah Matanda, then simply known as the "Young Prince" Ache,[13] was raised alongside his cousin, who was ruler of Tondo, although not specifically named in the Spanish accounts.

The precolonial Tagalog barangays of Manila, Pampanga and Laguna had a more complex social structure than the Visayans (except for lowland Panay), directly participating in commerce elsewhere with the rest of Southeast and East Asia through their Bornean political contacts and proximity to the South China Sea tradewinds, and engaging in widespread wet rice agriculture provided by the tropical savanna landscape.

[76] In his seminal 1994 work "Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society" (further simplified in the briefer by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office in 2015), historian William Henry Scott delineates the three classes of Tagalog society during the 1500s:[6] One of the most cosmopolitan of the early historic settlements on the Philippine archipelago, Maynila was led by paramount rulers who were referred to using the Malay title of "Raja," which is in turn derived from the Sanskrit language.

[6][1] In popular literature, Maynila is often referred to as a "kingdom", and its Rajas as "kings," even if they did not exercise sovereignty in the technical sense of achieving a "monopoly on the legitimate use of force".

[8][9] Because population density throughout the archipelago was very low[10] and agricultural practices involved regularly changing planting locations every season and year to maximize the fertility value of the soil,[1] rulership was based on interpersonal loyalty structures and social obligations rather than clearly defined territorial dominion.

[3][1] The Tagalogs did not have a specific name for this set of religious beliefs and practices, although later scholars and popular writers refer to it as Anitism,[77] or, less accurately, using the general term animism.

[3]: 24 "The Tagalog belief system was more or less anchored on 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.

[1] The early inhabitants of the present-day Manila engaged in trade relations with its Asian neighbours as well as with the Hindu empires of Java and Sumatra,[82] as confirmed by archaeological findings.

There is no evidence that Islam had become a major political or religious force in the region, with Father Diego de Herrera recording that the Moros lived only in some villages and were Muslim in name only.

[86] Historians widely agree that the larger coastal polities which flourished throughout the Philippine archipelago in the period immediately prior to the arrival of the Spanish colonizers (including Tondo and Maynila) were "organizationally complex", demonstrating both economic specialization and a level of social stratification which would have led to a local demand for "prestige goods".

[1] The social stratification which gave birth to the maginoo class created a demand for prestige products including ceramics, silk textiles, and precious stones.

Junker notes that significant work still needs to be done in analyzing the internal/local supply and demand dynamics in pre-Spanish era polities, because much of the prior research has tended to focus on their external trading activities.

[1] Junker describes coastal polities of Tondo and Maynila's size as "administrative and commercial centers functioning as important nodes in networks of external and internal trade.

[1] The Chinese and Japanese migrations to Malaya and the Philippines shore began in the 7th century and reached their peak after 1644 owing to the Manchu conquest of China.

These Chinese and Japanese immigrants settled in Manila, Pasig included, and in the other ports, which were annually visited by their trade junks, they have cargoes of silk, tea, ceramics, and their precious jade stones.

Augustinian Fray Martin de Rada Legaspi says that the Tagalogs were "more traders than warriors",[12] and Scott notes in a later book (1994)[1] that Maynila's ships got their goods from Tondo and then dominated trade through the rest of the archipelago.

Rice was the staple food of the Tagalogs and Kapampangans, and its ready availability in Luzon despite variations in annual rainfall was one of the reasons Legaspi wanted to locate his colonial headquarters on Manila bay.