Alipin

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Alipin, depicted in the Boxer Codex, around 1595

Alipin were called members of the pre-colonial feudal Tagalog society on the island of Luzon , Philippines . They represented the social basis of society and were again divided into two different classes. The Spanish translated the word Alipin with slave , which, however, does not adequately describe the status of the Alipin. Rather, they were debtors or serfs who had to work in bondage for an aristocratic Maginoo , Timawa or Maharlika . An alipin could go about his own business so that after paying his debt he could buy his freedom from his master. In contrast to comparable European societies, the social model of the Tagalog Society was more permeable, so that the Alipin had the option of advancing up to the Timawas class.

Aliping namamahay

The Aliping namamahay were the highest class within the Alipin class. They had to pay tribute to their Maginoo lord on a piece of land assigned to them and also work on the other property belonging to the nobility. But they owned their own house and property. In the European sense, an aliping namamahay was a serf.

Alipin sa gigilid

The Alipin sa gigilid formed the second stand within the Alipin class. In contrast to the namamahay , they were completely dependent on their master. They were given food, shelter, and protection from their Lord. A sa gigilid and its debts could also be passed on from one gentleman to another. In pre-colonial times, the word sa gigilid meant an area where the toilet was and symbolized the low status of the sa gigilid . It also happened that a sa gigilid belonged to an Aliping namamahay , these were then called bulisik and represented the lowest level in the society.

Only the prisoners of war were still lower than the bulisik , since they were outside of the tribal society. The prisoners of war, however, had the opportunity to be accepted and integrated into the tribal society as Alipin sa gigilid or namamahay .

Since the beginning of the 17th century, the Alipin estates disappeared from the Tagalog society, as in the course of the colonization of the Philippines by Spain, society was flattened into a purely dependent peasant society, which only paid tributes to the Spanish monastic orders and the colonial officials had.

In the Visayas region there was also a class that was comparable to the Alipin, these were called oripun .

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