Maharlika
Maharlika were called members of the Tagalog warrior class in the pre-colonial era who lived on the island of Luzon in the northern part of what is now the Philippines . They had the same rights and duties as the higher class of the nobility, the Timawa , and formed, via the unfree Alipin, the third class in the social system of the pre-colonial feudal Tagalog society.
description
In times of war, Maharlikas were obliged to serve their Datu , Rajah or Lakan in battle. To do this, they had to arm themselves at their own expense, but were also given a share of the booty they helped conquer.
Although they were partly connected with the nobility, the Maharlikas were legally less free than the Timawas, since they could not freely choose their affiliation to a Datu. If they wanted to change affiliation to a leader, they first had to hold a large public festival and make a payment to the datu, which, according to Spanish chroniclers , was between 6 and 18 pesos in gold .
The aristocracy in medieval Tagalog society were the Maginoo , the warrior class of the Maharlikas were their followers. From today's perspective, they were equivalent to the European lower nobility of the Middle Ages , the service nobility . In the hierarchically structured society, the Maharlikas stood above the unfree Alipin , who represented the social basis. In contrast to comparable European societies, however, the social model of the Tagalog Society was more permeable, so that the Maharlikas had the opportunity to rise to the nobility and classes Had aristocracy. Since the beginning of the 17th century, the Maharlika warriors disappeared from the Tagalog society, as in the course of the colonization of the Philippines by Spain, society was flattened into a purely peasant society, who only had to pay tributes to the Spanish monastic orders and the colonial officials .
term
The term Maharlika is derived from the term Maharddhika , which comes from Indian Sanskrit , and means: a man of wealth, knowledge and skill . Today the term is often equated with the terms nobility or aristocracy , which is not entirely accurate.
The term Maharlika culture originated in the 20th century, an attempt was made to construct a cultural history for the young nation of the Philippines similar to that of Japan or China . During the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos (1965 to 1986) this was taken to extremes. Marcos even toyed with the idea of renaming the Philippines Maharlika . Streets, squares, buildings and schools were given the name Maharlika. The entrance area of the Malacañang Palace was also called Maharlika. Shortly after World War II , Marcos claimed to have commanded a unit called Maharlika, which is said to have been 8,000 strong, which later turned out to be a lie. The erroneous assignment to the aristocracy also dates from this time.
In February 2019, the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte , who has been in office since 2016, again brought up the idea of renaming the island state to the Republic of Maharlika , although the constitution would have to be changed to do so.
Web links
- Paul Morrow: Maharlika and the ancient class system (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christopher Sator: Duterte wants to rename the Philippines , Nürnberger Nachrichten # 39/2019, February 15, 2019, p. 4.