Maragtas legend

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The Maragtas Legend is a legend set in the pre-colonial era on Panay Island in the Philippines . As far as we know today, it did not emerge until the 20th century, but is still popular in Panay and the Philippines. It was published in 1907 by Pedro Monteclaro in the Hiligaynon language . Monteclaro came from the province of Iloilo . He relied on two manuscripts on which he wrote:

"[...] akon diri igasambit nga duha ka talamdan ang akon naayap [...] (" I would like to emphasize here that I received two documents ")"

However, the existence of these documents has never been confirmed by other writers or scholars.

The legend, as Montecarlo wrote it down, says that in 1240 ten datus landed on the coasts of what is now the province of Iloilo. They came from the island of Bornay ( Borneo ) and were on the run from the tyrant Rajah Makatunao . On a moonless night on April 15, 1240, they set sail with their families, soldiers, slaves and advisers in large balangays in search of a place where they could live in peace and harmony. They landed on Panay to exchange land for the gold they were carrying. The legend goes on to say that a confederation of Madya-as was formed under the leadership of Datu Sumakwel .

In 1938, Guillermo Santiago-Cuino added the myth of the Law of Maragtas , also known as the Law of Sumakwel , to the legend , surprising historians. He claimed to have discovered ancient writings on Mount Madya-as in the Central Panay Mountains . The text appeared under the title El Codigo de Maragtas on February 20, 1938 in the newspaper El Debate . According to Santiago-Cuino's account, the law of Maragtas is said to have been written around the year 1221, two centuries before the law book of Kalantiaw .

controversy

Even today, the legends are supported by Filipino politicians and historians and taught as history in schools in the Philippines as they give the young nation of the Philippines a written pre-colonial history. In 1968, William Henry Scott was the first to question whether the events were actually historical. This was done in his doctoral thesis at the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Manila , which was received with incomprehension by the examination committee. According to the current state of science, there is no written or archaeological evidence to support the legends as authentic historical events .

Trivia

The myth of the arrival of the ten dates has been celebrated with the Santo Niño Festival in the city of Kalibo , Aklan province , since the 1950s .

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