The geographical differences between the coastal and forested environs encouraged internal trade between the two places.1 Due to geographical differences, different products were produced for trade purposes between the Lapaknon Manobos in the ilawud and Agusan Manobos in the ilaya. The trade was complimentary in nature with the natural satisfaction of needs being the driving force.
A. Trade Products
1. Ilawud
a. Local Goods
The ilawud was noted for its local products like metal crafts,2 body ornaments, pottery, food, and forest products. Smithing in the ilawud was a developed industry. Lapaknon Manobos fabricated marketable iron tools like adzes, tongs, knives, and other blades. Bronze products included basins, bells, cymbals, gongs, flat dishes and ferules.
Gold crafts were mostly body ornaments like masks, rings, earrings, buckles and even teeth fillings and binds. Body ornamentation also included bronze ear pendants, shale bracelets and earrings. There were also necklaces made of locally manufactured colored glass beads.3
With regards to pottery, the ilawud had an established pottery-making industry. Ilawud pottery products were of two general types: first, utilitarian vessels, which were of everyday and sometimes ceremonial use, and second, decorative wares, which were made for special occasions, ritual, or for burial purposes. The utilitarian wares were large deep bowls, spouted vessels, big shallow bowls, stoves and pots. Decorative wares included small shallow bowls with foot ring, vessels that were slipped, polished, incised, and some impressed wares.4
Agricultural products were also important ilawud trade items. Antonio Pigafetta, in 1521, noted rice, sago, bananas, ginger, coconuts, oranges, lemons, and millet.5 But among the array of Ilawud local products, the Chinese favored gold and beeswax over the rest. The Moro trader from Luzon with whom Legazpi’s men traded in Butuan in 1565, told them that:
“…The Chinese came to this country with porcelain, iron tips for spears, swords, and jars, which they sold throughout these islands for gold to bring back to their country, and also beeswax, because it was for these things that they came…”6
Beeswax, used for candle making and lost-wax manufacture of copper and bronze vessels in china, commanded high value.7 its high demand encouraged notoriety. For instance, in April of 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s men whom he sent to Butuan aboard the patache San Juan, bartered Spanish tostones with a large quantity of beeswax from Luzon Moros in Butuan. But Legazpi’s men found themselves cheated as they discovered that the Moros put some earth within the cakes of wax so that it would appear big. The Moros, sensing that the probable trade between the natives and the Spaniards would be detrimental to their trading interests, ‘uttered many lies and slander’ against the Spaniards. Such incident almost resulted into a fight, but the Spaniards were careful not to stir up the natives, for they, according the Legazpi intended ‘not to go privateering, but to make treaties and to procure friends of which I am in great need.’8
b. Foreign Goods
Ilawud, being exposed to foreign trade, also accumulated imported goods from China, Thailand, Vietnam and other places in Southeast Asia. Archaeological excavations yielded high-fired wares of Chinese provenance, which included stone wares, pocellaneous wares and porcelain. They come in the form of plates, saucers, bowls, jars, large storage jars, ewers, covered boxes and figurines of human and animals. Stone wares were mostly in the form of jars, which were used as container of water, wine and other condiments. Porcellaneous wares included white and bluish wares called Qing bai. Porcelain wares were in blue painted decorations under a clear vitreous glaze. Most of these Chinese high-fired wares came from the Southern kilns of Guangdong and Fujian.
Systematic excavation also yielded some late 14th, 15th and early 16th century Thai and Vietnamese wares. Thai wares comprised of Sanghalok celadons and Sukhotai wares. They come in the form of jarlets, round boxes, human and animal figurines, dishes with lotus designs, deep dishes, bowls and plates. Vietnamese wares come in the form of large plates and dishes with floral designs. Some 13th to 15th century white paste wares in kendi form, reportedly found across Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and China were also excavated.9
Historical documents also revealed that in 1565, Moro boats, which plied across Philippine waters dropped anchor in Butuan to trade. The Moro boat which Legazpi’s men met on their way to Butuan brought with it colored blankets, damasks, almaizales of silk and cotton, figured silk, iron, tin, sulphur, porcelain, gold and many trade items. The Moros told the Spaniards that the tin and iron were form Borney, porcelain, copper bells and painted tapestry from China, pans and tempered iron pots were from India.10
Imported animals were also trade goods of the ilawud. Among the trade animals were Panthera tigris Linn (tiger), Canis familiaris Linn. (dog), Capra hircus Linn. (goat), rhinoceros sondaicus Desmarest (rhinoceros) and Bubalus bubalis Linn. (carabao)/ Bos Taurus Linn. (cow). All of these animal remains were dated during the Tang-Sung period. (9th-12th century A.D.).11
2. Ilaya
Ilaya had its own list of products, which were important to their trading partners. Products like the Almaciga resin and beeswax, which were used to caulk baroto planking, an important vessel for fresh and saltwater fishing and trading.12 Gold nuggets, which were important trade items for trading with the Chinese junks; and other Ilaya products like slaves and animals. Perishable forest products like fruits and the meat of game animals were also likely trade products. These products were just what the coastal settlers needed for their own consumption as well as for their external trade relations.
B. Prices of Products
Generally, in the early sixteenth century, commodities were acquired through barter, and since it was a barter trade, the contract of sale was perfected through the giving of consent by both parties who both acted as seller and buyer. By the beginning of the 14th century, five commercial zones emerged in Southeast Asia. They are: (1) Bay of Bengal regional network that included: Coromandel coast of Southern India and Sri Lanka, Burma, Upper Malay Peninsula, northern end and western coast of Sumatra. (2) Strait of Malacca; (3) Upper Malay Peninsula’s eastern coast, Lower coast of Vietnam, Regions bordering the Gulf of Thailand; (4) Java Sea network that included: lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Banda, Timor, and Western Coast of Borneo, Java, southern coast of Sumatra. And lastly, (5) The Sulu Sea Region included the western coasts of Luzon, Mindoro, Cebu, Butuan, Mindanao and Brunei region of Borneo’s north coast.13
The Sulu Region’s trade was at brisk, and was very evident even during the arrival of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565.14 the esteemed merchandize in this region were bronze, quicksilver, cinnabar, glass, woolen stuffs, linens, and above all iron and spectacles.15 for the Spaniards, however, were gold and other precious metals.16 Below was a list of the general prices of the products in the region by 1521:
One Cathil 17 of quicksilver = Six porcelain dishes
One Cathil of metal = Small porcelain vase
One large vase = Three knives
One hundred picis 18 = A hand of paper
A bahar 19 of Wax = 160 cathils of Bronze
A bahar of Salt = 80 cathils of Bronze
A bahar of Anime = 40 cathils of Bronze
Table 1. The 15th century products and prices in the Sulu Sea commercial Region. The principal ports were Luzon, Mindoro, Cebu, Butuan, Sulu, Mindanao and Brunei.
When Ferdinand Magellan arrived in Mazua on 29 March 1521, there was an unusual trade. Magellan was so generous with his trading partners that some of his trade items like knives, caps and mirrors were given without a thing in return. Below is a list of products and prices of the trade that took place.20
3 porcelain jars of raw rice and 2 very large oranges = A garment of Turkish fashion and a red cap
A Porringer full of Rice and 8-10 Bananas = Spanish Knife
A pointed crown of massy Gold of the size of a colona = 6 strings of Glass Beads
Table 2. the trade products and prices during the 1521 trade between the Magellans men and the inhabitants of Mazaua.
A quantity of gold = Velvet cap and cloak
A large quantity of Spanish Silver Tostones 21 = Beeswax
20 marks of Gold = 6 Tostones of Silver and 1 of Gold
10-12 Quintals of Gold = more than 6 Tostones in value
3 Quintals of Gold22 = a number of rials
Porcelain, Iron tips for spears, a quantity of Gold and Beeswax, Swords and jars
Table 3. The trade products and prices during the 1564 trade between Legazpi’s men and the inhabitants of Butuan.
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1 Joy B. Burrough, “The development of Periodic Markets in Sabah,” Sabah Society Journal Vol. 6 (1975-1976) p.23.
2 Ilawud’s metal working activity consisted of iron, Bronze and gold smithing. The Places of activity were of wider spatial distribution as indicated by the archaeological remains. See ASEAN Report, “Report on Metal Working and Artifacts in the Balanghai I Site, Libertad, Butuan City,’ Third Intra-ASEAN Archaeological Excavation and Conservation, Butuan City, Philippines, 16 Nov. – 10 Dec., 1986.
3 ASEAN Report, “Report on Metal Working and Artifacts in the Balanghai I Site, Libertad, Butuan City,” Third Intra-ASEAN Archaeological Excavation and Conservation, Butuan City, Philippines, 16 Nov.-10 Dec., 1986.
4 Artemio C. Barbosa, “The Ambangan Earthenware: A preliminary Analysis of Pottery Excavated in Butuan City, Philippines,” Mindanao Journal Vol.5, no.2 (1978) p.4.
5 Antonio Pigafetta, “The First Voyage Around the World,” Blair and Robertson, Vol.33, p.133.
6 Rodrigo de Espinosa, “Derrotero del Piloto Rodrigo de Espinosa del Discubrimiento de las Yslas del del Poniente (from Navidad, 17 November 1564 to Bohol, 4 April 1565),” in Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Readings in Philippine History (Manila: Bookmark, Inc., 1966), pp. 11-12.
7 Eric S. Casino, The Filipino Nation, The Philippines: Lands and Peoples, A Cultural Geography (USA: Grolier International Philippines, Inc., 1982), p.73.
8 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, “relation of the Voyage to the Philippines (1564-1565),” Documentary Sources of Philippine History, (Manila: National Bookstore Inc., 1990) Vol.2, p.9-11.
9 Aurora Roxas – Lim, “A Preliminary Study of the Butuan Archaeological Finds and their significance in Philippine History,” In the Search of Historical Truth (Quezon City, Philippine National Historical Society, 1992), pp.48-51.
10 “Colleccion Documentos Ineditos de Ultramar,” Blair and Robertson, Vol. 2, P.116.
11 Zoo-archaeological evidences show that Butuan had acquired these imported animals as trade goods from Southeast Asia and China. Their absence in the records of the collection of Philippine mammals (1823-1993) made us conclude that they were non-endemic to the Philippines. Their association with trade goods indicated that they were introduced through trade. See Elinita D.V. Alba, “Archaeological Evidences of Animals as Trade Goods: A Preliminary Survey,” National Museum Papers, Vol.4, no. 2 (1994) pp.25-34.
12 William Henry Scott, “Boat Building and Seamanship in classic Philippine Society,” Anthropological Papers, no.9 (1981) p.23.
13 Kenneth Hall, “The Opening of the Malay World to European Trade in the 16th century,” Journal of Malaysian Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 58, no. 2 (1985).
14 William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, (Quezon City. Ateneo de Manila Press, 1994) p.164.
15 Lord Stanley of Alderley, The First Voyage Around the World by Magellan (London:Burt Franklin, n.d.), p.117.
16 “Instruccion Que dio el Rey a Magallanes Y a Falero Para el Viage al descubrimiento de las islas del Maluco,” Colleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos que hicieron por Mar los Españoles desde Fines del Siglo XV… (Madrid 1837), Vol.4, p.138.
17 A cathil is a measure of weight, which is equal to two pounds, see Lord Stanley of Alderly, The First Voyage Around the World, by Magellan (London: Burt Franklin, n.d.), p. 117. In the Laguna Copperplate Inscriptions (LCI), gold was measured in terms of kati and in late 18th Century Sulu, bird’s nests were also measured in terms of kati. See Thomas Forrest, Voyage to New Guinea (London: G. Scott, 1779), p.325.
18 Picis (also Pitis) were small coins used by the Moors. It is either brass or bronze, which were pierced purposively for stringing together. On one of its sides were four inscribed characters of the great king of China. It is about 600 to a dollar at a chin. Lord Stanley of Alderley, ibid.
19 A Bahar is a measure of weight 200 and 3 cathils. Ibid. in 17th century Sulu, a bahar is equal to 3 piculs or 400 Pounds. See James Francis Warren, The Sulu Zone 1768-1898 (Quezon City. New Day Publishers, 1985) p. ix.
20 Antonio Pigafetta, “The First Voyage Around the World,” Blair and Robertson, Vol.33, p.131.
21 Tostones was translated by William Henry Scott as Salapi in Tagalog. His translation was based of San Buenaventura’s 1613 Vocabulario de Lengua tagala el romance castellano presto primero.
22 Rodrigo de Espinosa, “Derrotero del Piloto Rodrigo de Espinosa del Discubrimiento de las Yslas del Poniente,” (from Navidad, 17 November 1564 to Bohol, 4 April 1565), in Horacio de la Costa, S.J., Readings in Philippine History (Manila: Bookmark, Inc.,1966), p. 12.
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