Maharlika
Encyclopedia
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
term meaning “nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
” or “aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
”. Its etymology is rooted from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
maharddhika which means “a man of wealth, knowledge, and ability”. During ancient times in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the word maharlika referred to the nobility class in Philippine society who are also known to be warriors.
Description
As a TagalogTagalog people
The Tagalog people are an ethnic group in the Philippines. The name Tagalog comes from either the native term tagá-ilog, meaning 'people living along the river', or another native term, tagá-alog, meaning 'people living along the ford', a ford being a shallow part of a river or stream where people,...
martial class in the ancient class system in the Philippines, the Maharlika had the same rights and responsibilities as the timawa
Timawa
The term timawa refers to an intermediate social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries....
class, ancient Filipino commoners and landowners of the Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
and Visayan
Visayas
The Visayas or Visayan Islands and locally known as Kabisay-an gid, is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are considered the northeast...
islands, who did not have the obligation to pay regular tribute to the Maginoo
Maginoo
The term maginoo refers to the highest social class among the various cultures of the Philippines before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. Members of this class serve as the leaders of the Barangay, and the Datu and the Babaylan or Katalonan...
(the aristocracy in pre-Hispanic Filipino society). In times of war, Maharlika provided and prepared weapons at their own expense. They were allowed to keep the loot collected. The Maharlika can occasionally be obligated to work on the Datu’s land and assist in projects and other events in the community. Maharlika could change allegiances once married to a person in another community. The allegiance of the Maharlika could also change if they moved to another place. Before leaving the Datu
Datu
Datu is the title for tribal chiefs, sovereign princes, and monarchs in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions of the Philippines. Together with Lakan , Apo in Central and Northern Luzon, Sultan and Rajah, they are titles used for native royalty, and are still currently used in the Philippines...
’s service, the Maharlika often held large public feasts. Apart from the feast, the Maharlika paid obligation to the Datu to a sum ranging from six to eighteen pieces of gold Suwarnas.
Under Marcos
During the “New Society Movement” (Kilusang Bagong LipunanKilusang Bagong Lipunan
The Kilusang Bagong Lipunan , formerly the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ng Nagkakaisang Nacionalista, Liberal, at iba pa, , is a political party in the Philippines...
) era in the Philippines, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
used the word maharlika to uphold Filipino nationalism. Apart from recommending changing the name of the Philippines into Maharlika, Marcos was influential in making maharlika a trendy name for streets, edifices, banquet halls, villages and cultural organizations. Marcos himself utilized the word to christen a highway, a broadcasting corporation, and the reception area of the Malacañang Palace
Malacañang Palace
The Malacañan Palace, commonly known simply as Malacañang, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. Located at 1000 J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila, the house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been the residence of every...
. Marcos's propagandistic utilization of the word started during the Second World War. Before being proven false in 1985, Marcos claimed that he had commanded a group of guerrillas known as the Maharlika Unit. Marcos also used maharlika as his personal nom de guerre, depicting himself as the most bemedalled anti-Japanese Filipino guerrilla soldier during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the Martial Law Period
Martial Law in the Philippines
Martial law in the Philippines refers to the period of Philippine history where Philippine Presidents declare a proclamation to control unpacified places under the rule of Military, it is usually given when threatened by popular protests, or to crack down on the opposition...
in the Philippines, Marcos attempted to produce a film entitled Maharlika to present his “war exploits”.
Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Indian philosopher, historian, spiritual leader, and seer, said that the precolonial name of the Philippines is Maharlika. Maharlika comes from the following Sanskrit derivative: maha, meaning good and great. Mahar is used when referring to something with many good and great qualities, resources, and attributes. Maha became mahar, la means a cup or container, ik means small, and a as a suffix puts it in the feminine gender. So maharlika came from maha + r + ka + ik + a means small entity or country containing good and great qualities and resources in the physical, mental and spiritual sense. And since a beautiful country is referred to as motherland, the suffix A puts it in feminine gender form. - Maharlika, In Search of Identity, Deo P. Palma
Creators of Eskrima
The Maharlika, according to the traditional old folk stories (later called sources), are the inventors of the Filipino weapons-based martial art of EskrimaEskrima
Eskrima is the umbrella term for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines, which emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives and other bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons...
. Although the name Eskrima is a Filipinization from the spanish word of fencing (esgrima), the original name of the martial art is unknown. The name Kali During the pre-Hispanic period, the Maharlika wear swords and knives (like the Samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
of medieval Japan). When the Spaniards dominated the Philippines, the natives (Filipinos) are prohibited to wear swords. To preserve the martial art, they used rattan sticks and small knives to act as a sword. The stick art become a popular martial art in the Philippines because of Remy Presas
Remy Presas
Remgio Amador Presas was the founder of Modern Arnis, a popular Filipino martial art. Born in the Philippines, he moved to the United States in 1974, where he taught his art via seminars and camps. In 1982 he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Instructor of the Year...
' creation of Modern Arnis
Modern Arnis
Modern Arnis is the system of Filipino martial arts founded by the late Remy Presas as a self-defense system. His goal was to create an injury-free training method as well as an effective self-defense system in order to preserve the older Arnis systems...
, a competitive martial art. In 2008, it become the National Sport of the country. Some Maharlika went underground to preserve the Sword art and vanished until the Tortal Family introduced Pekiti-Tirsia, the successor of the Sword art. The only known source that Eskrima is used by the Maharlika is the Records of the Battle of Mactan Island by Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer from the Republic of Venice. He travelled with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew on their voyage to the Indies. During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal which later assisted him...
. It quoted that the so-called Indian Warriors (Native Filipinos) are experts of wielding the sword. Like the Samurai who invented Kenjutsu
Kenjutsu
, meaning "the method, or technique, of the sword." This is opposed to kendo, which means the way of the sword. Kenjutsu is the umbrella term for all traditional schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration...
, the Maharlika invented a weapons-based martial art.
See also
- Conspiracy of the MaharlikasConspiracy of the MaharlikasThe Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, also referred to as the Revolt of the Lakans or the Tondo Conspiracy of 1587-1588 was a plot against Spanish colonial rule by the Tagalog and Capampangan noblemen, or datus, of Manila and some towns of Bulacan and Pampanga, in the Philippines...
- MerdekaMerdekaMerdeka is a word in the Indonesian and Malay language meaning Independent or freedom. It is derived from the Sanskrit Maharddhika meaning "rich, prosperous and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave...
- a word which have the same origin with Maharlika - SamuraiSamuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
- a warrior-nobility class in medieval Japan, a counterpart of the Maharlika - KnightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
- a warrior-nobility class in medieval Europe, a counterpart of the Maharlika - KshatriyaKshatriya*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
a warrior class of Vedic India, a counterpart of the Maharlika