Chapter One
Introduction | Arrival of Islam | Spanish Incursions | 1600-1850 Spanish Occupation
Spanish Rule | Objectives | Significance | Methodology | The Setting
Spanish Rule | Objectives | Significance | Methodology | The Setting
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1600-1850 Spanish Occupation in the Philippines
During most of this period, the Spanish colonial authority would find itself on the defensive as the Maguindanaos and their allies stepped up their attacks and raids against Spanish controlled settlements in the Visayas and Southern Luzon. With the dismantling of the Spanish outpost at La Caldera, the raiders were able to sail up the western coast of Mindanao undetected, striking almost at will different settlements in the Visayas and Southern Luzon.
It was during the 1600s that Maguindanao reached the zenith of its power as the great Qudarat consolidated his sultanate, expanding its sway over most of western and central Mindanao.
Spanish forces in the Philippines, during this period, also were distracted by their involvement in the struggle for supremacy in the Southeast Asian region among the various colonial powers present in the region.
In the face of the above developments, the Spanish colonial authorities sought to contain the marauding Moros both by diplomacy and by establishing a ring of Spanish settlements in the northern coastal areas of Mindanao.
In 1609, a Spanish force under General de Vega was sent to seize Caraga, in the Eastern coast of Mindanao, which commands the return route of the raiders. The expedition captured the Caragan stronghold and then established a fort in Tandag. Recollect missionaries followed in 1622. Two years later, the Kagayhaans who used to be animists were converted to Christianity. Qudarat sent a punitive force against the Kagayhaans but this was defeated by reinforcing troops from Caraga. In 1635, through the insistence of the Jesuits, a substantial force of 300 Spaniards and 1,000 Bisayans was sent to Zamboanga for the express purpose of building a fort there. The fort was to function as a base for both containing the Moro raiders and for protecting a model community from which the Jesuits sallied forth to Christianize the surrounding areas. In 1639 the Spaniards would establish a base in the shores of Iligan bay from which troops were sent against the Maranaos. Not a few years later, a Spanish base at Butuan would also be established. (Both the chronology and the events are taken from Angelo Dolor, Mindanao: The Story of an Island.)
In all the above-mentioned places and the surrounding areas, Spanish authority was planted permanently, not to be effectively challenged until the end of Spanish rule. In these places and in the surrounding areas the same Hispanization process would take place as that which took place earlier in the Visayas and Luzon with the emergence of Caballeros as well as mestizos.
In 1637, Governor-General Corcuera decided to carry the so-called Moro War into the heartland of the Moro. He launched an expedition against the Maguindanaos and succeeded in overrunning the forts and camps of Qudarat. He installed the rajah of Buayan as sultan of Maguindanao, obviously as his puppet but Qudarat remained free to continue the resistance. In 1638, Corcuera launched his attack against Sulu. Again he was victorious forcing the surrender of the Sultan but Datu Ache, the real spirit of the Tausug resistance like Qudarat remained free.
As earlier the Spaniards were unable to establish their permanent presence in the land of the Maguindanaos and the Tausugs. Attempts to subjugate the Maranaos also failed as the resurgent Qudarat rallied and aided the Maranaos.
In 1645, Governor-General Fajardo negotiated a truce and signed a peace treaty with Qudarat. The treaty called for mutual aid protection, commercial and missionary privileges for Spain in Maguindanao. More importantly, the treaty recognized Qudarat as sovereign overlord of the whole contiguous area from Sibugay River (in Zamboanga Peninsula) to the Tagalook Bay (Davao Gulf). A similar treaty would be signed between the Spanish authority and Sultan Alimud Din of Sulu in 1737.
The treaties, however, did not stop the raids altogether with the Tausugs and later the Maranaos launching the major raids as Qudarat and the Maguindanaos lost their taste for the incessant campaigns.
However the ring of Spanish forts and settlements along the northern coast of Mindanao did much to blunt the ferocity of the raids. Although the raids were somewhat contained, the Spaniards did not gain any headway as far as establishing their authority in the Moro heartlands of the Maguindanaos, Tausugs, and Maranaos. And the situation will remain the same until the end of the first half of the nineteenth century.
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Introduction | Arrival of Islam | Spanish Incursions | 1600-1850 Spanish Occupation
Spanish Rule | Objectives | Significance | Methodology | The Setting
Spanish Rule | Objectives | Significance | Methodology | The Setting