Cagayan datus

Who he is

Title

Chiefs of the lower Cagayan river (Lal-lo and Magapit)

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

No source names the chief of this place for 1200. The word datu (and barangay) is recorded by the Spanish from the 1560s; the Copperplate of 900 uses Sanskrit-Malay titles instead. Everything about 1200 is inference from archaeology and later accounts.

What it holds

• The river mouth at Aparri and the lower valley
• The road inland to the Cagayan valley

Allies and rivals

Tied to its neighbours by marriage, debt, feud and raid; nothing above it.

How things stand that morning

Not described for 1200.

Wealth

Rice, sea goods, gold from the mountains; no figures.

Military

War boats and raiding parties in the later record; no numbers.

Threats

• Raiders from the next coast
• Typhoon and flood
• A change in the Chinese trade

Places of note

• Lal-lo: Shell-midden and settlement site on the lower Cagayan.
• Aparri: River mouth.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Archaeology reported by the campaign board; Zhufan zhi identification is a reading.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: A river mouth community's near land, drawn as a seeded block.