In
early Philippine history, the
Tagalog ''
bayan
Bayan may refer to:
Educational institutions
* Bayan Islamic Graduate School, Chicago, IL
Places
*Bayan-Aul, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
*Bayan Mountain, an ancient mountain name for part of Tarbagatai Mountains at Kazakhstan in Qing Dynasty period
*B ...
'' (; "country" or "polity")
of Cainta was a fortified upriver polity that occupied both shores of an arm of the
Pasig River
The Pasig River (; ) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and Metro Manila, its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. Its m ...
. It was located not far from where the Pasig River meets the
Lake of Ba-i and is presumed to be the present site of the municipality of
Cainta
Cainta, officially the Municipality of Cainta (, ), is a municipality in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Rizal (province), Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 376,933 people.
It is one of the ...
,
Rizal
Rizal most commonly refers to:
* Rizal (province), a province of the Philippines
* José Rizal, Filipino national hero whom the province is named after
Rizal may also refer to:
People
* Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Malaysian footballer
* Atep Ri ...
.
Description
Descriptions of early chroniclers say that the polity was surrounded by bamboo thickets, defended by a
log wall, stone
bulwarks, and several
lantaka
The ''Lantaka'' (Baybayin: pre virama: ''ᜎᜆᜃ'': post virama: ''ᜎᜈ᜔ᜆᜃ'') also known as ''rentaka'' (in Malay, jawi script: رنتاک) was a type of bronze portable cannon or swivel gun, sometimes mounted on merchant vessels and ...
s, and that an arm of the Pasig River flowed through the middle of the city, dividing it into two settlements.
As described in an anonymous 1572 account documented in Volume 3 of
Blair and Robertson's compiled translations:
This said village had about a thousand inhabitants, and was surrounded by very tall and very dense bamboo thickets, and fortified with a wall and a few small culverins. The same river as that of Manila circles around the village and a branch of it passes through the middle dividing it in two sections.
History
Siege of Cainta
When the Spanish forces of
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as ''Adelantado, El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spanish conquistador who financed and led an expedition to conquer the Philippines, Philippine islan ...
first established the city of Manila in 1571, Cainta was one of the surrounding polities that went to Manila to negotiate for friendship with Manila. However, Cainta's envoys noted the small size of Legazpi's forces and decided to withdraw their offer of friendship since Cainta was a fortified polity that was perfectly capable of defending itself.
In August 1571, Legazpi assigned his nephew,
Juan de Salcedo
Juan de Salcedo (; 1549 – 11 March 1576) was a Spanish conquistador. He was the grandson of Spanish general Miguel López de Legazpi. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompanied the Spanish conquest to the Philippines in 1565. He joined th ...
, to "pacify" Cainta. After traveling several days upriver, Salcedo laid siege to the city and eventually found a weak spot on the wall. In the final Spanish attack, over 400 residents of Cainta were killed.
Dissolution
Cainta was established as a ''visita'' (annex) of
Taytay on November 30, 1571, under the administration of the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
s.
See also
*
Tondo (historical polity)
Tondo (; Baybayin: , Kapampangan language, Kapampangan: Balayan ning Tundo), sometimes referred to as the Kingdom of Tondo, was a Tagalog and Kapampangan settlement which served as a major trade hub located on the northern part of the List of i ...
*
Maynila (historical polity)
Maynila, also known commonly as Manila, was a major Islamic Tagalog '' bayan'' ("country" or "city-state") situated along the modern-day district of Intramuros in the city of Manila, at the southern bank of the Pasig River.Abinales, Patric ...
*
Namayan
Namayan (Baybayin: Pre-Kudlit: or (''Sapa''), Post-Kudlit: ), also called SapaLocsin, Leandro V. and Cecilia Y. Locsin. 1967. ''Oriental Ceramics Discovered in the Philippines.'' Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. and sometimes Lamayan, ...
References
{{Former and present states in the Philippines
Former countries in Southeast Asia
Former countries in Philippine history
Precolonial barangays
History of Luzon
1580s disestablishments in Asia