''Thimuay'' (also spelled ''thimuway'', ''timuay'', and ''thimuway'', among other variations) is the name of the most senior ancestral leader among the

Subanon people The Subanon (also spelled Subanen or Subanun) are an indigenous peoples of the Zamboanga peninsula area, particularly living in the mountainous areas of Zamboanga del Sur and Misamis Occidental, Mindanao Island, Philippines. The Subanon people s ...

of the

Zamboanga Peninsula Zamboanga Peninsula (; ; ) is an administrative region in Mindanao, Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur, and the cities of Isabela and Zamboang ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Less senior ancestral leaders are called "datu", just as they are elsewhere in the Philippines. ''Thimuay'' is equivalent to the titles "

lakan In History of the Philippines (900–1521), early Philippine history, the Filipino styles and honorifics, rank of ''lakan'' denoted a "paramount ruler" (or more specifically, "''paramount datu''") of one of the large coastal barangays (known as ...

", "

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

", or "

rajah Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long ...

" in other Philippine cultures. A greatly honored ''thimuay'' is sometimes additionally called a ''thimuay labi'', with the word "labi" simply being a descriptor meaning "highest" or most senior. In predominantly Muslim Subanon communities, the term ''solotan'' is sometimes used instead of ''thimuay''.

Prominent ''thimuay''

Perhaps the most prominent modern-day (20th century) ''thimuay'' was Thimuay Imbing (sometimes spelled Mbeng), who led the Subanon people from Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur during the Philippines' American colonial period. He is perhaps best known for his role in introducing

Evangelical Protestantism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

(through the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines) to the Subanon of Lapuyan.

Prominent ''thimuay''

See also