The Balangingi are, or were, an interesting tribe. A Sama (Samal) speaking people that inhabited a handful of tiny coral atolls in the Sulu Chain until they were exterminated by the Spanish military in the 19th Century. The islands have no real quantities of potable water and no flora other than a small number of coconut palms and typical mangroves. Living under oppressive Tasaug datus of the Sulu Sultunate, they needed a way in which generate income, for tribute as well as for subsistence. It was a natural evolution then into piracy, marauding, and slaving. In many cases during the 19th Century, neigh even most, noone bothered distinguishing between the Balangingi and the much larger Iranun Tribe during or after an attack. The Iranun had a headstart of perhaps 1,000 years in terms of piracy and enslavement. The significance in that is that a group with less than a century under its belt was able to launch so many attacks and enslave so many people that by the end of the 19th Century their collective name (Balangingi) became synonymous with "pirate" in coastal Borneo and peninsular Malaya (TODAYS MALAYSIA).
The following excerpt is from an academic treatise from the University of Singapore that concentrates on the economic life of the Sulu Sultanate during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Entitled, "The Sulu Zone: 1768 -1898" by James Francis Warren (Singapore: University of Singapore) (1981). Chapter VIII focuses on the Balangingi and their contribution to slaving which had always formed the backbone of the Sulu economy, even centuries prior to the Sultanate's formation.
Chapter VIII: Slave Raiding in Southeast Asia, 1830 -1898: The Balangigi, Fishers of Men:
The Balangingi -Samal (SAMA) lived, along with Iranun and other Sama -speaking groups, in a dozen or more villages scattered along the southern Mindanao coast, the southern shore of Basilan, and on the islands of the Samalese [sic] cluster of which Balangingi (ISLAND) was dominant. As Sulu's trade expanded at the end of the 18th Century, Taosug (TAUSUG) datus increasingly retained neighboring groups of Samal as slave raiders. From Balangingi and related communities on other islands, Samal -speakers voyaged great distances; they swept the coast from Luzon to Brunei and from Singapore to Manado (NORTH SULAWESI IN INDONESIA), capturing slaves. But who were the Balangingi? Although Francisco Combes and Thomas Forrest describe the warlike activities and trade of the Samal in other periods, there are no historical references to the Balangingi as a separate group before the 19th Century. In Western sources marauders are mentioned as Balingingi as rather than Iranun in the area of Singapore and eastern Malayas (TODAYS MALAYSIA) in the 1830s. From that period the label Balangingi began to supercede Iranun in the European literature as synonymous with "pirate." The Balangingi Samal seem to have aquired ethnic distinction only as they specialised in raiding activity and incorporating an incredible number of non -Samal speakers into their numbers.
The Samalese group comprised Balangingi Island (6 square miles) (10 SQUARE KILOMETERS) and Tunkil (TONGKIL), a cluster of four islets (9.5 square miles) (25 SQUARE KILOMETERS) situated in the centre of the Philippin Archipelago, midway between Borneo and (MAINLAND) Mindanao. The islets were subject to change of size and shape, with tidal variations and modulations in the wind and weather patterns, separating into small parcels of rock when innundated at high tide. They were fringed with mangrove swamps, and separated from neighboring islands by reefs and winding channels through which swirled strong currents and counter currents with no surface water and little flora, except the ubiqitous coconut palm, they were incapable of providing the subsistence base neccesary to support a dense population. On these islands, the Balangingi -Samal constructed wells and four forts (Balangingi, Sipac [SIC] (SIPAK), Bucotingal [SIC] (BUKOTINGAL), and Sangap) to guard their villages and prahus [SIC, PRAO IS THE USUAL ENGLISH SPELLING AND REFERS TO THE TRADITIONAL WOODEN OCEAN GOING CANOE SEEN THROUGHOUT MARITIME SOUTHEAST ASIA AS WELL AS IN POLYNESIA). The forts (kotas) sit on raised ground and protected by coral reefs on three sides, were stockades of two, three, and four tiers of stout tree trunks , packed with eath and coral to a height of 20 feet (6.9 METERS)and defended with heavy cannon.
The islands and shalow seas upon which the original Samal -speaking people of the Balangingi cluster lived placed them into an ecological bind that shaped their character and relationship to the Sulu Sultanate. The sole orientation of the Samal was, of neccesity, towards the sea. From it, as specialists in maritime raiding, boat building, and marine procurement, they derived their strength, security, and ultimately -their wealth. Lack of self sufficiency bound the Samal to Jolo. Its proximity to Jolo as an outlet for retailing captives; its dependence on larger, volcanic isles like Jolo and Basilan as sources of rice, fruits, and vegetables, and trade goods and the natural barriers surrounding it help to explain why Balangingi became the national home of one of the most feared piratical [SIC] groups of inland Southeast Asia.
In the 19th Century, the Balangingi were integrated with the Sulu Sultanate by a three level class system comprising aristocrats, free men, and a'ata (slaves). The Sultan appointed a Panglima to represent him (IN THE MODERN SENSE A PANGLIMA IS AN ISLAMIC CLERIC SLASH SHAMAN, IN ITS ARCHAIC SENSE, AS THE AUTHOR IS USING IT, IT APPLIED TO AN HONORIFIC LOWER IN STATUS THAN MINOR DATU), but datus exercised titular rights and imposed jural authority over specific Samal islands and populations. All datus were Taosug, but not infrequently panglima were Samal. The Samal paid tribute in tripang, pearl shell, and salt; and as clients of powerful datus, they offered their services for slaving expeditions in return for trade opportunities and protection from rival Taosug datus who exercised supervision over Samal populations were frequently associated with -if not directly related to -the Sultan and often resided in or near Jolo. In the first half of the 19th Century, the most important Taosug patrons of Samal communities were: Datu Dacula [SIC] (DAKULA) over Sipac [SIC] (SIPAK), Datu Tahel, Datu Molok, Maharaja [SIC] Lela (Balangingi).
*********************************************************************************************
As to when the Balangingi ceased to exist, most date that to the Spanish expedition which was thinly disguised ethnic genocide that took place in 1849. The Balangingi were a very small group, in a small geographic area, who were all considered to be pirates, or mothers producing pirates, or children training to be pirates. However, in 1876 a group of marauders were captured off of what is mow Malaysia and when interrogated identified themselves as Balangingi. In that 1849 Spanish action records state that 400 were killed (generally speaking, the Spanish only recorded military aged males while others weren't tallied). They also enslaved 150 men.
As for tribute paid to the Tausugs, the standard weight was the "Kati." A Kati was 1.33 pounds (lbs.). 100 Kati comprised 1 "Pikal," which weighed 133.33 pounds, though in Manila it equaled 137.50 pounds. A Dutch slave, Chrishaan Soerma, of a Tausug datu, worked his way up to the trusted position of Tribute Collecter in the 1840s. He later recollected the annual tribute collected:
1) Tawi Tawi: 200 pikal of mother of pearl (pearl shell)
2) Parang on Jolo Island: 125 pikal of mother of pearl
3) Sandakan (today part of Malaysia): 25 pikal of birds' nests (swallow nests are an expensive delicacy in both Chinese cuisine AND medicine. The nests are constructed mostly out of the bird's saliva).
4) Panguturan (an island in Sulu): 150 coconut oil lamps, coconuts and bananas.
In the Philippines one's language often times is synonymous with one's ethnicity. For example, though the Cebuanos are often referred to as "Bisaya." Indeed today there is a distinct dialect of Sama known as "Balangingi" so that one can honestly say that the Balingingi Tribe is not entirely extinct.
...thank you for the history lesson....
ReplyDelete