In early Philippine history, the barangay was a complex sociopolitical unit[1][page needed] which scholars have historically[2] considered the dominant organizational pattern among the various peoples of the Philippine archipelago.[3] The term, barangay, refers to both a house on land and a boat on water; containing families, friends and dependents and is currently the basic political unit of the Philippines.[4][5]
These sociopolitical units were sometimes also referred to as barangay states,[6] but are more properly referred to using the technical term "polity", rather than "state",[3][7] so they are usually simply called "barangays",[6][1][page needed] but evidence suggests a considerable degree of independence as a type of "city states" ruled by datus, rajahs and lakans and sultans.[8] Some barangays were well-organized independent villages, consisting of thirty to a hundred households.[6][page needed][9] Other barangays - most notably those in Maynila, Tondo, Panay,[10] Pangasinan, Cebu, Bohol, Butuan, Cotabato, and Sulu[7][11] - were integrated into large cosmopolitan polities.[1][page needed]
Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano defines this period of the barangay states' dominance - approximately the 14th to the 16th centuries - as the "Barangic Phase" of early Philippine history.[6] The Barangic Phase of Philippine history can be noted for its highly mobile nature, with barangays transforming from being settlements and turning into fleets and vice versa, with the wood constantly re-purposed according to the situation.[12] Historical barangays should not be confused with present-day Philippine barrios, which were officially renamed barangays by the Philippine Local Government Code of 1991 as a reference to historical barangays.
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In early Philippine history, the barangay was a complex sociopolitical unit[1][page needed] which scholars have historically[2] considered the dominant organizational pattern among the various peoples of the Philippine archipelago.[3] The term, barangay, refers to both a house on land and a boat on water; containing families, friends and dependents and is currently the basic political unit of the Philippines.[4][5]
These sociopolitical units were sometimes also referred to as barangay states,[6] but are more properly referred to using the technical term "polity", rather than "state",[3][7] so they are usually simply called "barangays",[6][1][page needed] but evidence suggests a considerable degree of independence as a type of "city states" ruled by datus, rajahs and lakans and sultans.[8] Some barangays were well-organized independent villages, consisting of thirty to a hundred households.[6][page needed][9] Other barangays - most notably those in Maynila, Tondo, Panay,[10] Pangasinan, Cebu, Bohol, Butuan, Cotabato, and Sulu[7][11] - were integrated into large cosmopolitan polities.[1][page needed]
Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano defines this period of the barangay states' dominance - approximately the 14th to the 16th centuries - as the "Barangic Phase" of early Philippine history.[6] The Barangic Phase of Philippine history can be noted for its highly mobile nature, with barangays transforming from being settlements and turning into fleets and vice versa, with the wood constantly re-purposed according to the situation.[12] Historical barangays should not be confused with present-day Philippine barrios, which were officially renamed barangays by the Philippine Local Government Code of 1991 as a reference to historical barangays.