Читать книгу Studies in Moro History, Law, and Religion - Najeeb M. Saleeby - Страница 7

The term Mindanao2 or Magindanao was originally given to the town now known as Cotabato and its immediate vicinity. As the power of the sultan of Magindanao extended over the adjacent territory it was next applied to the lower Rio Grande Valley and later to all the valley and the whole seacoast that was brought under the rule of the sultan. The word is derived from the root “danao,” which means inundation by a river, lake, or sea. The derivative “Mindanao” means “inundated” or “that which is inundated.” “Magindanao” means “that which has inundation.” This is the most appropriate term which could have been given to this land. For more than 10 miles from the sea the Rio Grande, aided by the rise of the tide, periodically overflows its banks and floods all the adjacent lands. In the rainy season this inundation extends farther up and includes an extensive tract of country. The word “Cotabato” is in Moro kuta watu, which means a stone fort. Batu is the equivalent of watu in Malay, Sulu, Tagalog, and Visaya. This name is very modern, for the older maps that are still in use give the name Mindanao in place of Cotabato. The little stream that rises in the sulphur springs of Cotabato and empties into the Rio Grande at its junction with the Matampay in front of the present guardhouse is still known as the Stream of Magindanao.

The name of the Rio Grande in the Magindanao dialect is “Pulangi,” which means “large river.” The Rio Grande divides, 20 miles before it reaches the sea, into the north branch and the south branch. Cotabato is situated on the left bank of the north branch, about 5 miles from its mouth. The hill of Cotabato is called “Tantawan,” which means “extensive view.” Paygwan means “the place of washing,” and is on the left bank of the river at its mouth and above the bar. The Spanish maps give it as Paiuan. Tinundan is at the mouth of a dead estuary of the same name that joins the Pulangi about half a mile above Paygwan and on the same side. Slangan is the western part of present Cotabato and extends along the Manday stream. The Moros call the Manday “Masurut.” Simway extends along the river of the same name for about 2 miles from its mouth and lies about 4 miles north of Cotabato.

The Matampay River is a dead stream which joins the Pulangi at Cotabato. Tagiman is the name of an old settlement built on the Matampay River some distance above Cotabato. It is now called Binilwan. Matampay and Lusudŭn were built on the Matampay River east of Cotabato. Katitwan is an old settlement on the right bank of the river 3 miles below Libungan. Libungan is built at the junction of a river of the same name with the Pulangi, about 9 miles above Cotabato. The point at the fork is called Tambao. Three miles below Tambao on the right bank of the south branch is the site of Bagumbayan. Three miles below Bagumbayan on the left bank of the river is Taviran or Tapidan. Ten miles below Taviran comes Tamontaka, which is nearly south of Cotabato and about 4 miles distant. Tamontaka is about 4 miles from the mouth of the south branch of the Pulangi. Lumbāyanági lies a little below Tamontaka, on the right bank of the river. Immediately above the fork and on the left bank of the main river lies the old site of Kabuntalan. Fourteen miles above the fork lies Dulawan, the settlement at present occupied by Datu Piang. Here empties one of the largest tributaries of the Pulangi, which is navigable by launches for 12 miles farther up, to Sapakan, Datu Utu’s main residence. Rakūngan lies in the foothills of the Tiruray Mountains about 12 miles south of Sapakan. Talayan lies in the foothills of the Tiruray Mountains 15 miles southwest of Dulawan. Two miles below Dulawan lies the old site of Bwayan, on the left bank of the Pulangi. Opposite Bwayan and Dulawan lies the land of Kudarangan. Tinunkup is Reina Regente and Kabarukan is the wooded hill beyond. Sarunayan is the stretch of country lying north of Reina Regente and northeast of Kudarangan and extending to the base of the Kulingtan Mountains, which separate the Rio Grande Valley from the Ranao region. The country occupying the declivities of these mountains north of Sarunayan is called Pidatan. Bagu Ingŭd is an old settlement that lies along the left bank of the river about 16 or 20 miles above Reina Regente. Matbangan is on the right bank of the river and extends a short distance below Piket. The Malitigaw or Malidigaw is a large tributary of the Pulangi, about 15 miles above Piket. Matinggawan is located at the junction of the Kabakan tributary and about 30 miles above Piket. It is the chief settlement of the last Moro district in the Rio Grande Valley whose farthest boundary is the Mulita stream, which is about 115 miles by river above Cotabato.

Immediately south of the mouth of the south branch of the Rio Grande and rising above the seashore at Līnuk is the lofty and picturesque pyramidal peak of Mount Kabalalan. From Kabalalan and the hills of Taviran there stretches an extensive mountainous region or table-land which extends as far south as the Bay of Sarangani. This table-land is designated as the Tiruray table-land or mountains for the reason that its northern half is inhabited by the tribe of pagans of the same name who are not met with anywhere else. The Bay of Sarangani is called in Moro Sugud Bwayan. Sugud means “bay,” and Bwayan is the chief settlement at the head of the bay. North of the head of Sarangani Bay and at the southern terminus of one of the ranges of the Apo system of mountains towers the picturesque and conical peak of Mount Matutun. Matutun means “burning,” and the mountain is an extinct volcano. Lying between Matutun on the east and the previously mentioned table-land on the west is the country of Talik. North of Talik lie Lake Buluan or Bulwan and farther north Lake Ligwasan, which empties into the Rio Grande through a stream called Maytŭm īg or black water. This junction occurs at Kŭkmŭn, about 8 or 10 miles above Reina Regente.

Balabagan is about 10 miles south of Malabang. Magulalung is in the neighborhood of Balabagan. The Iranun sultanate was on the shore of Illana Bay, and the term Iranun signifies, in general, the people who live along the shores of that bay. Iranun is also pronounced and written as Ilanun; hence the corrupted Spanish name given to the bay. The former Iranun sultanate must have occupied the country in the vicinity of Malabang. Tubuk is the territory immediately bordering on Malabang to the north of the Malabang stream. Baras lies a few miles north of Malabang. Ramītan is in the immediate vicinity of Baras.

Malālis is near Tukurun. Dinas is the principal settlement on the western coast of Illana Bay. Kumaladan is at the head of Dumanquilas Bay. Sibugay is the name of the large bay east of the Zamboanga peninsula.

The word “ranao” means a lake and is the name the Moros give to the upland lake lying midway between Malabang and Iligan and to the region surrounding the lake. The mountain range separating the Ranao table-land from the Rio Grande Valley is called the Kulingtan Range on account of the resemblance its peaks bear to the knobs of the row of kulingtan on which the Moros make their music. The highest peak in this range north of Parang and above Barīra is supposed to be Mount Bīta. The highest ridge west of Ranao is called Mount Gurayn, at the base of which lies the settlement of Bacolod or Bakulud.

The Ranao settlements which are mentioned in the tarsila are Kadingilan, Bayan, Makadar, and Bakayawan in the south, and the Bayābaw settlements of Marāwi (Marahui), Madāya, and others in the north; also Sīkŭn, Didagŭn, and Dupilas.

At the time of the Spanish invasion of Mindanao all the southern and western shores of the Island of Mindanao except the eastern shore of Illana Bay were ruled and controlled by the sultan and datus of Magindanao. The Ranao inhabitants are related to the Iranun in language and tribal characteristics.

The word Mindanao unless restricted by the sense of the sentence is generally used to mean the Island of Mindanao, while the term Magindanao is limited to the old district or town of Cotabato proper.