Batangas: History
=== Early history ===
Large centers of population already thrived along the coasts and rivers of present-day Batangas. Barangays lined the Pansipit River draining Bombon Lake (now Taal), a major waterway. The area was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for ~3,000 years from ~2000 BCE to ~1000 CE. Trading relations with other Philippine peoples, Borneo, Chinese, Japanese, among others were maintained.
Archaeological findings and written accounts by the Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century show that pre-colonial Tagalogs have long histories in complex, stratified societies with trade networks encompassing Southeast and East Asia. This was shown by certain jewelry, made from a chambered nautilus shell, where tiny holes were created by a drill-like tool. The ancient peoples of present-day Batangas were influenced by trade with Indianized states and to a lesser degree China, as shown in many loanwords from Sanskrit and unearthed tradeware ceramics primarily from China and present-day Vietnam and Thailand. A Buddhist image unearthed in Calatagan was reproduced in mould on a clay medallion in bas-relief. According to experts, the image in the pot strongly resembles the iconographic portrayal of Buddha in Siam, India, and Nepal. The pot shows Buddha Amithāba in the tribhanga pose inside an oval nimbus. Scholars also noted that there is a strong Mahāyānic orientation in the image, since the Boddhisattva Avalokiteśvara was also depicted.
One of the major archaeological finds was in January 1941, where two crude stone figures were found in Palapat, also in Calatagan. They were later donated to the National Museum. One of them was destroyed during World War II.
Eighteen years later, a grave was excavated in nearby Punta Buaya. Pieces of brain coral were carved behind the heads of the 12 remains that were found. The site was named Likha (meaning "create"). The remains were accompanied by furniture that could be traced as early as the 14th century. Potteries, as well as bracelets, stoneware, and metal objects were also found in the area, suggesting that the people who lived there had extensive contact with people from as far as China.
The presence of dining utensils such as plates or "chalices" found with the remains also suggest that prehistoric Batangueños believed in the idea of life-after-death. Thus, the Batangueños, like their neighbors in other parts of Asia, have similar customs of burying furniture with the dead.
Like the nearby tribes, the Batangan or the early Batangueños were a non-aggressive people. Partly because most of the tribes in their immediate environment were related to them by blood. Some weapons Batangans used included the bakyang (bows and arrows), the bangkaw (spears), and the suwan (bolo).
Being highly superstitious, the use of agimat (amulet or talisman) showed that these people believed in the presence of higher beings and other things unseen. The natives believed that forces of nature were a manifestation these higher beings.
The term 'Tagalog' may have been derived from the word taga-ilog or "river dwellers" referring to the Pasig River located further up north of the region. However, Wang The-Ming in his writings on Sino-Filipino relations points out that Batangas was the real center of the Tagalogs, which he then identified as Ma-yi or Ma-i. …