Visayans
Visayans are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous distinct ethnic groups. When taken as a single group, they number around 45.5 million. The Visayans, like the Luzon Lowlanders were originally predominantly animist-polytheists and broadly share a maritime culture until the 16th
century when the Spanish Empire enforced Catholicism as the state religion. In more inland or otherwise secluded areas, ancient animistic-polytheistic beliefs and traditions either were reinterpreted within a Roman Catholic framework or syncretized with the new religion. Visayans are generally speakers of one or more of the distinct Bisayan languages, the most widely spoken being Cebuano, followed by Hiligaynon and Waray-Waray.
History
The Visayans were a historical people that's roughly equivalent to the modern people who speak a Visayan language, as they were recorded to appear in Medieval and Renaissance records among: the Chinese, Bruneians, and early Spaniards. They were described as a very trade and sea navigation focused people, who were forced to be on that profession due to the scarcity of agricultural land. Furthermore, their warrior spirit is emphasized and that they often led conquests and slave raids on the seas around East and Southeast Asia.Among the Chinese, especially during the Ming era, the Visayans are called Peshiye. The areas known as Pisheye were probably located in lowland coastal regions with minimal agricultural activity, a description that Cebu fits well. Wang's account of the locals' appearance aligns with descriptions of the Pintados people. He noted that both men and women gathered their hair into topknots and used ink to tattoo their bodies up to the neck.
Regarding the political organization of Pisheye, Wang states that the "country has no paramount chief", which suggests it wasn't a unified state-level polity. The leader wasn't referred to as a king but as a paramount chief. This phrase, "no paramount chief", strongly implies that Pisheye was a geographical area rather than a single political entity, where individual settlements operated independently of one another. In 2004, Efren Isorena proposed that the people referred to as "Pisheye" were actually Visayan sea raiders originating from Ibabao. His argument, largely based on the writings of Spanish Priest, Francisco Alcina, suggested that their balangay boats, which had bamboo outriggers, were mistaken for simple bamboo rafts by those describing them.
Historian Robert Nicholl implied that the Srivijayans of Sumatra, Vijayans of Vijayapura at Brunei and the Visayans in the Philippines were all related and connected to each other since they form one contiguous area. On a similar note, according to an early Spanish missionary and historian P. Francisco Colin, S.J. in the Philippines, the inhabitants of Panay Island were originally from north Sumatra.
Pre-colonial period
Notable Visayan polities in the pre-colonial period include the following:- Kedatuan of Madja-as
- Kedatuan of Dapitan
- Rajahnate of Cebu
- Rajahnate of Butuan
- Sultanate of Sulu
Historical documentation, notably the Ming annals and the Zhufan Zhi 諸蕃志, references a region designated as Pisheye. These sources characterize the area as a coastal lowland with restricted agricultural potential, a description that exhibits a strong geographical congruence with Cebu.
Spanish colonial period
The first Filipino people encountered by the Magellan expedition were Visayans from the island of Suluan; followed by two rulers of the Surigaonon and Butuanon people on a hunting expedition in Limasawa, Rajah Colambu and Rahah Siaui; and finally Rajah Humabon of Cebu. Magellan describes the Suluanon people he encountered as "painted", with gold earrings and armlets, and kerchiefs around their heads. They described Rajah Colambu as having dark hair that hung down to his shoulders, tawny skin, and tattoos all throughout his body. They also noted the large amount of gold ornaments he wore, from large gold earrings to gold tooth fillings. Rajah Colambu wore embroidered patadyong that covered him from the waist to the knees, as well as a kerchief around his head. They also described the boloto and the large balanghai warships, and the custom of drinking palm wine and chewing areca nut. They also described the queen of Cebu as being young and beautiful and covered in white and black cloth. She painted her lips and nails red, and wore a large disc-shaped hat made from elaborately-woven leaves.The 16th century marks the beginning of the Christianization of the Visayan people, with the baptism of Rajah Humabon and about 800 native Cebuanos. The Christianization of the Visayans and Filipinos in general, is commemorated by the Ati-Atihan Festival of Aklan, the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo, and the Sinulog festival the feast of the Santo Niño de Cebu, the brown-skinned depiction of the Child Jesus given by Magellan to Rajah Humabon's wife, Hara Amihan. By the 17th century, Visayans already took part in religious missions. In 1672, Pedro Calungsod, a teenage indigenous Visayan catechist and Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Spanish friar, were both martyred in Guam during their mission to preach Christianity to the Chamorro people.
By the end of the 19th century, the Spanish Empire weakened after a series of wars with its American territories. The surge of newer ideas from the outside world thanks to the liberalization of trade by the Bourbon Spain fostered a relatively larger middle class population called the Ilustrados or "the Enlightened Ones." This then became an incentive for the new generation of educated political visionaries to fulfill their dreams of independence from three centuries of colonial rule. Some prominent leaders of the Philippine Revolution in the late 19th century were Visayans. Among leaders of the Propaganda movement was Graciano López Jaena, the Ilonggo who established the propagandist publication La Solidaridad. In the Visayan theater of the Revolution, Pantaleón Villegas led the Cebuano revolution in the Battle of Tres de Abril. One of his successors, Arcadio Maxilom, is a prominent general in the liberalization of Cebu. Earlier in 1897, Aklan fought against the Spaniards with Francisco Castillo and Candido Iban at the helm. Both were executed after a failed offensive. Martin Delgado led the rebellion in neighboring Iloilo. Led by Juan Araneta with the assistance of Aniceto Lacson, Negros Occidental was freed while Negros Oriental was liberated by Diego de la Viña. The former would be called the Negros Revolution or the Cinco de Noviembre. Movements in Capiz were led by Esteban Contreras with the aid of Alejandro Balgos, Santiago Bellosillo and other Ilustrados. Meanwhile, Leandro Locsin Fullon spearheaded the liberalization of Antique. Most of these revolutionaries would continue their fight for independence until the Philippine–American War. There was also a less heard and short-lived uprising called the Igbaong Revolt which occurred in Igbaong, Antique steered by Maximo and Gregorio Palmero. This revolt, however, was secularly-motivated as they clamored for a more syncretic form of religion based on Visayan animist traditions and Christianity.
Federal State of the Visayas
At the peak of the Philippine Revolution, anti-colonial insurgencies sprung from Luzon up to the Visayas. Despite military support from the Tagalog Republic led by Emilio Aguinaldo, Visayan revolutionary leaders were skeptical toward the real motives of the Tagalogs. Such ethnic animosity was notable to the point that local Visayan leaders demanded forces sent from the north to surrender their armaments and were prohibited to leave revolutionary bases. Moreover, this apprehension led to the full declaration of the Federal State of Visayas on December 12, 1898. This short-lived federal government, based in Iloilo, was an accumulation of revolutionary movements across Panay and Negros. The following were the elected officials four days prior to the declaration:| Position | Name |
| General-President | Anecito Lacson |
| Treasurer | Eusebio Luzurriaga |
| Executive Secretary | Melecio Severino |
| Secretary of War | Juan Araneta |
| Secretary Of Interior | Simeón Lizares |
| Secretary of Public Works | Nicolás Gólez |
| Secretary of Justice | Antonio Jayme Ledesma |
| Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce | Agustín Amenablar |
American colonization
After the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the American colonial government saw the integral part of indigenous elites particularly in Negros in local affairs. This was a different move compared to the previous Spanish imperialists who created a racial distinction between mestizos and native Austronesians. As such, this paved the way for a homogenous concept of a Filipino albeit initially based on financial and political power. These said elites were the hacienderos or the landed, bourgeois-capitalist class concentrated within the sugar cane industry of Negros. The Americans' belief that these hacienderos would be strategic elements in their political hold within the newly acquired colony bolstered the drafting of a separate colonial constitution by and for the sugar industry elites. This constitution likewise established the Negros Cantonal Government. This ensured that the island of Negros would be governed by an indigenous civilian government in contrast to the rest of colonist-controlled areas governed by the American-dominated Philippine Commission.During this period, the eastern islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran were directly governed by the Malolos Republic through Vicente Lukban and later by Ambrosio Mojica. Meanwhile, prior to the full abolition of the federal government on November 12, 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo appointed Martin Delgado as the civil and military governor of Iloilo on April 28, 1899, upon American invasion of Antique. The federal government, much to its rejection of the Cebuano leaders who supported the Katipunan cause, was dissolved upon the Iloilo leaders' voluntary union with the newly formed First Philippine Republic. Other factors which led to Aguinaldo forcing the Visayans to dissolve their government was due to the federation's resistance from reorganizing its army and forwarding taxes to Malolos.