The Laguna Copperplate Inscription and Early Philippine Writing — Fexingo History

Description

In 1989, a laborer digging sand along the Lumbang River in Laguna found a thin sheet of copper covered in ancient script. That artifact — the Laguna Copperplate Inscription — turned out to be the earliest known written document from the Philippines, dated to 900 CE. But what does it actually say? In this episode, Lucas and Luna decode the inscription’s Sanskrit, Old Malay, and Old Javanese words, revealing a world of debt, royal pardons, and cross-cultural exchange long before Spanish arrival. They explore what the LCI tells us about early Philippine society — its legal systems, trade networks, and links to Srivijaya and Java. They also discuss why such inscriptions are rare in the archipelago, the controversy over the LCI’s authenticity, and what it means for understanding precolonial literacy. From the port of Tondo to the kingdom of Butuan, this is a story of a forgotten script, Kabaroan, and a civilization that already had writing before the colonizers came.#LagunaCopperplateInscription #900CE #PrecolonialPhilippines #Srivijaya #OldMalay #Sanskrit #Tondo #Butuan #AntoonPostma #KawiScript #PhilippineHistory #SoutheastAsianHistory #WritingSystems #Indosphere #Epigraphy #FexingoHistory #History #Archaeology #Philippines #BanaueRiceTerracesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-history-of-the-philippines-empires-colonization-and-identity-fexingo-history--6985184/support.