Ok here we go again. Another geeky anthropological theory I made here in this far-flung places of Southern Palawan. Here I will discuss the possible connection of Pala'wan tribes of Palawan and the Maranaos of Mindanao.
Pala'wan has many similar words with Maranao like " seda' " (Maranao "sada", fish) and " kyo " (Maranao "kiyo", sexual act (1) ). The language of the Pala'wan, Palawano, is a member of Central Philippine languages (includes Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Waray-Waray and Tausug) and the Maranao language is a member of Danao languages (Maranao, Maguindanao, Bagobo, Manobo, Subanen). Both are under the big family language of Malayo-Polynesian.
But..... where the heck do these Pala'wans get those words when they were almost 400 miles from Lanao province and fish and sexual act must be something like " isda " and " kantot " or " iyot " respectively if their language is a member of Central Philippine languages????
My theory involves languages similar to Maranao. That is Iranun and Maguindanao, and they were also members of Danao languages. The Iranuns are seafaring people who are notorious in slave raiding and piracy. Their language is similar to Maranao. Their homeland are in the coastal areas between Lanao and Cotabato province. They are active from the Moro Gulf and Sulu Sea to Singapore. That means... their influence may include the Pala'wans of Southern Palawan and they may include those words in their vocabulary tru trading since the nearest Iranun settlements are in Sabah, Malaysia (Kudat, Kota Belud and Lahad Datu).
Another theory is that Sultan Kudarat of the Sultanate of Maguindanao signed a treaty with a Sultan of Sulu wherein they exchange territories. Kudarat's trading post of Lamitan, Basilan will be given to Sulu and Southern Palawan will be given to Cotabato. So, the Pala'wans get those words also by the use of trading with the Maguindanaoan governors and representatives.
My Pala'wan guide Gara told me about a legend of the a very deep hole in the ground called the "Haws". It's dept is unbearable that no light can get through it's lowest point. They say that its inhabitants were small men a size of a stick of match.
The story begins with a Pala'wan boar hunter who unsuspectingly fell into this hole. He landed safely into bushes but scratched. The small men saw him but they never do anything to him. He stayed there for years. While sleeping, a divine voice told him to get out of the hole by making hundreds of darts and use it with his blowgun to shoot it on one another on a star above the sky. If he fail to do this so, he will be eaten alive. After he wake up, he did this immediately as he was told and then got out of the hole with his whole body alive.
Pala'wan animistic religion and mythology were influenced by Hinduism. In this case, I found a Hindu Legend of the Lonar Crater Lake in Maharashtra, India.
According to the Skanda Purana scriptures, the demon Lonasur devastated the surrounding areas and even challenged the Gods. The people prayed and they appealed to the Lord Vishnu. He transformed into a handsome youth named "Daitya-Sudan". He charmed the giant's sisters and discovered his den. He removed the lid of the den and then destroyed the giant. The water believed to be the blood and the salts were the decomposed flesh.
This maybe an isolated incident like the pyramids of the Mayans and Egyptians but the "evil beings in a legendary hole" are exceptional because of the proximity of Palawan in the territory of Buddhist and Hindu empires of Sri Vijaya and Majapahit respectively.
This theory serves as an evidence of an another theory which is the influence through trade by the ancient and Pre-Hispanic Filipinos with the other cultures in Southeast Asia which begun by the anthropologists who have been studying our history and cultures and the crew of the "Voyage of the Balangays" who led the journey of the balangay replicas through Southeast Asia.
Reference:
Gara Saran of Sitio Bohoy, Brgy Ocayan, Bataraza, Palawan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonar_crater
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