Zamboanga City - History

History

Zamboanga was founded in the late 12th or early 13th century, with the earliest people living there being the Subanen, an indigenous tribe of Malay origin. The Subanen people's name for Zamboanga, 'Sung Lupa', means 'Pointed Land'. Speculation that the name of Zamboanga comes from the word 'Jambangan', meaning the 'Land of Flowers', is met by others insisting the name derives from the word 'Saguan' or 'Sambuan', A Malay word for the paddle used by natives to paddle the vintas in the sea. Still another possible origin is 'Sambon' which refers to herbal plants that grew abundantly in the city. Badjao, Samal, Tausug and the Yakan tribes from Malayan descent settled in the same part of Mindanao in the early 14th century. Islam gained predominance in the early 14th century in the Philippines first as a non-indigenous religion from these Austronesian peoples before Jews and Christians arrived.