Early history In the early 17th century, Father Ignacio Alcina recorded that a certain Datung Sumanga of
Leyte wooed the princess Bugbung Humasanum, of Bohol, and married her after raiding Imperial China and afterwards were the precursors of the people there. In 1667, Father Francisco Combes, in his
Historia de Mindanao, mentioned that the people of the island of Panglao had once invaded mainland Bohol, subsequently imposing their economic and political dominance in the area. They considered the previous inhabitants of the islands their slaves by reason of war, as witnessed, for example, by how Datu Pagbuaya, one of the rulers of Panglao, considered
Datu Sikatuna his vassal and relative. The invasion of mainland Bohol by the people of Panglao ushered in the birth of the so-called Bohol "kingdom", also known as the "Dapitan Kingdom of Bohol". The Bohol "kingdom" prospered under the reign of the two brother rulers of Panglao, Datu Dailisan and Datu Pagbuaya, with trade links established with neighboring Southeast Asian countries, particularly with the
Sultanate of Ternate. Alcina referred to it as the "Venice of the Visayas" since it was a maritime focused Kedatuan with flourishing canals and was composed of 10,000 stilt buildings in the water. The flourishing of trade in the Bohol "kingdom" is owed to its strategic location along the busy trading channels of
Cebu and
Butuan. For other countries such as Ternate to gain access to the busy trade ports of the Visayas, they need to first forge diplomatic ties with the Bohol "kingdom". Relations between the
Sultanate of Ternate in the
Moluccas, and Bohol, soured when the Ternatan sultan learned of the sad fate of his emissary and his men, who were executed by the two ruling chieftains of Bohol as punishment for abusing one of the concubines. For revenge, Ternate sent twenty
joangas disguised as friendly traders with the aide of Portuguese artillery and some men to attack Bohol. Caught unaware, the inhabitants of Bohol could not defend themselves against the Ternatan raiders, who were also equipped with sophisticated firearms like muskets and arquebuses, which the Boholanos saw for the first time. Many Boholanos lost their lives in this conflict, including Dailisan. After the raid, Pagbuaya, who was left as the sole reigning chief of the island, decided to abandon Bohol together with the rest of the freemen as they considered Bohol island unfortunate and accursed. They settled on the northern coast of the island of
Mindanao, where they established the
Dapitan settlement.
Spanish colonial period The Kingdom of Dapitan had been integral to the spread of Spanish conquest and control in the Philippines. The conquest of the Philippines would have been impossible without the allegiance and help of several hundred Bisaya warriors, including Boholanos who have a common hatred with the Spaniards against Muslims; with Bohol being once destroyed by the
Ternate Sultanate while Spain was once invaded by the
Umayyad Caliphate. Don Pedro Manuel Manooc, known for his military and navigation skills, aided the Spaniards in their invasion of
Manila on May 24, 1570, and Bicol (started from Camarines) in July 1573. In 1667, chronicler Fr.
Francisco Combés, S.J, described Manooc in Spanish as "Fiero, hombre que facilmente se embravece", which means "the one who gets easily heated like iron". For some time, during the conquest of Bicol, Manooc, together with his kinsmen, founded and settled in the villages of
Bacon,
Bulusan,
Gubat, and
Magallanes, protecting these coastal settlements from barbaric Moro pirates and paving the way for evangelical missions of the
Franciscans. Nearly two hundred years later, on June 13, 1764, Manooc's great-grandson, Don Pedro Manook, became the first
gobernadorcillo of Gubat when it became an independent town. Manooc also supported Spanish campaigns in Cebu, Mindanao, Caraga, and Jolo. On one recorded event, Manooc defeated the Sultan of Jolo, escaping as a fugitive, who had a fleet of 12
joangas and eventually captured the flagship. Captain Laria, a cousin of Manooc, served Spain in the conquest of the
Moluccas in 1606. Manooc's sister, Doña Madalena Baluyot (or Bacuya), was known to be a pacifier and peacemaker for varying factions of Subanon tribe, which earned respect from its chiefs. Pedro Cabili was as young as 7 years old when he joined his father Maglinti in the conquest and was also known as a fierce warrior perfectly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the family dominated politics in Dapitan and Iligan. During this time, the Spanish used Dapitan as a military outpost for their operations against the Moros. Spain constructed a number of forts along the north-western coast, in Dapitan, Iligan, and Ozamis, supported by the Cabili family. Eventually, Cabili became the ancestor of future assemblyman, senator, and
defense secretary Tomas Cabili, Iligan
gobernadorcillo Remigio Cabili, and mayors Brod and Camilo Cabili. Camilo Cabili also became a congressman for Iligan from 1984 to 1986 during the
Regular Batasang Pambansa. In 1622, Datu Salangsang, Baluyot's grandson and ruler of present-day
Cagayan de Oro and
Misamis Oriental, through her intervention, allowed
Augustinian Recollect missions to the province. ==References==