In
Visayas, the Visayans utilized a three-class social structure consisting of the
ulipon (commoners,
serfs, and slaves, also
uripon in
Waray), the
timawa (warrior nobility), and at the top, the
tumao (nobility). The
tumao consisted of blood relatives of the
datu (community leader) untainted by slavery, servitude, or witchcraft. They were usually descendants of the children of a
datu and secondary wives known as
sandil. Various
tumao supporters of the
datu are collectively referred to as
sandig sa datu ("beside the datu"). The
tumao were also usually employed in the court of the
datu in various positions (though these may sometimes be filled with
timawa as well). The chief minister or privy counselor of the
datu was known as the
atubang sa datu (literally "facing the
datu"). The steward who collected and recorded tributes and taxes and dispensed them among the household and dependents of the
datu was known as the
paragahin. The
paragahin was also responsible for organizing public feasts and communal work. The
bilanggo was the one responsible for maintaining law and order and whose own house served as the community jail (
bilanggowan). Both
tumao and
timawa were obligated to serve as the military forces of the
datu in times of war, at their own expense. The princesses were known as
binokot or
binukot (literally "the veiled ones" or "the wrapped ones"), due to the fact that they were usually transported by slaves in covered
palanquins. Women of the
kadatoan class were powerful and revered. The first wife of the
datu and the
binokot could command the same number of slaves and dependents. . A
datu who gained his status by marrying a princess is known as a
sabali. A
datu who is of pure royal lineage is known as
potli or
lubus nga datu, while a datu whose four grandparents are all of pure royal descent are known as
kalibutan ("all around"). The
datu served as leaders and judges. Their proclamations (
mantala) were delivered to the general populace by an
ulipon serving as the town herald (the
paratawag). They received tributes, taxes, and gifts from their subjects, among them were the
himuka (gifts from
timawa for permission to marry),
bawbaw (gifts from the winning parties in a dispute settled by the ruling of the
datu), and
hikun (the greater share of property being redistributed). They had control of trade through
honos (fee for anchoring a ship in the community harbor),
bihit (tariffs), and
lopig (discounts on local purchases). They also had the power to restrict access to communal property through decrees (
balwang) and their crops and animals were distributed among his subjects to care for in a practice known as
takay. The
datu, however, were far from being a leisured aristocracy. They were often skilled craftsmen, hunters, blacksmiths, fishermen, and warriors in their own right, and their household produced the best commodities for trade. Visayan
datu were loosely bound to each other in a
federation (a
chiefdom). Members of a chiefdom had a leading
datu who had authority over other
datu, usually simply referred to as the
pangulo ("head" or "ruler"),
kaponoan ("most sovereign", from the Visayan word for "root" or "origin",
puno), or
makaporos nga datu (unifying chief). The
pangulo of seaports with frequent foreign traffic may sometimes take on
Malay or
Sanskrit titles like
Rajah ("ruler"),
Batara ("noble lord"),
Sarripada (from Sanskrit
Sri Paduka, "His Highness"; variants include
Salip,
Sipad,
Paduka, and
Salipada). However, they were not
kings in the European sense. Their authority usually stems from favorable trade positions, military prowess, lineage, and wealth (
bahandi) rather than royal rule. While they had limited power over other member
datu of the chiefdom based on their renown, they had no direct control over the subjects or lands of the other
datu. The historian
William Henry Scott theorizes that this may have been
Ferdinand Magellan's fatal error. Magellan assumed that
Rajah Humabon was the king of the land and thus of
Mactan as well. But the island of Mactan, the domain of
Lapu-Lapu and another
datu named Zula, was in a location that enabled them to intercept trade ships entering the harbor of
Cebu, Humabon's domain. Thus it was more likely that Lapu-Lapu was actually more powerful than Humabon. Humabon himself was married to Lapu-Lapu's niece. When Magellan demanded that Lapu-Lapu submit as his "king" Humabon had done, Lapu-Lapu purportedly replied that "he was unwilling to come and do reverence to one whom he had been commanding for so long a time". ==Moro sultanates==