Lakan

{{main|Barangay state|History of the Philippines (900–1565)}}

The lakan was democratically selected by other ruling datus from among themselves to serve as their "pangulo" (head).{{Cite book |last=Jocano |first=F. Landa |title=Filipino Prehistory: Rediscovering Precolonial Heritage |publisher=Punlad Research House, Inc. |year=2001 |isbn=971-622-006-5 |location=Quezon City |author-link=F. Landa Jocano}} Writers such as William Henry Scott have suggested that this rank is equivalent to that of rajah, and that different ethnic groups either used one term or the other, or used the two words interchangeably.Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994.{{Cite web |last=Laput |first=Ernesto J. |date=2004-08-16 |title=PINAS: Buhay Sa Nayon |url=http://www.elaput.org/pinsnyon.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040816041635/http://www.elaput.org/pinsnyon.htm |archive-date=2004-08-16 |access-date=2017-06-29 |website=Mga Kasaysayan Ng PINAS: A Web of Philippine Histories}}{{in lang|tl}} But other writers such as Nick Joaquin have suggested that the usage of the term "rajah" specifically indicates leadership of a bayan or barangay which has extensive trade relations with Muslim traders.{{Cite book |last=Joaquin |first=Nick |title=Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young |publisher=Anvil Publishing, Inc. |year=1990 |isbn=978-971-569-313-4 |location=City of Manila}} Equivalent terms for this rank include the term "sultan" in the Muslim polities of Mindanao, and the term "datu" as used by various polities in the Visayas and in some areas of Mindanao.{{Cite journal |last=Junker, Laura Lee |year=1998 |title=Integrating History and Archaeology in the Study of Contact Period Philippine Chiefdoms |journal=International Journal of Historical Archaeology |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=291–320 |doi=10.1023/A:1022611908759 |s2cid=141415414}}

{{see also|Indosphere|Indianisation}}

There is no particular legal or academic prescription of orthography for the title of lakan. Thus it may be spelled separate from the person's name (e.g. "Lakan Dula"), or be incorporated with the name to form a single word (e.g. "Lakandula").

Rajah and lakan: It is sometimes argued that since the titles "rajah" and "lakan" are roughly equivalent, the two should not be used together. Thus, referring to Lakandula as Rajah Lakandula is said to be the result of mistaking Lakandula to be the full proper name of the said king.

Users of the title lakan that figure in 16th- and 17th-century Spanish colonial accounts of Philippine history include:

• Lakandula (later christened as Don Carlos Lacandola), ruler of Tondo when the Spanish conquest of Luzon began.
• Lakan Tagkan, ruler of Namayan.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
• Lambusan (Lakan Busan), a king in pre-colonial Mandaue.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
• Lakan Usman, king of Bangsa Usman.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

In present-day culture, the term is still occasionally used to mean "nobleman", but has mostly been adapted to other uses.

The name of Malacañan Palace, the official residence of the president of the Republic of the Philippines, is traditionally attributed to the phrase may lakan diyan, or "the king [or head] resides there".{{Cite book |last=Ocampo |first=Ambeth |title=Bonifacio's Bolo |publisher=Anvil Publishing Inc. |year=1995 |isbn=971-27-0418-1 |location=Pasig |pages=122 |chapter=Inside Malacañang |author-link=Ambeth Ocampo}}

In Filipino Martial Arts, lakan denotes an equivalent to the black belt rank.{{Cite web |title=Lakan Definition |url=http://www.martialedge.net/encyclopedia/definition/terminology/view/lakan/%5B%5D |website=martialedge.net}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023|fix-attempted=yes}} Also, beauty contests in the Philippines have taken to referring to the winner as "lakambini", the female equivalent of lakan. In such cases, the contestant's assigned escort can be referred to as a lakan. More often, a male pageant winner is named a lakan.{{cite web |date=1 May 2013 |title=Art & Culture |url=http://www.oroquietacity.com/ArtCulture/Lakambini.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417094755/http://www.oroquietacity.com/ArtCulture/Lakambini.html |archive-date=17 April 2017 |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=oroquietacity.com}}

Philippine National Police Academy graduates are called lakan (male) and lakambini (female)

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• Principalía
• Maginoo
• Datu
• Maharlika
• Timawa
• Philippine shamans
• Tondo (historical polity)
• Barangay
• History of the Philippines (pre-1521)

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Category:Indigenous culture of the Tagalog people

Category:History of the Philippines (900–1565)

Category:Filipino paramount rulers

Category:Filipino nobility

Category:Filipino royalty

Category:Social class in the Philippines