Occidental Mindoro Province, Philippines Genealogy

Asia Philippines  Occidental Mindoro Province

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
The political history of Occidental Mindoro necessarily begins with the commercial history of Mindoro Island. Mindoro Island was originally known to the ancients as Ma-i. It was formally called Mait, and known to the Chinese traders before the coming of the Spanish. Its existence was mentioned in the old Chinese chronicles in 775 A.D. and more elaborately in 1225. It was a major anchorage in the Southeast Asia trade route during the pre-Philippines period. Chinese, Arab and Indian merchants traded with the natives. In 1570, the Spanish began to explore the island and named it Mina de Oro (mine of gold) after finding some of the precious metal, though no major gold discoveries were ever made.

In 1572, Captain Juan de Salcedo of the Spanish expeditionary army set sail from Cebu and explored the West coast of the island, encountering the Mangyans, who appeared used to seeing foreigners and were not at all a bit surprised at their arrival.

After the defeat of Sulaiman in the same year, Mindoro and other vassal states of Maynila became subject of Castillan rule. The island was officially referred to from then on as Mina de Oro (mine of gold), compressed later on into Mindoro.

In 1602, Moro forces plundered the most important Spanish towns along the coasts of Mindoro and Southern Luzon, and subsequently reestablished their hold in Mindoro by constructing a fort at Mamburao. From 1720 onwards Moro raids became devastating not only to the island's Hispanized communities but to other parts of the archipelago as well.

The fact that a Moro fort at Mamburao threatened Manila, the very capital of the colonial government, embarrassed the conquerors in the eyes of their native subjects, which was politically intolerable to the Spanish administrators. So in 1766, the Spaniards gathered a large force of 1,200 fully armed marines, augmented by a large army of native mercenaries, and burned the Iranun fort.

Cemeteries

 * Find A Grave
 * Catholic Cemetery
 * Manila American Cemetery & Memorial
 * San Jose Public Cemetery
 * Manila North Cemetery
 * Manila South Cemetery
 * Manila Chinese Cemetery
 * Manila Chinese Cemetery

Websites

 * Occidental Mindoro
 * Occidental Mindoro Website
 * Occidental Mindoro
 * Mindoro Occidental Province, Philippines
 * Occidental Mindoro
 * Occidental Mindoro Map
 * ZIP Codes & Phone Area Code of Mindoro, Philippines