Laguna Copperplate Inscription
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (Filipino: Inskripsyón sa binatbát na tansô ng Laguna) is an official acquittance certificate inscribed onto a copper plate in the Shaka year 822 (Gregorian A.D. 900). It is the earliest known calendar-dated document found within the Philippine Islands.
| Laguna Copperplate Inscription | |
|---|---|
The inscription displayed at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila | |
| Material | Copper |
| Height | <20 cm (7.9 in) |
| Width | <30 cm (12 in) |
| Created | April 21, 900 |
| Discovered | 1989 Lumban, Laguna, Philippines |
| Present location | National Museum of the Philippines |
| Language | Mainly Old Malay with some Sanskrit and Old Javanese, and/or Old Tagalog |
The plate was found in 1989 by a laborer near the mouth of the Lumbang River in Wawa, Lumban, Laguna, in the Philippines. The inscription was mainly written in Old Malay using the Early Kawi script, with several technical Sanskrit words and Old Javanese or Old Tagalog honorifics. After it was found, the text was first translated in 1991 by Antoon Postma, a Dutch anthropologist and Hanunó'o script researcher.
The inscription documents the existence and names of several surrounding states as of A.D. 900, such as the Tagalog city-state of Tondo. Some historians associate the toponym Medang in this inscription regarding the Medang palace in Java at that time, although the name is a common term of Malayo-Polynesian origin.