Maynila (historical polity) in the context of "Philippine archipelago"

In early Philippine history, barangay is the term historically used by scholars to describe the complex sociopolitical units that were the dominant organizational pattern among the various peoples of the Philippine archipelago in the period immediately before the arrival of European colonizers. Academics refer to these settlements using the technical term "polity", but they are usually simply called "barangays".

Most barangays were independent villages consisting of thirty to a hundred households. Other barangays — most notably those in Maynila, Tondo, Panay, Pangasinan, Caboloan, Cebu, Bohol, Butuan, Cotabato, and Sulu — were large cosmopolitan polities.

Tondo (Tagalog: [tunˈdo]; Baybayin: ᜆᜓᜇᜓ, Kapampangan: Balen ning Tundo), also popularly known referred to as the Kingdom of Tondo, was a Tagalog and Kapampangan settlement which served as a major trade hub located on the northern part of the Pasig River delta on Luzon Island. Together with Maynila, the polity (bayan) which was also situated on the southern part of the Pasig River delta, Tondo established a shared monopoly on the trade of Chinese goods throughout the rest of the Philippine archipelago, making it an established force in trade throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia.

Tondo is one of the oldest historically documented settlements in the Philippines. It was mentioned in the Lord Namvaran's acquittance in 900 AD, also called the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the oldest extant written document in the Philippines.