The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

54 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

are forbidden by Islam. In spite of the panditas (priests),
multitudes of songs are preserved by memory, and are sung on
journeys, at dances, and during all festivities, about the
mythological heroes and pagan gods which the Moros derived
from India. The greatest of their heroes, Bantugun, is probably identical with Indra.3
Their other heroes have been identified in detail with the
gods of the Hindus. Around Lake Lanao these songs are best
known, because that region has been most secluded from foreign communication.
Moreover, the Moros venerate their departed ancestors,
whose bones they preserve as possessing peculiar power to
keep away harm. They think that the entire world is alive
with dewas and hantus, and they make offerings to these
spirits in much the same manner as the pagan tribes do. "Get
the Moro," says Dr. Saleeby, "in a position of pressing danger,
where he stands face to face with disease or death, then he
may forget 'Allah' and Mohammed, and call for Bantugun,
his hero god and the god of his forefathers. In the Mindanao
campaign of I904 the panditas invoked 'Allah' and Mohammed, but the masses looked for help from Bantugun and
trusted in his power. They actually believed that he appeared
to Datu Ali in human form, strengthened Ih'm, and gave him
a belt to wear for his protection."
The last wave of immigrants to the Philippines, called
Samals, were more or less Mohammedanized, before they
reached the Islands. At their head was the famous Kabungsuwan, who came from Jahur (Malacca), somewhere around
the year 1475 and converted and dominated the Cottabato
valley. That this great leader was a brother of Abu Bakr,
"is neither true," says Saleeby, "nor based on any written
record whatsoever," but the Moros insist upon it nevertheless. Perhaps Kabungsuwan used the Samals who came
with him as fighters in conquering the tribes of the Coltabato valley. Having swords and perhaps gunpowder, he wis
more than a match for the natives, who were armed only
with bows and wooden arrows. The pagans who confessed
"'Origin of the Malayan Filipinos," N. M. Saleeby, 1912.