chiefdom · Maritime Southeast Asia

Ma-i

971 CE – 1339 CE (approx.)

A Philippine trading polity known from Chinese records of the 10th to 14th centuries, among the earliest named states of the archipelago.

Origins

The Song dynasty history records merchants from Ma-i bringing goods to Guangzhou in 971 and again in 982. Its location is debated: most scholars favour Mindoro, others Bay on Laguna de Bay in Luzon.

Rule and society

Zhao Rugua's Zhufan zhi of 1225 describes a settlement of over a thousand families on a river, whose chief used a white umbrella. Chinese traders anchored offshore and handed goods to local merchants, who carried them to other islands and returned to pay in beeswax, cotton, pearls and tortoiseshell. Bronze Buddhist images were said to stand in the countryside.

Decline and legacy

Ma-i appears in Chinese texts until the 14th century and then drops from the record. Later Chinese and Spanish sources do not mention it, and its trade passed to ports such as Tondo and Maynila.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

More states of Maritime Southeast Asia →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ma-i. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ma-i
MLA
“Ma-i.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ma-i. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ma-i.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ma-i.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ma-i’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ma-i (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻