Historic Butuan

The City of Butuan is the regional center of Caraga Region, Philippines.it is located in the northern part of Mindanao sprawling across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur.

The name “Butuan” is believed to have originated from the sour fruit “Batuan”. Other etymology sources say that it comes from a certain “Datu Buntuan”, a chieftain who once ruled over Butuan.
It is said that before there was Philippines, there was already Butuan. The evidence to prove this fact is the discovery of 9 balangays (the Butuan Boat) and other archeological remains found in the vicinities of Butuan City, particularly in Ambangan, Libertad near the old El Rio de Butuan and Masao River which reveal much about Butuan’s history.

By 11th century, Butuan was the center of trade and commerce in the Philippines. Butuan was already in contact with China. The Chinese Song Shih (Song History) has recorded the first appearance of the Butuan Tributary mission at Chinese Imperial Court on 17 March 1001 AD and described Butuan (P’u-tuan) as a small country in the sea that had a regular connection with Champa ( a kingdom in Central Vietnam) and intermittent contact with China. The numerous jars/artifacts [Chinese (tenth to fifteenth centuries AD), Khmer/Cambodian (ninth to tenth centuries AD), Thai (fourteenth to fifteenth centuries AD) Pre-Thai Satingpra (900-1100 AD) and Haripunjaya (800-900 AD), pre-trade Vietnamese (eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD) and Persian (ninth to tenth centuries AD)] dug within the vicinities of Ambangan, Archeological Site, in Libertad well attest to the historical account that Butuan traded with the Chinese and Southeast Asia countries in the past.