Part of a series on the |
Pre-colonial history of the Philippines |
---|
See also: History of the Philippines |
The maharlika (Baybayin pre-virama: ᜋᜑᜎᜒᜃ meaning freeman or freedman) were the feudal warrior class in ancient Tagalog society in Luzon, the Philippines. They belonged to the lower nobility class similar to the timawa of the Visayan people. In modern Filipino, however, the word has come to refer to aristocrats or to royal nobility,[1] which was actually restricted to the hereditary maginoo class.[2]