Editing Basilan (section)

===Taguima===
Documents from the royal archives of the Sulu Sultanate referred to the northernmost island of the Sulu Archipelago as Taguima, from the Yakan who were called "Tagihamas" (people of the interior or hinterlands) by the Tausug and [[Sama-Bajau|Samal]] peoples who came and settled in numerous scattered communities along Basilan's western and southwestern shores and outlying islets and island groups.

Later references mentioned "Bantilan", probably referring to Maluso, which was established as a major Tausug base by Sulu Sultan Muizz ud-Din (whose princely name was Datu Bantilan).

[[History of China|Imperial Chinese]] texts mention a "[[Kingdom of Kumalarang]]" (from the Yakan "kumalang" or "to sing", owing to the location being a place for celebrations and gatherings) during the [[Ming Dynasty]], believed to be the island which now has a ''[[barangay]]'' of the same name on its northwestern shores.

Basilan was seen and mentioned by the remnants of the [[Ferdinand Magellan]] expedition in 1521.

[[File:Spanish map of Mindanao.jpg|thumb|left|The first Spanish map of Mindanao officially naming "Basilan" island (instead of Taguima/Tagyma) by Nicolas Norton Nicols, published in 1757.]]
The earliest map of the Philippines which made reference to an island labeled "Taguima" was produced by [[Giacomo Gastaldi]],<ref>{{google books|ZG7ZMAbv_jAC|Early Mapping of Southeast Asia}}</ref> through [[Woodblock printing|woodblock prints]] in 1548. It was subsequently included in the influential travel book of [[Giovanni Battista Ramusio]], the ''Della Navigatione e Viaggi'', which was published between 1556 and 1583 in three volumes. This was followed by [[Abraham Ortelius]]'s work ''Indiae Orientalis Insularumque Adiacientium Typus'', published in 1573 in a German text edition of the atlas ''[[Theatrum Orbis Terrarum]]'' by [[Christophe Plantin]] in [[Antwerp]]. As late as 1719,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bergbook.com/htdocs/Cache316.htm |title=Antique, old, rare and historic Maps & Prints of Southeast Asia |publisher=Bergbook.com |access-date=October 5, 2008}}</ref> a map titled "Die philippinische Inseln - Isle Brneo" by [[Allain Manesson Mallet]] of [[Frankfurt]], Germany featured an island labeled "Tagyma I."

The process by which all these names became "Basilan" is almost certainly due to miscommunication between the natives and the Spanish, as well as the penchant to engage in editorial license by European map-makers of the era.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

Basilan's name may also derive from its iron ore deposits. Tausug warriors and slave-traders from Sulu came to Taguima to purchase high-quality magnetic [[iron]] ores, which they used for swords, knives and other blades. This profitable trade, helped in large measure by the establishment of Maluso as a major military-naval base of the Sulu Sultanate, eventually gave the island the distinction of being the source of ''basih-balan'', the Tausug word for magnetic iron. Roughly translated and abbreviated, however, ''basih-lan'' means "the iron ([[magnet]]) trail" or "the iron way".

When several Tausug warriors were caught by the Spanish in one of their numerous raids on the Zamboanga settlement, Spanish officials supposedly admired the artistry and skill that went into making the warriors' elaborately decorated swords, knives and blades. They asked where these weapons could be bought. From atop the ramparts of the Spanish commandery at the Fuerza del Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Zaragoza ([[Fort Pilar]]), the warriors supposedly pointed to the island visible across today's Basilan Strait, and said, simply, "ha basih-lan".

Reports from the Jesuit ''[[Indian Reductions|reducciones]]'' in Zamboanga and Pasangen (Isabela) were relayed to [[Manila]], where Spanish cartographer [[Pedro Murillo de Velarde]] published ''Historia de la Provincia de Philipinas de la Compañia de Jesvs. Segvnda parte'' using the Jesuit printing press at Manila in 1749. It featured a map of the Philippines with the unofficial "I. Basilan". The map was re-published by [[Leipzig]] map-maker [[Nicolaus Bellinn]] for general European circulation in 1752.

Finally, to represent a clear break from the [[Habsburg]] Dynasty (which had ruled Spain for 184 years from 1516 to 1700), the first officially sanctioned Spanish maps of its colonies, including "Las Islas de Mindanao", were commissioned by the [[Bourbons]] (1700–present). This particular map of Mindanao, apparently copied from the Nicolaus Bellinn map of 1752, was published by Nicolas Norton Nicols in 1757, featuring "Basilan" and bearing the royal stamp of Spanish Bourbon King [[Ferdinand VI of Spain|Ferdinand VI]]. It has been called "Isla de Basilan" (Basilan Island) ever since.