The history of Mindoro dates back before the Spanish time. Records show that Chinese traders were known to be trading with Mindoro merchants. Trade relations with China where Mindoro was known as “Mai” started when traders from “Mai” brought valuable merchandise to Canton in 892 A.D. The geographic proximity of the island to China Sea had made possible the establishment of such relations with Chinese  merchantmen long before the first Europeans came to the Philippines. Historians claimed that China-Mindoro relations must have been earlier than 892 A.D., the year when the first ship from Mindoro was recorded to have sailed for China.

Historians believed that the first inhabitants of Mindoro were the Indonesians who came to the island 3,000 to 8,000 years ago. After the Indonesians, the Malays came from Southeast Asia around200 B.C. The Malays were believed to have extensive cultural contact with India, China and Arabia long before they settled in Philippine Archipelago.

 

Colonial Discovery

Mindoro was first discovered by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the first Spanish Governor General of the Philippines. When Legaspi conquered Cebu in 1565, he heard of a flourishing settlement in Luzon. The search for abundant food evidently lacking in most Visayas Islands prompted the exploration leading to the discovery of this island. Captain Martin de Goiti, accompanied by Juan de Salcedo, sailed for Luzon. On May 8, 1570, they anchored somewhere in Mindoro Coast, north of Panay. Salcedo and de Goiti had the chance to explore the western part of the island, particularly Ilin,Mamburao and Lubang. From Ilin, Salcedo sailed north of Mamburao where he found two Chinese vessels containing precious cargo of gold thread, cotton cloth, silk, gilded porcelain bowls and water jugs to be exchanged for gold with the natives of Mindoro. In 1571, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi also visited the island and brought the natives under the Spanish rule.