Amlan was one of four existing parishes when the ecclesiastical administration of Negros Island was turned over to the Augustinian Recollects on June 30, 1848.
At that time, it didn’t amount to much, according to parish writings quoting Fr. Licinio Ruiz, who described it as a “miserable fishing hamlet consisting of 13 houses and a few Christians scattered on its outskirts.” Ruiz, appointed Recollect chronicler in 1922, added that Amblan, as the Spanish friars called it, was established into a parish separate from Tanjay in 1848.