Mahr

THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF MAHR IN UPPER MANDAILING, SUMATRA

DONALD J. TUGBY 

University of Qwcnsland 

IN ISLAMIC canon law the manner in which property is inherited is rigidly I defined. Furthermore, the Islamic system of ethics defines the social roles of members of the nuclear family. Therefore, there are certain features peculiar to Islamization as a process of social change. We should expect to find re peatedly a reversion to the model for the social structure which is implicit in Islamic canon law and ethics. This article reports a modest start on the testing of this hypothesis. The aim of the article is to analyze the social effects in the Islamized society of Upper Mandailing of the adoption of one provision of canon law, namely, that about a payment (mahr) made by a man to any woman he marries. No attempt is made to provide a diachronic analysis of the total process of Islamization; instead, a synchronic comparative analysis is made of alternative ways in which the introduced institution of mahr is currently dealt with in Upper Mandailing society.' 

Mandailing is the southernmost part of the Propinsi Sumatera Utara (Province of North Sumatra) in the Republic of Indonesia. The area may be divided into two parts: a northern part, Lower Mandailing (Mandailing Djai), and a southern part, Upper Mandailing (Mandailing Djulu). The population of Upper Mandailing is approximately 47,000, of which about eight percent are Ulu, about two percent belong to some group foreign to the area such as Javanese, Menangkabau, Northern Batak, Chinese, Indian or Pakistani and the remainder are the people we shall call Upper Mandailingers. 

The Upper Mandailingers are rice farmers who grow rubber, coffee, cinnamon, and cloves as cash crops. They live in villages of from 20 to 500 houses. Each household consists of a nuclear family with possible accretions such as an aged parent or a younger sibling of the male household head.

Each village has its own mosque and the Upper Mandailingers all regard themselves as Muslims. Some were forcibly converted to Islam about 1810 when the Paderis, a revivalist sect of Menangkabau, staged a military invasion of Mandailing. The Dutch, who had not previously entered Upper Mandailing, were called on by the indigenous leaders (radjas) for help. The Dutch drove the Paderi military forces from the area, occupied it with their own and appointed a civil administrator (Controleur) in Upper Mandailing in 1835, but the Paderis continued their teaching. Today, because of their adherence to religious formalism, the Upper Mandailingers are known as religious fanatics by their now easier-going neighbors. 

The pre-Islamic social structure and religion of Upper Mandailing was probably similar to that of the Bataks of northern Tapanuli. In spite of Islamization it has been assumed by scholars that it has remained the same. Thus the part of the social structure which concerns us here has been succinctly described by ter Haar (1948:65) as having as its characteristic unit a “localized, exogamous, patrilocal clan or subclan inhabiting its own territory.” Ter Haar goes on to say: “Running through the pattern of relationship of the ruling local clan to non-clan members living in the local community is the special relation of the clans supplying women to the clans which receive them. . . . Each clan has a fixed relation to another clan, which results in the principle that all the girls of a clan are married out to the men of another. The woman-supplying clan is called . . . moru2 in the south (i.e. in Mandailing). The woman-receiving clan is dubbed the boru or beru. It is important to note however that the relation is not mutual. This produces the complex known as asymmetrical marriage.” 

This is a statement of the ideal-typical pattern of a portion of Upper Mandailing social structure, but it does not accord with the social facts of today. The concepts of woman-giving and woman-receiving units are still an effective element in the Upper Mandailing conceptualization of the social structure, but the units in woman-giving and woman-receiving relations are very much smaller than clans; they are nuclear families or small lineages. The members of a group of siblings may marry women of different clans, their sons likewise. 

There are no large units in permanent woman-giving/woman-receiving relationships. The jural unity of the lineage is a function of the ownership of the land in common by members of the lineage. In the last two or three generations land has rarely remained undivided for more than one generation. A reduction in the size of the effective lineage has occurred, then, pari passu with the fragmentation of land.

The political and social significance of an asymmetrical marriage system is manifested in the nature and direction of the prestations from woman-giving and woman-receiving groups to their respective partners. In the indigenous adat system in Upper Mandailing there were and are two payments expressed in money terms, the great gold (sere na godang) and the little gold (sere na menek). The direction of payment is from a woman-receiving group to its woman-giving group. However, the great gold is never paid. It remains ideally as a debt in perpetuity; as the Mandailingers say, to one’s children and one’s children’s children. The existence of the debt and the relative subservience which is its corollary is symbolized by the personal services which a man will render for his father-in-law and by the relatively menial services which woman-receivers carry out for woman-givers on ceremonial occasions. The lit tie gold, on the other hand, is paid, usually in cash, by the father of the bridegroom to the father of the bride before the adat wedding. It is used mainly for buying finery for the bride. 

In the course of Islamization the institution of mahr, a payment which according to canon law a man must undertake to make to a woman whom he marries, had to be added to existing social practices or redefined in terms of existing social practices oriented to the same set of aims. The problem for the Upper Mandailingers was and is the maintenance of logical consistency in the social definition of mahr. This is a problem which can be solved in a number of ways. After outlining the conditions associated with the payment of mahr and with the indigenous adat payments we shall analyze the social consequences of the alternative definitions. 

MARRIAGE PAYMENTS 

In Islamic canon law, mahr3 is a compulsory settlement4 payable by the husband to the wife to whom it belongs absolutely. It is an inalienable and imprescriptible right forming part of the contract of marriage whether specified or not. The husband cannot resile from it once consummation has taken place. But the wife can make a gift of her mahr to her husband, and if she does so, he and his heirs are free from the debt. Rlahr may remain as a debt, but it becomes payable immediately on divorce. According to a strict interpretation of Sjafite law, all mahr is prompt, i.e., payable immediately on marriage. The Mandailingers, however, appear to believe that all mahr may be deferred, i.e., payable at any time after marriage and even inherited as a debt. In fact, prompt mahr is payable on demand by the wife, but this clause is frequently obscured in Upper Mandailing. 

Nevertheless, these general conditions associated with mahr are widely known. Mandailingers demonstrate their appreciation of the imprescriptible nature of mahr by saying that if mahr is not paid during the life of a man, it must be paid in the after life (Achirat). Women sometimes absolve their husbands from the debt immediately prior to the death of either party. But this is not always done and in some cases cannot be done for reasons beyond the control of the parties, e.g., accidental death. There are one or two cases of the payment of the mahr due to a widow by her son on behalf of his dead father; this accords with the nature of mahr as an unsecured debt which may be charged against the property of a dead husband. Since in normal Upper Mandailing practice sons inherit the property of their father, it is understandable that they should pay the mahr of their mother. 

There are no de facto wives in the area and marriage is always accompanied by the Islamic canon law wedding ceremony (nikah) which is to be distinguished from an adat wedding. The latter is a much longer ceremony in which the canon law ceremony may be incorporated as a minor part. Nevertheless, the canon law ceremony constitutes both a necessary and sufficient condition for marriage; moreover, the mahr is always specified during this ceremony. 

The payment of mahr is, then, universal. The adat payment of the great gold is always specified in terms of the measures for gold, fail and pa, and ideally varies according to the matrilineal ancestry of the bride. The little gold is also called fine gold (sere nu Zamol), a euphemism for cash. Outside the context of adat ceremonial it is known as the money which disappears (epeng na mago mago), or as cloud money (uang ombun), or vulgarly as heat money (uang angus). This money is paid to the bride’s father in cash. It is supposed to be used for the purchase of an outfit of clothes and ornaments for the bride, but in certain circumstances the bride’s father may make use of it for his own purposes. As far as the donor is concerned, then, this money “disappears.” Either the great gold or the money which disappears may be designated as mahr. 

There are therefore at least three possibilities: 

(1) The great gold is designated as mahr; the money which disappears is paid 

(2) The great gold remains as a debt in adat; the money which disappears is desig- 

(3) The great gold remains as a debt in adat; the money which disappears is paid 

The adoption of one or other of these alternatives affects the intergroup relationships of the wife-givers and wife-receivers and the social position of the wife.

DESIGNATION OF THE GREAT COLD AS MAHR 

The adoption of this first alternative emasculates the woman-giving/woman-receiving relationship insofar as this turns on the notion of the debt of wife-receiving to wife-giving group. Mahr is payable solely by the husband and solely to the wife. Hence the jural basis in adat of the group relationship of the wife-givers and wife-receivers has been removed and the interpersonal relationship of husband and wife which should unfold to reveal the group relationship of larger scale does not do so. The entailments of the marriage are confined jurally-and within the framework of canon law rather than adat-primarily to intranuclear family relationships. But although this right of re ceipt of mahr is a jus in personam, the claim may be made against the estate of the husband and insofar as the latter has rights in common in the property of his minimal lineage, the members of the latter are also involved. 

Hence the lien which a widow appears to exercise over the use of the property of her late husband-she is normally allowed the use of the property until her death-is not solely dependent on the ties of sentiment between mother and son. It is paralleled in canon law by the widow’s right of retention of the property of her late husband of which she is in legal occupation at the time of his death as a security against the payment of her mahr. This right does not confer any title to the property, which she cannot alienate, and the right expires should her mahr be paid; her position depends therefore upon the nature and amount of the mahr and the possibility or impossibility of its being paid. 

The lowest mahr which is specified in terms of the great gold is one tail plus one pa. At current gold values, this is worth about Rp. 1500,* quite beyond the reach of the average village farmer, since this normally represents about half the value of the wet rice fields of the lineage, of which no individual is the sole owner. A mahr of this kind will not normally be paid during the lifetime of the husband and, therefore, a widow who has not absolved her husband from the debt is in a strong position in canon law in relation to her right of retention of 

her late husband’s property after his death. 

During the lifetime of the husband, however, a high mahr does not in itself lead to stability of marriage, though it may conduce to difficulty of divorce. A husband can divorce his wife by a single pronouncement of repudiation (talak sada); divorce only becomes irrevocable after the expiration of a period of approximately three months following the pronouncement (iddat), during which cohabitation is not allowed. Pronouncements may be made on one occasion or singly on different occasions. But after three pronouncements the couple can not remarry until the woman has contracted a valid consummated marriage with a third party and been duly divorced. A single or double pronouncement or each of two successive single pronouncements may be cancelled by uttering a formula of reconciliation before the expiration of iddat. If there is a high mahr the husband tends to make no pronouncement of repudiation but effects a separation. The mahr is not now exigible, as it normally would be after the expiration of iddat, but the position is obscured by doubt as to whether the husband intends to utter the formula of repudiation or has already done so followed by a formula of reconciliation. He may take the latter course without reference to his wife or even in her absence. By maintaining uncertainty in this matter a husband may delay payment of the mahr for months, even for years. In the meantime the wife is not legally free to remarry, but the husband may legally marry another wife. Women in this situation are called hanging or dependent widow (djando margantung). Usually their only remedy is to forfeit their mahr.

DESIGNATION OF THE MONEY WHICH DISAPPEARS AS MAHR 

If the second alternative for the specification of mahr is adopted, the wornan-giving/woman-receiving relationship epitomized in the notion of debt of the great gold remains intact. The allotment of the money which disappears for different purposes is a matter for discussion between the bride and her father. There is a dissonance, however, between the ideal-typical pattern of father-daughter relations, the jural conditions associated with mahr and the tacit recognition that all parties endeavor to make the most of the situation for themselves. It is better, older informants say, if the girl’s father determines the amount of her mahr, it is fine, good (elok), if the matter of its payment is determined by discussion between the girl’s father and the father of her suitor. 

The mahr itself belongs absolutely to the girl-on this point all informants are adamant-but it can be used by her father with her permission. The divid ing line between determination of amount and retention therefore becomes a fine one. Fathers who can bring pressure to bear upon their daughters may well be able to retain a portion of the mahr and at least avoid paying the costs of the marriage ceremonies out of their own pocket. In some villages this is the normal practice. Nevertheless it is universally acknowledged that fathers who connive to obtain a portion of their daughter’s mahr deserve denigration and they are themselves ashamed should this be discovered. The contents of the bride’s marriage portion are in fact checked against the money given to the bride’s father by the members of the lineage of the groom when the marriage portion is brought to the groom’s father’s house for the adat wedding ceremony. Normally, it is a matter of pride for the bride’s father to augment the portion rather than otherwise. The designation of the money which disappears as mahr therefore acts as a check upon the avariciousness of the bride’s father. 

Where a suitor is pressing, a girl who wishes to make the most of the situation may demand large prewedding presents, usually a gold necklace and less valuable earrings and bracelets, which may or may not be counted against the payment of mahr. This is made clear and put in writing, a necessary precaution since, it is said, many girls want the clothes and ornaments but not the man. 

Having obtained the former they may well attempt to resile from the implied contract to marry by running away; this they may do after the wedding, but the mahr is recoverable if consummation has not taken place. 

Using the mahr to buy the marriage portion of the bride is seen as a good arrangement from the man’s point of view, since it frees him at least temporarily from the necessity of buying the clothes which his wife would be able to demand as a right of maintenance under the contract of marriage. 

A gold necklace worth about Rp.300.00 to Rp.500.00 normally forms part of a marriage portion. This acts as a permanent, tangible and readily exchangeable asset which provides a wife with a certain security in case of divorce. In the course of time the necklace comes to be regarded as a family asset which may be sold to tide the family over sickness or other emergency. If it is sold for this purpose, a man, being responsible for the support of his family, is deemed to be morally in debt to his wife since he has made use of her mahr. 

Occasionally, therefore, a mahr paid in this form may be said to be conducive to the stability of marriage. In case of divorce, since the mahr has already been paid, the question of its forfeit by the wife does not arise, nor is it recoverable by the husband once consummation has taken place. In this sense, designation of the money which disappears as mahr and payment of a large portion in the form of a necklace does not contribute towards the prevention of divorce.

When the mahr is paid as money which disappears, the whole of the mahr is prompt. This cancels the widow’s right of retention of her husband’s property after his death. But there is a persistent tendency for the payment of mahr to be regarded as deferable. This notion may be transferred to the money which disappears when the latter counts as mahr. There are, therefore, one or two cases of a man remaining in debt to his father-in-law on this account. 

Since this is in accordance with the adat notion of woman-giving/woman-receiving relationships, if such a debt is not compounded by the members of a man’s lineage at the time of the wedding, it tends to persist. Where a debt exists, a social tie is strengthened. For example, the woman-giving/woman-receiving intergroup relationship only exists by virtue of the debt of the great gold and is broken off should the debt be paid; while a woman’s link with her brothers is strengthened if she does not take the share of her dead father’s property to which she is entitled in canon law. In the same way a deferred mahr strengthens the moral tie between husband and wife. 

SEPARATE SPECIFICATION OF THE MAHR 

If this third alternative is adopted, the great gold remains as a debt in adat, and the money which disappears is paid in cash or kind. Adat law payments and canon law payments are thus segregated. The mahr is usually specified in cash and if paid is used for the purchase of gold ornaments. The money which disappears goes to the bride’s father and he may use it either to set off his own ceremonial costs or for the purchase of clothes for the bride, or both. Under this system the mahr may remain as a debt since it is not involved in the necessarily prompt payment of the money which disappears. Since the mahr in question is deferred mahr, or partially so, it may be high. Both high and low mahr are found under this system, the former almost always when a true run away marriage to a market town outside the area takes place. In a “lovematch” of this kind, the girl sets her own mahr, often of the order of Rp.50.00. 

On the return to the village the negotiations with the bride’s father are only in terms of the money which disappears. On the other hand, if a suitor is eager and a girl does not consent to run away, she may specify a large mahr of the order of Rp.2000.00 which she uses to buy gold ornaments. In marriages contracted by wealthier merchants there is usually a mahr of this type. From the merchant’s point of view the designation of the mahr in this way avoids his presenting the ornaments merely as gifts. In other than merchant circles, the specification of a large prompt mahr and a small money which disappears has a different function-it differentiates clearly between the money which the bride’s father may put to his own use and that used to buy clothes and ornaments for the bride, thus making the whole matter certain (tonlu). Socially and psychologically this last is an important function. Socially, because according to canon law certainty and clarity in matters concerning payments are desirable, and psychologically because the Upper Mandailingers live in a world whose future is theologically defined as uncertain and they are themselves insecure. As a reaction against this feeling they make every effort to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity in interpersonal action. It is not a fault (salah) for the bride’s father to pocket the money which disappears, as its name suggests, but he cannot do the same with his daughter’s mahr. Hence certain persons, it is said, merely ask for money without specifying whether this is mahr or great gold or little gold. This is quite legitimate, in fact almost praiseworthy-if one can get the money-it is merely an aspect of seeking (djalaki). 

DISCUSSION 

The existence of these alternatives for the specification of mahr is indicative of the conflict between the accentuation of larger group relationships versus those of smaller scale. In the last 100 years there has been a trend towards the reduction in scale of the units conceived to be in woman-giving/woman-receiving relation, from clans to clan segments, from clan segments to minor and minimal lineages. There has been a concomitant loss of permanency. 

A man’s true tulang (a classificatory kinship term used for both mother’s brother and father-in-law) is not his true mother’s brother, but his true father-in-law. It is with the latter that woman-giving/woman-receiving relationships are activated. The specification of the great gold as mahr provides the ultimate stage in this process of jural re-ordering in reducing the woman-giving/woman-receiving relationship to the level of the nuclear family. 

The social position of married women appears to have been enhanced by the introduction of the institution of mahr. The ability to move from adat to canon law and vice versa in defining social positions and responsibilities which is characteristic of Upper Mandailing has its counterpart within Islam generally in the normal practice of shifting from one school of law to another as convenient. The result, as far as women are concerned, is that the conditions associated with the payment of deferred mahr provide a jural basis for accretion of women to the lineages of their husbands. That is to say a woman becomes a quasi-member of her husband’s lineage by virtue of the debt which is owed to her. In terms of a social tie to the lineage of her husband, which is founded upon economic considerations, she is placed in a similar position to the women who are members of that lineage by birth. The continuity of the social membership of the latter in their lineage is conditional upon their foregoing their right of inheriting a share in the lineage property. The institution of mahr does not stabilize marriage, but it provides assurance of security in widowhood; where the mahr is paid the assurance is thereby weakened. 

The designation of the money which disappears as mahr defeats the true intention of the institution of mahr which is usually defined as being to enhance the security of married women. The money which disappears is essentially a consideration for the bride’s father; its designation as mahr reduces the latter to its original pre-Islamic status as a bride-price.’ The payment of all the mahr promptly probably accounts for the fact that some widows are turned out of their late husband’s houses by their sons.

The stability of the marriage itself, given the necessary condition of the birth of children, depends on the capacity for adjustment of the two parties, but mainly on that of the wife. In spite of the provision of mahr which is intended, and is seen by Mandailingers to be intended, as a method of enhancing the status and security of the wife, her position depends upon forebearance, both in relations with her lineage of origin (and the activation of her rights of inheritance in the property of that lineage) and her lineage of accretion (i.e. the lineage of her husband). A woman-giving group exercises a greater controlling interest over the female as against the male children of the women which it gives. On the other hand, a woman-receiving group ideally exercises an option over the nubile women of its woman-giving group. Thus women have an indeterminate social position; they are like counters in a social game. 

Since women also lack any significant control over resources, they capitalize on their cathectic relations with husbands and sons in order to maintain their influence and status. 

CONCLUSION 

When the institution of mahr is adopted in any society it is particularly likely to become an effective determinant of the form of parts of the social structure. The timing of the payment in relation to the duration of any particular marriage has a certain flexibility, by virtue of which alternative types of specification are possible. Deferment is structurally significant in a negative way in that it allows the social experimentation in which the Upper Mandailingers are clearly indulging. But the definition of the payment as being made from a specific man to a specific woman is unalterable. This dyadic pattern becomes the prototype of the jural definition of marriage and obscures group relationships of larger scale which also turn upon marriage. 

Although it is recognized nowadays that functional disequilibrium of the parts may exist in any social system, it is also asserted that logical consistency in the definition of the parts occurs throughout the system. When a new social practice is introduced into a society, then, it is usually redefined in terms of the existing social practices which are related to the same set of aims as the introduced practice. But such a spurious logical consistency does not neces- 

sarily induce functional harmony. The respective social entailments of the old and new practices may differ sharply (if they do not so differ then the new practice probably constitutes only a cultural embellishment). Social changes take place, often, but not necessarily, in a direction which reestablishes functional harmony.

Three of the more obvious ways in which a social group can treat newly introduced practices are to add them to, adapt them to, or integrate them with existing practices. The first alternative is unusual (the independent specification of mahr is relatively rare). The other two alternatives may appear superficially to avoid any gross social change. But the structural concomitants of the institution of mahr are so rigidly determined that they will prevail in the 

long run. They are tending to do so today in Upper Mandailing as knowledge about modern Islam increases. The social roles of the members of the nuclear family are being redefined in a manner consonant with a structural concomitant to the payment of mahr, namely, the concept of marriage as primarily a dyadic social relationship. At the same time the concept of lineages in woman giving/woman-receiving relationships is becoming socially more and more unreal. Finally we may note that, as a further consequence of this separation of the ideal and actual in social behavior, the social rituals which reaffirmed the tegroup relationship are either dying out or changing their function. 

NOTES 

1. The fieldwork upon which this article is based was carried out in Upper Mandailing for almost two years during 1955 and 1956. The author wishes to acknowledge the financial support from the Australian National University which made this fieldwork possible. 

2. All the terms first presented in italic in this article are terms used in the current, spoken 

Upper Mandailing language. 

3. We shall not reiterate all the conditions associated with the payment of mahr which are 

as valid in Upper Mandailing as elsewhere in the Islamic world where Sjafite law is predominant, but confine attention to those conditions which are significantly expressed in Upper Mandailing eocial practice. 

4. Mahr is usually described as dower. It is incidental to the definition of mahr that should it 

not be paid to a woman during the lifetime of her husband she may claim it from his estate. 

Moreover, if the mahr is paid from her deceased husband’s estate it is not returnable; it belongs to the woman absolutely. It is a compulsory settlement which is presumed in the contract of marriage. 

5. At the official rate of exchange about $132.00, at the blackmarket rate (1956) $48.00. 

6. In Arabia, prior to Islam, on marriage the husband made a gift to the wife, sadaq, and a gift to her parents, mahr. See, for example, Fyzee (1955:llO). 

REFERENCES CITED 

FYZEE, ASAP A. A. 

            1955 Outlines of Muhammadan law. London, Oxford University Press. 

HAAR, B. TEB 

           1948 Adat law in Indonesia. New York, Institute of Pacific Relations. 

source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1959.61.4.02a00080/pdf

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Mandheling Coffee

Sumatra Mandheling Coffee Review

We have provided overview of Sumatra coffee in our latest article. Now let usreview Mandheling coffee or in local language, it is written as Mandailing.

Although Mandheling is least favorite among the Sumatra coffee, it has some afficionados that loves the taste and aroma.

The coffee plantation in Mandheling was started by Dutch in 1700′s and planted in Pakantan highland in the Mandailing Natal region. During the Dutch administration, the Mandheling coffee was considered as one of the famous coffee produced from Dutch East Indie (the name of Indonesia at that time) beside Java coffee.

However, after the Dutch administration no longer managed the coffee plantation, there was a major decline of the coffee production from Mandeling area. Meanwhile the other area from Sumatra has been more famous than Mandheling coffee, they are Lintong and Sidikalang. Later in the beginning of 21st century, Gayo is also known for its good Arabica coffee.

We have discussed the wet-hull processing method which uniquely Indonesian, and no other coffee producers uses the method. The wet-hull or “giling basah” in Indonesian tongue is reducing the acidity and resulting a rich flavor and aroma in the fnal product, however there is a drawback in wet-hull processing which will reduce the quality of coffee.

The wet-hull, if not done carefully will lead to a huge defect in a coffee.

Some will taste mossy and even mushroomy taste that damage the coffee quality. If done consistently, the wet-hull will enhance the flavor of coffee and making it rich in taste and aroma, whether a spicy or earthy taste. However, the Mandheling coffee has not been consistentli producing the same quality coffee for years. Resulting Mandheling coffee as the least desirable coffee among the Sumatra coffee.

It is unfortunate, that a good soil in Pakantan highland in Mandailing Natal that is able to produce a ood quality coffee has missed the chance to consistently producing a good quality coffee just because of inconsistent processing.

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source: http://coffeetov.com/coffee-varieties/sumatra-mandheling-coffee-review

Ancestors

Where our ancestors come from?

Abstract

Beliefs about ancestral origins of a tribal (ethnic groups) that are rooted far from the island of Sumatra was not only dominated by Minangkabau society. There are at least 6 other tribes claiming to come from areas far beyond the island of Sumatra, the Riau Inderagiri community in Kuantan, Kerinci community, Karo ethnic (especially Marga Sembiring), Barus community on the west coast of North Sumatra, Pakpak and Mandailing  ethnics in North Sumatra.


Prologue

In prehistoric times, is a profess belief in animism that they believe that the spirits of people who have died around the corpse is still there, and they still need like during his lifetime, so it is understandable if the body remains intact, because the bodies were placed in stone houses in order not to be disturbed by wild animals. In this animistic belief system, large trees, wide river, mountains and hills, is considered have the guardian (subtle beings) that can stigmatize a person if he is not doing well. Dempo peak in South Sumatra, for example given by the grain-grain oarng certain individuals, as a legacy of the pre-history who believe. That still exist outside the human spirits that can be mastered. Belief in the spirit world seen from the direction of the placement of the corpse's head is directed to the place of origin or abode of ancestral spirits. The place is usually believed to be the spirits of ancestors is the direction of the sunrise or sunset and the high places, for example, mountains and hills. Evidence regarding it can be seen from the results of the excavation of ancient tombs in some places, such as in Bali, indicates the direction of the head of the corpse was always to the east or the west or toward the tops of the mountains and hills.

Practices animism seen in the organization of the ceremony ceremonies associated with death. Solemnization of death based on the belief that it was basically a death did not bring a change in position, state, and one's nature. With that foundation, the burial of the bodies is always accompanied with the stock-stock grave and container bodies adjusted his position, so that the dead person's position in the spirits of the same nature as when he was alive. The core belief is the worship and perhormatan to the spirit of people who have died, especially the respect and worship of ancestral spirits (the ancestors). Inside the caves discovered a human skeleton that had been buried. Such a finding is very important to examine the custom to bury the bodies with their religious beliefs. Historians conclude that at that time people already have certain beliefs about death.

Erect buildings-building tradition megalithicum always associated with the belief that there is a relationship between the living with the dead (mega means big, lithos means stone). Especially the belief in the existence of a strong influence of the dead on social welfare and plant fertility. Large stone buildings incorporated into the medium homage.

At the plant, the trust still animism, dynamism, and totemism. However, it is much higher than the previous period. At this time performed the ceremonies of respect for ancestral spirits. The ceremony was most striking in the funeral ceremony for them that are deemed especially prominent by the community. People who die usually equipped with an assortment of items used everyday such as crockery, jewelery, and so on are buried together. The point is that the spirit of the deceased will not get lost on the way to where the ancestors or their origin. If a place is considered as the spirits too far or difficult to obtain, then the people who died quite buried somewhere by putting his focus to a spot referred to, namely the 'spirit of place'.

At the plant, the deceased received a special honor. This is evidenced by the discovery of many objects in the form of a large stone structure in various forms and is usually called megalithicum building. Megalithic buildings spread almost all over the Indonesian archipelago. The shape of the building is an assortment that has the primary purpose of which is the cult of the ancestors. The oldest building may serve as a grave. The forms may be burial place: dolmen, stone coffin, stone chamber, sarcophagus, kalamba or stone vessels, waruga, stone cage and retrieval bracelet. In places such graves are sometimes found other large stone buildings as a complement to the cult of ancestor spirits such as 'menhir', 'patung nenek moyang', 'batu saji', 'batu lesung' atau 'lumpang', 'batu dakon', 'punden berundak', 'pelinggih  batu' atau 'batu jalanan'.

In Pasemah, South Sumatra and also found a statue menhir ancestors. Several types of graves had been developed in the form of functions, for example dolmen experiencing various forms, which made for a spirit shrine or place offerings. Dolmen shrine that developed into among the people who have advanced megalithic used as a seat by chieftains or kings were still alive.

All human beings who live on this earth, have a desire to know all the ins and outs that exist in the natural surroundings, including our ancestors in ancient times that has not been influenced by the modern sciences. The more advanced the mind human, the deeper he plumbed the secrets of the natural surroundings and the wider the view the limit anyway. In contrast to humans who were alive at the thought of a simple nature, it is definitely the limit may be more narrow view of it.

What is described above that the gods, spirits and magic, not all worshiped and honored with affection, precisely there that intimidated them, thus encouraging human or our ancestors to pay their respects, for example, give offerings, victims, and others. With such actions, be they expected protected and not get hazard. Maybe once the deeds of our ancestors towards dunuia outside pancainderanya it, is the beginning of the development of their kepercayaandi. Apparently, the conception of 'magic' is more rooted in the old ethnic society in Indonesia.

Developments of religion on the island of Sumatra is the role of 'traditional way' which over the centuries since our ancestors know Hindu and Islamic culture. Traffic across the world that our homeland from all directions, a culture (cultuurroute) in the development of Indonesian culture. Even situated areas close to the pulse of the traffic, got in contact with a foreign culture, which almost always involves acculturation in Indonesia. Civilization is only a 'thin 'layer' on top of the original Indonesian civilization Austris pattern and a source of copyright in the role of Indonesian history over the centuries. The penetration of foreign culture has influenced Indonesia's role with the commercial world is following the path of Hindu civilization.

Through traditional commercial street via the Malacca and Sunda, so is the case with Islam entered into our country via Arab, India and Persia (Iran) merchants, howsoever caused not have to import it into the country, which then affects people's lives Indonesian nation and state in general, and especially in contact with coastal regions traversed ataun port or the trade route.

Sriwijaya empire collapse at the end of the XIV century and dilancarkanya expedition under Zheng Ming in the early 15th century in Southeast Asian waters arrival of the Portuguese who brought 'disease' crusade. 'Demak keratin' revolution that occurred in the 16th century, accelerating the process of Islamization in this area. Palembang as the first home of the founder of the kingdom of Raden Patah of Demak, Demak and recognizes the power of developing into a new expansion to the Islamic center as a powerful driving motors. The process of Islamization in the hinterland ('Uluan') is somewhat different than in the center of the kingdom, such as in the area of ​​Palembang, where the role of the preacher, priest, religious teachers, and pilgrimage-Hajj, is very important. In addition, the role of the Musi river with her children (Batang Sembilan) not less important, because the river is a means of communication at the time. With a river boat ride menghudik native preachers spreading the religion with persistent up to the hinterlands.

Sriwijaya navigation capabilities in the news Arabian history, narrated that Sriwijaya also entered trade relations by sea to the east coast of Africa in 1154 AD It is not surprising, because the trade overwater taken from Maluku alone is Sriwijaya eighth circle of the earth. The development of religion in this era embraced pendidikanya Hindu-Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian. How the development of these religions in the nineteenth century, can not know for sure, because of the difficulty getting transportation sources of the religion.

As we know, that the Hindu-Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya in the days to 'state religion', so until now there is still a believer in small amounts in some areas, including in the city of Palembang itself. It shows a sign that in the nineteenth century, and the religion was still growing, up until now there are still adherents. Similarly, when entering Islam in Sumatra are able to influence the minds and trust of the population., Has been spread by the chaplain. It has shown us that in the nineteenth century Islam had lived and grown, and it has been embraced by the majority of the population on the island of Sumatra. Subsequently, in the mid nineteenth century the Christian religion flourished. But Christianity is generally supported by the entrants and smaller amounts of the Islamic faith.

After the run what is called 'Political Ethics' in 1900, the influence of western education (secularism) increased evenly among the superiors, and so are the rapid advances made by zending and mission in education, which is silent- silent get subsidies from the colonial Dutch, a great challenge for Islamic institutions in general nationalism, individualism and so are the particular characteristics of the western nations, which at the time was starting to get in the way of thinking among the educated natives who received education from the West.

Kuantan Community - Lubuk Jambi

Kuantan community and Kerinci society even inherit the same or similar myth to the people of Minangkabau, derived respectively in Lubuk Tambo and Tambo Natural Kerinci in Jambi. The second legend linking origin community with an oversized name Iskandar Zulkarnain, the same as listed in the Natural Tambo Minangkabau. What is different is the culture of the chapter who is the founder and creator of custom rules for each community.

Kuantan community believes that the Maharaja is the son of Alexander the Kings when he got on the island of Sumatra (Gold island), landing on the Hill Grill in upstream Batang Kuantan-Inderagiri  is on the edge, and then establish the Kingdom Kandis the palace named the Palace Dhamna. According to the Lubuk Kuantan, namely the legendary figure Minangkabau people, Datuk Perpatih Nan Sabatang and Katumanggungan just Patih and Prince Hero Member of the Royal Koto Alang, was a splinter empire upstream of Batang Kuantan is being attacked by Kandis larger kingdom. This Patih and Tumenggung fled to Mount Marapi, while the king fled to Jambi is to Muara Batang.

In the version of the Minangkabau people, the Maharaja of Kings landed directly on top of Mount Marapi after the seas long enough. Maharaja then set up the oldest villages in Minangkabau villages namely Pariangan on the south slope of Gunung Marapi.

Kerinci community

The same money, the people Kerinci also admitted linked to the Maharaja of Kings, except that they agreed with the story about "down from the top of the Mountain Marapi". Kerinci community just make branches own story by stating that his ancestors are Indarbayang, sailing directly from Mount Marapi to Mount Kerinci, but due to the rugged terrain that brought the ship finally docked at Mount Nettles. A stick figure Datuk Nan Perpatih  is also known in the Tambo Alam Kerinci. For the record, this actually Kerinci region already has a very old civilization that was developed by the Proto-Malay communities with megalithicum culture. Kerinci is one of four regions in Sumatra who had known characters. Growing in Kerinci script called incung script. Three other areas that have characters in Sumatra is Mandailing, Rejang and Lampung.

Immigrants from India

A hypothesis found that Minangkabau cultural affinity with Hellenism culture that developed in India after the conquest of the Indus River valley region by Alexander the Great. One trail that corroborate this hypothesis is the finding of similarity of nearly 90% from one carving patterns Minangkabau with one carving patterns that developed in Gandhara region. Shaped coil motif is the grape leaf motif that has existed since ancient Greece. Besides the names of the ancestors of the Minangkabau in Tambo is also identical to the typical Indian names. An example is the Maharaja and Indra Jelita.

Karo ethnic - Marga Sembiring

The roots of Indian culture is also found in the Karo, Pakpak and Mandailing ethnics. Karo ethnic especially Marga Sembiring is believed to come from Cheti and Tamil, India. In the book of constitution Pardosi dynasty, rulers of Barus, stated that the source of all sources of law in the kingdom comes from the indigenous Bugis, Cheti, Islam and others. In Barus alone we can easily find traces of Tamil culture, for example in the form of vocabulary such as marapulai, marble, mate, mahligai and so on (remember tomb mahligai in Barus). Sembiring clan itself has sub-clans with names such typical Tamil namely Brahmana, Pelawi, Depari, Maha, Pandia, Meliala and Cholia. Sembiring itself in the Karo original language means the 'black' (the 'mbiring') which refers to the physical characteristics of South Indian Tamil origin.

Pakpak ethnic 

In the northwest region of North Sumatra Province, dwells too ethnic Pakpak. Told in Pakpak history that their origin is from South India, from Indika Tondal to Tapus Estuari near Barus and growing in Pakpak land and into land parts. Basically since they already have a clan from the country of origin, but later formed a new clan that is not much different from the original clan.

Told that the early Pakpak ancestor is Kada and Lona who had left their villages in India and stranded on beach Barus and continue to enter to the Dairi land, have a child of their marriage, named Hyang. Hyang is a sacred name in Pakpak ethnic.

Role Barus City

Both ethnicity above that Karo ethnic - Marga Sembiring and Pakpak strongly associated with the role of Barus City on the west coast of North Sumatra near Sibolga now. Barus is an international trading city in the world which are well known in the east along the trade routes of China, Champa, India, Persia, Arabia to continue to 'Asia Kecil' (Turkey), Egypt and Rome. Barus city immediately brings us to the memory 'kampar' (camphor) in the Dutch language, perhaps of the spoken word lime kofur by the Arabs). Similarly, frankincense (beruoe in Dutch) probably from the Arabic word (lu) tire-ox or incense Sumatra.

Camphor and incense that was long ago exported from Barus addition to other outcomes such as gold, ivory and culabadak. But the most important camphor, because the commodity is what makes Barus City so famous in the world at that time. Barus camphor from the city is the most widely sought after because of the best quality, best-selling and the price is approximately 8 times more expensive than lime-camphor origin elsewhere. (Marco Polo never mentioned, the price of gold camphor as the same weight!). Imagine how advances in an area that holds the monopoly of a commodity (camphor and incense) are highly sought after "developed world" past both in Asia and northern Africa and probably in Greece.

A Dutch once wrote that the incense of Barus, has been used as one of the preserve (embalming) the bodies of the kings of Egypt before Christ. Because of the importance of this Barus City, since ancient times has been known in the world of trade names baros, balus, Pansur, Fansur, pansuri (from Pansur little village in the north of Barus), Kalasaputra (from the word Kalasan, camphor-producing areas between the Barus City  and Chenendang River), karpura-dwipa, barusai (by Ptolemy of Alexandria about the beginning of the solar year), hibiscus-Preferred and others.

Mandailing ethnic 

We switched to Mandailing ethnic inhabiting the southern part of the province of North Sumatra. Mandailing narrated Munda is derived from a region in Central India. They have moved on to a 6-century, as the nation was hit by an attack from Iraq Arayan expand their influence. After crossing the Himalayas they settled briefly in Mandalay, the Burmese ancient mother country. It is probable Mandalay name itself comes from Burma the word that follows the Mandailing accent.

Once again. move because they forced the tribal upheaval in Burma are often fought. At that time they crossed the Strait of Malacca, which at the time was not a big ocean, so it's understandable that at times certain areas of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula Land only separated by a small strait.

The Munda has triumphed across the small sea and established a kingdom in Batang Pane, Portibi, the incident allegedly occurred at the end of the century-6. Kingdom of  Munda Holing up in Portibi has become the renowned and extend his conquests to large partially coast of Sumatra and Malaya. This situation raises ire to the Maharaja and he attacked the  Rajenderacola royal Munda Holing and coastal stateother in 9th century. Munda Holing the royal army led by Raja Odap-Odap been killed by Rajenderacola and power throughout the Batang Pane region. His fiancee has crossed Dolok Malea (blessing Himalayan climb ancestors) Borudeakparujar by holding a lump of soil in Portibi to forge a new kingdom ('Manompa Banua').

Kingdom of Majapahit Assault to Mandala Holing 

The second kingdom in Sumatra founded in Pidoli Dolok recognized as royal Mandala means Holing people Rivet region. At that time they still worship the Hindu god Siva. In the 13th century, the Majapahit Empire has invaded into Lamuri and Mandailing. Once again this has been Mandala Holing kingdom on earth scorched and destroyed. Population in captivity can not have a run-forestry and mixed with native slang. Then formed Marga Pulungan means that 'cited-quote'. In the 14th century and the 15th, Marga Pulungan has established three Bagas Godang above three peaks Hill but the kingdom is no longer a huge empire, only the royal village.

Relations with the Pagaruyung Kingdom 

In the mid-14th century, there is a legend three children of Paga Ruyung lordship named Betara Sinomba, Batara Gorga Pinanyungan and the youngest daughter Langgoni who founded two kingdoms have been driven by new. The Batara Sinomba lordship of Paga Ruyung by mistake originated with his brother Princess Langgoni. Both the sisters had migrated along with his followers and established a kingdom in the city of Penang. Which in Pertuan Pinang City is what kings down to Kota Raja, ampung Raja and Jambi. Her sister Betara Gorga Pinanyungan justly found guilty by a cousin of his mother is Princess Rumandang next month. Because no longer the heir to the throne so princess betrothed to Raja Gayo.

Epilogue

That's the history of the people who inhabit the island of Sumatra. Starting with people who came from Proto-Malays of 'Rear Indies' during the period 4000 BC and prefers to stay in the mountains. Continued by his successors, namely Deutro Malay community who migrated from 500 BC to the early centuries AD, followed sporadically by immigrants from various parts of India like Gandhara, Chetiya, Munda, Indika Tondal and last Tamil. Even the people of Aceh is a society most of Tamil descent (outside Champa and Arabic). Proto-Malay communities leaving traces of high civilization to the size of the stone age as dozens of existing Menhir, Mahat, 'Limapuluh Koto', West Sumatra and the inscriptions are scattered in the Sick, Kerinci, and Jambi villages.

Now immigrants are not contemporaries that have been mixed and produced cross-culture that ultimately formed dozens of diverse cultures on the island of Sumatra. (EN)

Gandoang. June 23, 2014

(from various sources)

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