Bijdragen Tot de Taal - Land - en Volkenkunde Journal of The H

L.
Andaya
The trans-Sumatra trade and the ethnicization of the Batak
In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 158 (2002), no: 3, Leiden, 367-409
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LEONARD Y. ANDAYA
The Trans-Sumatra Trade and the

Ethnicization of the 'Batak'
Considerations of historiography and ethnicity1
Early visitors to Southeast Asia were fascinated by rumours of a cannibal tribe

called the Batak in the interior of Sumatra. When John Anderson travelled
along the east coast and its interior areas in the early part of the nineteenth
century, he met a Batak who told him of having eaten human flesh seven
times, even mentioning his preference for particular parts of the body. Two
other Batak confirmed having also participated in this practice and 'expressed
their anxiety to enjoy a similar feast upon some of the enemy, pointing to
the other side of the river. This they said was their principal inducement
for engaging in the service of the sultan.'2 Such reports simply reinforced
myths and partial truths which had circulated about these people since
Marco Polo's oft-quoted story of a Sumatran people (presumably the Batak)
who consumed their ill (Latham 1978:255). European perceptions were also
influenced by stories commonly told in east coast Sumatra by 'downstream'
(hilir) people that those 'upstream' {hulu), that is, in the interior, were hostile
and grotesque. A Portuguese chronicler even repeated downriver stories of
an inland group possessing tails 'like unto sheep' (B. Andaya 1995:542).
It has been suggested that lurid details of cannibalistic practices may
have been provided by the Batak themselves in an effort to prevent outsiders
from penetrating into their lands. From early times, therefore, cannibalism
became associated with Batak identity and had the desired effect of limiting
the intrusion of Europeans until the nineteenth century. But perhaps a more
1
My thanks to Barbara Watson Andaya, John Miksic, and Uli Kozok for reading earlier drafts
of this essay and for their most useful comments. I would also like to express my gratitude to Bob
Blust and Sander Adelaar for their helpful advice regarding linguistic evidence.
2
J. Anderson 1971:34. The 'sultan' was the Malayu ruler of Deli, who claimed many of Deli's
hinterland Batak as his subjects.
LEONARD Y. ANDAYA obtained his PhD at Cornell University and is Professor of History at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa. A specialist in the history of Southeast Asia, in particular
Malaysia and Indonesia, he has published, among other titles, The heritage of Arung Palakka; A
history of South Sulawesi (Celebes) in the seventeenth century, The Hague: Nijhoff, 1982, and The
world of Maluku; Eastern Indonesia in the early modern period, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
1993. Professor Andaya may be contacted at the Department of History, University of Hawaii at
Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822. E-mail address: andaya@hawaii.edu.

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368 Leonard Y. Andaya
important reason for the late entry of Europeans in Batak lands was the fact
that, from the beginning of sustained European involvement in the area in
the sixteenth century until the establishment of plantation and other export
industries in the nineteenth century, European orientation was toward the
sea and the coastal polities. With hindsight it is easy for historians to see that
the Batak were fortunate in avoiding the Europeans in these early centuries.
Yet European involvement often resulted in the keeping of records and the
accumulation of written materials which have been crucial in the reconstruc-
tion of the history of many Southeast Asian societies.3 The lack of a European
presence in the Batak lands until the nineteenth century has meant that his-
torians have had very limited or no access to any contemporary European
accounts of the Batak in the pre-modern period.
The ethnonym 'Batak' is very likely an ancient name, but no one has been
able to give a satisfactory meaning of the term.4 Perhaps the very first time
that the name appears in written sources is in the Zhufan zhi, written by Zhao
Rugua, Inspector of Foreign Trade in Fujian, sometime in the mid-thirteenth
century. It mentions a dependency of San-fo-tsi (Srivijaya) called Ba-ta, which
may be a reference to 'Batak' (Hirth and Rockhill 1966:35,62,66).5 The next def-
inite identification of Batak comes from Tome Pires' Suma Oriental, which was
written in Melaka sometime between 1512 and 1515. It mentions the kingdom
of Bata, bordered on one side by the kingdom of Pasai and the other by the
kingdom of Aru (Cortesao 1990, 1:145). From the sixteenth century onward,
references to the Batak as inhabitants of the interior of north Sumatra, and also
3
For the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the official records of the Portuguese and
Spanish overseas enterprise, plus the many accounts found in the collections of the Catholic
Orders in Portugal, Spain, France, and the Vatican, have been valuable for historians. For the sev-
enteenth and eighteenth centuries, the archives of the European trading companies have proved
useful. The most valuable are the voluminous records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
housed in the National Archives in The Hague. They date from the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and have been used by historians to reconstruct the early modern history of many parts
of Southeast Asia.
4
In the literature on the Batak, one of the most common explanations for this ethnonym is
that Muslims used it to refer to 'pig-eaters'. Rita Kipp cites other possible derivations provided
by her informants: from the Sanskrit bhata or bhrta, meaning 'mercenary, soldier, warrior, hire-
ling, servant', because of their functions in the past; and 'savage' or 'bumpkin' (Kipp 1996:27).
It is tempting to define 'Batak' as 'human beings', which is a common definition of ethnonyms
of many indigenous groups around the world. The Batek on the Malay Peninsula, for example,
gloss their name as 'human beings'. Despite the lexical similarity, unfortunately there is no
link between the two terms, because 'Batek' is from an Austro-Asiatic language, while 'Batak'
is Austronesian. There is an Austronesian-speaking group called 'Batak' in Palawan in the
Philippines, but no meaning is known for the term.
5
Travellers, including Marco Polo at the end of the thirteenth century, refer to certain groups
who are cannibals in Sumatra without providing the names of such people. One should never-
theless exercise caution in believing stories of 'cannibalism' because of the practice in medieval
Europe for travellers' tales to depict 'monstrous races' in lands beyond their known world.

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The Trans-Sumatra Trade and the Ethnicization of the 'Batak' 369
of certain kingdoms along the northeast coast, become more frequent.

Today, the Batak groups are listed as the Karo, the Simalungun, the Pakpak-
Dairi, the Toba, and the Angkola-Mandailing. It was the Europeans who first
placed these clusters of communities in and around Lake Toba who spoke a
similar dialect and shared customs under one rubric, the Toba. Following this
usage, I will apply the term 'Toba' in this essay to the communities living on
Samosir and the lands surrounding Lake Toba, including those of Silindung.
There is a growing tendency to use the word 'Batak' to refer solely to the
Toba, since many of the other groups prefer to be regarded as non-Batak
and as Mandailing, Karo, Simalungun, and so on, in the ongoing process of
redefinition of ethnic groups. In the nineteenth century, however, the term
'Batak' appears to have been applied to all these different groups.
In writing this essay, I have been very much aware of the uneven distribu-
tion of source materials. Any systematic study of the Batak began with the
arrival of European missionaries in the nineteenth century. With the penetra-
tion of the area by the Dutch colonial administration later in the century, more
studies were commissioned and travel reports published in governmental
and scholarly journals. The continuing presence of German and Dutch mis-
sionaries and teachers in north Sumatra has assured an ongoing literature on
various aspects of Batak society, particularly its religious beliefs. In addition,
Indonesian government encouragement of local culture in the 1970s and eth-
nic chauvinism and pride since the 1990s have fostered Indonesian and local
scholarship on Batak society. For the period before the nineteenth century,
there have been a few archaeological studies, particularly by E. Edwards
McKinnon and John Miksic, which have considerably advanced our under-
standing of early settlements in the Batak areas. Nevertheless, much still
needs to be done to gain a more comprehensive understanding of northern
Sumatran communities for the first 1800 years AD.
With the unevenness of the sources in terms of both period and content,
I was confronted with a historiographical problem. Would it be possible to
reconstruct the history of an area on the basis of sources which pre- and
post-date the events themselves? Should a historian undertake such a task
as a legitimate historical enterprise? Both questions I have answered in the
affirmative, but with certain reservations. In the following pages I attempt to
provide a historical overview of economic and political events in the region
of the Straits of Melaka as a basis for suggesting a Batak response to such
events. This reconstruction is based on archaeological findings, as well as
nineteenth- and twentieth-century compilations of origin tales of the various
Batak marga.6 I have also drawn on a knowledge of the better-documented
6
In Batak social organization the marga is one of the basic kinship units and traces descent
to a single male ancestor. Membership of a marga is determined patrilineally, with children of

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neighbouring communities of the Malayu7 (Malay), Minangkabau, and

Acehnese, as well as groups in the region confronted with similar conditions
as the Batak, in order to discuss the Batak situation. The result is a histori-
cal reconstruction that combines available documentary evidence, historical
imagination, and thirty years' experience in researching and writing about
societies in the region. I have tried to proceed with caution, and some of
the reconstructed scenarios may eventually prove wrong. Nevertheless, I
believe that this essay has advanced certain ideas that may be worth investi-
gating further, if new materials come to light, or if historiographical methods
become further refined in the future. In short, I hope that scholars will view
this venture as a genuine attempt to advance the study of a society whose
pre-modern history has been shrouded in mystery for far too long.
One of the analytical tools that I use is ethnicity. There has been a consid-
erable amount of literature written on ethnicity, principally by sociologists
and anthropologists. The aim of most of these studies has been to determine
the factors which contribute to the formation of ethnic identity. In the past
there were those who argued that each group recognized certain 'primordial'
elements as the core of their identity, while others claimed that each ethnic
community is the outcome of specific historical circumstances and situa-
tions. More and more, however, studies have taken the middle ground and
acknowledged the importance of 'primordial' sentiments, but argue that such
sentiments are in fact constantly undergoing change in response to specific
circumstances.8
A factor noted in the formation of ethnic identity is the desire to maximize
the advantages of the group. Many have focused on the economic benefits to
both sexes belonging to the marga of their father. The marga can represent an ancient grouping,
as well as groups that have developed from the original unit. There is evidence that some of the
marga are of mixed origin and have been formed by in-migrants joining with the local popula-
tion. Gonda is not totally convinced of Van der Tuuk's derivation of the term marga from the
Sanskrit varga, meaning 'company, party, group1. In the Old Malayu inscription at Talang Tuwo in
Palembang from the seventh century, the Sanskrit term marga is used to mean 'way' (Gonda 1973:
129-30, 205). This derivation appears to have been retained in later centuries. In the Palembang-
Jambi area the term marga was used for a lineage group. When the Dutch in the early nineteenth
century asked a Palembang man what 'marga' meant, he replied: 'One road, people of one incli-
nation, one relationship and the same origin1 (B. Andaya 1993:17). It is likely, therefore, that the
Batak marga stems from the Sanskrit term marga, meaning 'way, road, path'.
7
Throughout this essay I have decided to use the alternative spelling 'Malayu', rather than
the current 'Melayu', in order to be consistent with archaeologists' rendering of the name of
the earliest Sumatran kingdom as 'Malayu'. The people of this kingdom would have thus been
orang Malayu, or the people of Malayu. Even after the demise of Malayu, the people who spoke
the Malayu language and adhered to a culture developed during the Srivijaya/Malayu period
would have been regarded as 'Malayu'.
8
For a good introduction to the study of ethnicity, see Eriksen 1993. A clear discussion of the
different positions in the debate on ethnicity can be found in Cornell and Hartmann 1998. A use-
ful and thoughtful synthesis of the issues raised in the study of ethnicity can be found in Kipp

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be gained from creating a particular ethnic unity. A view with less emphasis
on the material and more on the psychological advantages is Horowitz's idea
of 'group entitlement'. According to Horowitz, a group's enhancement of sta-
tus and prestige in the eyes of others serves to bolster the individual's own
sense of pride and self-worth (Horowitz 1985:185, 226-7). Basic to the notion
of ethnic identity is the fact that ethnic consciousness arises through contact
with others who are different. As Eriksen explains, 'ethnicity is essentially an
aspect of a relationship, not a property of a group' (Eriksen 1993:11-2). Once
difference is established, it is necessary to exploit this difference through the
establishment of ethnic markers or boundaries. Barth suggests that one focus
on 'boundaries', rather than the 'cultural elements' contained within such
boundaries (Barth 1969:11). In other words, how a group defines and con-
tinues to maintain itself against another can be far more revealing of ethnic
identity than obvious outward signs such as dress, food, or even language.9
An ethnic group then creates legitimacy and group loyalty through the pro-
cess of 'inventing traditions' and 'imagining communities'.10
While social scientists have been at the forefront of such studies, histo-
rians are still to be convinced of the value of 'ethnicity' as a useful or even
valid historical pursuit. They may share the Comaroffs' concern at the lack
of agreement on whether ethnicity is an analytic object, a conceptual subject,
or both (Comaroff and Comaroff 1992:49). The reluctance of historians to
engage the concept of ethnicity in their studies has resulted in an unreflec-
tive acceptance of ethnic communities as somehow fixed forever in time. Yet
anthropological studies have demonstrated the fluidity and complexity of
ethnic identities, particularly in Southeast Asia. Edmund Leach's classic 1954
study of the Kachin in Burma reveals the ease with which a Kachin could
become Shan and a Shan Kachin through a preference for one over another
form of social system (Leach 1954). Viewing the ethnic problem from a differ-
ent perspective, O'Connor argues that ecological adaptation, language, and
agricultural techniques are significant shifts which can explain the so-called
'rise' and 'fall' of ethnic groups (O'Connor 1995:987).
Among the insights of particular relevance for this essay are: (1) contact
1996:17-24. As mentioned, the literature on ethnicity is vast and the approaches greatly varied.
Historians have yet to contribute much to this literature, with the one major exception of Smith
1986 and Smith and Hutchinson 1996, both excellent sources for historians interested in ethnicity.
9
Nevertheless, Rita Kipp rightfully points out that the outsider still has the task of determin-
ing which of the 'differences' - for example, language, dress, religion, or other - would be the
significant ethnic marker or 'boundary' (Kipp 1996:19).
10
The term 'invention of traditions' comes from Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983. Equally well-
known is Benedict Anderson's term 'imagined communities' from his book of the same name (B.
Anderson 1983). These scholars focused on the manner in which new, or even not particularly
new, nations invented traditions or found commonalities in order to emphasize their shared
identity and hence unity.

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Benzoin
Camphor
60 km
Map 1. Location of camphor and benzoin forests (from Perret 1995)

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with another group is essential to ethnic consciousness; (2) the group is cre-
ated to promote its advantage; and (3) certain ethnic markers are emphasized,
'invented', and 'imagined' to provide the primordial sentiments for group
solidarity. These insights are useful in assessing historical inter-group relations
within Sumatra, where borderlands provide the opportunity for individuals to
move in and out of ethnicities. Evidence of ethnic shifts from Batak to Malayu
and vice versa has been noted by both Milner (1982) and Perret (1995); less
well documented but equally revealing have been the historical ethnic shifts
between the Batak and the Minangkabau, and the Batak and the Acehnese.
Before examining these ethnic shifts, a significant question that must be
asked is why there should have been a need for a larger ethnic identity in the
first place (Kahn 1993:15). In an effort to seek an answer, I have attempted to
describe the process of 'ethnicization' of the Batak. I use this term to indicate
a deliberate decision by the Batak to emphasize their ethnicity for a particular
advantage. On the basis of origin tales and linguistic evidence, I have assumed
that the Batak occupied the area around Lake Toba in the interior of north-
ern Sumatra in the first millennium AD (Bellwood 1997:122).n International
trade, I argue, was a major catalyst in the movement of Batak from the Toba
highlands towards both coasts, though personal and environmental reasons
also contributed to the out-migration. The interior redistribution centres
and the international marketplaces on the coasts exposed the Batak to new
peoples, new ideas, and new products. In searching for economic advantage
in the highly competitive market environment, they sought support among
their kinfolk, both real and fictive, by ethnicizing their Batak identity. The
last part of the essay then suggests which boundaries were erected by the
ethnicized 'Batak' as part of a strategy to maximize economic advantage and
emphasize their unique self-worth.
The camphor and benzoin trade
The camphor (Dryobalanops aromatica Gaetn.f.) and benzoin {Styrax benzoin,

Dryander) trade provided the first, though indirect, evidence of Batak parti-
11
There is no archaeological evidence to reconstruct early habitation of this area, and so I
am basing my assumption on linguistic evidence. According to linguists, much of the spread of
Western Malayo-Polynesian languages occurred after 1500-1000 BC and included the Malayic
speakers. There was an earlier spread of Western Malayo-Polynesian languages which included
those of the Batak and the Gayo of northern Sumatra. Linguists rightfully warn against equating
language with language speakers, since an earlier population could adopt the language of a new-
comer. Unless more conclusive evidence is presented on the ethnicity of the group that occupied
the Toba highlands, I will assume that the inhabitants were ancestors of the group that came to be
identified in later centuries as the Batak. I am grateful to K.A. Adelaar for his informed comments
on this subject.

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cipation in international commerce. These forest resins were among the prod-
ucts in greatest demand at the major port-cities in the Straits of Melaka from
the early fifth century, and in Srivijaya between the seventh and eleventh
century. Camphor and benzoin trees grow in the areas of northern Sumatra
now occupied by the Batak (Wolters 1969:111-2,124-5,230-1).12 Camphor was
a highly prized luxury item and so valued in China that it was placed on
a par with gold (Donkin 1999:127).13 Benzoin was regarded as a substitute
for myrrh (Commiphora tnukul Engl.) in southern China by the sixth century,
and later came to replace it as a permanent, valuable commodity in China,
Western Asia, and Europe (Wolters 1969:111). In addition to their much-
vaunted medical qualities as a cure for a host of illnesses and complaints14,
camphor and benzoin were difficult to obtain, which further contributed to
the high prices they could command in the marketplace.
The camphor tree is one of the largest of the dipterocarps in western
Indonesia, reaching a height of between sixty and seventy metres. It grows
at altitudes of 60 to more than 365 metres above sea level on well-drained
soils and often on steep ridges. These conditions are met in the Batak lands
between Singkel and Air Bangis in northwest Sumatra. Benzoin trees grow in
the same areas and under similar conditions. They are found in clumps from
the north of Padang Sidempuan to the area around Tarutung, as well as in
three locations from the mountain valley of the Lai Cinendang, a tributary of
the Singkil River, northward to Sidikalang (see map 1). Camphor crystallizes
in the wood of the tree from an oleoresin present in the tree itself and accumu-
lates irregularly in the cavities of the trunk. Only after twelve years does the
12
The resin comes from a variety of species. The Styrax paralleloneurum produces a better-
quality benzoin, but the most frequently mentioned in pharmaceutical and botanical literature is
the Styrax benzoin (Katz 1998:243-5).
13
Though no comparative prices are available for this period, a nineteenth-century report
estimates that between a half and 15 kati (280 grams to 8.38 kilograms) could be collected per
tree, and one picul (56 kilograms) of camphor would cost 4000 guilders, a considerable sum in
the nineteenth century (Zeijlstra 1913:826).
14
Among the Chinese, camphor was used against all types of pain and against typhoid, intes-
tinal discomfort, nasal polyps, rheumatism, eye disease, and so on (Ptak 1998:138). According to
a ninth-century Nestorian physician to six caliphs, in the Arab lands camphor was regarded as
one of the five basic aromatics. It was also used in medicines for gum and eye infections, as an
astringent, and as a prophylactic against the disease-bearing warm winds'. Among the Persians
it was used as a cure for headaches, colds, and bulimia, and was an important ingredient, with
rosewater and sandalwood, in a solution washed on walls during plagues or epidemics (Stephan
1998:234-9). The Sumatrans and Europeans treated camphor as a medicine, using it for 'strains,
swellings, and rheumatic pains' (Marsden 1966:153). Benzoin was used in China as an incense to
expel demons and attract benevolent spirits. There is an extensive description of its value from
the tenth century, where it is prescribed as a remedy for a variety of conditions, from 'warding off
poisonous cholera' to preventing involuntary emissions by males' (Wolters 1969:118-9). In Arabia,
Persia, and parts of India it was used as an incense 'to expel troublesome insects, and obviate the
pernicious effects of unwholesome air or noxious exhalations [...]' (Marsden 1966:155).

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tree produce the camphor, with the oldest trees supplying the greatest quan-
tity and others yielding nothing at all (Burkill 1966, 1:876-81). Camphor was
presumably collected by Batak men under a special leader known in later cen-
turies as pawang, whose spiritual prowess was employed in locating the elu-
sive commodity. Nevertheless, even with the aid of religious practitioners and
adherence to strict taboos, including the use of a special camphor language,
expeditions were not always successful. Writing in the late eighteenth century,
William Marsden claimed that not even 10% of all trees cut down yielded
any crystallized resin or camphor oil (Marsden 1966:150). Benzoin trees were
tapped for their resin after seven years, but stopped producing after about
ten to twelve years. While it may have been easier to collect, the finest quality
could only be obtained in the first three years of tapping. After that the quality
deteriorated, hence its market value lowered (Marsden 1966:154-5,184).
O.W. Wolters has shown that camphor and benzoin were appearing in
China, India and the Middle East by the early sixth century, though not in any
sizeable quantities. But by the eighth century camphor was being included
in the tribute to the Chinese emperor from non-Indonesian rulers, indicating
the growing value of the product in China. It also implies that there was very
likely an increase in the export of camphor from Indonesia (Wolters 1969:230-
1, 233, 235-7). The export of benzoin to China may have begun as early as the
fifth century, though some believe that it began as late as the eighth or even
the ninth century (Katz 1998:259). The increased demand for camphor and
benzoin was met by Srivijaya, a kingdom founded in the late seventh century
on the Musi River in Palembang (Wolters 1969:246-9; Coedes and Damais
1992). Through a series of campaigns Srivijaya overcame its competitors and
became the dominant entrepot in the area.
A Srivijayan inscription placed at Ligor (Nakhon Si Thammarat) in AD
775 indicates an expansion of Srivijayan power across the Straits of Melaka.
A consequence of, and perhaps even an important motivation for, this expan-
sion would have been the control of camphor supplies from the Isthmus and
the Malay Peninsula. In the annals of the Liang dynasty, which ruled China
from 502 to 556, there is a reference to camphor coming from both Funan and
Langyaxiu. It is believed that the latter is somewhere on the eastern side of
the Malay Peninsula, while the civilization of Funan was centred in the south
of modern Cambodia. Funan must have imported and redistributed the cam-
phor, since it did not produce the Dryobalanops aromatica variety brought into
China (Ptak 1998:137). Srivijaya's incursion into the Malay Peninsula would
have prevented the further export of camphor to ports on the Mekong Delta.
By the latter part of the eighth century, therefore, Srivijaya may have suc-
ceeded in monopolizing the sale of camphor and benzoin in the region.
A major source of Srivijayan camphor and benzoin was the forests in
northwest Sumatra. The supply route from these forests to Srivijaya went

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MELAKA
STRAIT
: TOBA PADANG LAWAS

SILINDUNG '
• Tarutun
Panyabungan
INDIAN MAKhOAILING
Hutan
° P a n > V _ 1 > Muara Sipong
OCE/AN
vZ^ Ps
Pariamanjf Q U w Singkamk
V
Map 2. Areas to the south of Lake Toba

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to Padang Lawas via Sipirok and the valley of the Batang Toru (see map 2).
Padang Lawas appears to have been a collecting centre. From here there was
a route leading directly to Barus, as well as two alternative routes southward.
One of the southern routes went via Padang Sidempuan to the valley of the
Batang Angkola, while the other passed near Sibuhuan in Padang Lawas
across the mountains into the Angkola valley near Si Abu. From the Angkola
valley the route continued southward through Bonan Dolok to Penyabungan
and Hutanopari in the Batang Gadis valley. It then crossed the mountains at
Muara Sipongi to Rao.
From Rao one could go directly to Muara Takus in the valley of the Batang
Mahat, a tributary of the Kampar Kanan. But the more frequently used route
passed through the valley of the Batang Sumpur, a tributary of the Sungei
Rokan Kiri, and then through Tanjung Medan and Lubuk Sikaping via Bonjol
into Minangkabau territory. The Batak most likely transferred the products
to the Minangkabau, who then completed the journey through their own
lands downriver to the Malayu in Srivijaya. There were again two alternative
routes leading from Bonjol to Buo, from which place it was possible to reach
the headwaters of the Batang Hari, which is the major river through Jambi
(Edwards McKinnon 1984, 2:340-2). From the Batang Hari the goods could
be sold to the Malayu downriver and then transported by sea to Srivijaya.
Another possibility was to use the tributaries linked by land routes lead-
ing from the Jambi River to the Musi River in Palembang. One such route
followed the tributary Tembesi River, which flowed down along the Jambi-
Palembang border. From Ulu (upriver) Tembesi it was only eight days' travel
to Palembang and about twelve to Jambi (B. Andaya 1993:102).
The method used to transport the camphor and benzoin in earlier cen-
turies is not mentioned explicitly in the sources. From available evidence it
appears that cargo was carried by men on their backs travelling on foot along
narrow footpaths. Miksic describes a series of footpaths which ran from the
interior along the hills to both the east and west coasts. Such trails were found
on the summits of the Batak highlands, as well as along the upper reaches
of rivers such as the Panai and Bila (Miksic 1979:97,106). Even as late as the
mid-nineteenth century the Dutch linguist Van der Tuuk recalled an evening
when he hosted half a dozen Toba Batak in Barus who had transported their
cargo of benzoin on their backs (Nieuwenhuys 1962:46). Though horses are
mentioned as an item of trade, it is difficult to find evidence of horses being
used to transport export products. Marsden writes that there were numerous
horses in the Batak lands and that the Batak supplied many to Bengkulen.
Nevertheless, they kept their finest for ritual purposes and apparently as
special delicacies for their festivals: 'Horse-flesh', according to Marsden, 'they
esteem their most exquisite meat, and for this purpose feed them upon grain,
and pay great attention to their keep' (Marsden 1966:381). Such precious ani-

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mals would most likely not have been used as beasts of burden.
For nearly four centuries Srivijaya controlled the trade in forest products
in the region. Its success as a major entrepot to traders from around the world
aroused the envy of other major kingdoms seeking economic dominance in
the area. In 1025 the southern Indian kingdom of the Colas launched an attack
and subdued Srivijaya and its dependencies along the Straits of Melaka.15
Although Srivijaya recovered and reconstituted the kingdom on the Batang
Hari River in Jambi, the name Srivijaya disappeared from the records and
was replaced in the eleventh century by that of an entity known as 'Malayu'.
Following the Cola invasion, the temporary weakness of Srivijaya and its
Jambi successor, Malayu, as well as the increasing volume of Indian Ocean
trade, enabled several polities to emerge as suppliers of camphor and ben-
zoin. Nevertheless, Srivijaya continued to maintain its overlordship into
the thirteenth century. Although its secondary centres and feeder ports had
always had some direct trade with foreign merchants, after the late eleventh
century this privilege emerged as a regular pattern. This development was
tolerated as long as the vassal areas did not challenge Srivijaya's orienta-
tion away from the trans-shipment trade to the direct export trade in Indian
Ocean commodities (Soo 1998:306-8). Two of the most important of these
alternative ports were Barus and Kota Cina.
Barus and Kota Cina
The location of the Tamil inscription dated 1088 from Lobu Tua near Barus
is the strongest evidence so far for Barus' return to prominence after the
late seventh century. The inscription was erected by a Tamil merchant
guild, the Ayyavole-500 (The Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions'),
which enjoyed the patronage of the Cola dynasty in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil
homeland in southern India. By the end of the eleventh century the guild in
India had begun to include several ethnolinguistic groups among its ranks
and had become established in a number of coastal towns. The Lobu Tua
inscription refers to the guild 'having met at the velapuram in Varocu, also
called the [...] pattinam [...]'. 'Varocu' is the name for Barus, but there is a
difference of opinion about the meaning of the terms velapuram and pattinam.
Subbarayalu (1998:30-3) believes that the former refers to the harbour, while
the latter describes the town itself. Christie (1998:257), on the other hand,
interprets 'pattinam' as designating Barus as a commercial centre of the first
15
Edwards McKinnon (1996:88) suggests that the Tamil merchant guild may have been the
instigator of Cola intervention in Srivijaya territories, with a view to gaining economic advantage
in the increasingly profitable international trade flowing through the Straits of Melaka.

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rank, and 'velapurarrC as referring to the enclave of Lobu Tua as a trading set-
tlement of secondary rank.16 Permission was required for admission to the
city, and prices in the trade in aromatics (kasturi) were calculated in gold.17
As an international port, Barus would have had a mixed population, though
its core inhabitants may have been Batak. Direct overland routes from the
nearby camphor forests directly to Barus helped assure the city's reputation
as a reliable supplier of that prized commodity. Camphor from Barus could
command such high prices that Batak collectors working on the right bank
of the Singkel River in the sixteenth century did not sell their product at the
nearby port of Singkel, but took it to the more distant port of Barus (Miksic
1979:94).
Ptak (1998:139-40) believes that, though Barus was frequented by Indians
and other traders from the west, it was not a major port for the export of
camphor to China. Song and Yuan texts, that is, information from the tenth
to the fourteenth century, do not indicate a regular trade contact between
west-coast Sumatra and the southern Chinese ports of Guangdong, Fujian
and Zhejiang.18 The strong Chinese trade in camphor and benzoin was
most likely focused on another port located on the northeast coast bearing
the revealing name Kota Cina ('Chinese Stockade').19 Chinese traders were
more familiar with Sumatra's northeast coast and the Straits of Melaka20 and
would presumably have gone to Kota Cina, rather than to Barus itself, to
16
Joustra explains that 'lobu' means 'abandoned settlement' (Joustra 1910:28). 'Lobu Tua',
meaning 'the old abandoned settlement', could have been the name of an earlier centre which
later moved to the town of Barus.
17
In Sanskrit the word 'kasturi' refers to musk. Since musk does not occur in the Barus area,
Subbarayalu has suggested that the term may have been used to refer symbolically to aromatics
in general (Subbarayalu 1998:31-2; Edwards McKinnon 1996:91).
18
This may account for Edwards McKinnon's speculation, based on Chinese ceramic evi-
dence at Lobu Tua, that the site was abandoned at about the time of the foundation of Kota Cina
(Edwards McKinnon 1996:89).
19
The name originates from a common practice among'the Chinese to create a fortified
enclosure to protect themselves and their goods while awaiting a shift in monsoon winds before
resuming their journey to India (Miksic 1996:292).
20
Pulau Kompei on Aru Bay is another important place on the northeast Sumatran coast
which produced trade ceramics in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This is probably the site of
the Kompei mentioned in Chinese sources as having sent a mission to China in AD 662. Wolters
has suggested that 'P'o-lo', which sent a mission to China in the seventh century, was located
in northeast Sumatra. On the same coast flourished Panai between the tenth and fourteenth
centuries, and Aru from the late thirteenth to the early seventeenth century. Milner et al. sug-
gest that Aru and Deli were different names for the same place. According to Tengku Luckman,
the kingdom of Serdang then split off from the from the old Deli kingdom in the seventeenth
century. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries Asahan, on the same coast, became
a prominent kingdom and an outlet for products from the Batak interior (Nik Hassan Shuhaimi
1984:110; Wolters 1969:187, 193, 220; Milner, Edwards McKinnon, and Tengku Luckman 1978:
18-9; Tengku Luckman 1986:39; Hirosue 1988:40-1).

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obtain forest resins. The existence of Song and Yuan sherds in interior sites
in Kota Bangun and Deli Tua appears to support this contention. Moreover,
there would have been the added attraction of gold from the nearby mines
in such areas as the Bohorok and Pengkuruan Rivers, some fifty kilometres
west of present-day Medan (Nik Hassan Shuhaimi 1984:109-10).
Although Miksic stresses the Chinese component of the settlement,
Edwards McKinnon argues that Kota Cina was predominantly a Tamil
trading settlement established by merchants like those responsible for the
Lobu Tua inscription in Barus. The existence of permanent religious struc-
tures, including a Siva sanctuary and a Buddhist vihara, is indicative of the
economic importance of the Tamil community for whom they were built
(Edwards McKinnon 1987:86-7). Nevertheless, the Chinese were also a major
presence in the city, judging by the 'tens of thousands of Chinese porcelain
sherds' from between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries found on the site
(Miksic 2000:111). Kota Cina was inhabited between the late eleventh and
the fourteenth century, and grew from a small village into a large settlement
of some 10,000 inhabitants by the middle of the twelfth century (Edwards
McKinnon 1996:89; Miksic 1996:292). The ruined site was mentioned by John
Anderson on his trip to east-coast Sumatra in the early nineteenth century
and was only 'rediscovered' in 1972 (J. Anderson 1971:294). Located some
three to four miles from the port of Belawan Deli, near the confluence of the
Belawan River (known also as Hamparan Perak or Buluh Cina) and the Deli
River, it was once accessible to sea-going ships (Edwards McKinnon 1984,
1:9).
The rise of Kota Cina should be viewed in the context of Tamil trading
activity in Sumatra in this period. So far there are three known Tamil set-
tlements in Kota Cina, Lhok Cut (Aceh), and Lobu Tua, and possible settle-
ments at Neusu (Aceh, thirteenth century), Bahal 1 (Tapanuli Selatan in the
Padang Lawas area), Buo (West Sumatra), and Kota Kandis on the Batang
Hari in Jambi (Edwards McKinnon 1996:87). It is noteworthy that the Tamil-
inspired Buo inscription, the bronze imagery, and a possible temple founda-
tion at Kota Kandis on the Batang Hari are located on a major route between
the resin forests in the Batak lands and Srivijaya/Malayu. Other Tamil
inscriptions reinforce the view of a fairly extensive Tamil trade involvement
in Sumatra. A provisional reading of the Tamil inscription found at Neusu
appears to refer to trade regulations, while, the nearby site of Lhok Cut is
believed to be the remains of an eleventh-century port. Two further Tamil
inscriptions dating from the second half of the thirteenth century have been
found. The first is a late thirteenth-century inscription found at Batu (or
Bandar) Bapahat, near Suruaso, in the Minangkabau highlands. Though no
transcription or translation has been made, nor any archaeological context
provided, the inscription may relate to the Minangkabau trade in camphor

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and gold.21 The second inscription is from Porlak Dolok near Paringginan in
the Padang Lawas area and dates from either 1258 or 1265. From what can be
inferred from a very damaged text, the inscription commemorates an offer-
ing made by the ruler as a meritorious act (Christie 1998:259-63). The sus-
tained Tamil economic activity in north and west Sumatra from the eleventh
to the fourteenth century provided the economic stimulus for the increasing
participation of the Batak communities in the camphor and benzoin trade.
These products continued to be transported southward to the entrepots in
Malayu, but by the late eleventh century most of the supplies were going to
Barus and Kota Cina.
The founding of Kota Cina was not an isolated event but was part of the
historical oscillation in the Straits between a single dominant entrepot and a
number of smaller dispersed ports exporting the products of their immedi-
ate interior. Based on recent archaeological explorations in Singapore, Miksic
believes that Kota Cina may have been simply one of a number of similar-
type settlements along the Straits of Melaka, which came to include Singapore
(circa 1300) and Melaka (beginning of the fifteenth century) (Miksic 2000:111-
2). Contemporary with Kota Cina was a similar port at Pengkalan Bujang,
across the Straits in Kedah, to the north of the Merbok River. The area of
South Kedah was a site for two important centres based at Kampung Sungai
Mas from the ninth century and at Pengkalan Bujang from the end of the
eleventh century to approximately the beginning of the fourteenth century
0acq-Hergoualc'h 1992:300). Though Jacq-Hergoualc'h considers these two
sites to have been entrepot ports, Leong believes they were mainly a place for
loading and offloading ships, whose cargoes were then redistributed on the
Peninsula (Leong 1990:29). It is apparent that Kota Cina, too, served princi-
pally as a depot for the supply of fresh water and Sumatran forest products.
Though Kota Cina may have been the dominant port on the northeast coast,
there were other possible outlets for Batak goods in this period.22
The economic opportunities offered by Barus and Kota Cina as alternative
sources of camphor and benzoin encouraged the Batak to move toward both
the east and west coasts in order to profit more directly from international
trade. A trans-insular route, though difficult because of the rough and broken
21
The main Minangkabau gold-producing areas are located in Tanah Datar. According to
Dobbin, the main route to the east coast from the valley of the Sinamar around Buo and the
Sumpur around Sumpur Kudus was by water or land to the headwaters of the Indragiri River
and then overland to the headwaters of a tributary of the Kampar Kiri (Dobbin 1983:60-1).
Satyawati (1977:9) suggests that Adityavarman moved his centre to the Minangkabau highlands
in order to control the gold and camphor trade via the Kampar and Batang Hari Rivers.
22
Soo (1998:296) m e n t i o n s K a m p a r a n d L a m u r i , b u t o t h e r possible p o r t s w e r e P u l a u K o m p e i ,
on Aru Bay, and Panai. Nevertheless, archaeological evidence seems to support the belief that
Kota Cina was the dominant port during its existence.

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terrain, provided a safer alternative to the sea voyage from the west coast
around Aceh into the Straits. There was therefore an increase in the numbers
of Batak beginning to settle along the new trade routes.
Expansion of the Batak world
The Toba area is said to have been populated by people migrating from
the legendary first Batak village, Sianjur Mulamula, situated on the slopes
of the sacred Pusuk Buhit on the western shore of Lake Toba. Pusuk Buhit
is considered to be the birthplace of their common ancestor, Si Raja Batak,
and the home of the most powerful deities. From here groups left and set-
tled the series of valleys along the west coast of Lake Toba and then the
southern shores of the lake (Toba-Holbung) in search of rice-growing lands
similar to those found in their homeland. They later fanned out to the island
of Samosir, to the highlands west of the lake (Humbang), to the Silindung
valley, and then westward to the coast (see map 2) (Situmorang 1993:41-2).
In subsequent periods emigration from the Toba lands continued to occur
in response to economic conditions. The process is known among the Toba
Batak as marserak, which originally denoted migration within the territories
of one's marga or into lands not yet occupied by other marga.23
According to marga origin tales, the point of dispersal was in the Toba
homeland (specifically the island of Samosir and the areas to the west and
south of Lake Toba) and the Pakpak region west of the lake (see map 3).24
Perret points out, however, that most European commentators place the ori-
gin of the Batak peoples somewhere south of the Lake, where the German
mission was strongest (Perret 1995:56, 60). Their reports, Perret infers, may
have influenced later marga origin tales which acknowledge the Toba lands
as the point of origin of their group. As I hope to show, however, the circum-
stantial evidence suggests that the Toba area may indeed have been a major
centre for later out-migrating Batak to both coasts and southward to the
present-day Minangkabau homeland.
As a result of the economic opportunities provided by Kota Cina and
other east-coast Sumatran ports between the eleventh and fourteenth centu-
23
T h e m e a n i n g of marserak h a s n o w e x p a n d e d to refer to economic a n d social mobility. O t h e r
w o r d s are currently in u s e t o describe different types of m i g r a t i o n (Purba a n d P u r b a 1997:22-5).
It m u s t b e e m p h a s i z e d here that reasons for emigration of individuals a n d g r o u p s vary consid-
erably. Economic opportunities, such as n e w trade possibilities, h a v e always been a major pull
factor in migration.
24
This statement is based on genealogical stories contained in a n u m b e r of sources, including
Sangti 1977; Hoetagaloeng 1926; De Boer 1922; Keuning 1953/54; Wilier 1846; Van Dijk 1895; a n d
J.H. N e u m a n n 1926.

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ries, Batak groups moved eastward from the Lake Toba and Pakpak regions
using a number of routes. Perret has drawn a useful map showing the spread
of various Karo marga from their homeland in the current Pakpak districts to
the present-day Karo region (see map 4). What is noteworthy is that the area
of the Karo homeland in the Pakpak districts is in close proximity to the cam-
phor and benzoin forests.25 The thriving trade in forest products encouraged
the establishment of settlements along the major routes which led from the
camphor and benzoin forests through passes in trie Bukit Barisan mountains
and finally down the rivers to Kota Cina. The shortest route from the Karo
highlands to Kota Cina was via the Cingkem pass and then either down the
Serdang River (known in Karo as Lau Tawang) or the Deli River (in Karo, Lau
Petani) to the coast (see map 5). But the easiest route from the highlands was
via the Buaya pass, which followed the upper course of the Ular River (in Karo,
Lau Buaya) to the area of Seribudolok on the border between the present-day
Karo and Simalungun lands. In the nineteenth century the most important
market for the Karo and Simalungun continued to be on this well-frequented
trade route (Westenberg 1905:603). A focus of many of these routes, as well
as the paths leading to the Alas and Gayo lands, was the village of Seberaya,
strategically located within a network of trails leading from the camphor- and
benzoin-producing forests, across the Karo plateau, down to Kota Cina and
the east coast (Edwards McKinnon 1996:69,1987:11, 22-4; Miksic 1979:254).
South of Lake Toba one of the earliest trans-insular routes led from Sibolga
on the west coast, through a low pass in the mountains, to Gunung Tua and
Portibi in the Padang Lawas region. Many of the sites from the eleventh to
the fourteenth centuries are located inland, their main function involving
trade with the highland groups (Bronson et al. 1973:77). Miksic points out
that ceremonial sites, such as those at Padang Lawas and Muara Takus (on
the upper Kampar River), were often located near the border between the
highlands and the coastal plains and 'may reflect some function in regulating
intercourse between highland and lowland groups' (Miksic 1979:97, 103).26
From Padang Lawas the major route southward passed through a number of
valleys and towns to Rao. From Rao it was possible to go directly to Muara
Takus via a tributary of the Kampar River, but the more used route seems to
have been to Buo and then out to the Batang Hari River. These routes encour-
25
See Perret 1995:37, m a p 'Karo migrations according to tradition'. Sinaga also cites evidence
that the Karo trace their roots to the Pakpak area, which in turn acknowledges an origin in Toba
(Sinaga 1996:46-7).
26
In support of this claim, Edwards McKinnon suggests that the n a m e of the village Portibi'
(Batak for 'region or q u a r t e r ) m a y derive from the Sanskrit pertiwi, referring to a centre of power.
In the P a d a n g Lawas area there are two villages n a m e d Portibi: Portibi Jae (Downriver Portibi)
and Portibi Julu (Upriver Portibi), which m a y have been associated with groups representing the
uplands and the lowlands (Edwards McKinnon 1984,1:30-1).

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Aceh
Pgmatangsiantar
Tanjungbalai
60 km
Map 3. Early Toba migrations according to traditions collected by Vergouwen

(from Perret 1995)

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Binjei
Medan
y Kutacane
Bangunpurba
'/ j ^Gunungrintih
Sembiring
Tarigan
Peranginangin
Ginting
Sinuraja , ^ v , - • Barusjahe
Barus
Sitepu Pematangsiantar
Lingga
INDIAN
OCEAN 15 km
Map 4. Karo migrations according to tradition (from Perret 1995)
aged the migration of peoples from the area of Lake Toba southward into the
region that later came to be associated with the Angkola-Mandailing groups
(J.B. Neumann 1885, 2:17-8).
Migration from the Toba highlands to areas south of Lake Toba extended
into regions of the Malayu and the Minangkabau. It may have begun some-
time in the eighth century, with increased Srivijayan demand for camphor and
benzoin. According to some Malayu traditions from Kampar, the area of Rao
was once Batak but was later seized by certain Minangkabau chieftains. In
addition, the lands directly east of Rao were regarded as Batak. There is also
a story of an attack in the past on Muara Takus by Batak based in Kuamang,
which today is occupied by Malayu. In the nineteenth century a Dutchman
reported seeing in the neighbourhood of Kota Gelugur, on the Kampar River,
a stone inscribed in Batak characters. He explained that the inscribed stone
was intended as a commemorative tablet in honour of the first village heads,
assumed to be Batak in origin. Certain unique traits suggest that the people
of the area may have originated from Mandailing. J.B. Neumann believes that
until the middle of the thirteenth century the Batak occupied the northern
half of the Pasaman Mountains (known in Batak as Dolok Pasoman), which

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MELAKA
STRAITS
INDIAN
OCEAN
Map 5. Areas to the north and east of Lake Toba
were the source of the Rokan, Siak, and the Kampar Rivers. These mountains,
he argues, marked the southernmost border of the Batak lands. In support of
this argument, he explains in a footnote that the word 'Pasoman' indicates 'the
end of a world' (J.B. Neumann 1885, 2:17-8). The fourteenth-century Lubuk
Layang inscription found on the border of South Tapanuli, near Padang
Lawas, dates from the time of the Minangkabau ruler Adityavarman and is
believed to have marked a frontier post set up to guard against attacks from
the presumably Batak kingdom of Panai (Satyawati 1977:6).
Ideas of a single Batak ethnicity were strengthened by the fact that many
of those who moved into new lands had a common origin. On the basis of
genealogies collected in Portibi and Mandailing in the early nineteenth cen-
tury, Wilier concluded that these areas were settled by migrants from the
Toba homeland. Only after they had been in the area for a long time did a
new noble lineage arrive claiming to be linked to the legendary rulers of
Minangkabau (Wilier 1846:262, 344-5, 400-2, 405). Other origin tales collected
by Batara Sangti indicate that the Lubis and the Nasution, two of the largest

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marga in Angkola-Mandailing, stem from ancestors in the Lake Toba region

(Sangti 1977:129-30).27 The Lubis marga itself acknowledges that its founding
ancestor, Namora Pande Bosi, 'the great iron-smith', originally came from
Toba. Also claiming an origin in Toba is the Rangkuti, one of the oldest marga
in Mandailing. They believe that their ancestors were from the marga Parapat,
part of the Borbor group, whose datu are particularly feared for the potency
of their black magic. This may account for the Rangkuti's fame as the home
of powerful datu (Ypes 1944:141-2). Smaller marga in Mandailing, such as the
Pulungan, Parinduri, Rangkuti, and Borotan, all acknowledge a Toba origin.
According to J. Keuning, two of the largest marga, the Mandailing Godang
and Mandailing Julu, trace their ancestors to Toba lands (Keuning 1953/54:
160-1; Vergouwen 1964:12).28
This movement of Batak people may have occurred at the time of the
most intensive use of the camphor-benzoin routes to Srivijaya/Malayu and
Kota Cina between the eighth and fourteenth centuries.29 Once these groups
became established in their new lands, others were encouraged to join them
in response to economic conditions that rose and fell in accordance with the
rhythm of international trade in the Straits of Melaka.30 The rise of pepper
as an export commodity proved to be a new factor contributing to Batak
emigration from the well-populated areas around Lake Toba. In about the
fifteenth century black pepper (Piper nigrum, Linn.) found a mass market in
China, where it was used in the preparation and preservation of food, and
by the seventeenth century China may have been importing between ten
27
In the current climate of strong ethnic identification a n d pride in ethnic difference, some
may take issue with these findings, since Batara Sangti himself is a Toba Batak.
28
M h d . Arbain Lubis, a m o d e r n local historian, rejects a n y idea of a Toba origin for t h e
Nasution marga, b u t argues that the ancestral figure, Si Beroar, w a s indigenous to Mandailing
(Lubis 1993:193-6). This view represents a c o m m o n trend a m o n g various g r o u p s w h o stress
their difference with the Toba as a w a y of emphasizing their non-Batak identity. Batara Sangti,
a Toba Batak, cites genealogies to show that the Lubis a n d Nasution, t w o of the largest marga
in Angkola-Mandailing, originated from the Toba area (Sangti 1977:129-30). There will b e those
w h o reject such claims because they represent views of a partial source.
29
After the Cola invasion of Srivijaya in 1025, the centre of activity shifted n o r t h w a r d to
Jambi, to the old settlement k n o w n as Malayu. While the Srivijayan site o n the Musi continued
to exist, it w a s the Malayu kingdom, with capitals both o n the coast a n d in the interior, which
attracted the attention of foreign merchants. In the late thirteenth century, the Javanese k i n g d o m
of Singosari u n d e r King Kertanagara attempted to assert its overlordship in the u p p e r reaches
of the Batang Hari. The rivalry between the rulers of Java a n d Sumatra eventually led to the
m o v e m e n t of the interior Malayu k i n g d o m even further inland to the m o u n t a i n s of the Bukit
Barisan. This then gave rise to the Malayu k i n g d o m in the highlands of M i n a n g k a b a u u n d e r
A d i t y a v a r m a n in the fourteenth century (L. A n d a y a 2001b).
30
A similar response to economic opportunities is recorded among the Iban groups of
Sarawak. Iban migration is a well-known phenomenon which continues to the present day. They,
like the Batak, moved into empty lands or into sparsely populated areas, quickly absorbing or
dominating the local inhabitants (Pringle 1970:249-51).

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and twelve thousand picul (1 picul = 60.5 kg) of pepper annually. Europe also
became a major market for pepper, and by 1500 was importing about twelve
hundred tonnes yearly. To meet this burgeoning demand the Sumatran king-
doms of Aceh, Palembang, and Jambi increased their pepper production.
Some of the Batak may have been enticed to move to the hinterland of these
kingdoms to participate in pepper planting.31 Aceh, at the northern tip of
the island, began to transform some of its interior areas into pepper lands,
and Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-36) expanded pepper cultivation down
both coasts. He conquered other pepper-producing areas across the Straits,
in Kedah and Perak, to monopolize their production (B. Andaya 1993:43-6;
Lombard 1967:66).
The cultivation of pepper was labour-intensive and required almost con-
tinual attention. Once the men had cleared the forests and planted the pep-
per, the women and children were responsible for putting in support plants,
training the pepper vines around them, and weeding the root areas of the
pepper vine. The first pepper harvest came after the fourth year, with a large
and a minor harvest annually thereafter. The pepper-growers were therefore
kept busy picking, cleaning, drying, and bagging the fruit for much of the
year. It was estimated that it took a woman an entire day to sift a picul of pep-
per berries. Because of the labour involved in growing pepper, most families
could not plant rice at the same time (B. Andaya 1993:70).
As the powerful rulers of Aceh, Palembang, and Jambi required more
and more of their subjects to plant pepper, rice production in these areas
declined. Rice had to be imported to feed the families now occupied full-
time in the pepper fields. The surplus rice from the extensive wet-rice
(sawah) fields of the Minangkabau and the Batak in the interior of central
and north Sumatra became the favoured source of supply. Rice, which was
ordinarily scarce in Aceh, was available in great abundance under Sultan
Iskandar Muda (Lombard 1967:73). A major source of Aceh's supply was the
east-coast polities of Tamiang, Deli, and Asahan, which he seized in order to
gain control of the rice grown in their hinterlands mainly by Batak. By the
mid-seventeenth century, Aceh was importing about 400 tonnes of rice from
Deli alone (Hirosue 1994:21). In the late seventeenth century a Chinese who
lived for ten years among the Batak in the hinterland of Deli described the
over-abundance of rice which the numerous inhabitants enjoyed annually (F.
31
Bugis slaves were used to plant pepper in Jambi and Palembang in the seventeenth century
because many local people refused to remain involved in the strenuous task of pepper cultivation
(B. Andaya 1993:96-7). Batak migrants willing to plant pepper would have been welcome in these
Sumatran kingdoms. Even in the early nineteenth century, when the peak of the pepper trade had
already passed, Anderson noted large numbers of Batak engaged in pepper production in the
interior of Deli. He observed that in the pepper season the river at the ford in Sunggal 'is almost
impassable for the multitudes of people who flock there with produce' 0- Anderson 1971:258).

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de Haan 1877:647-8).
The lands in the Lake Toba region were well known as a major source of
food, in particular rice and various types of root crops. When the missionar-
ies Burton and Ward visited the Silindung valley in 1824, they remarked that
rice and sweet potatoes were widely grown: 'The former is produced both on
the hills and in the vallies in great abundance, and forms a principal article of
their barter with the bay. On the hills it is grown by the dry process, accord-
ing to the common practice with mountain rice; in the valleys irrigation is
employed with some ingenuity. The sweet potatoe grows luxuriantly in
every part of the country, but occupies chiefly the sides of the hills.' (Burton
and Ward 1827:510.) In the Karo lands sawah fields irrigated by small streams
were laid out mainly in the dusun (the Karo plains from the foothills to the
east coast); whereas in the highlands they were located in the ravines. Dry-
rice (ladang) cultivation was more typical in the highlands. The Simalungun
areas grew ladang east of the Karei River, and sawah in the ravines. The Purba
district and some pockets adjoining Lake Toba were planted in sawah, but
ladang cultivation was more common (Westenberg 1905:579-80). In the lands
south of Lake Toba, rice surpluses arose as a result of the extensive cultiva-
tion of sawah in the fertile valleys of the lowlands of Mandailing Godang
(Groot Mandailing), and ladang in the highlands of Mandailing Julu (Klein
Mandailing) (Wilier 1846:370, 373). The sawah fields in the Padang Lawas
region, particularly those in Ulu Barumun, were also noted for their pro-
ductivity (Joustra 1910:286, 293, 302-3). Much of the extra labour required to
bring these new lands under cultivation would have come from the popu-
lous areas in the Lake Toba region with their experienced food producers,
thus giving rise to another movement of people from the Lake area to lands
in Karo, Simalungun, and Angkola-Mandailing.
While the international demand for camphor, benzoin, and pepper pro-
vided a major stimulus for Batak migration (marserak), other factors contrib-
uted to the process. They were status enhancement through the founding of
new villages, desire for land, family disputes, the desire for safety from ene-
mies, and the need to find new land for a growing population (Vergouwen
1964).32 Other more cultural motives for continuing Toba Batak migrations
mentioned by modern scholars are the desire for a long life and numerous
descendants (hagabeon); prosperity and well-being (hamoraon); social status
(hasangapon); ability to exercise authority {sahala harajaon); and skill in gaining
respect (sahala hasangapon) (Purba and Purba 1997:21).
As a result of the extension of the Batak world into new areas, modifica-
tions in the existing marga system occurred. Individuals became members
32
See also 'Nota over de Landsgroten van Deli' (unpublished manuscript owned by Tengku
Sinar Luckman, with no indication of original source), p. 15.

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of new marga through migration, adoption, and birth from 'incestuous' rela-
tionships (that is, marriage between members of the same marga) (Ypes 1932:
v). The lands now occupied by the Karo, the Simalungun, and the Angkola-
Mandailing offer more examples of newly formed marga than the Toba areas.
The Toba have extensive genealogies tracing groups to the primeval ances-
tor, Si Raja Batak, whereas Simalungung genealogies, for example, rarely go
beyond three generations (Clauss 1982:44). When Van der Tuuk was trans-
lating the Old Testament into Toba Batak in the mid-nineteenth century, he
found that what interested the Toba most were the long biblical genealogies
(Nieuwenhuys 1962:47). In the following century Keuning (1948:15-6) also
noted the great Toba interest in and knowledge of the links among the marga.
People would explain how the marga came to form a main marga, which were
the oldest, middle, and youngest, and how marga came to give rise to even
larger marga, culminating in the moieties of the Lonrung and the Sumba.
The tendency for the Batak, other than the Toba, to downplay genealogical
depth may reflect the relative newness of their marga and therefore the need
to emphasize other more useful linkages than that of an ancestral lineage.
The Karo today usually characterize their society by and base their
identity on the idea of the Merga Silima, or 'the Five Marga'.33 They are the
marga Karo-Karo, Peranginangin, Ginting, Tarigan, and Sembiring, which all
claim an origin from lands to the west. J.H. Neumann (1926:2-3) suggested
that the 'original' inhabitants were a small marga, Karo Sekali, on the basis
of their name, which he translated as 'genuine or true Karo' (echte Karo), but
that idea has been challenged.34 Unlike the Toba, with their extended patri-
lineally based genealogies going back to a common mythical ancestor, the
Karo emphasize the matrimonial bonds among the five major clans and the
alliances created in the formation of new marga under a local mother marga
(Kipp 1996:34; Singarimbun 1975:71-6; Sinaga 1996:283).35 Equally striking
is Singarimbun's claim that the 'Karo do not possess any myth of the origin
of their own society', nor a 'ritual center'. The Karo clans, he argues, are not
descent groups, 'have no history of common origin', and 'do not regard them-
selves as agnatically related to one another' (Singarimbun 1975:70, 72).
Simalungun society is very much like that of the Karo in stressing the
equality of the four basic marga of the Saragih, Purba, Damanik and Sinaga,
and ignoring the importance of long genealogical links to the founder of
33
Merga is the Karo term, but I have used marga throughout this essay to avoid confusion.
34
Rita Kipp first raised doubts about N e u m a n n ' s interpretation, which identified this marga
as the first or original Karo, because it w a s found in only one ward in a village (Kipp 1996:44).
Neumann's views, however, seem to have been adopted by Batak authors themselves; see, for
example, Sangti 1977:129-30.
35
See also Sinaga 1996:284-7 for a description of h o w immigrants from the Toba and Pakpak
areas became part of newly formed Karo marga.

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the marga. The marga do not play a very important role in Simalungun, and
there is an absence of any tradition of common marga territory, property, or
ceremonies (Tarigan 1972:47; Joustra 1910:184). These features of Karo and
Simalungun society appear to be much more in keeping with the nature of
rapidly evolving frontier societies where long-standing traditions have less
relevance than developments in the more recent past. With less venerable
traditions to consider, such societies were more likely to experiment and to
adopt new forms and ideas. A continuing important source for such innova-
tion among the Batak, particularly in the newly settled communities, was the
Indian subcontinent.
Indian influence and Batak identity
The Tamils were a formative influence on Batak society. Although a ninth-

century inscription on the Malay Peninsula mentions the presence at Takuapa
of members of the Manikkiramam, a Tamil merchant guild, it was only after
the successful Cola invasion of Srivijayan territories in 1024-5, perhaps at the
behest of Tamil traders, that there was a noticeable increase in Tamil economic
activity in the region (Nilakanta Sastri 1949:25-30; Miksic 1998:120-1). In the
1088 Lobu Tua inscription described above, mention is made of local armed
men, oarsmen, agents, and merchants serving the Tamil guild. Through daily
intercourse between the Tamils and the local inhabitants in this thriving set-
tlement, ideas would have been exchanged (Subbarayalu 1998:31-3). Another
direct consequence of the Cola invasion was the emergence of Kota Cina.
Edwards McKinnon, the foremost expert on this historical site, has stated
unequivocally: 'I now see Kota Cina as a predominantly Tamil trading set-
tlement established by a community of merchants such as the Ainnurruvar
[also known as the Ayyavole] who left an inscription at Lobu Tua' (Edwards
McKinnon 1987:87).
In response to the rise of Kota Cina, there was a movement of some of
the Tamil population from Barus towards the east coast. Edwards McKinnon
found that the Sembiring marga of the Karo established itself at strategic
points along the routes leading from the west to the east coasts, and that
two of the villages, Deli Tua and Hamparan Perak, were located within easy
reach of Kota Cina (Edwards McKinnon 1987:90-1). The Sembiring marga is
believed to have had direct ties with Tamil traders. The name 'Sembiring',
meaning 'the black one', is often cited as a major clue. The names of certain
sub-marga - Colia, Berahmana, Pandia, Meliala, Depari, Muham, Pelawi and
Tekan - are clearly of south Indian origin (Edwards McKinnon 1987:85-6;
Parkin 1978:82, 94 fn 47; Singarimbun 1975:78-80; J.H. Neumann 1926:16-7).
In further support of a southern Indian origin of the Sembiring marga, some

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scholars have cited a mode of disposing of the dead believed to have been
borrowed from the Tamils. This practice involves secondary cremation and
setting the ashes adrift (the pekualuh ceremony) and is found only in the Dairi
lands in the west and among the Karo (N. Siahaan 1964:114-5; Parkin 1978:94,
fn 47; Singarimbun 1975:75). There may also have been some Tamil influence
on Karo ideas on village structure. Urung, the Karo term for a village federa-
tion, is believed to refer to a form of organization found in medieval Tamil
society (Edwards McKinnon 1996:93).
Another source of Indian ideas, particularly in the realm of magic and
religion, were the Indianized Malayu communities. Their influence is espe-
cially evident in the Padang Lawas complex, perhaps the second-largest
archaeological site in Indonesia, encompassing an area with a radius of fif-
teen kilometres. Judging from inscriptions found here, Padang Lawas played
an important role in the region from the mid-eleventh to the end of the fif-
teenth century. Between 1935 and 1938 Schnitger found some twenty temples
here, as well as a Heruka figure. From the inscriptions and an analysis of the
statuary, he concluded that the devotees were adherents of Vajrayana Tantric
Buddhism, Sivaism, and a syncretic Siva-Buddhism. In one of the temples
found at Parmutung, Schnitger identified what he believed to be an image
of a queen of Panai who founded the temple and who was consecrated as a
Bhairavi (Schnitger 1964:93-4; Parkin 1978:84).
Many authors believe that the presence of Tantrism in the Padang Lawas
complex was due to Indian influence from Malayu/Minangkabau36 via east
Java. In support of this argument, they cite the famous fourteenth-century
Adityavarman statue in the form of the god Bhairava, one of the important
deities in Kalacakra or Left-Handed Tantric Buddhism, found at Rambahan
on the Batang Hari. The inspiration for this statue can be traced directly to
the Singasari court of east Java, where Adityavarman spent some years and
left an inscription in 1343. The model was a similar statue dated 1292 of the
Bhairava seated on a dais surrounded by skulls and wearing a crown, ear-
rings, and a necklace of skulls (Parkin 1978:254-64; Heine-Geldern 1972:326;
De Casparis 1985:246; Fontein 1990:162-3). Tantric influence appears to have
continued under Adityavarman's son, Anangavarman, who identified him-
self as Heruka, a demon figure. At Kampung Lubuk Layang in Rao, in the
Pasaman district, a headless weatherworn statue broken in two was found
displaying Hindu, possibly Tantric, elements similar to the guardian statues
36
Although Adityavarman is generally regarded as the first Minangkabau ruler, he began his
career as ruler of Malayu. Once he established his base in the Minangkabau homeland, he called
himself Kanakamedinindra, or 'Lord of the Gold Land' - a reference to the island of Sumatra.
This shows that he sought to be remembered as the heir of the Srivijayan rulers who first
reigned in Palembang and later moved to Jambi, where the kingdom became known as Malayu.
Adityavarman never mentions the name 'Minangkabau' in his inscriptions (Satyawati 1977:9).

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in Padang Lawas (Satyawati 1977:2, 6; Bronson et al. 1973:19).

There is also support for the argument that Indian influence may have
reached Padang Lawas from the north. Parkin, for example, argues that
many Sivaite ideas were brought by Indians themselves through commun-
ities such as those found in Lobu Tua and Kota Cina.37 A team of archaeolo-
gists visiting the site in 1973 concluded that it had no clear relationship with
Java (Bronson et al. 1973:19, 61, 64, 77; Satyawati 1977:2). Their preliminary
findings would suggest that the Padang Lawas complex was a result of
Indian influence coming from the port cities in northern Sumatra rather than
from Java and southern Sumatra. A third possibility is that Padang Lawas
received Indianized ideas from both directions and formed a cultural frontier
between the Minangkabau and the Batak.
Religion and the high priests in the service of trade
Whatever the ultimate source of Indian religious inspiration in Padang

Lawas, the evidence suggests that Indian magico-religious ideas were
eagerly sought by the Batak in order to strengthen their belief systems in
the ongoing struggle to improve their spiritual and material well-being. The
indigenous Batak religion, known as Perbegu or Pemena38, was not sup-
planted by religious concepts from India, but came to co-exist with them.
It was therefore possible for the Batak to retain their own beliefs while also
adopting Mahayana Buddhist, Sivaite, and Tantric rituals.
Parkin explains that Perbegu can be viewed as 'a cult of the human soul,
which in a living person is known as "tondi" and for a dead person is gener-
ally called "begu"' (Parkin 1978:6).39 Tondi is sometimes translated as 'soul stuff
and is found in smaller quantities in animals and plants. It is present in every
part of the human being, including the hair, fingernails, sweat, tears, urine,
excrement, shadow, and even in the name of a person. The most powerful
tondi resides in the placenta and the amniotic fluid at birth, and hence great
care is taken to dispose of these with the utmost secrecy. Ritual cannibalism
37
Three more recent works which include a detailed discussion of the impact of Indian ideas
on Batak indigenous religion are Parkin 1978, Pedersen 1967, and Rae 1994. In the present essay
I have simply focused on Tantrism as an important part of Indian religious ideas that appears
to have been particularly relevant in the southward expansion of Batak society towards the
Minangkabau lands.
38
The old religion is referred to by Christian Batak as Perbegu, or worship of ancestral spirits.
Because of the perceived derogatory nature of this name, adherents prefer the term Pemena,
meaning 'the First [Religion]'.
39
The word varies from one Batak language to the other. For example, tondi is Toba, tendi
Karo, and tenduy Simalungun. In the following discussion the Toba terms are used.

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provided the opportunity to strengthen one's tondi at the expense of the victim
by consuming those parts of the body that are potent with tondi, such as the
blood, heart, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet.40 When a person dies,
the tondi becomes begu (ancestral spirit).41 The most powerful begu, and hence
the one subject to the most frequent appeals, is the sombaon, the spirit of an
ancestor who founded great communities and had at least seven generations
of descendants (Pedersen 1967:19-26; Rae 1994:18-20).42 Through public feasts
at which homage is paid, a begu is transformed into a sumangot, then a sombaon
(Sherman 1990:82).43 The ultimate test of potency was the possession of sahala,
which can be succinctly translated as 'manifestation of supernatural power'.44
Sahala is manifested in successful economic and other ventures, numerous
progeny, influential relatives, skill in oratory, or bravery in battle. Respect
{hasangapon) accompanies one possessed of sahala, while to refuse to obey and
venerate such a person is to court disaster (Castles 1972:13-4).
From early times religion was closely linked to trade among the Batak.
Religious edifices were erected along trade routes to protect the trader from
adverse human and natural forces and thus assure the economic success of
his venture. Edwards McKinnon observed that from Padang Lawas south-
ward was a line of candi or temples marking a route from Tapanuli down to
the Minangkabau lands. More candi were found along rivers that were used
to gain access to the east coast. The Padang Lawas or Panai complex arose
due to its strategic location at the crossroads of several riverine and overland
routes.45 The ancient kingdom of Panai, sufficiently important to have war-
ranted an attack by Cola forces in 1025, benefited from its links to the inte-
rior areas through the important trans-insular portage in the Panai-Barumun
river valley (Edwards McKinnon 1984,1:31-3, 330; Miksic 1979:97).
40
Early Western observers with little or n o k n o w l e d g e of Batak beliefs attributed the prefer-
ence for these particular parts of the h u m a n b o d y simply to a matter of individual taste.
41
Joustra, however, subscribed to the view of others, w h o argue that the last breath of a per-
son becomes the begu. This is based on the belief that the breath cannot be destroyed, that w h a t
is spoken is immortal because it is the w i n d (Joustra 1902:416).
42
Warneck (1906) describes sombaon as the highest stage that the spirit of the d e a d can
attain.
43
Sombaon is a general term for earth spirits or deities; Ypes believed that it referred also to
the dwelling-places of these beings (Ypes 1932:196).
44
Sahala is in essence the s a m e as the idea of mana in Pacific Island societies. These com-
munities share a c o m m o n Austronesian past, a n d the concept is one which can b e traced to the
Austronesian language. For a discussion of mana, see Shore 1989:137-43.
45
Jacq-Hergoualc'h also noted the n u m e r o u s temples in South Kedah, a n area long associ-
ated with Indian traders. These religious edifices were located at the ports a n d along the rivers
leading to the ports. H e believes they were erected by a merchant or g r o u p of merchants seeking
the favour of the gods. H e also noted the similarity in architectural styles between the temples
in South K e d a h a n d those of P a d a n g Lawas, which h e attributes to the u s e of a n Indian m o d e l
(Jacq-Hergoualc'h 1992:299, 304-5, 309).

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At the Padang Lawas site, as well as in the Tamil settlements at Lobu Tua
and Kota Cina, temples were prominent. With the withdrawal of the Tamil
population and/or its absorption into the Batak community, perhaps after
the demise of Kota Cina in the fourteenth century, the candi were replaced by
tombs erected in honour of important Batak ancestors (sombaon). Westenberg
noted in 1891 that 'Malay' (most likely Batak, who moved easily between two
worlds; perhaps more properly called 'Malayu Batak') horse traders were
going to the Karo plateau from the east coast to make offerings at the tombs
of the Sibayak [lords] of Kabanjahe and Barusjahe. On the outward journey
betel was offered, but on the homebound journey, after successful transac-
tions, a goat or a white chicken was sacrificed (Westenberg 1892:227). These
ancestral tombs proved popular sites of spiritual power.
The religious institution that had the greatest economic impact on the
Batak was that of the high priests.46 Though it originated in the Toba lands, it
spread rapidly to the new areas where Toba migrants had settled. Situmorang
suggests that the Toba Batak believed in a sahala-harajaon, or 'spiritual power
of governing', which derived from the gods and was transmitted patriline-
ally through the original founders of the three major Toba marga - the Borbor,
the Lontung, and the Sumba.47 It was this sahala-hamjaon which legitimized
the rule of high priests bearing the title Jongi Manaor among the Borbor,
Ompu Palti Raja among the Lontung, and Sisingamangaraja (preceded by
Sorimangaraja) among the Sumba (Situmorang 1987:221-4).48 Although they
were equal in stature within their respective marga, the Sisingamangaraja
was the best known to Europeans. The Ompu Palti Raja, unlike the
Sisingamangaraja, did not claim a divine origin, or authority beyond his own
jurisdiction among the Lontung. The Jongi Manaor's pretensions were also
far more modest than those of the Sisingamangaraja; he claimed to have his
own areas, independent of either of the other two high priests (Situmorang
46
I have opted for the term 'high priest', rather than the more commonly used 'priest-king'.
'High priest 1 appears m o r e appropriate to t h e function of these figures in Batak society a n d
accords with Kozok's belief that only the last Singamangaraja, the twelfth (1875-1907), referred
to himself as king. In his letters h e claimed to be 'Ruler of the Batak Clans' a n d even 'Ruler of
Sumatra' (Kozok 2000b:274-6).
47
According to Keuning, Borbor initially formed part of Lontung. A s a result of expansion
into areas both of the L o n t u n g a n d the Sumba, the Borbor came to be regarded as a separate,
major marga (Keuning 1948:16).
48
In a more recent work, Situmorang asserts that Sorimangaraja was the title of the high
priests prior to the creation of the Sisingamangaraja institution in the sixteenth century (Situ-
morang 1993:218). This date, which is widely cited in the literature, has been arrived at by the
questionable method of counting backward assuming a certain number of years per sundut or
generation. Oral traditions (including those surrounding the origins of the Sisingamangaraja)
tend to telescope years and often refer to events which occurred far earlier. The Sorimangaraja
may have preceded the Sisingamangaraja, but when that occurred cannot be determined with
any certainty.

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1993:77-8). The high priests' success in promoting trade and agriculture was
an important measure of their sahala.
There is a fair amount of literature on the Sisingamangaraja, but little on
the Jongi Manaor or the Ompu Palti Raja. One can assume, however, that
many of the distinctive features attributed to the Sisingamangaraja would
have been ascribed to the other two categories of high priest. One of the most
extensive accounts of the origins of the first Sisingamangaraja comes from a
Batak text collected by CM. Pleyte. In this legend the deity Batara Guru causes
a jambu fruit to fall to the ground. It is found and eaten by the wife of the chief
of the village of Bakkara, and she becomes pregnant. After three years pass
with the baby still unborn, a spirit informs the mother that another four years
will elapse before the birth can occur. She will know when it is time because
there will be earthquakes, lightning and a heavy rainstorm, spirits will fill the
village square, and tigers and panthers will tear at one another. These things
occur, and the Sisingamangaraja is born with a black, hairy tongue. The after-
birth is buried under the house, but lightning strikes at that very spot and
transports the afterbirth to heaven.49 Batara Guru's messenger then brings
to the child manuscripts with astrological charts for augury purposes and
matters concerning planting and weaving, the calendar, the laws, and a hand-
book of spells. The Sisingamangaraja confirms his supernatural origins by
openly declaring, 'I am a descendant of the gods' (Pleyte 1903:3, 6-7,15,17).50
Other legends were later added to reaffirm the Sisingamangaraja's supernatu-
ral attributes. In 1870 C. de Haan was told that the Sisingamangaraja could go
seven months without food and three months without sleep because the gods
supplied his every need (C. de Haan 1875:30).
The divine origins of the Sisingamangaraja made him an ideal inter-
mediary between the gods and the human community. He could make
peace, create laws, and expose both truth and lies - qualities that made
him unsurpassed in settling disputes. If a war continued unabated, he sent
a staff as a sign that a ceasefire should be declared and the parties submit
to his mediation (Tideman 1936:25-6; Meerwaldt 1899:530). He intervened
in disputes not only among the Batak, but also between the Batak and the
outside world (Cummings 1994:63-4). Early European observers believed
that these high priests exercised very little authority because there were no
visible signs of political power. Heine-Geldern, for example, acknowledged
that the Sisingamangaraja was effective in settling quarrels and mediating
49
As mentioned previously, the afterbirth is regarded as one of the most important sources
of a person's tondi. The story of the removal of the afterbirth to the heavens emphasizes the
Sisingamangaraja's divine origins.
50
There are variations on the story, b u t the general outline is the same. For a very detailed
account of the miraculous birth a n d life of the first Sisingamangaraja, see Tobing 1967:23-47.

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peace between warring parties, but concluded, 'otherwise his political power
was weak' (Heine-Geldern 1953:376). What he failed to realize was that the
Sisingamangaraja and the other high priest figures exercised effective control
not so much through the use of force as through the threat of supernatural
sanctions implied in their words, letters, and widely recognized spiritual
powers (Drakard 1999; L. Andaya 2000).51
Although precolonial Batak society has been characterized by Castles as
being 'stateless', there was a hierarchy of institutions under these high priests
which provided a form of supra-village unity. The basic social unit was the
huta, or village, with a varying number of huta forming a horja, and a number
of horja constituting a bins.52 Religious leadership was provided by the par-
baringin, with the chief official of the bius (known variously as raja bius, raja
oloan, or raja na ualu) being chosen by the heads of the horja.53 At the apex of
this hierarchy stood the Sisingamangaraja, who instituted bius markets and
legitimized officials through letters of appointment. Among the responsibili-
ties of the bius was the hosting of the 'large market' {onan na godang or onan
bius), where the 'great council' (rapot bolon) mediated disputes and made
binding decisions on important public issues (Kubitscheck 1997:193; Sangti
1977:303; N. Siahaan 1964:112; Castles 1975:74; Tobing 1967:17-8; Situmorang
1993:40-4, 100-2).54
Situmorang traces the origins of the bius to the need for management of the
irrigation system, and hence the organization of agriculture and the imple-
mentation of laws. The bius is usually described as a 'sacrifice community'
because the culmination of its activities is the annual agricultural ritual and
sacrifice, at which the parbaringin officiated. In addition to ensuring the fertil-
ity of the crops, this sacrifice provides an occasion for community integration
and renewal of commitment to its customs and traditions. Perhaps the most
important agricultural function of the bius was the promotion through the
51
Heine-Geldern points out, however, that the Sisingamangarajas had employed force in the
past. The first had led a war against the Lotung marga, another against the Padris, and a third
against the Dutch (Heine-Geldern 1953:374). However, these rulers were obeyed not so much for
their military as for their spiritual prowess.
52
Sangti says that s o m e t w e n t y huta w o u l d t h e n form a horja, a n d s e v e n horja w o u l d m a k e u p
a bius (Sangti 1977:293-4). H o w e v e r , m o s t other c o m m e n t a t o r s give v a r y i n g figures.
53
Situmorang further divides the bius into three categories, with the most developed being
the bius u n d e r the parbaringin. H e characterizes the others as 'developing' a n d 'backward' bius
(Situmorang 1993:42-3).
54
So great w a s the reverence for the Sisingamangaraja institution that even after t h e last
Sisingamangaraja h a d disappeared in the nineteenth century, the Batak continued to respond
to r u m o u r s of his continued presence. In the 1920s a m a n emerged in Karoland w h o claimed
that the Sisingamangaraja h a d c o m m a n d e d everyone to slaughter a white chicken. The response
w a s immediate a n d widespread, causing a n unprecedented rise in the price of white chick-
ens. In Angkola, people began to eat a certain type of fish because it w a s r u m o u r e d that the
Sisingamangaraja h a d ordered it to w a r d off evil (Castles 1975:74).

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year of feasts and rituals devoted to the rice-growing cycle and the appease-
ment of spirits (Korn 1953:36,126; Sherman 1990:80-5).55 The network of bins
organizations throughout the land provided a supra-village structure based
on a blend of economic, political and religious authority.
The Sisingamangaraja was revered for his powers in ensuring the mate-
rial welfare of the people through the promotion of agriculture, creating
harmony among the Batak groups through mediation, and maintenance
of the marketplace. In agriculture he was credited with the ability to bring
rains, locate wells, maintain the irrigation system, enforce the acceptance
of his allocation of rice lands, and ensure the efficacy of agricultural rituals
(Tideman 1936:25-6; Meerwaldt 1899:530; Situmorang 1993:42-3). The young
Sisingamangaraja was said to have been capable of causing rice plants to
grow with their stalks in the ground and their roots in the air. His control
over the growth of rice and various types of ubi or root crops and his abil-
ity to cause rain and to locate well water were attributes expected of one
with direct links to the agricultural deities. Before the rice-planting season
began, the Sisingamangaraja conducted rituals invoking the ancestral spirits
to ensure a good harvest and hence prosperity for their descendants. In Toba
proper - though apparently not in Silindung56 - his appointed officials, the
parbaringin, presided over the sacrifices in the important agricultural rites.
Although there is very little information about the other two high priests,
the Ompu Palti Raja and the Jonggi Manaor, nineteenth- and twentieth-cen-
tury sources indicate that they continued to be highly revered for their ability
to summon rain and control rice growth (Hirosue 1994:20, 22; James 1902:
137; Van Dijk 1895:300-1). Conducting the agricultural ritual was considered
an essential task of the parbaringin to assure the ongoing prosperity of the
inhabitants, the animals, and the crops. As late as 1938 the Dutch received
delegations of parbaringin seeking the revocation of a colonial measure intro-
duced earlier in the century which forbade the performance of this ritual. It
was this prohibition, they asserted, which had resulted in problems in their
community (Korn 1953:32-3).
The esteem and respect for high priests among the Batak may have
increased even further when rice became an important Batak export com-
modity. The rise of the pepper trade in the fifteenth century led to an
increasing demand for rice by communities engaged in pepper production
in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. It may have been around this time that
the Batak intensified rice planting in existing fields to meet this need. Rice is
55
Sherman, studying the ritual functions of the bius, concluded that it might be compared to
ancestral cults of the earth found elsewhere in Southeast Asia (Sherman 1990:82).
56
T h e S i l i n d u n g constitute o n e of t h e major marga i n t h e Toba area, w h i c h m a y a c c o u n t for their
ability t o r e m a i n o u t s i d e t h e Sisingamangaraja s p h e r e of influence (Ginting forthcoming:291).

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a fragile plant requiring intensive preparation and great care. Moreover, dur-
ing its growth it is vulnerable to unexpected weather changes, diseases, and
pests, which may destroy the entire crop. As a result, traditional rice-grow-
ing societies everywhere have resorted to appeals to supernatural forces to
prevent the loss of a crop and to ensure a bountiful harvest. The Batak were
no different, and Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles commented on their belief that
the Sisingamangaraja could 'blight the paddy, or restore the luxuriance of a
faded crop' (Raffles 1991:436).
A second important function of the Sisingamangaraja was promoting har-
mony among the Batak groups through his mediation. In this role he was able
to effect wide agreement on standard rice measures, as well as the assurance
that the sanctity of the marketplace would be observed. When the mission-
aries Burton and Ward travelled to the Toba lands, they commented on the
influence of the Sisingamangaraja, who was considered by the inhabitants
to be 'bertuati, or 'invested with supernatural power'. His representatives,
whom Burton and Ward believed to be village chiefs from the surround-
ing districts (Burton and Ward 1827:514), were known as parbaringin in the
Sumba districts. They were appointed by the Sisingamangaraja and had the
important responsibility of maintaining the viability of the markets (Castles
1972:18-9,1975:74).
By the nineteenth century it was possible to distinguish a heartland and
an extended network of communities forming a single Batak cultural unity,
promoted and strengthened by the activities of the high priests. Although
the latter had arisen among the Toba, their influence extended to the other
areas where the Batak had settled. The Ompu Palti Raja was the high priest
with the greatest influence among those in the Simalungun lands involved
in the trade between Lake Toba and the east coast, while the Jonggi Manaor's
area of jurisdiction was in the lands between the interior and Barus. Of these
three, the Sisingamangaraja exercised the greatest influence among the Batak
communities in general. Representatives bore their insignia and exercised
authority on their behalf because of the awe and veneration with which the
Batak regarded these high priests (Hirosue 1994:22). As the Batak became
increasingly involved in international trade, these magico-religious figures
became the foci and the facilitators of the production and delivery of rice
and forest products from the interior to the coasts. The expansion of their
functions contributed to the evolution of a supra-village authority and to a
growing sense among the people of belonging to a single ethnic group under
the leadership of the high priests.

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Ethnicization of the Batak
As the Batak moved toward both coasts and southward from Lake Toba in
response to economic opportunities, they came into direct competition with
the Malayu, the Minangkabau, and the Acehnese. In face of this develop-
ment, the institution of the high priests was invoked to promote ethnic unity.
The acknowledgement of the Sisingamangaraja as the overarching spiritual
authority over all Batak may have been a deliberate economic decision by the
Batak in order to compete effectively against the newly ethnicized Malayu,
Minangkabau and Acehnese.57 With the appointment of parbaringin, a hierar-
chy was created whose major responsibility was the maintenance of agricul-
ture and the marketplace. If not the threat of supernatural sanctions then the
promise of economic advantage made the institution of the Sisingamangaraja
appealing to the Batak.
A European report from the early nineteenth century confirms the elevat-
ed status and veneration enjoyed by the Si Singamangaraja among the Batak.
In a letter to Marsden dated 27 February 1820, Raffles wrote that among the
Batak he was 'something like an ecclesiastical Emperor or Chief, who is uni-
versally acknowledged, and referred to in all case of public calamity, etc. His
title is Si Singah Maha Rajah, and he resides at Bakara in the Toba district. He
is descended from the Menangkabau race, and is of an antiquity which none
disputes. My informants say certainly above thirty descents, or 900 years. He
does not live in any very great state, but is particular in his observances; he
neither eats hog nor drinks tuah [palm-wine]. They believe him possessed
of supernatural powers.' (Raffles 1991:435-6.) In this letter Raffles claims
that the Sisingamangaraja was 'universally' acknowledged. Although it is
more likely that he had direct influence only over the Sumba group of marga
among the Toba Batak, stories of his supernatural powers would have been
sufficient to convince many other Batak to heed his words or those of the per-
sons delegated to represent him. In this way the Batak in the southern Lake
Toba region, who were the Sisingamangaraja's principal adherents, would
have been joined by Batak elsewhere in forming a group responsive to his
wishes. While he did not possess any means for physical coercion, he had a
reputation for magico-spiritual powers which in earlier centuries proved far
57
I argue in other essays that there was a conscious decision by the Malayu rulers of Melaka
and Johor, the Minangkabau rulers of Pagaruyung, and the Acehnese rulers to appeal to a politi-
cized ethnic identity for economic reasons in the period between the sixteenth and eighteenth
centuries. Between the sixteenth and the late seventeenth century, Aceh saw itself as a Malayu
kingdom and was the dominant economic, political, and cultural entity in the Malayu world.
Only from the eighteenth century did a separate Acehnese identity emerge in recognition of the
success of Johor in becoming acknowledged as the centre of Malayu culture. See L. Andaya 2000,
2001a, and 2001b.

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more intimidating. Instead of a political structure with the accoutrements

of state power, the Sisingamangaraja and other high priests created a unity
among many Batak groups on the basis of their sacred reputation, system of
marketplaces, and coterie of magico-religious officials operating in a border-
less world.
Batak ethnic consciousness was reinforced by the creation of pustaha, or
bark books. Written in a language and a script unlike anything possessed by
their neighbours, the pustaha were regarded as distinctly 'Batak'. Although
employing an old Indian Pallava-derived script, there is no record of when
pustaha first began to be written. Kozok has shown that the Batak script con-
tinues to display an affinity with the Pallava and Old Javanese (Kawi) scripts,
whereas modern Javanese has diverged quite significantly from the original
Pallava (Kozok 1999:65). Batak writing may have originated with the creation
of the pustaha, but remained relatively unchanged over the centuries, perhaps
because of the sacred contents. The pustaha contained astrological tables and
magic formulae and were intended for magico-religious purposes.58
The survival of a Batak language using a modified Pallava script to
transmit sacred and other tribal knowledge is noteworthy. From the seventh
until at least the fourteenth century, the dominant intellectual and political
languages in Sumatra were Sanskrit and Malayu. Their influence was par-
ticularly strong, and evidence of their presence has been noted in the discus-
sion of the archaeological finds at Padang Lawas. Yet despite these cultural
incursions, the Batak were not overwhelmed by the expansion of the Malayu
language and culture into northern Sumatra (Teeuw 1959:148-51; Collins
1996:9). The survival and persistence of the pustaha tradition may have
been the result of a deliberate political choice at a time when the Batak were
becoming increasingly involved in economic rivalry with neighbouring com-
munities. As Pollock so succinctly explained, 'Vernacular literary languages
do not "emerge" like buds or butterflies, they are made' (Pollock 1998:7).59 A
Batak world was thus inscribed and circumscribed by the pustaha, which not
only played a magico-religious role but also became an important marker of
Batak identity.
Often in the introduction to pustaha, a chain of transmission of know-
ledge from the legendary founder to the current writer is listed. Teachers
58
In a d d i t i o n t o t h e pustaha, there w e r e other forms of writing, s u c h a s letters, pulas (a t y p e of
threatening letter), and laments, though the latter two forms tended also to have a strong magico-
religious intent (Kozok 2000a:43-4).
59
I have based my arguments on Pollock's stimulating discussion of the process of vernacu-
larization in India. Of particular value and relevance for the Batak situation is his argument that
there is a division of labour in languages, in which Sanskrit retains its position as 'the public
literary expression of political will', while the vernacular is restricted to 'business' or practical
aspects. He terms this language division 'hyperglossia' (Pollock 1998:11-2).

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and pupils from different regions travelled together through the Batak areas
because their services were sought everywhere (Voorhoeve 1927:10, 13).
When the intrepid Italian traveller Elio Modigliani journeyed through the
Toba Batak area in 1890, he befriended the great datu, Guru Somalaing, from
whom he obtained a text by the 'wandering datu' of the Simanjuntak marga
intended for his pupils belonging to the Siagian marga. The itinerant charac-
ter of these datu is emphasized in another text collected by Modigliani, where
one of the great masters is called 'Singa Mortandang', or 'wandering lion'
(Voorhoeve 1979/80:62, 78, 82). It was also commonplace for pupils to travel
long distances to study with famous datu (Kozok 1999:17).
Through long and intensive study, the datu acquired an incomparable
knowledge of the future, the characteristics of plants, and the wisdom con-
tained in the writings of the ancestors. The wandering datu was described as
not simply a religious practitioner, but also 'a man of science who embodies
all current available historical, medical, theological and economic know-
ledge' (J.H. Neumann 1910:2). Through his knowledge of the contents of the
pustaha, he became the primary source of the old tales, legends, and tradi-
tions from which the Batak gained an understanding of their rituals 0.H.
Neumann 1910:2, 10).60 This latter function still survives among the Batak
today. Ginting describes a Karo guru, the Karo equivalent of a datu, who can
'recite in a sing-song tone the old legends and myths which are important
in the performance of a ritual so that the participants understand its back-
ground and can therefore experience the ritual more intensely' (Ginting 1991:
86-7). The datu also used his knowledge of plants and the spirit world to
concoct the various medicines for treating and preventing illnesses, conduct
special rituals to ward off evil or recall a spirit which had wandered away
from a body, and prescribe potions to assist in affairs of the heart and give
self-confidence (Wilier 1846:295-6; Ginting 1991:86-7).
Because of the datu's ability to assure the well-being of the community in
so many different ways, he gained the confidence and support of the people.
He thus became an influential advocate and an ideal conduit for information
and directives of the high priest. His wandering life-style and the practice of
accepting pupils from all over the Batak lands contributed to a network that
transcended territorial and marga divisions. Also strengthening the sense of
a unified Batak world was the pustaha tradition. Voorhoeve, in his intensive
study of pustaha, concluded that the sacred language of the texts derives
from a sub-Toba dialect spread by wandering datu, who were immune to
inter-marga and inter-village conflicts in precolonial times (Voorhoeve 1973:
60
Ginting reminds us, however, that not all guru [or datu] achieved the same level of compe-
tence. Those with exceptional skill won a reputation as guru mbelin, or 'great guru' (Ginting 1991:
94, 96).

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39). The spread of the pustaha tradition helped create a shared sacred lan-
guage and a common store of magico-religious lore. Prior to the twentieth
century, Perbegu/Pemena, or the old Batak religion, was a core element of
Batak identity. The key to the ethnicization of the Batak was provided by the
components of Perbegu/Pemena: the high priests, the datu, and the pustaha.
Conclusion
The people who are collectively known as Batak today were historically
never isolated from the developments occurring in the region. From very
early times they were incorporated into regional trade networks because
they were major suppliers of camphor and benzoin - two of the most highly
valued Southeast Asian commodities in the international trade from at least
the eighth up to the nineteenth century (Burkill 1966, 1:878-9). The involve-
ment of the Batak in international trade made them responsive to political
and economic shifts that had a direct impact on their livelihood. When
Srivijaya was conquered by the rival Cola dynasty in 1025, the Batak sought
other outlets for their products. The rise of Kota Cina on the east coast and
the re-emergence of Barus on the west coast as ports for the export of cam-
phor and benzoin drew the Batak towards both coasts. Though Kota Cina
itself disappeared sometime in the fourteenth century, other east-coast king-
doms came to provide an outlet for the export of Batak forest products and
rice in later centuries.
While Srivijaya was still the dominant entrepot in the Straits, the Batak
used routes from the camphor and benzoin forests located to the northwest
and southeast of Lake Toba southward to Padang Lawas, then on to the
Batang Hari, and eventually to Srivijaya on the Musi River in Palembang.
After 1025 Kota Cina and Barus joined Srivijaya and Malayu as exporting
centres for these resins, and much of the camphor and benzoin supplies was
diverted eastward and westward towards the coasts. From the eighth to the
fourteenth centuries, Batak groups sought to profit from international trade
by following these routes and settling in proximity of these export centres.
Another major economic stimulus to Batak migrations was the growing
demand for rice among pepper growers in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula,
beginning in the fifteenth century. To meet this new demand, there were
migrations from the Toba region to new lands south and east of Lake Toba
in search of rice lands.
Crucial to the success of Batak involvement in international trade were
their religious institutions. Candi and ancestral tombs were judiciously
placed along major trade routes to assure spiritual protection and success
for Batak traders. With the increasing tempo of trade and the dispersal of

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Batak communities from the Lake Toba region, a need arose for some form of
supra-village control. This was provided by the institution of the high priest,
which originated in the Toba lands but gained support in the other Batak
areas. Through their claims of supernatural power, access to agricultural dei-
ties, and creation of a network of officials and markets, the high priests were
instrumental in the promotion of Batak trade until their demise in the early
twentieth century. The activities of the datu helped to ensure continued sup-
port for the high priests among the Batak in the pre-modern period.
As different ethnic groups became increasingly competitive in interna-
tional trade, particularly in the period between the fifteenth and eighteenth
centuries, every avenue was explored to gain an advantage over the others.
One response was the ethnicization of identity, or in other words, a conscious
decision to emphasize ethnicity to maximize their advantage. The Batak
became 'ethnicized' by stressing commonality in their acknowledged origins
in the Toba highlands, their recognition of the authority of the high priests,
and their reliance on the knowledge and spiritual powers of the datu and
their pustaha. In the early modern period being 'Batak' became both a political
and an economic option, resulting in the removal of huta and marga barriers
in the formation of a common Batak ethnicity.
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The Trans-Sumatra Trade and the

Considerations of historiography and ethnicity1

Early visitors to Southeast Asia were fascinated by rumours of a cannibal tribe

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of certain kingdoms along the northeast coast, become more frequent.

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neighbouring communities of the Malayu7 (Malay), Minangkabau, and

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Map 1. Location of camphor and benzoin forests (from Perret 1995)

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The camphor and benzoin trade

The camphor (Dryobalanops aromatica Gaetn.f.) and benzoin {Styrax benzoin,

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: TOBA PADANG LAWAS

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Barus and Kota Cina

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Expansion of the Batak world

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Map 3. Early Toba migrations according to traditions collected by Vergouwen

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Map 4. Karo migrations according to tradition (from Perret 1995)

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Map 5. Areas to the north and east of Lake Toba

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marga in Angkola-Mandailing, stem from ancestors in the Lake Toba region

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Indian influence and Batak identity

The Tamils were a formative influence on Batak society. Although a ninth-

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in Padang Lawas (Satyawati 1977:2, 6; Bronson et al. 1973:19).

Religion and the high priests in the service of trade

Whatever the ultimate source of Indian religious inspiration in Padang

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Ethnicization of the Batak

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more intimidating. Instead of a political structure with the accoutrements

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