Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritance of property and titles. A matriline is a line of descent from a female ancestor to a descendant of either gender in which the individuals in all intervening generations are mothers. In a matrilineal descent system, an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as their mother. This ancient matrilineal descent pattern is in contrast to the currently more popular pattern of patrilineal descent from which a family name is usually derived. The matriline of historical nobility was also called their enatic or uterine ancestry, corresponding to the patrilineal or "agnatic" ancestry.
Minangkabau people, also known as Minang, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The Minangkabau's West Sumatera homelands was the seat of the Pagaruyung Kingdom, believed by early historians to have been the cradle of the Malay race, and the location of the Padri War.
West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau to the northeast, Jambi to the southeast, and Bengkulu to the south. The province has an area of 42,119.54 km2 (16,262.45 sq mi),or about the same size as Switzerland,with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 census. The official estimate at mid 2022 was 5,640,629. The province is subdivided into twelve regencies and seven cities. It has relatively more cities than other provinces outside Java, although several of them are relatively low in population compared with cities elsewhere in Indonesia. Padang is the province's capital and largest city.
Datuk is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Rumah Gadang or Rumah Bagonjong "house for the Minangkabau people" are the traditional homes of the Minangkabau in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The architecture, construction, internal and external decoration, and the functions of the house reflect the culture and values of the Minangkabau. A Rumah Gadang serves as a residence, a hall for family meetings, and for ceremonial activities. In the matrilineal Minangkabau society, the Rumah Gadang is owned by the women of the family who live there; ownership is passed from mother to daughter.
In anthropology, a lineage is a unilineal descent group that traces its ancestry to a demonstrably shared ancestor, known as the apical ancestor. Lineages are formed through relationships traced either exclusively through the maternal line (matrilineage), paternal line (patrilineage), or some combination of both (ambilineal). The cultural significance of matrilineal or patrilineal descent varies greatly, shaping social structures, inheritance patterns, and even rituals across societies.
Clans in Central Asia are political networks based on regional and tribal loyalties. Clans frequently control certain government departments, though there is fluidity between clan loyalty and membership in government agencies. The people of Central Asia self-identified by their clans prior to Russian expansion in the 19th century. After the fall of the USSR, the informal agreements between the clans were the only means with which to stabilize the new Republics. Ethnic identity did not come into play until as late as the 1980s during glasnost. The influence of the clans in the contemporary history of Central Asia is derived from the enormous importance that these have held in the past. The weaker states of Central Asia have relied on the social salience of clans to secure their own legitimacy through pacts and informal agreements. These pacts guarantee that the clans have informal access to power and resources and have allowed for the clans to become central actors in post-Soviet politics
The Overseas Minangkabau is a demographic group of Minangkabau people of Minangkabau Highlands origin in Central Sumatra, Indonesia who have settled in other parts of the world. Over half of the Minangkabau people can be considered overseas Minangkabaus. They make up the majority of the population of Negeri Sembilan and Pekanbaru. They also form a significant minority in the populations of Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Batam, Surabaya and Palembang in Indonesia as well as Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam in the rest of the Malay world. Minangkabaus have also emigrated as skilled professionals and merchants to the Netherlands, United States, Saudi Arabia and Australia. The matrilineal culture and economic conditions in West Sumatra have made the Minangkabau people one of the most mobile ethnic group in Maritime Southeast Asia.
Surantih is a "Nagari" in the Kabupaten District of Pesisir Selatan of West Sumatra province in Sumatra island, Indonesia. Surantih is one of 11 major nagari—out of 37—in Pesisir Selatan. The other 10 major nagaris are Tarusan, Pasarbaru, Salido, Painan, Pasar Kuok, Kambang, Balai Selasa, Air Haji, Indrapura, and Tapan—in that order from north to south, where Surantih is situated between Batang Kapas and Kambang.
A surau is an Islamic assembly building in some regions of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula used for worship and religious instruction. Generally smaller physical structures, its ritual functions are similar to those of a mosque, allow men and women, and are used more for religious instruction and festive prayers. They depend more on grassroots support and funding. They can be compared to the Arab zawiya. In Minangkabau society, they continued pre-Islamic traditions of a men's house, and are built on high posts.
Datuk is a traditional, honorary title bestowed on a person by the agreement of a people or tribe in the Minangkabau language, spoken by the Minangkabau people of Indonesia and Malaysia. The title of Datuk was agreed upon by local, traditional leaders. The title engenders great respect, and is only used for Minangkabau men who have become stakeholders of traditional leaders or penghulu (noblemen) for a particular tribe. When the title is bestowed, it is celebrated with a traditional ceremony and a banquet.
Negeri Sembilan Malay is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan, including Alor Gajah and parts of Jasin District in northern Malacca, and parts of Segamat District in the northernmost part of Johor. The language is spoken by the descendants of Minangkabau settlers from Sumatra, who have migrated to Negeri Sembilan since as early as the 14th century. It is often considered a variant or dialect of the Minangkabau language; lexical and phonological studies, however, indicate that it is more closely related to Standard Malay than it is to Minangkabau.
Dubalang is an institution of security guards in the traditional social system of the Minangkabau people. They are charged with maintaining the tranquility of the clan, village, and nagari.
Rangkiang is a granary or rice barn that the Minangkabau people used to keep rice in. The rangkiang is a distinctive feature of Minangkabau architecture. The structure is traditionally found in the courtyard of a rumah gadang, the traditional house of Minangkabau people.
Islam is the most common religion in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, embraced by 97.42% of the population. The Muslim population increases to 99.6% if it excludes the Mentawai Islands, where the majority of the non-Muslim (Protestant) West Sumatrans reside. Islam in West Sumatra is predominantly Sunni, though there is a small Shia Islamic pocket within the coastal city of Pariaman. The Minangkabau people, indigenous to West Sumatra, comprise 88% of the West Sumatran population today and have historically played an important role within Indonesia's Muslim community. Up until today, the region is considered one of the strongholds of Islam in Indonesia.
Tuanku Nan Renceh was an Islamic cleric (ulama), leader and commanding figure highly regarded in Indonesia as a fighter against the Dutch colonialism in the battle known as the Padri War from 1803-1838. Not much is known about this figure, other than his charismatic status. He is also known for his commitment to upholding the Shari'a. From the Dutch record, he was considered an antagonist figure, who was responsible for the violence in the Plateau of Padang.
A balairung is a village hall of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a similar architectural form to the rumah gadang, the domestic architecture of the Minangkabau people. Whereas a rumah gadang is a proper building, the balairung is a pavilion-like structure used solely for holding a consensus decision-making process in the Minang society.
Minangkabau culture is the culture of the Minangkabau ethnic group in Indonesia, part of the Indonesian culture. This culture is one of the two major cultures in the Indonesian archipelago which is very prominent and influential.
Atar is a nagari (village) in Padang Ganting, Tanah Datar Regency, in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, with a population of just under 5,000 people.
The Minangkabau Malaysians are citizens of the Malaysia whose ancestral roots are from Minangkabau of central Sumatra. This includes people born in the Malaysia who are of Minangkabau origin as well as Minangkabau who have migrated to Malaysia. Today, Minangkabau comprise about 989,000 people in Malaysia, and Malaysian law considers most of them to be Malays. They are majority in urban areas, which has traditionally had the highest education and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. The history of the Minangkabau migration to Malay peninsula has been recorded to have lasted a very long time. When the means of transportation were still using the ships by down the rivers and crossing the strait, many Minang people migrated to various regions such as Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Pahang. Some scholars noted that the arrival of the Minangkabau to the Malay Peninsula occurred in the 12th century. This ethnic group moved in to peninsula at the height of the Sultanate of Malacca, and maintains the Adat Perpatih of matrilineal kinships system in Negeri Sembilan and north Malacca.
