![]() A portrait of a boy and girl dressed in Simalungun traditional outfit. | |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
![]() | |
North Sumatra | 441,382 (2013) [1] |
Languages | |
Simalungun language, Toba Batak language, Indonesian language | |
Religion | |
Christianity 60%, Sunni Islam 39.3%, Animism [2] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Toba Batak people, Karo people |
The Simalungun people are an ethnic group in North Sumatra, considered one of the Batak peoples. Simalungun people live mostly in Simalungun Regency and the surrounding areas, including the city of Pematang Siantar, an autonomous city, but previously part of Simalungun Regency. [3]
The Simalungun live in the 'Eastern Batak' lands, bordering the lands of the Batak Toba to the south and west, and the Karo Batak to the north. Simalungun is linguistically closely related to Toba Batak, but culturally closest to Karo Batak. Both Batak groups migrated from Toba and Pakpak to participate in trade. [4]
The Simalungun language is still spoken by many Simalungun people, in addition to Toba Batak and Indonesian.
Long before Dutch colonialism was established in North-East Sumatra, people now known collectively as Batak Timur (Eastern Batak) claimed the area as their original homeland, for example, Sin Raya (Raya's peoples), Sin Silou (Silou's peoples), Sin Bandar (Bandar's peoples), and so forth. Dutch colonialism was first established in the Malay area of Deli (Medan) under "De Vide et impera" (the concept of Dutch political colonialism). The Batak Timur people were ruled by raja (kings), considered to be living gods. One by one their kingdoms capitulated to Dutch aggression and expansionism. The Dutch then gave a collective name to their new colonial area of the Eastern Batak kingdoms, that name being Simeloengoen. With the current Indonesian orthography, the name Simalungun is still used today, even among Eastern Batak people themselves.
The Simalungun people were ruled by raja (kings), considered to be living gods. [5] G.L. Tichelman (1893–1962), a Dutch researcher, described Simalungun villages as consisting of houses built parallel to rivers from wooden poles and palm leaves. Houses could accommodate a single family (rumah parsatanggaan), or as many as twelve (rumah parrumahopattanggaan) with a designated area for each family within. The head of the village lived in the 'Rumah Bolon', the village's largest, most ornate house. The Head of Village was installed by, and loyal to The King. The main village or capital of each Kingdom was called 'Pematang.' Villagers drove out spirits from the village by holding 'Robu Tabu', days on which the village would be decorated and outsiders excluded from the village.
Villages would bathe in a communal 'tapian', with water piped through bamboo tubes for bathing. The Simalungun also used bamboo tubes to carry water back to the village. Religious ceremonies would often be held near the Tapian. 'Parsihili' were statues used to take an illness away from a person, while 'Pasiarhon' were statues used for communing with the dead. Although villagers would support victims of house fires, it was considered unlucky to offer them shelter for fear of further fires, and instead, a new house would be constructed communally as soon as possible.
It was considered inappropriate to bargain with family members, so an intermediary would be used when purchasing items from the family. Courtship was arranged in the marketplace using a betel nut. Girls wishing to avoid attention would give the nut to an old man, who would look after her during market day or would wear a hiou, to suggest unavailability.
The pounding of rice was an important activity, and the communal 'Losung', or rice block, was used for this activity, with a hole allocated for each family to use. A new losung would be cut from a tree trunk, and on an auspicious day decorated with flowers and transported into the village accompanied by music. A boy and girl dressed in ceremonial clothes would invest the new rice block by throwing rice over it, and the villagers would sing songs.
The birth of a child was an auspicious occasion, and the dukun (midwife/witch doctor) was appointed to drive off spirits and to cut the umbilical cord with a bamboo knife. The newborn baby would be swaddled and daubed with rice chewed by the dukun before the mother commencing breastfeeding. The placenta would be buried under the house and for seven nights a fire would be maintained to drive off spirits.
On the seventh day, the child would be brought to the tapian. If the date of birth was an auspicious one, this would be done using the mother a new hiou, a ragi idup, or ragi panei, but if the date was a bad one, the baby would be carefully brought by all the women of the village, who would set out to deceive the evil spirits to protect the baby. When the child was named, it would be given black, white, and red bracelets for protective purposes.
A well-preserved traditional Simalungun village can be seen at Pematang Purba. [6]
The concept of a cohesive Simalungun people is derived in part from Dutch colonialism. In 1870 the Dutch established the Residency of East Sumatra, centred on Medan in the Kingdom of Deli. In 1904 the Netherlands East Indies government signed surrender agreements with the seven kingdoms of the 'Simeloengoenlanden', to form the administrative unit Simeloengoen en Karolanden. [7] These seven Simalungun kingdoms were the kingdoms of Siantar, Tanoh Jawa, Panei, Dolok Silou, Raya, Purba, and Silimahuta. It has been suggested that Tanoh Jawa had more in common with early pagan Asahan (later to become the Asahan Sultanate) than it did with the other Simalungun kingdoms. [8]
The colonial seat was established in 1908 at Pematang Siantar. The Dutch colonial system encouraged migration, especially of non-simalungun labourers working on Dutch plantations, with both peoples bringing new influences to the area. After World War II, in 1946, a social revolution occurred in East Sumatra which is viewed as a tragedy by the Simalungun people. Non-native settlers in East Sumatra demanded changes to the monarchy systems of Deli, Karo, and Simalungun, and agitated for unity with the new government which had been proclaimed as the Republic Of Indonesia in August 1945. Many were kidnapped and killed, especially from the royal families of each Kingdom. The monarchy system in East Sumatra was deposed and, while the families are still intact and acknowledged by the Simalungun people as such among themselves, the titles are now entirely ceremonial within the Simalungun cultures.
Religion of Simalungun People [9]
August Theis , a German missionary arrived in Sumatra in 1902. He was subject to Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, who instructed him to head to the Simalungun region. They arrived on 2 September 1903, a day now commemorated by the Simalungun church. This opened several schools and returned to the Netherlands in 1921.
The first translation of The Bible into an indigenous Indonesian language was by Wismar Djaulung Saragih Sumbayak, who had been baptised by Theis in 1910. Wismar also authored the first Simalungun dictionary and successfully campaigned for teaching in schools to be conducted in Simalungun rather than Toba. He also pushed for the use of traditional Simalungun clothes and music in the church. His efforts eventually led to the formation of the distinct Simalungun Protestant Christian Church.
Simalungun has a regional language that is different from Indonesian but closely related to Toba Batak called Batak Simalungun language.
Simalungun people belong to one of four clans. People of each clan bear the name of the clan as their surnames. Each clan has subclans, although individuals may choose to identify primarily by their clan's name, rather than subclan's name, to emphasize common kinship.
The four original surnames are:- [10]
Medan is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multicultural metropolis, acting as a financial centre for Sumatra and a gateway to the western part of Indonesia. About 60% of the economy in North Sumatra is backed by trading, agriculture, and processing industries, including exports from its 4 million acres of palm oil plantations. The National Development Planning Agency listed Medan as one of the four main central cities in Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar. In terms of population, it is the most populous city in Indonesia outside of the island of Java. Its population as of 2023 is approximately equal to the country of Moldova.
North Sumatra, also called North Sumatra Province, is a province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra, just south of Aceh. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It is bordered by Aceh on the northwest and Riau and West Sumatra on the southeast, by coastlines located on the Indian Ocean to the west, and by the Strait of Malacca to the east.
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing, related ethnic groups with distinct languages and traditional customs (adat).
Pematangsiantar, and also known as the City of Pematangsiantar, is an independent city in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia, surrounded by, but not part of, the Simalungun Regency, making Pematangsiantar an enclave within Simalungun Regency. Pematangsiantar formerly had the status of a second-level district and was the administrative centre of the surrounding Regency, but in 1986 it was elevated to Kota (City) and separated from the Regency.
The Karo, or Karonese, are a people of the Tanah Karo and part of the Karo people from North Sumatra, Indonesia. The Karo lands consist of Karo Regency, plus neighboring areas in East Aceh Regency, Langkat Regency, Dairi Regency, Simalungun Regency, and Deli Serdang Regency. In addition, the cities of Binjai and Medan, both bordered by Deli Serdang Regency, contain significant Karo populations, particularly in the Padang Bulan area of Medan. The town of Sibolangit, Deli Serdang Regency in the foothills of the road from Medan to Berastagi is also a significant Karo town.
The Mandailing are an ethnic group in Sumatra, Indonesia that is commonly associated with the Batak people. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came under the influence of the Kaum Padri who ruled the Minangkabau of Tanah Datar. As a result, the Mandailing were influenced by Muslim culture and converted to Islam. There are also a group of Mandailing in Malaysia, especially in the states of Selangor and Perak. They are closely related to the Angkola and Toba.
Marga is a term in Batak societies referring to a clan name. The term is derived either from the Sanskrit varga, meaning company, party, or group, or, more likely, from the Sanskrit marga, meaning 'road, way or path', referring to a people of 'one origin'.
The Pamalayu campaign was a diplomatic and military expeditionary force sent by the Javanese King Kertanegara of Singhasari to conquer the Sumatran Melayu Kingdom. It was decreed in 1275, though perhaps not undertaken until later.
Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun is a Lutheran and Reformed Protestant church formally founded to spread Christianity among the Simalungun people, a tribe living in Simalungun, North Sumatra, Indonesia. It has a baptized membership of 211,383.
North Padang Lawas is a landlocked regency in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia. It has an area of 3,918.05 km2, and had a population of 223,049 at the 2010 census and 260,720 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 275,448. North Padang Lawas Regency was created on 17 July 2007 from the eastern parts of the South Tapanuli Regency. Its administrative seat is the town of Gunung Tua.
Simalungun Regency is a regency in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. Its seat was formerly at Pematangsiantar, but this city was under Law No.15 of 10 March 1986 was separated from the Regency and made into an independent city (kota), although it remains geographically surrounded by the regency, whose new administrative seat is at Raya, while the regency's two most populous districts are Bandar and Siantar. The regency now covers an area of 4,372.5 square kilometres, and at the 2010 census it had a population of 817,720; at the 2020 Census this had risen to 990,246, of whom 497,314 were males and 492,932 were females; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,035,920 - comprising 521,262 males and 514,658 females.
Toba Batak people are the largest ethnic group of the Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The common phrase of ‘Batak’ usually refers to the Batak Toba people. This mistake is caused by the Toba people being the largest sub-group of the Batak ethnic and their differing social habit has been to self-identify as merely Batak instead of ‘Toba’ or ‘Batak Toba’, contrary to the habit of the Karo, Mandailing, Simalungun, Pakpak communities who commonly self-identify with their respective sub-groups.
Batak architecture refers to the related architectural traditions and designs of the various Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Six groups of Batak speak separate but related languages: the Angkola, the Mandailing to the south, the Toba, to the north the Pakpak/Dairi, the Simalungun, and the Karo. While the groups are now Muslim or Christian, elements of the ancient Batak religion remain, particularly amongst the Karo.
A bolon house is a Northern Sumatra traditional house in Indonesia. Bolon houses are also tourist objects in Northern Sumatra. Bolon houses are made with wood. The house floor is made with boards. The roof is made with rumbia leaves. Bolon houses have no individual rooms, but the space inside is divided. There is space for the house leader, for family meetings, for daughters who have married but have no house of their own, and for the oldest son who has already married. This space is influenced by Batak culture. In ancient times, bolon houses used to be the place where 13 kings of Batak lived. Today, only a few bolon houses can be found in North Sumatra.
A sopo is a treasury structure in the architecture of the Toba Batak people from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Its form is similar to that of a Batak traditional house with the exception of being smaller in size and a construction ritual that is the opposite of a Batak house. Sopo is used as a repository for various items, e.g. rice, magical items, or trophies. Sopo can also be used as a meeting point for social activities.
Melanchton Siregar was the co-founder and last chairman of the Indonesian Christian Party, and the commander of the Arrow Division, the military wing of the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Christian Party. He was also the member of the Central Indonesian National Committee since 1947.
Lundu Panjaitan was a Batak politician and bureaucrat. He began his career in bureaucracy as the assistant for administrative affairs in the office of the Governor of North Sumatra and became the Regent of Central Tapanuli in 1980. Since then, he has been appointed to several high positions in North Sumatra, such as the Head of the Tourism Bureau of North Sumatra, Regent of North Tapanuli, Chairman of the Provincial Investment Coordinating Board of North Sumatra, and the Deputy Governor of North Sumatra.
Radjamin Purba was an Indonesian military officer and politician who served as the Regent of Simalungun from 1960 until 1973.
Urbanus Pardede was an Indonesian Communist and newspaper editor from Sumatra, active both in the Dutch East Indies and independence eras. During the years 1926–30, Dutch authorities arrested him without charge because of his Communist activities and exiled him to the Boven-Digoel concentration camp. He was also a key figure in the East Sumatra revolution of 1946 and became bupati of Simalungan Regency in the early independence era.
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