Western Sumatra
Sumatera Barat or Sumatra-Westerner (or Sumatra-West ) is a province of the Republic of Indonesia. Its capital is Padang.
Population
Minangkabau
The Sumatra-Westerner is the country of Minangkabau, known people of the ethnologists for his traditions matrilinéaires and matrilocales.At Minangkabau, the ground, the real and movable goods are the property of the women. The mothers transmit them to their daughters. The men not having anything, they are constrained to emigrate ( merantau ) if they want to make fortune. However, their duty is to make benefit the village from their success.
The children bear the name of clan ( suku ) of their mother. The man who in with the responsibility is not the father, but the maternal uncle ( mamak ).
For the marriage, it is the family of the girl who comes to ask for the hand of the boy.
The language minangkabau, very near to the Malayan, is regarded by certain linguists as a Dialecte of this last.
Mentawai
With broad of the west coast of Sumatra the archipelago of the Mentawai is stretched.
History
The first known sovereign minangkabau is Adityawarman (1356-75), one protected from the Javanese kingdom of Majapahit. It is him which introduces the system of royal government by taking as model the court of Majapahit. In XIVe century, linfluecne of the kingdom minangkabau competes with that of Majapahit on the kingdom of Jambi and the south-east of Sumatra. Its richness rests in particular on the production of gold.The Islamization of the country minangkabau starts in XVIe century. The royal authority rests on the control of the gold, produced in the area of Tanah Datar on the coast. At the beginning of the XVIIe century, the English and the British establish stations on the coast of the country minangkabau. The lcoaux princes are seek protections against the expansionism of the sultanate of Aceh in the north of Sumatra. By the treaty of Painan signed in 1663, they recognize the suzerainty of the VOC ( Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or " Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies ").
About 1780, the gold mines are exhausted. The growing importance of new sources of profit like the coffee, salt, the textiles, results in the rise of the area of the highlands, in particular the country of Agam, which trades with the English based in their counter of founded Penang in 1786, and the Americans.
This new economy makes it possible to the commercial rich person of Agam to make the pilgrimage of Mecque. These merchants seek in the Islamic law protection necessary to their trade, their goods, their people. The conquest of Mecque in 1803 by the Wahhabite S puritans inspire a group of pilgrims. In their return, these Padri (" people of Pedir" , of the name of the port of the east coast of Aceh from where the pilgrims embarked for Mecque, today Pidie) undertake to impose by violence a reform of the company minangkabau. They denounce the play and the cockfights, the consumption of opium and alcohol, the tobacco and the bétel, and finally the traditions matrilinéaires. In 1815, the royal family of Tanah Datar, which resisted the movement, is massacred. The nobility minangkabau request assistance of the Dutchmen. Those attack the Padri , directed by Imam Bonjol, in 1821. The Guerre of Padri will not end that in 1838 with the capture of Bonjol Imam.
The Dutchmen will pay an special attention in Minangkabau, in particular with the aristocracy. Koto Gadang, a small village of 2.000 inhabitants in the highlands, is praised to have had the first running water network of the Indies Dutchwomen, and to have given rise to the first lady doctor. The Minangkabau country produced intellectuals and politicians who played a leading role in nationalism indonésien. The poet Chairil Anwar, the novelist and essay writer Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, the nationalist leaders Hatta, Sjahrir and Tan Malaka is originating in the Minangkabau country.
Tourism
Western Sumatra has many things to allure the visitor: beaches, forest, landscapes of mountain, villages traditional, craft industry, dances.The International airport of Padang Minangkabau is connected by plane to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and to Singapore.
Beaches and islands
With broad of Padang small islands are, of which Pasumpahan and Sikuai.The island of Cubadak is located not far from the coast, to 40 km in the south-east of Padang, in bay of Mandeh, where some other islands are. Of volcanic origin, it has a surface of some 40 km ². Some fishermen live there. The island is covered with forest, where many species of birds live, monkeys, monitors, stags, wild boars. The latter make sometimes the crossing from one island to another with the stroke. The inhabitants of the corner then drive out them in water.
Cubadak is surrounded by coral reefs sheltering of many fish species. The sea in bay, protected by the islands, is calm and allows the practice of the water sports.
Traditional cultures
The traditional culture minangkabau results in a great richness of expression, as well material as symbolic system.
This traditional culture is already immediately visible in architecture. For that, it is necessary to visit the villages of the highlands. One still finds there many rumah gadang (" large maisons") traditional with their roof characteristic with the pace of horns of buffalo, curving towards the hautaux ends. A good base of excursions is the town of Bukittinggi.
As much of other people of Indonesia, Minangkabau have a rich person traditional craft industry, in particular as regards fabrics.
The traditional dances are founded on principles very different from the ballet dancings from Java and Bali. One can distinguish the ceremonial dances from the popular dances. But from others will distinguish the dances derived from martial arts ( silat ), those intended to transmit a religious message and finally, the secular dances. The dancer and choreographer Gusmiati Suid (1942-2001) wanted, through her " group; Gumarang Sakti" , to reinterpret this heritage by recreating modern forms starting from the traditional dances.
Another people with the remarkable culture are Mentawai. Under the dictatorship of Soeharto, their traditions were not only disparaged but repressed, sometimes with violence. Since the resignation of Soeharto in 1998, the constraint of the authorities seems to be slackened, more especially as the Mentawai islands acquired the statute of kabupaten (department) in 1999 and profit from now on from a certain autonomy. A thousand of Mentawai thus decided to turn over in the forest to take again the lifestyle of their ancestors.
Sources
- Cribb, Robert, Historical Atlas off Indonesia , Nordic Institute off Asian Studies, 2000
- Ricklefs, Mr. C., has off History Modern Indonesia since C. 1300 , Stanford University Press, 1993
External bonds
Gusmiati Suid