PagarRuyung Rule & Traditions

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Source Book The Minangkabau Response to Dutch Colonial Rule in the Nineteenth Century - Elizabeth E. Graves - 2009 : pg44 -::

CHAPTER TWO

THE VILLAGE AND THE WORLD BEYOND

Athough in many ways the nagari are self-contained units, worlds motivated by the internal play of politics and the struggle to attain wealth and prestige, the villagers are well aware of the world outside. Many rely on that outside world for supplements to their daily livelihood, mainly through a process known as merantau, meaning to go abroad. The village society as a whole has also always had relations with the outside. Some of these resulted from instif utional arrangements, such as those with the Minangkabau raja, and some are the consequences of historical forces moving in the outer world, for example the Islamic revolution of the early nineteenth century. These different types of outside relationships affected the viHagc in different ways, reflecting, in the course of the interaction, inherent strengths and weaknesses in village society and sometimes in the outside elements also.

The Raja of Pagarruyung

In theory~ at least, the various Minangkabau nagari, which otherwise acted much like petty autonomous republics, were joined into one geographic and political entity under the Yang Dipertuaft Besar (He Who is Made Great), the Baja of Pagarruyung, the Ruler of Minangkabau. His position, at the supranagari level, in function and design corresponded roughly to that of the pengfiulu at the nagari level. Two other "raja" were subordinate to him, the Baja Adat (Ruler over Adat Affairs) and the Baja Ibadat (Ruler over Religious Affafrs).I It has been variously suggested that these two

represented two major geographic subdivisions within the kingdom or that they served merely as cosmological symbols of the Minangkabau world order.2 The Minangkabau royal epic, the Kaba Cindua Mata, credits these raja with actual jurisdiction over issues within their respective realms of adat and religion. For example, when the hero Cindua Mato infringes on an important adat custom, the Raja Adat convenes a council to hear the case and consider the punishment; then he delivers the councils decision to the Baja of Pagarruyung. This seems to suggest that the ruler did not, or should not, intervene directly in the daily affairs of the kingdom but rather ratify the advice of others charged with investigation and making decisions.3

In fact, however, the organization, jurisdiction, and even the origin of the Kingdom and the Raja of Minangkabau have never been satisfactorily explained. According to the most prevalent tradition, the first raja was a Hindu-Javanese prince named Adityavarman. He arrived in \Vest Sumatra only after the system of lineage government under the penghulu and the organization of the independent nagari was well-established. Because the land had already been divided among the nagari, the new ruler could not amass any independent blocks of territory..

It is difficult to know whether the Baja ever exercised important political power, as the first written evidence about the kingdom comes only in the sixteenth century from European observers. By that time, the Raja and his chief ministers exercised only nominal preeminence-and even that was confined largely to Tanah Datar, the district immediately surrounding the royal palace at Pagarruyung.5 Such physical intervention in village life as did occur was probably limited to periodic visits by the Raja to receive trif Ute, usually in rice or gold, as evidence of his pcople~s

veneration and his own presumed imperial rule. One should perhaps view the Kingdom of Minangkaban as in fact merely the collective name for a multitude of independent petty "states," united by virtue of their common origin, language, and custom. fhe lack of a superior authority meant that Hagan` quarrels could be solved only by local mediation and, as a last resort, by warfare. The outer frontiers of the Minangkabau kingdom were ruled by local lords, also termed "raja," who, according to tradition, were descendants of royal viceroys dispatched from Pagarruyung. In these outer areas, one found a pronounced trend toward a more patrilfneal, hierarchical, and authoritarian type of society-similar to that associated with the Pagarruyung court-than the usual pattern prevailing in the Minangkabau nagari. The ruling famines of Padang, l'ariaman, and other coastal towns of the west are also called raja, and they too claim a direct blood kinship and historical political ties with Pagarruyung. They say they are the descendants of viceroys sent to administer the ports and collect customs tolls in the name of the Raja.6 `fhe royal preference for patrilfficalify and formal hierarchical arrangement of rank and status tended to set it even more apart from the general highlands village pattern. It was perhaps intentionally so, a way to affff m royal superiority and prerogative through uniqueness. The existence of the royal-style system in the fringe areas may reflect the late absorption of these settlements into the Minangkabau cultural sphere, that is, that they were incorporated into Minangkabau after the organization of the Pagarruyung court and perhaps at its direct initiative. Whatever the reason, the raja families both in Pagarruyung and on the ranfau are the only ones which avowedly and consistently adhere to the more authoritarian and hierarchical of the two Minangkabau adat styles-the Koto Pilfang.7 Even though the Raja of Pagarruynng was technically supposed to be outside the adat system entirely, the members of his administration

were in fact all representatives of (he Koto Piliang adat style, and the Raja himself was recognized as the titular head for that system. 'Ihe traditional supreme representative of the other adat style, the Rodi Caniago, was also located near Pagarruyung; he was the Datuk Bandaro Kuning of Lima Kaum, a small village outside Batu Sangkar, He was not considered a member of the royal court, but the king supposedly would consult him in times of external threat which required concerted action by all Minangkabau.8 Insofar as most villagers were concerned, however, the existence of the Raja at Pagarruyung was not a matter of concern in their everyday lives (with the possible exception of the inhabitants of villages in the immediate geographic vicinity of the palace).

Merantau

.The most important interaction between the villagers and the outside world was through the process known as merantau, which means to go to the rantau, that is, to go abroad. Raman, in this context, could be anywhere beyond the village- as near as the local market town or a religious school in a neighboring village; or as far as the ports of Riau or the markets of Batavia.

Ihe rantau was as much an experience as a geographic destination. .The village man actively sought out the rantau; he consciously decided to leave home and family and to try and make it on his own. The case with which this was possible resulted in large measure from the network of relationships represented by the notion of mutual obligation between the mamak and his kemanakan~ Common ties of blood, village of birth, or similarity of lineage name set up patterns for geographic movement within Minangkabau and in other areas where groups of Minangkabau had established semipermanent settlements. Families with long- established traditions of merantau could usually locate a kinsman in any major town almost anywhere in West Sumatra (and, since the nineteenth century, almost any major city in Indonesia as welf).

The families with the most stronglydeveloped tradition of merantau can be divided into two different, though not mutually exclusive, categories Islamic scholars and petty traders (or artisans). Typically, in the major highlands rice areas, these families had middle (probably lower middle) level socioeconomic status. They had income from rice cultivation which was sufficient for subsistence but not enough to confer importance in village society. In hillside and other marginal villages with insufficient sawah land to support an essentially landed elite, almost every family (except the very poor and the very rich) had a tradition of merantau. The young men would leave home while in their early teens, either as apprentices to someone from their family or village who had gone before or else as fr.eelance artisans or traders. In such villages, one finds that many pengftulu were successful traders in their youth and gained prestige as a result; they returned to live in the village as permanent residents only after acceding to their titles. Merantau was an esteemed institution in such villages and was often idealized as the proper road to maturity and success; in some areas, it took on the role of an initiation into adult life. The Minangkabau social system both facilitated and stimulated the exodus of males; especially unmarried youth. Supervision of agriculture was, to a large extent, in the hands of women, They organized the famffy s dependent laborers and also assisted directly in the fields themselves when necessary. In a practical sense, young men had no responsibilities directly connected with daily life in the village. Until marriage, they were at loose ends, having no family to look after.~

After the age of puberty, young boys could no longer sleep in their mother's house but rather went to the surau at night. Traveling students, religious scholars, and merchants also stayed at the surau when passing through the area. Thus the surau acted as a center for information and contacts about life outside the village. Such experiences created among

the young village men an interest in travel.'~ The Minangkabau author Mohammad Radjab, in his reminiscences about life in the hill village of Salli Air, recalled the tremendous attraction the perantau life had for young boys. They romanticized it as the way to future success, prestige, and a good marriage. Anyone who did not join in merantau, and yet had no particular position or excuse which required his continued presence at home, was ridiculed by his friends, I x

The perantau usually returned home every year during the fasting month of Ramadan. Initially they came to marry; later, they came to visit wives and children. They also renewed ties with relatives and neighbors. A woman was not permitted to leave her mother's home and thus could not accompany her husband abroad. The returning perantau brought the profits of a year,s business to invest in family projects. These profits were used to repair the family house, extend sawah and ladang holdings, repossess pawned lands, and finance marriages or other important ceremonies. Excess money was invested in gold, usually made into jewelry x2 This extra capital coming from outside enabled the families with small sawah holdings to continue the matrilfneal system relatively unchanged by funding the large family house and permitting the continued maintenance of the women and children in it, The profit made on the rantau could be used to rebuild family fortunes, and, if the perantau were really successful, he might use his money to make loans to other families in the lineage, thereby gaining control of more land. Eventually, his family might have enough wealth to take over the lineage penghulu-ship.

Not all families, or even all areas, placed a positive value on the merantau tradition. In the sawah-rich villages especially, the perantau element was fairly small, increasing perhaps in times of general agricultural decline. The perantau~s main driving force, despite the "idealistic rationale" that it was initiation into adult life, came from the need for additional wealth to support the family in the village. In most places, with the exception of