バタク人

バタク語は、同じくバタク語またはバッタ語のスペルであり、インドネシア北部中央スマトラのいくつかの密接に関連した民族グループです。バタクという用語は便利なものの1つであり、植民地時代以前に先住民族の部外者（マレー語など）によって造られた可能性が高く、後にヨーロッパ人によって採用されました。トバ、カロ、シマルングン、パクパク、マンダリン、アンコラというこの言葉が採用されたグループは、ある程度まで自己指定として採用しました。彼らはオーストロネシア語族に属し、共通の書記体系を共有する異なる言語を話します。21世紀の初めに、バタクの数は約610万人でした。

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The Batak are descendants of a powerful Proto-Malayan people who until 1825 lived in relative isolation in the highlands surrounding Lake Toba in Sumatra. By the 2nd or 3rd century ce, Indian ideas regarding government, writing, elements of religion, arts, and crafts had begun to influence the Batak. They did not, however, develop a unified state, and today they are found in six cultural divisions. Within these are exogamous patrilineal clans known as marga. They practice a form of bridewealth, in which a husband’s family gives gifts and services to the wife’s family; once a particular proportion of the agreed-upon gifts is reached, the bride becomes an official member of her husband’s group. Among the Toba Batak a traditional village consists of several clan houses, but in the Karo division all dwell in one or more longhouses.

Historically, ancestors, plants, animals, and inanimate objects were considered to possess souls or spirits that could be coerced or enticed by male priests. Those priests were aided by female mediums who, in trance, communicated with the dead. Cannibalism was once practiced, but victims were confined to prisoners and those guilty of incest. By the early 21st century few Batak continued to practice strictly local religion. Rather, most followed Protestant Christianity, although there were also many adherents of Islam. Many Batak, moreover, occupied prominent positions in business and in the Indonesian government.