Bius, Parbaringin und Paniaran. Über Demokratie und Religion bei den Tobabatak Nordsumatras

Angerler, J.

This investigation is an attempt to gain a better understanding of the religious and socio-political organization of pre-colonial Tobabatak society. In literature the traditionally stateless Tobabatak society is usually depicted as being organized principally along kinship lines and there is still a widespread perception that in pre-colonial times there were no more highly developed political units than villages. Fieldwork, archival research, and research into old Tobabatak texts have produced a different picture. Tobabatak society did indeed never transform into statehood (in the sense of having a centralized government with the military power to enforce its decisions) but it had a functional alternative at its disposal: The many genuinely democratically organized ‘house-organizations’ (bius) of which the society consisted, each composed of thousands or even tens of thousands of members, were abl e to organize co-operation for the construction of irrigation-facilities and other...Show moreThis investigation is an attempt to gain a better understanding of the religious and socio-political organization of pre-colonial Tobabatak society. In literature the traditionally stateless Tobabatak society is usually depicted as being organized principally along kinship lines and there is still a widespread perception that in pre-colonial times there were no more highly developed political units than villages. Fieldwork, archival research, and research into old Tobabatak texts have produced a different picture. Tobabatak society did indeed never transform into statehood (in the sense of having a centralized government with the military power to enforce its decisions) but it had a functional alternative at its disposal: The many genuinely democratically organized ‘house-organizations’ (bius) of which the society consisted, each composed of thousands or even tens of thousands of members, were abl e to organize co-operation for the construction of irrigation-facilities and other communal projects (sometimes on a huge scale) and for the permanent infrastructure of hydraulic agriculture. Within these house-organizations the parbaringin as spiritual as well as political representatives of the smaller units of society on the higher levels, and the paniaran as the representatives of the women played a leading role without ever using any military might.Show less

Leiden University Scholarly Publications

View statistics

Documents

In Collections

Bius, Parbaringin und Paniaran. Über Demokratie und Religion bei den Tobabatak Nordsumatras

Publication Series

Juridical information