Incorporating Islamism into Secular Education System: An Attempt of Gradual Islamization of the State and Society by an Indonesian Tarbiyah Movement in Jambi

Abstract  

THE DOWNFALL of the New Order regime in 1998, which was soon followed by the liberalization policy in al-most every aspect of politics, opened vast opportunities for the emergence of political expressions including Islamism into the public space. While violent responses indicated by some Islamic groups, who take advantage of the weakening of the state, Tarbiyah Movement (harakah tarbiyah) consist-ently performs gradual Islamization through the system provided by the state. 

Based on a field research in Jambi, Sumatra, this article discusses the efforts undertaken by the group to incorporate their Islamist ideas into secular educa-tion system at the levels of primary and secondary educa-tion. This article argues that these all efforts are part of Is-lamization process of society and the state in Indonesia af-ter the failure of its leaders in doing the same thing at the political level especially in the aftermath of the 1999 general election.

Keywords: Tarbiyah movement, Islamization of the state, Islamic education, post-New Order Indonesia.

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Suaidi Asyari, "Incorporating Islamism into Secular Education System: An Attempt of Gradual Islamization of the State and Society by an Indonesian Tarbiyah Movement in Jambi", Journal of Indonesian Islam, 11, 1, (2017), pp. 29-58. DOI: 10.15642/JIIS.2017.11.1.29-58

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Transforming Conflict in Plantations Through Mediation: Lessons and Experiences from Sumatera, Indonesia

Abstract:

THE FURTHER expansion of plantations in Indonesia is expected to exacerbate existing and create new conflicts over land and forest resources which can have detrimental impacts on local communities, plantation companies and government. Mediation facilitated by a third-party is widely considered an effective method in transforming conflict over natural resources.

This study analyses the application of mediation in transforming two conflicts in Sumatra, Indonesia involving oil palm and pulpwood plantations. Our findings suggest that mediation has played a crucial role in transforming the two conflicts, particularly in reducing conflict intensity, reaching an agreement and improving relationships between the conflicting parties. In helping to address the conflict, the mediators played important roles including facilitator, capacity developer, advisor and motivator for the parties.

The paper suggests that the plantation projects in Indonesia and beyond must include carefully devised conflict transformation mechanisms, including mediation, as an integral part of their management. Additionally improvement of conflict transformation capability among mediators and plantation stakeholders through targeted training programmes on conflict transformation is also needed. The paper also suggests promotion of mediation as an alternative mechanism to the judicial system in transforming plantation conflicts.

Keywords: Forest conflict, mediation, conflict transformation, plantation, Indonesia, capacity development.[]

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Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, David Gritten, Toon De Bruyn, Yurdi Yasmi, Ahmad Zazali, Mangarah Silalahi, “Transforming conflict in plantations through mediation: Lessons and experiences from Sumatera, Indonesia”, Forest Policy and Economics, 41, (2014): 22-30.
DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2014.01.003

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Land Use and Vegetation Fires in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract:  

IN INDONESIA, vegetation fires occur every year in the dry season. To determine where and why fires occur, the natural and cultural landscape features that influence the location of fires were analysed. We investigated the probability of fire occurrence as a function of predisposing conditions and ignition sources, such as land use, land use zoning, accessibility or land cover, to understand the spatial determinants of fires.

The study area is the entire province of Jambi, central Sumatra, Indonesia. This province has a diverse setting of actors (small- and large-holders), land cover types and land uses. Fires were extracted for 1992/1993 from National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) satellite data.

The results of the spatial statistical analysis show that fire occurrence in Jambi Province in 1992/1993 was determined both by predisposing conditions (mostly climate, elevation and suitability for specific tree crops) and human-related causes (presence of transmigration projects and land allocation to specific land uses). National policies are thus a major driving forces of fires through land allocation. Road accessibility is only an important determinant of fires in forests. Few fires seem to be accidental. While logging companies control fire during their exploitation of concessions, logged-over forests and forests allocated to production but not yet under use have many fires. In 1992/1993, large- and small-holders were likely to be both responsible for fire occurrence. These results highlight the large influence of land use and policies on vegetation fires in Indonesia.

Keywords: Fire, land use, biomass burning, forest, Indonesia, Jambi.[]

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F. Stolle, K.M. Chomitz, E.F. Lambin, T.P. Tomich, “Land Use and Vegetation Fires in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia”, Forest Ecology and Management, 179, 1-3, (2003): 277-292.
DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1127(02)00547-9

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Depati Parbo: A Case Study in Indigenous History

AT PRESENT (1978) in Kerinci an official campaign is underway to promote the cause of a Kerinci hero, Depati Parbo, who fought against the Dutch. The intention of the campaign is to win official recognition for him as a pahlawan nasional, a national hero.

By seeking to elevate him to ranks of other heroes such as Pangeran Diponegoro, Tuanku Imam Bonjol and Teuku Umar, the people of Kerinci hope to enhance the prestige of Kerinci and make the area more well-known throughout Indonesia.

At this official level advancing the cause of Depati Parbo can be seen as part of a more general endeavour to open up Kerinci from its relative isolation. The various improvements in the infra structure of the region: the repairing of roads, development of small hotels and the provision of adequate agriculture facilities, are all part of this general strategy to increase knowledge of Kerinci and raise the level of traffic between Kerinci and other areas in Sumatra.[]

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C.W. Watson, "Depati Parbo: A Case Study in Indigenous History", Archipel, 15 (1978): 123-143.


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Perceiving and Managing Natural Resources in Kerinci, Sumatra

Abstract:  

THE PAPER examines some of the divergences and opportunities in Kerinci, an agricultural valley with approximately 300 000 inhabitants, encircled by the Kerinci Seblat National Park, in Sumatra. The park is currently the largest zone of continuous primary forest in Sumatra, extending over 345 km along the volcanic Barisan mountain chain. The valley forest (49% of the area) fulfils a number of functions: an economic function (multiple products), a religious function (linked with the ancestral spirit), a social function, and an environmental function (reflected in the inhabitants' conservation of forest cover in order to safeguard springs and rivers). The three principal agricultural sectors are: cultivation of commercial tree crops on the hillsides (cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanii) growing occupies 28.4% of the area); cultivation of wet rice, essentially on the valley floor; and cultivation of annual crops, which are mainly grown on the Kayu Aro plateau. 

The paper focuses on: indigenous water conservation practices, and the importance attached to protecting springs and rivers; indigenous plant classification systems; the multiple and changing functions of trees by the local community; the flexibility in their tree management systems, with particular reference to cinnamon production - cinnamon is an important cash crop also used for fuelwood, which is harvested from 5 to 25 yr old, coppices readily, and may be grown in association with other crops (e.g. coffee) at various rotations; farming systems and the options available to farmers after clearance of a forest plot - an account of the development of the ladang and the final pelak stage (a perennial mixed and multi-layered agroforest) following clearance, originating from the planting of annual crops (years 1-2), coffee (produced in years 3-8), cinnamon (harvested in years 9-15 if maintaining coffee production, years 9-25 if not) and other tree species; land occupation strategies; and the use and adaptation of agroforestry systems with regard to time and space management - a description of the structure of forest gardens made up of associations of fruit trees, leguminous trees, timber trees and cloves (Syzygium aromaticum). 

Insight on local resource-use strategies and practices contribute to the elaboration of conservation policies and regional development. Local resource users have perceptions and systems of representation and classification of the living and inert world that differ in several aspects from perceived scientific wisdom. The paper argues that recognition of these perceptions is an important step in forging effective relationships between development planners, conservation managers and local resource users.[]

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Y. Aumeeruddy, “Perceiving and Managing Natural Resources in Kerinci, Sumatra”, Nature and Resources, 31, 1, (1995): 28-37.

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The Mandala of Candi Gumpung (Sumatra) and the Indo-Tibetan Vajrasekharatantra

[Introduction]:  

APPROXIMATELY A dozen years ago, Boechari (1985) published preliminary findings of the excavation of Candi Gumpung (Muara Jambi). This temple he holds to have been built from between the middle of the ninth to the beginning of the tenth century and to have been enlarged at least once in the eleventh or twelfth centuries. Among the material found at the site are 21 inscribed gold plates which together furnish the names, or fragments of the names, of some 22 deities. Boechari interprets these as belonging to the Vajradhatumandala, a mandala which traditionally in the secondary literature has been seen to have been present in the Indonesian Archipelago. Recently, the present writer published a study in which it was proposed that, despite the authority of the scholastic traditions of the West, no clear textual trace of this historically important mandala is to be found in Indonesia and that, in consequence, the syncretic mandalas of the yogatantras such as the Sakalajagadvinaya, Sarvadurgatiparisodhana and Trilokavijaya which may be shown to be extant in the Archipelago are chronologically prior to the Vajradhatu, which is orthodox insofar as it is inhabited by Buddhist divinities alone. That is, the yogatantra mandalas populated by both ‘Hindu’ and ‘Buddhist’ divinities are necessarily earlier than the Vajradhatumandala which, the Tattvasamgraha explicitly holds, the other mandalas reflect.

Since these conclusions have significant consequences for the history of the Buddhist tantra, indeed, for the religious history of India itself, in addition to the implications they have for the religious and cultural history of Indonesia, to wit, that syncretic features of its culture(s) are not necessarily of indigenous origin and that the primary influence of tantric Buddhism in Indonesia must have occurred before the compilation in India of the Tattvasamgraha as the fundamental text of the yogatantras, that is, in all probability sometimes before 700 A.D., it is of some interest to determine whether the data furnished by Candi Gumpung on Sumatra provide evidence either confirming or belying these interpretations reached on the basis of textual data from the Archipelago. It is the thesis of this paper that this reading indeed remains substantially unchallenged by the remains of Candi Gumpung and that the probable textual source of the mandala which the ritual deposits of this temple may represent is one or other version of material also found in portions of the extant Indo-Tibetan Vajrasekharatantra, whose likely presence in the Archipelago in a form differing greatly from the version available in the Tibetan canon has been proposed.

The material published by Boechari which will concern us consists of gold plates inscribed with short mantras which contain the names of tantric deities. These gold plates were found in six separate holes on the site. The collections of names found in each do not appear to form coherent groups. The readings furnished below are those given by Boechari. The underlined letters are those whose readings Boechari regards as problematic.[]

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Max Nihom, “The Mandala of Candi Gumpung (Sumatra) and the Indo-Tibetan Vajrasekharatantra”, Indo-Iranian Journal, 41, 3 (1998): 245-254.
DOI: 10.1023/A:1003093413809; 10.1163/000000098124992691.

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Shifting from Simple to Complex Agroforestry Systems: An Example for Buffer Zone Management from Kerinci (Sumatra, Indonesia)

Abstract:

KERINCI IS a densely populated valley surrounded by a national park in western central Sumatra, Indonesia. Indigenous agroforestry systems include important cash crops like coffee (Coffea canephora var.robusta) and cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmani), and range from alternate cycles of cash crop monocultures or simple associations, to multispecies and multi-storey gardens; these may include as many as 100 common useful species, comprising many fruit trees and indigenous timber species.

After analysing the trends of forest conversion and its causes in the area of Kerinci Seblat National Park, a case study of one particular village is presented in order to describe the evolution of cyclic agroforestry systems (ladang) into complex agroforestry systems (pelak). The composition, structure and management of the various systems have been studied through interviews, botanical surveys and the method of profile diagrams.

It is suggested that locally developed complex agroforestry systems evolve partly in response to changes in land availability and labour constraints. Finally the interest of such systems when designing projected buffer zones and their development in relation to new market incentives are discussed.[]

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Y. Aumeeruddy and B. Sansonnens, “Shifting from Simple to Complex Agroforestry Systems: An Example for Buffer Zone Management from Kerinci (Sumatra, Indonesia)”, Agroforestry Systems, 28, 2, (1994): 113-141.

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Land Reserves in Southern Sumatra/Indonesia and Their Potentialities for Agricultural Utilization

Abstract  

IN CONTRAST to overpopulated Java the neighbouring island of Sumatra still provides huge unused land reserves. However, by far not all of these reserves can be regarded as real agricultural potentials, e.g. for resettlement projects. Especially the poor soils often prove an agricultural handicap. Besides soil fertility the existing vegetation has to be conidered. Thus, for example, the so called “alang alang grass savannas” in general show better potentialities than forest areas, while most of the swamps prove rather unsuitable for agricultural development.

With regard to the already existing landuse types the cultivation of perennial bush- and tree crops, for instance rubber, seems to be best suited for further expansions. An expansion of annual food crops would be feasible too, however only be applying heavy capital inputs; here wet rice cultivation would be more appropiate than the permanent cultivation of annual upland crops like cassava, maize, etc. The traditional shifting cultivation does not serve as an alternative any longer. Animal breeding will have its difficulties, with the exception of certain highland areas.

Taking into account all ecological, social, and economic reservations it is concluded that, in spite of considerable restrictions, a good part of the land reserves in southern Sumatra could still be opened and used successfully for agricultural purposes.[]

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Ulrich Scholz, “Land Reserves in Southern Sumatra/Indonesia and Their Potentialities for Agricultural Utilization”, GeoJournal, 4,1, (1980): 19-30.

DOI: 10.1007/BF00586752

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Trees and Regeneration in Rubber Agroforests and Other Forest-Derived Vegetation in Jambi (Sumatra, Indonesia)

Abstract 

THE RUBBER agroforests (RAF) of Indonesia provide a dynamic interface between natural processes of forest regeneration and human’s management targeting the harvesting of latex with minimum investment of time and financial resources. The composition and species richness of higher plants across an intensification gradient from forest to monocultures of tree crops have been investigated in six land use types (viz. secondary forest, RAF, rubber monoculture, oil palm plantation, cassava field and Imperata grassland) in Bungo, Jambi Province, Indonesia. We emphasize comparison of four different strata (understory, seedling, sapling and tree) of vegetation between forest and RAF, with specific interest in plant dependence on ectomycorrhiza fungi. Species richness and species accumulation curves for seedling and sapling stages were similar between forest and RAF, but in the tree stratum (trees > 10 cm dbh) selective thinning by farmers was evident in a reduction of species diversity and an increase in the proportion of trees with edible parts. Very few trees dependent on ectomycorrhiza fungi were encountered in the RAF. However, the relative distribution of early and late successional species as evident from the wood density distribution showed no difference between RAF and forest.

Keywords: Diversity indices, species richness, structure, tropical secondary forest.[]

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Hesti L. Tata, Meine van Noordwijk and Marinus Werger, “Trees and Regeneration in Rubber Agroforests and Other Forest-Derived Vegetation in Jambi (Sumatra, Indonesia)”, Journal of Forestry Research, 5, 1, (2008): 1-20. 

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Plant and Bird Diversity in Rubber Agroforests in the Lowlands of Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract 

PLANT AND bird diversity in the Indonesian jungle rubber agroforestry system was compared to that in primary forest and rubber plantations by integrating new and existing data from a lowland rain forest area in Sumatra. Jungle rubber gardens are low-input rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) agroforests that structurally resemble secondary forest and in which wild species are tolerated by the farmer. As primary forests have almost completely disappeared from the lowlands of the Sumatra peneplain, our aim was to assess the contribution of jungle rubber as a land use type to the conservation of plant and bird species, especially those that are associated with the forest interior of primary and old secondary forest. Species-accumulation curves were compiled for terrestrial and epiphytic pteridophytes, trees and birds, and for subsets of ‘forest species’ of terrestrial pteridophytes and birds. Comparing jungle rubber and primary forest, groups differed in relative species richness patterns. Species richness in jungle rubber was slightly higher (terrestrial pteridophytes), similar (birds) or lower (epiphytic pteridophytes, trees, vascular plants as a whole) than in primary forest. For subsets of ‘forest species’ of terrestrial pteridophytes and birds, species richness in jungle rubber was lower than in primary forest. For all groups, species richness in jungle rubber was generally higher than in rubber plantations. Although species conservation in jungle rubber is limited by management practices and by a slash-and-burn cycle for replanting of about 40 years, this forest-like land use does support species diversity in an impoverished landscape increasingly dominated by monoculture plantations.

Keywords: Biodiversity, conservation, jungle rubber, rubber plantation, species-accumulation curves, tropical rain forest.[]

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Hendrien Beukema, Finn Danielsen, Grégoire Vincent, Suryo Hardiwinoto and Jelte van Andel, “Plant and Bird Diversity in Rubber Agroforests in the Lowlands of Sumatra, Indonesia”, Agroforestry Systems, 70, 3, (2007): 217-242. 

DOI: 10.1007/s10457-007-9037-x

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On-Farm Evaluation of the Establishment of Clonal Rubber in Multistrata Agroforests in Jambi, Indonesia

Abstract  

PERENNIAL TREE crops are often grown in complex multistrata systems that incorporate natural vegetation. These systems contribute simultaneously to sustaining rural livelihoods and to the conservation of biodiversity, but their productivity is usually low. Introduction of high yielding germplasm, usually selected in monocultural plantations, is a potential way to increase productivity, but a critical requirement is that such plants can be established in a competitive multispecies environment. The establishment of clonal planting stock in the jungle rubber agroforests of Indonesia was explored through participatory on-farm research. The trial involved four farmers who grew clonal rubber trees in a total of 20 plots, constituting five replicate experimental blocks spread across four farms. Unexpectedly, vertebrate pest damage by monkeys (Presbytis melalophos nobilis) and wild pigs (Sus scrofa) was the most important influence on establishment, explaining almost 70% of the variation in rubber tree growth. The amount of labour invested in weeding was also positively correlated with rubber tree growth. Farmers generally decided to completely cut back vegetation between rows of rubber trees, including potentially valuable trees, rather than weeding within the rows and selectively pruning trees in the inter-row. Farmers thought that the inter-row vegetation would harbour vertebrate pests and compete with the clonal rubber, and they had access to fruits, firewood and other non-timber forest products from other land. Thus, contrary to expectations, when offered clonal germplasm, farmers opted to use plantation monoculture methods to protect what they considered a valuable asset, rather than maintain the traditional multispecies strategy they use with local germplasm.

Keywords: Hevea brasiliensis, pests, secondary forest, smallholders, weeding.[]

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S. E. Williams, M. van Noordwijk, E. Penot, J. R. Healey, F. L. Sinclair and G. Wibawa, “On-Farm Evaluation of the Establishment of Clonal Rubber in Multistrata Agroforests in Jambi, Indonesia”, Agroforestry Systems, 53, 2, (2001): 227-237.
DOI: 10.1023/A:1013336822923

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Sumatra’s Rubber Agroforests: Advent, Rise and Fall of a Sustainable Cropping System

Abstract

UNTIL THE end of the nineteenth century primary forests covered nearly all the island of Sumatra. The first valorisation of this natural resource was hunting and gathering activities, followed by and later associated with swidden cultivation of upland rice. The industrial revolution in Europe and North America in the 1950s created increasing demand for rubber. Answering this new market opportunity, farmers introduced rubber seedlings in their swiddens amidst the upland rice. By doing so, they invented a new cropping system, i.e. rubber agroforests. Thanks to the continuously increasing demand for rubber by the developing industry, rubber agroforests spread over Sumatra’s eastern peneplains until the 1990s. Forest conversion to rubber agroforests conserves a high level of forest biodiversity and the agroforests act as a buffer zone around national parks. But with growing demographic pressure, market integration and household monetary needs, agroforests are increasingly endangered. New cropping systems have appeared and challenge agroforests’ dominance in the landscape. Since the mid-twentieth century, rubber monospecific plantations have been competing for land, with an undoubtedly higher profitability than agroforests. More recently, oil palm plantations have spread over the island, quickly becoming the new challenger to rubber agroforestry. Nevertheless, the international community shows more and more interest in forest and biodiversity conservation. Forest cover in Jambi province has nearly disappeared over the past 30 years. The only way to save the remnants of forests and agroforests seems to be the creation of market incentives through conservation programs such as reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Keywords: Natural rubber, oil palm, landscape dynamics, market incentives, deforestation.[]

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Laurène Feintrenie, Patrice Levang, “Sumatra’s Rubber Agroforests: Advent, Rise and Fall of a Sustainable Cropping System”, Small-scale Forestry, 8, 3 (2009): 323-335.
DOI: 10.1007/s11842-009-9086-2

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Does ‘Jungle Rubber’ Deserve Its Name? An Analysis of Rubber Agroforestry Systems in Southeast Sumatra

Abstract

JUNGLE RUBBER is a blanced, diversified system derived from swidden cultivation, in which man-made forests with a high concentration of rubber trees replace fallows. Most of the income comes from rubber, complemented with temporary food and cash crops during the early years. Perennial species that grow spontaneously with rubber provide fruits, fuelwood and timber, mostly for household consumption. Jungle rubber enables lower incomes per land unit or man-day than weed-free plantations using selected rubber clones. Yet it requires much less input and labour since wild woody species protect rubber from grass weeds and mammalian predators. With a structure and biodiversity similar to that of secondary forest in its mature phase, jungle rubber belongs to complex agroforestry systems. It has accommodated increasing population densities, while preserving a forest-like environment.

Yet farmers' income from jungle rubber is declining due to the exhaustion of forest reserves and reduced land availability. New research and extension options could help in improving the productivity of jungle rubber. Better transportation and marketing are needed for increasing the income from non-rubber output. Short-term, small-scale credit schemes could help farmers adopt high-yielding rubber varieties. Research should participate in creating new management methods for selected rubber based on agroforestry to reduce maintenance costs, enabling smallholders to plant high-yielding rubber at lower cost, and without losing too much of the present biodiversity and economic diversity.


Résumé

Dérivées de l'essartage, les forêts à hévéa forment un système de culture équilibré et diversifié, où le recrû forestier est remplacé par une forêt anthropique à forte concentration d'hévéas. L'essentiel du revenu provient des hévéas, complétés par des cultures vivrières et commerciales pendant les premières années. Les espèces prérennes qui se développent spontanément avec les hévéas fournissent des fruits et du bois, principalement pour l'autoconsommation. Le revenu tiré de ce système est inférieur à celui de plantations d'hévéa clonal entretenues. Il nécessite cependant moins d'investissements en intrants et en travail grâce au rôle protecteur de courvert forestier vis-à-vis des adventices herbacées et des mannifères prédateurs. Avec une structure et une diversité d'espèces comparable à celles d'une forêt secondaire, ce système fait partie des agroforêts complexes. Il a fourni depuis 1910 l'essentiel du revenu d'une population en croissance rapide tout en préservant un environnement forestier.

Le revenu que tirent les paysans des forêts à hévéa est en déclin en raison de l'augmentation de la population. De nouvelles orientations de la recherche et du développement pourraient permettre d'améliorer la productivité de ce système. Le revenu tiré de la composante nonhévéa pourrait être augmenté grâce à une amélioration des transports et de la commercialisation. Le crédit à court terme et à petite échelle permettrait aux paysans d'adopter des variétés d'hévéa sélectionné et d'augmenter ainsi leurs revenus. La recherche devrait aider à mettre au point de nouvelles méthodes de gestion des hévéas sélectionnés, de type agroforestier, afin de réduire les coûts d'entretien. Les paysans purraient ainsi planter des hévéas hauts producteurs à moindres frais, et conserver partiellement la diversité économique et écologique du système actuel.

Keywords: Indonesia, Sumatra, smallholder, rubber, fruit trees, timber, firewood, agroforestry, farming system, economics.[]

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A. Gouyon, H. de Foresta, P. Levang, “Does ‘Jungle Rubber’ Deserve Its Name? An Analysis of Rubber Agroforestry Systems in Southeast Sumatra”, Agroforestry Systems, 22, 3, (1993): 181-206.

DOI: 10.1007/BF00705233

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Some Remarks Concerning the Palaeozonic of Djambi, Sumatra

DURING THE geological exploration of the residency Djambi by Dr. A. Tobler and his collaborators, Ir. Göllner discovered remains of fossilland-plants in palaeozoic strata at Moeara Ketidoeran Siamang, near the Soengei (river) Merangin in the district Bangko in the interior of the residency. As this part of Sumatra is situated about midway between British India and Australia, where a well-developed Glossopteris flora is found, one should expect to find plants of this type here too; especially as similar forms have been recorded from Serawak. The fossil plants from Djambi, however, were more similar to those of Western Europe. The specimens collected at that occasion we re first mentioned by Jongmans in the report on the geological explorations in Djambi, and in 1925 a detailed description of them was published by Jongmans and Gothan.

Because of the great importance of this locality for the study of the relationship between the Glossopteris flora and that of the Arctocarbonic type, further collecting was planned. Some scientific societiés and private persons, a few years ago, put funds at the disposal of Dr. Jongmans, who, however, was prevented by circumstances to make the voyage. In 1925 these funds were transmitted to me and during an expedition into the interior of Djambi, which was made in combination with a geological re-investigation by the Geological Survey of the Netherland East Indies, a collection of these fossil plants was made. A preliminary report has already been published.

I hoped to have occasion to study at least part of the material, which I had collected, as a compensation for the time and trouble, necessary for the collecting of the materials. Instead of going to Java directly, I returned to the Netherlands with the intention to work out the results, and though the specimens had already arrived in Holland long ago and I of ten requested to have put them at my disposal for study. I never saw back any of the fossils, which are now in the hands of Dr. Jongmans.

The following remarks are based upon some observations during the collecting-work, and on some notes and sketches, then made. They are to be considered only as an addition to the preliminary report; the publication by Jongmans and Gothan is now also quoted; it was then not yet known to me.[]

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O. Posthumus, “Some Remarks Concerning the Palaeozonic of Djambi, Sumatra”, Botanical Laboratory, (1926): 628-634.


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Swarnnadwipa Zaman Lampau

SUMATERA MERUPAKAN salah satu pulau dari enam buah pulau terbesar di dunia dengan luas daratannya sekitar 474.000 kilometer persegi (termasuk kepulauan di sebelah barat dan timur Sumatera). Merupakan pulau besar di bagian barat Nusantara yang dibagi miring oleh garis khatulistiwa. Keadaan ini disebabkan karena pulau ini membentang dari baratlaut ke tenggara yang dibagi dua bagian yang nyaris sama. Ujung baratlaut di wilayah Nangroe Aceh-Darussalam terletak pada garis lintang 5º35’ LU, dan ujung tenggara di wilayah Provinsi Lampung terletak pada garis lintang 5º56’ LS.

Seperti juga Semenanjung Tanah Melayu, keletakan Sumatera sangat strategis karena terletak di tepi jalur lintas perdagangan antara Persia, India, dan Tiongkok. Meskipun sama strategisnya, namun Sumatera mempunyai kelebihan dalam sumberdaya alam yang menjadi komoditas penting pada kala purba, yaitu kapur barus dan emas.


Bumi Sumatera

Rupabumi pulau Sumatera terdiri dari dataran rendah aluvial yang sebagian besar membentang di sebelah timurlaut, dan rangkaian pegunungan Bukit Barisan membentang di sebelah baratdaya. Pada dataran aluvial mengalir beberapa sungai besar dan kecil yang dapat dilayari hingga pedalaman, misalnya Sungai Barumun, Rokan, Kampar, Batang Kuantan, Batanghari, Musi, dan Sekampung. Sebagian besar sungai-sungai tersebut bermata-air di Bukit Barisan dan bermuara di Selat Melaka, Selat Karimata, dan Selat Bangka. Beberapa batang sungai di antaranya, dipakai sebagai jalur lalulintas air yang “menghidupi” kota-kota besar.

Rangkaian Pergunungan Bukit Barisan yang panjangnya lebih dari 1.600 km., membentang dari Dataran Tinggi Gayo di baratlaut hingga ke Teluk Semangko di tenggara pulau. Rangkaian pegunungan ini terbentuk pada awal zaman Pliosen (60 juta tahun yang lampau), tetapi pada kala Oligosen/Miosen (25 juta tahun yang lampau), telah terjadi sedikit penurunan (Jazanul Anwar et al. 1984: 9). Pada rangkaian pegunungan ini terdapat lebih dari 50 gunung api yang tingginya bervariasi antara 1.600 hingga 3.800 meter d.p.l. antara lain Gunung Talakmau, Kerinci, Singgalang, Merapi, dan Gunung Dempo.

Patahan Semangko memungkinkan material dari dalam bumi terinterusi keluar pada permukaan bumi. Tekanan hebat dari dalam bumi mengakibatkan tonjolan-tonjolan pada permukaannya. Tonjolan yang dikenali dalam geologi sebagai Tumor Batak mempunyai ukuran panjang +275 km. dan lebar +150 km., membentang di antara Sungai Wampu dan Barumun. Ketika Tumor Batak ini meletus sehebat-hebatnya pada 75.000 tahun yang lampau, meterial yang dikeluarkannya menutupi kawasan seluas 20.000—30.000 kilometer persegi.

Daerah di sekitar pusat letusan tertutup material tufa mencapai ketebalan 600 meter. Akibat dari letusan dahsyat tersebut, terbentuk dasar Danau Toba tetapi belum mencapai bentuknya yang seperti sekarang ini. Dasar Danau Toba purba merupakan kepundan sebuah gunung api. Serentetan letusan yang lebih kecil membentuk suatu gunung api baru di bagian dalam kepundan besar tersebut. Ketika gunung api yang baru ini meletus juga dan kemudian runtuh, gunung ini terbelah menjadi dua bagian. Bagian barat membentuk “tanjung” Samosir, dan bagian timur membentuk “tanjung” Porsea.


Sumberdaya Alam

Salah satu daya tarik Sumatera untuk dikunjungi saudagar asing adalah sumberdaya alamnya. Karena sumberdaya alam inilah sekelompok pemukiman dapat berkembang menjadi sebuah kota kerajaan. Sumber-sumber tertulis Arab dan Tionghoa, menginformasikan kepada kita mengenai sumberdaya alam yang dijadikan komoditi oleh kerajaan-kerajaan di Sumatera (Hirth & Rockhill 1911).

Berita asing banyak menginformasikan mengenai perdagangan emas dan hasil hutan yang diambil dari bumi Sumatera. Komoditi ini dikapalkan melalui pelabuhan-pelabuhan di tepi sungai-sungai besar pantai timurlaut Sumatera atau di tepi teluk pantai barat. Ada indikasi maju dan mundurnya sebuah pelabuhan dapat tergantung dari sumberdaya alam yang dipasarkan melalui pelabuhan tersebut. Sebuah kota sekaligus pelabuhan sungai atau pantai laut, biasanya mengambil lokasi di tempat yang strategis, dekat dengan sumberdaya alam atau mempunyai akses dengan sumberdaya alam, misalnya pelabuhan Palembang (Po-lin-fong, Ku-kang), Jambi (Chan-pi, Pi chan), Kota Cina, dan Barus (Fansur, Po-li, Barosai).

Komoditi yang cukup populer pada millenium pertama Masehi antara lain kapur barus, damar, storax (bahan dasar untuk membuat minyak wangi), myrobalan, candu, dan benzoin (Groeneveldt 1960; Wheatley 1961: 315-316). Kapur barus merupakan produk alamiah dalam bentuk kristal yang dihasilkan dari sejenis pohon yang tumbuh di hutan tropis Sumatera, Kalimantan, dan Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Pelabuhan tempat pengapalannya ada di Barus, pantai baratdaya Sumatera.

Damar dan storax juga merupakan komoditi perdagangan yang banyak digemari oleh para pedagang asing (Marsden 2008: 147). Damar adalah semacam terpentin dari spesies pohon pinus dan yang diperdagangkan ada dua jenis, yaitu damar biasa (Agatis alga) dan damar wangi (Araucaria cunninghamii).

Hasil hutan lainnya adalah kemenyan yang berasal dari getah pohon kemenyan (Astyrax benzoin). Kemenyan banyak dihasilkan di daerah sebelah utara khatulistiwa di Tanah Batak, tetapi di sebelah selatan khatulistiwa juga ditemukan dalam jumlah yang terbatas (Marsden 2008: 144).

Dalam sejarah perdagangan Asia, barang logam yang digemari para saudagar dan menjadi komoditi penting dari Sumatera adalah emas (Marsden 2008: 153-159). Karena logam inilah maka Sumatera dikenal juga dengan nama Swarnnadwīpa (= Pulau Emas) atau Swarnnabhūmi (= Tanah Emas). Di samping emas, mineral lain termasuk perak, timah hitam, tembaga, seng, besi, dan air raksa ditambang di Sumatera sebelum abad ke-16 (sebelum kedatangan bangsa-bangsa Eropah (van Bemmelen 1944 (2): 103, 105, 164, 210). Bukti penambangan logam sebelum kedatangan bangsa-bangsa Eropah di Nusantara, ditemukan di daerah pegunungan dekat dengan pantai barat Sumatera, tetapi pekerjaan penambangan tertua ditemukan di daerah Aceh dan Lampung (Miksic 1979: 85).

Beberapa logam lain juga ditemukan di Sumatera seperti perak, plumbum, tembaga, zink, besi, dan air raksa (van Bemmelen 1944: 210; Miksic 1979: 263). Jenis logam tersebut telah lama ditambang jauh sebelum abad ke-16 Masehi, yaitu ketika para penguasa barat melakukan penambangan secara besar-besaran di bumi Sumatera (Miksic 1979: 262). Air raksa banyak ditemukan di Lebong dan cinnabar, satu jenis logam yang mengandung air raksa, telah ditambang di daerah Jambi jauh sebelum kedatangan orang Barat (Miksic 1979: 262; Tobler 1919: 463-464). Cinnabar, plumbum, zink, besi, dan tembaga juga ditambang di Muara Sipongi, Kabupaten Tapanuli Selatan (Sumatera Utara) (van Bemmelen 1944: 210).

Logam lain yang ditemukan belakangan adalah timah. Logam ini ditemukan di Pulau Bangka secara tidak sengaja. Menurut Marsden dalam History of Sumatra (1740), disebutkan bahwa timah ditemukan ketika salah sebuah rumah penduduk Tionghoa terbakar (Marsden 2008: 159). Karena panasnya api, maka bijih timah yang terkandung di bawah lantai rumah mencair. Sejak saat itulah bangsa barat dengan memanfaatkan tenaga setempat, menambang timah secara besar-besaran. Pada masa pemerintahan Kesultanan Palembang, timah dari Bangka dan Belitung menjadi barang komoditi utama.


Bangsa Bahari

Apabila ditelusuri sampai jauh ke belakang ketika orang-orang penutur bahasa Austronesia menyebar, pada hakekatkan bangsa Indonesia adalah Bangsa Bahari. Hidup matinya kerajaan-kerajaan besar di Sumatera selain tergantung dari sumberdaya alamnya, juga tergantung dari peranan kebaharian masyarakatnya. Kalau ingin menguasai Selat Melaka, maka kerajaan yang ada di sekitarnya haruslah mempunyai kekuatan laut.

Śrīwijaya dan Mālayu dikenal sebagai kerajaan bahari. Sepanjang kelangsungan hidupnya, kerajaan ini menguasai perairan sekitar Selat Melaka dan perairan sebelah barat Nusantara. Sebuah berita Tionghoa menceriterakan bahwa rakyat Śrīwijaya mahir berperang di darat maupun di laut (Groeneveldt 1960: 73). Ada ketentuan bahwa para saudagar asing yang berniaga di Nusantara harus memakai kapal Śrīwijaya. Bukti-bukti arkeologis menunjukkan kapal yang tenggelam di perairan Nusantara sekitar abad ke-9 Masehi, adalah kapal yang dibuat dengan teknologi Asia Tenggara. Barang-barang muatannya berasal dari berbagai tempat di Asia.

Di bidang penguasaan laut, terutama di perairan barat Nusantara, pelaut-pelaut Melayu menunjukkan kemahirannya. Buku panduan laut bangsa Portugis, antara lain dibuat berdasarkan petunjuk pelaut Melayu. Dalam menghadapi perompak-perompak di laut, pada masa kesultanan angkatan laut kesultanan yang memberikan jaminan keamanan. Angkatan Laut Kerajaan Aceh menjamin keamanan di wilayah teritorialnya di Selat Melaka. Kesultanan Siak pernah memberikan jaminan keamanan dalam pengiriman emas dari Sumatera ke Johor.


Awal Hunian

Pulau Sumatera telah lama dihuni manusia. Berdasarkan sisa-sisa sampah dapur berupa cangkang kerang (kjökkenmöddiger) yang ditemukan dengan kapak genggam (pebble) di Sumatera Timur, hunian di tempat tersebut sudah ada sejak 11.000 tahun yang lampau, pada sekitar awal Holosen. Beberapa pakar menduga bahwa permukiman di daerah ini dihuni oleh manusia Papua-Melanesoid pada rumah-kolong yang dibangun di tepi pantai. Mereka menggunakan alat-alat batu, dan makanan utamanya siput laut.

Kelompok manusia Papua-Melanesoid yang lain tinggal di gua-gua dan ceruk-ceruk pada dinding batu. Di Sumatera sisa-sisa hunian dalam gua ditemukan di Jambi (Gua Tiangko Panjang), dan di Sumatera Selatan (Gua Silabe, Gua Pandan, Gua Karang Pelaluan, Gua Karang Beringin, dan Gua Harimau). Dari dalam gua ditemukan alat-alat batu dan kayu yang pertanggalannya 5700-9000 tahun yang lampau. Khusus pada Gua Harimau pada dindingnya terdapat lukisan dari bahan okker. Alat-alat batu dari gua-gua tersebut melihat teknologinya berasal dari masa preneolitik – neolitik. Di samping itu ditemukan juga alat dari logam perunggu dan barang-barang tembikar.

Di daerah kaki Gunung Dempo, di Pagaralam banyak ditemukan tinggalan megalitik yang berupa arca batu dan bilik batu. Ketika ditemukan bilik batu tersebut dalam keadaan tertimbun tanah. Sebagai tanda pada permukaan “pintu” yang tertimbun terdapat sebongkah batu. Beberapa di antara bilik batu yang sudah terbuka, pada bagian dindingnya terdapat lukisan yang dibuat dari bahan okker.

Sebuah kompleks megalit ditemukan di Situs Tinggihari berupa batu-batu menhir. Batu-batu menhir yang jumlahnya 9 buah ini diberi bentuk manusia dan binatang. Didirikan di sepanjang jalan mendaki ke puncak bukit yang tingginya antara +700—1.000 meter d.p.l. Adanya arca-arca ini di kalangan penduduk berkembang ceritera Si Pahit Lidah, ceritera tentang seseorang kalau berucap maka yang diucapkannya menjadi batu.

Seluruh tinggalan budaya dari masa prasejarah tersebut memberikan informasi bahwa pada masa lampau, di daerah hulu Musi sudah terdapat hunian manusia. Hunian awal ini mengambil lokasi di daerah tepian-tepian sungai pada bidang tanah yang tinggi. Hunian yang sedikit lebih maju ditemukan di daerah kaki Gunung Dempo di sekitar kota Pagaralam sekarang. Dari tempat ini banyak ditemukan arca megalit dan bilik batu yang berhiaskan lukisan dari bahan okker.


Kerajaan Pengaruh India

Sebagai pulau yang menempati posisi strategis dan banyak dikunjungi saudagar asing, sudah barang tentu unsur budaya asing mudah berkembang. Ramainya perdagangan dengan India, Persia, dan Tiongkok, lama kelamaan di Sumatera muncul kerajaan-kerajaan yang kemudian berkembang menjadi suatu imporium. Berita-berita asing mencatat beberapa kerajaan yang mendapat pengaruh budaya India, seperti Tulangbawang, Mālayu, Śrīwijaya, dan Pane. Kerajaan Mālayu dan Śrīwijaya merupakan dua kerajaan besar yang dominasinya di Sumatera saling bergatian.

Kerajaan besar pertama yang ada di Sumatera adalah Mālayu. Menurut Berita Tionghoa, Hasan Djafar (1992: 77) membagi kerajaan ini dalam tiga fase, yaitu:

Fase I	Fase Awal, sekitar pertengahan abad ke-7 Masehi
Fase II	Fase Pendudukan oleh Śrīwijaya, sekitar tahun 680 sampai sekitar pertengahan abad ke-11 Masehi
Fase III	Fase Akhir, sekitar pertengahan abad ke-11 sampai sekitar akhir abad ke-14 Masehi

Awalnya lokasi kerajaan ini diduga di sekitar Sungai Musi, atau tepatnya di sekitar kota Palembang sekarang. Sebelum “kelahiran” Śrīwijaya dan menjadikan Palembang sebagai ibukotanya, kota Mālayu merupakan sebuah pelabuhan penting. Menurut berita Tionghoa, pada tahun 644/645 kerajaan ini mengirim utusan ke Tiongkok (Pelliot 1904: 324 dan 334). Selanjutnya disebutkan bahwa di Mālayu banyak tinggal penganut ajaran Hīnayāna dan hanya sedikit Mahāyāna. Arca Buddha Śākyamuṇi dari Bukit Siguntang merupakan arca tertua (abad ke-6 Masehi) yang diduga berasal dari masa kerajaan Mālayu awal.

Setidak-tidaknya sampai dengan kedatangan I-tsing yang pertama tahun 671, Mālayu masih negara/pelabuhan bebas. Ketika itu lokasi Fo-shih atau Shih-li-fo-shih (Śrīwijaya) berada di antara Guangzhou dan Mo-lo-yeu (Mālayu). Boleh jadi waku itu Śrīwijaya masih berada di sekitar delta Batanghari sebagaimana diberitakan saudagar Arab (661-681 Masehi) mengenai negeri Zābag (Śrīwijaya) sebagai bandar lada terbesar di Sumatera. Namun ketika I-tsing kembali dari Tamralipti tahun 687 dan singgah di Mālayu, ia menulis: “Mālayu sekarang adalah ibukota Śrīwijaya” (Fukami 2001).

Kota Śrīwijaya dibangun di Mālayu (Palembang) pada tanggal 16 Juni 682. Setelah membangun kota, Dapunta Hiyaŋ Śrī Jayanāśa membangun taman Śrīksetra pada 23 Maret 684. Berdasarkan prasasti-prasasti yang dikeluarkannya, Dātu Śrīwijaya banyak melakukan persumpahan pada daerah-daerah yang berhasil ditaklukannya. Prasasti Telaga Batu merupakan batu persumpahan terpenting, karena di dalamnya memuat nama para pejabat sampai pegawai rendahan yang tinggal di ibukota mulai dari putra mahkota sampai tukang dobi. Wilayah kekuasaan kadātuan Śrīwijaya pada sekitar abad ke-7 meliputi Batanghari (Karangberahi), Bangka (Kota Kapur), Lampung (Palas Pasemah dan Bungkuk), dan sekitar perairan Selat Melaka (Boechari 1979: 18-40; Cœdès 1989: 1-135).

Śrīwijaya dikenal sebagai kerajaan bahari. Sebagian besar dari kehidupan rakyatnya dari pelayaran dan perdagangan. Bandar-bandar penting pada masa kejayaannya adalah Barus di pantai baratdaya Sumatera, Lamuri, Kota Cina, dan Jambi di pantai timurlaut. Dari bandar-bandar ini dikapalkan hasil-hasil bumi Sumatera dan tempat-tempat lain di Nusantara--misalnya rempah-rempah dari Ternate (Maluku)--ke Tiongkok, India, Persia dan Arab. Sebagai bandar besar, saudagar dari berbagai bangsa dan corak budaya datang dari berbagai tempat.

Kehadiran orang-orang Po-ssu (Persia) bersama-sama dengan orang-orang Ta-shih (Arab) di bandar-bandar sepanjang tepian Selat Melaka dan pantai baratdaya Sumatera, diketahui sejak abad ke-7 Masehi. Mereka dikenal sebagai pedagang dan pelaut ulung. Sebuah catatan harian Tionghoa yang menceriterakan perjalanan pendeta Buddha I-tsing tahun 671 Masehi dengan menumpang kapal Po-sse dari Guangzhou ke Fo-shih (Śrīwijaya). Kemudian pada tahun 717 Masehi diberitakan pula tentang kapal-kapal India yang berlayar dari Srilanka ke Śrīwijaya dengan diiringi 35 kapal Po-sse (Poerbatjaraka 1952: 31-32).

Bukti-bukti arkeologis yang mengindikasikan kehadiran pedagang Persia di Śrīwijaya dan Mālayu adalah ditemukannya artefak dari gelas dan kaca berbentuk vas, botol, jambangan dll di Situs Barus (pantai barat Sumatera Utara) (Guillot & Sonny Wibisono 2002: 179-198) dan situs-situs di pantai timur Jambi (Muara Jambi, Muara Sabak, Lambur). Barang-barang tersebut merupakan komoditi penting yang didatangkan dari Persia atau Timur Tengah dengan pelabuhan-pelabuhannya antara lain Siraf, Musqat, Basra, Kufah, Wasit, al-Ubulla, Kish, dan Oman. Dari Nusantara para saudagar tersebut membawa kemenyan dan kapur barus.

Kerajaan Śrīwijaya juga mengadakan hubungan politik dan agama dengan kerajaan lain. Beberapa surat dari Mahārāja Śrīwijaya yang dikirimkan melalui utusan kepada Khalifah Umar ibn ‘Abd. Al-Aziz (717-720 Masehi), menyebutkan tentang pemberian hadiah sebagai tanda persahabatan dan permohonan agar dikirim mubaligh ke Śrīwijaya (Azyumardi 1994: 41-42). Prasasti Nālanda (abad ke-8 Masehi) menyebutkan pembangunan asrama untuk para pelajar di Nālanda (India Utara), Prasasti Ligor A (15 April 775) menyebutkan Mahārāja Śrīwijaya membangun trisamaya caitya untuk Padmapāni, Wajrapāni, dan Śākyamuni di Thailand Selatan (Cœdès 1989: 1-135). Dalam prasasti yang disimpan di Leiden (Belanda) disebutkan bahwa raja Mārawijayottuńgawarman dengan bantuan raja Cōla Rājakeśariwarman Rājarāja I mendirikan sebuah kuil Buddha di Nāgipattana (Nālanda) yang diberi nama Cūdāmaniwarmawihāra.

Berita Tionghoa yang berasal dari masa Dinasti Song (960-1279 Masehi) menyebutkan sebuah kerajaan di Sumatera yang bernama San-fo-t'si (Śrīwijaya). Diuraikan bahwa kerajaan itu terletak di Laut Selatan di antara Chen-la (=Kamboja) dan She-po (=Jawa). Ibukota kerajaan di mana raja bersemayam terletak di Chan-pi (Jambi) (Groeneveldt 1960: 61; Hirth dan Rockhill 1967: 62). Berita tersebut mengindikasikan bahwa ibukota Śrīwijaya yang semula berada di Palembang, pada sekitar abad ke-11 telah dipindahkan ke Jambi. Ketika sudah berada di Jambi, Śrīwijaya masih menjalin persahabatan dengan Tiongkok. Sebuah prasasti yang ditemukan di Guangzhou menyebutkan bahwa Mahārāja Śrīwijaya tahun 1079 memerintahkan pembangunan kembali kuil Tao yang bernama Tien Qing yang telah dibakar habis oleh peyerbu (Yamin 1962). Para pekerjanya didatangkan dari Śrīwijaya.

Kadātuan Śrīwijaya mulai menunjukkan kemundurannya ketika diserang oleh Kerajaan Cōla dari India Selatan. Prasasti Rājarāja I dari Tañjore (1030/31 Masehi) menyebutkan penaklukan Cōla atas Śrīwijaya dan kerajaan-kerajaan lain di sekitar Selat Melaka. Śrīwijaya berhasil ditaklukkan dan rajanya Śaṅgrāmawijayottuṅgawarman ditawan (Nilakanta Sastri 1932: 315).

Setelah Śrīwijaya runtuh, Mālayu menggantikannya sebagai penguasa Sumatera. Kitab Nāgarakṛtāgama menyebutkan Mālayu lebih dahulu dan menyebutkan sebagai sebuah negara terpenting dari seluruh negara bawahan Majapahit (Pigeaud vol. 1 1960). Wilayah kekuasaannya meliputi seluruh Sumatera, dari ujung baratlaut hingga ujung tenggara. Beberapa daerah yang merupakan "bawahan" Mālayu seperti misalnya Jāmbi, Dharmmāśraya, Kaṇdis, dan Manaṅkabwa berlokasi di daerah Sungai Batanghari.

Kerajaan Mālayu tetap diperhitungkan sebagai sebuah kerajaan yang memegang peranan penting. Karena itulah ketika Kṛtanagara dari Siŋhasāri sedang menghadapi ancaman Mongol, perlu menjalin persahabatan dengan Mālayu. Besarnya perhatian Kṛtanagara kepada Mālayu membuktikan bahwa pada abad ke-13 Masehi, Mālayu merupakan negara utama di Sumatera. Sebagai tanda persahabatan Kṛtanagara mengirimkan arca Amoghapāśa.

Prasasti Dharmmaśraya menyebutkan bahwa pada tahun 1286 Masehi sebuah arca Amoghapāśa dengan keempatbelas pengiringnya dan saptaratna dibawa dari Bhūmijawa ke Swarnnabhūmi untuk ditempatkan di Dharmmāśraya sebagai punya Śrī Wiswarupakumara. Seluruh rakyat Mālayu dari keempat kasta bersukacita, terutama rajanya, ialah Śrīmat Tribhuwanarāja Mauliwarmmadewa (Hasan Djafar 1992: 56--8). Menurut prasasti ini jelas bahwa ekspedisi Pamālayu bukan merupakan pendudukan Siŋhasāri atas Mālayu, tetapi lebih ke arah persahabatan.

Prasasti pada bagian punggung arca Amoghapāśa yang ditemukan di Rambahan pada sekitar tahun 1800-an (Krom 1912: 48) memberikan petunjuk, bahwa pada tahun 1347 yang berkuasa di Mālayu adalah Śrī Mahārājā Ādityawarmman Disebutkan juga upacara yang bercorak tantrik, pendirian sebuah arca Buddha, dan pemujaan kepada Jina. Besar dugaan bahwa tahun 1347 merupakan tahun awal pemerintahan Ādityawarmman di Mālayu.

Berdasarkan data arkeologi dan prasasti-prasasti masa Mālayu, dapat diduga bahwa pusat pemerintahan kerajaan ini mengalami tiga kali perpindahan. Ibukota yang awal ada di hilir Batanghari di sekitar kota Jambi, kemudian bergeser ke Dharmmāśraya, dan akhirnya ke Pagarruyung. Raja Mālayu yang memindahkan ke Pagarruyung adalah Akarendrawarman pendahulu Ādityawarmman (de Casparis 1989 dan 1992).

Pada sekitar tahun 1340-an, di daerah Pagarruyung memerintah seorang raja yang bernama Ādityawarmman. Pada prasasti-prasasti yang ditemukan di daerah tersebut, misalnya Prasasti Kuburajo I dikatakan bahwa Ādityawarmman memerintah di kaṇakamedinīndra (=raja pulau emas) (Kern 1917: 219). Dalam Prasasti Amoghapāśa (1347 Masehi) disebutkan bahwa Ādityawarmman mengangkat dirinya menjadi seorang mahārājādhirāja dengan gelar Śrī Udayādityawarmman atau Ādityawarmodaya Pratāpaparākramarājendra Mauliwarmadewa (Kern 1917: 163-175).

De Casparis (1992) menduga bahwa Mālayu pada masa Ādityawarmman mendapat ancaman dari kerajaan Islam di Samudra Pasai. Namun bukan ini sebab perpindahannya, melainkan untuk penguasaan sumber emas yang banyak terdapat di daerah pedalaman (Bambang Budi Utomo 1992). Di samping itu, secara geografis daerah pedalaman di Batusangkar dan Pagarruyung dekat dengan jalan air yang lain menuju Selat Melaka, yaitu Sungai Kampar Kiri dan Sungai Indragiri. Emas dari daerah pedalaman kemudian dipasarkan keluar Mālayu melalui sungai-sungai ini (Dobbin 1977: 1-38).


Lahirnya Kesultanan

Sejak awal millenium kedua tarikh Masehi, para saudagar Islam banyak melakukan aktivitas niaga di sekitar Selat Melaka. Bersamaan dengan aktivias niaga, masuk pula agama Islam di Sumatera dan Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Melalui gerbang ini para saudagar dari Gujarat, Bengal, India Selatan, Pegu, Siam, dan Burma bertemu dengan saudagar dari Tiongkok, Arab, Persia, dan Jawa. Melalui para saudagar Arab dan Persia agama Islam disiarkan ke Nusantara.

Pasai yang letaknya di pantai timur ujung baratlaut Sumatera, merupakan pelabuhan yang paling ramai tempat bertemunya saudagar dari berbagai bangsa. Antara tahun 1290 dan 1520 Kesultanan Pasai tidak hanya menjadi kota dagang terpenting di Selat Melaka, tetapi juga pusat perkembangan Islam dan bahasa sastra Melayu (Tjandrasasmita 1988: 67-82). Menurut kitab Hikayat Raja-raja Pasai, raja Pasai pertama yang memeluk Islam adalah Meurah Silau dengan gelar Sultan Mālik al-Sāleh.

Sultan Mālik al-Sāleh mangkat pada tahun 1297 dan diganti oleh putranya, Sultan Muhammad yang memerintah sampai tahun 1326. Batu nisannya dihias dengan kaligrafi Arab gaya Kufik yang berisi syair tentang kehidupan di dunia yang fana. Sultan Muhammad lebih dikenal dengan nama Sultan Mālik al-Ṭāhir yang setelah mangkat digantikan oleh putranya yang bernama Sultan Ahmad. Sultan ini juga memakai nama ayahnya Mālik al-Ṭāhir. Dalam masa pemerintahannya, Samudra Pasai mendapat kunjungan Ibn Baṭṭuta, seorang utusan Sultan Delhi. Ia singgah di Pasai dalam perjalanannya dari India - Tiongkok - India pada tahun 1345.

Hingga tahun berapa Sultan Ahmad Mālik al-Ṭāhir ini memerintah tidak diketahui. Demikian juga penggantinya yang bernama Sultan Zain al-Abidin tidak diketahui. Data keberadaan sultan-sultan tersebut hanya dari batu nisan makamnya.

Kerajaan Samudra Pasai mulai kehilangan kekuasaan perdagangan atas Selat Melaka pada pertengahan abad ke-15. Penyebabnya antara lain karena perebutan kekuasaan di lingkungan elite keraton, berkembangnya bandar Melaka, dan juga masuknya Portugis di Selat Melaka. Pada akhirnya kekuasaan Samudra Pasai jatuh ke tangan Kerajaan Aceh yang muncul tahun 1520-an.

Sejak pertengahan abad ke-15, Melaka ramai dikunjungi saudagar dari berbagai tempat. Sejak saat itu Melaka menjadi pusat perdagangan di jalur selat. Namun setelah Melaka jatuh ke tangan Portugis, para saudagar memindahkan aktivitasnya di Aceh. Akibatnya timbul suatu kerajaan di Aceh yang melepaskan diri dari Pidie.

Kerajaan Aceh mencapai kejayaannya pada masa pemerintahan Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636). Kerajaan ini mempunyai tentera laut dan darat yang kuat. Dengan kekuatan militernya Aceh berhasil menguasai hampir separuh daratan Sumatera hingga ke Bengkulu, pantai barat, dan pantai timur hingga Kampar (Alfian 2005).

Sultan Iskandar Muda digantikan oleh menantunya, Iskandar Tani. Di bawah pemerintahannya Aceh maju dengan pesat. Akan tetapi setelah raja ini mangkat, Aceh mengalami kemunduran. Berbagai daerah, seperti Minangkabau dan Kampar berhasil membebaskan diri dari pengaruh kekuasaan Aceh. Penyebabnya tidak lain karena perselisihan di antara elite keraton.

Setelah Kesultanan Aceh, pada masa-masa berikutnya di Sumatera muncul kesultanan-kesultanan lain. Di Sumatera Utara muncul Kesultanan Deli, Serdang Bedagai, Siak Sri Indrapura, Langkat; di kepulauan Riau muncul Kesultanan Riau-Lingga, dan di Sumatera Selatan muncul Kesultanan Jambi dan Kerajaan Palembang yang akhirnya menjadi Kesultanan Palembang-Darussalam.

Kelahiran Kesultanan Deli tidak lepas kaitannya dengan Kesultanan Aceh (Luckman Sinar 2005). Sebuah sumber menyebutkan bahwa salah seorang Laksamana dari Kesultanan Aceh yang berhasil menaklukan pantai baratdaya dan timurlaut Sumatera, kawin dengan adik Raja Urung Sugal (penguasa Batak-Karo yang sudah Islam). Karena perkawinan ini kemudian pada tahun 1630 ia ditabalkan menjadi raja di Deli. Setelah Laksamana Aceh yang dirajakan di Deli ini mangkat, penggantinya yang bergelar Tuanku Panglima Perunggit Deli memutuskan hubungan dengan Aceh, dan pada tahun 1669 Deli menjadi kerajaan yang merdeka.

Berbeda dengan kelahiran kerajaan/kesultanan Islam di Sumatera bagian utara dan Riau kepulauan yang mengambil zuriat dari Aceh, maka kelahiran kerajaan/kesultanan Islam di Palembang mengambil zuriat dari Kesultanan Demak/Mataram di Jawa. Bermula dari perebutan tahta di Kerajaan Demak yang dimenangkan oleh Pangeran Hadiwijaya. Dalam peperangan itu Pangeran Arya Penangsang tewas. Para pengikutnya yang setia, di antaranya Arya Jipang, terpaksa melarikan diri ke Palembang. Pelarian yang dipimpin oleh Ki Gede ing Suro (1547) ke Palembang paling tidak untuk merebut pewarisan dari Ki Mas Palembang yang ada di Palembang (Djohan Hanafiah 1989). Kemudian Ki Gede ing Suro membangun Kerajaan Palembang yang bernuansa Islam.

Kerajaan/kesultanan yang bernuansa Islam di Palembang (1552-1825) mengalami tiga kali perpindahan keraton (Hanafiah 1989). Keraton pertama Kuto Gawang (1552-1659) terletak di daerah 1 dan 2 Ilir. Karena dihancurkan VOC Belanda tahun 1659, ahli warisnya (Ki Mas Hindi) yang ditabalkan dengan gelar Sultan Abdurrahman memindahkan keraton ke arah hulu di Beringin Janggut (1660).

Entah sampai kapan pusat pemerintahan Kesultanan Palembang di Beringin Janggut, pada masa pemerintahan Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin I pada 29 September 1737 diresmikan Keraton Kuto Tengkuruk. Keraton ini letaknya di sebelah barat Beringin Janggut. Tidak sampai 50 tahun Kuto Tengkuruk berdiri, pada tahun 1780 di sebelah barat Kuto Tengkuruk Sultan Muhamad Bahauddin membangun Keraton/benteng Kuto Besak. Akhirnya Kesultanan Palembang-Darussalam dihapuskan Belanda pada tahun 1825. Sultan terakhir yang melawan Belanda, Mahmud Badaruddin II ditangkap dan diasingkan ke Ternate.


Budaya Asing yang Tertinggal

Pulau Sumatera secara alami terletak di jalan persimpangan antara dua pusat kebudayaan dunia Tiongkok di timur serta India dan Persia di barat. Hasil hutan dan tambang yang menjadi daya tarik saudagar dari Tiongkok, India, dan Persia menjadikannya Sumatera tempat persinggahan. Belum lagi budaya dari tempat lain di Jawa yang saudagarnya juga datang ke Sumatera, menambah marak lagi budaya yang berkembang di Sumatera.

Ketika intensitas niaga dengan India cukup tinggi, di Sumatera berkembang ajaran Hindu dan Buddha. Perkembangannya lebih luas Buddha daripada Hindu. Tinggalan budaya materi yang masih tersisa adalah arca-arca Buddha berlanggam Amarāwati, Cōla, dan Tamil Nadu Pedesaan (McKinnon 1994: 53-79). Hubungannya dengan Jawa (Kerajaan Mdaŋ, Matarām) pada abad ke-8-9 Masehi, meninggalkan jejak arca-arca Hindu dan Buddha berlanggam Śailendra.

Kehadiran Perserikatan Dagang Tamil (Subbarayalu 2002: 17-26) dengan saudagarnya di Sumatera bagian utara, “menyisakan” komunitas Tamil di beberapa tempat di pantai timurlaut Sumatera Utara mulai dari Banda Aceh hingga Medan. Pada waktu tertentu mereka membuat upacara Hindu di kuil dan dalam bentuk festival, misalnya festival pada Hari Thaipusam. Hari Thaipusam merupakan hari menunaikan nazar dan menebus dosa atau memohon ampun di atas dosa-dosa yang telah dilakukan selama ini. Salah satu cara memohon ampun adalah dengan menyiksa diri.

Agama Islam masuk dan berkembang di Sumatera di antaranya dibawa oleh para saudagar Persia pada masa Kekhalifahan Abbassiyah (750-870 Masehi) (Hourani 1951: 61-62). Mereka banyak melakukan aktivitas niaga di sepanjang pantai baratdaya Sumatera mulai dari Banda Aceh hingga Bengkulu. Unsur budaya yang tertinggal adalah peringatan 10 Muharram dengan arak-arakan tabot, dan paham Islam Tarekat pada penduduknya.

Palembang yang merupakan bekas kota Mālayu dan Śrīwijaya pernah juga dihuni oleh komunitas Tionghoa dalam kurun waktu yang lama. Pada masa Kesultanan Palembang-Darussalam orang-orang Tionghoa pernah didatangkan sebagai tenaga kerja, khususnya kuli bangunan. Pada waktu senggang komunitas tersebut mengembangkan seni kriya lakuer yang sudah ada di tempat asalnya Tiongkok. Hingga kini satu-satunya tempat di Indonesia yang memproduksi barang-barang lakuer hanya di Palembang.[]

Bambang Budi Utomo (Kerani Rendahan pada Puslitbang Arkeologi Nasional, Jakarta).

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Bambang Budi Utomo, "Swarnnadwipa Zaman Lampau", Treasures of Sumatra, 8 Juni-8 September 2009.

Diambil utuh dari: Blog Djulianto Susantio.

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The Currency of Indonesian Regional Textiles: Aesthetic Politics in Local, Transnational, and International Emblems

Abstract

INDONESIAN REGIONAL textiles that formerly circulated locally for practical and ritual purposes were identified by New Order government authorities for wider marketing to serve the purposes of economic and national development. This article, based primarily on data from a 1996 Indonesian government‐sponsored textile symposium, explores the transformation and representation of particular regional textile genres, as well as the equation by Indonesian developers of idealist aesthetics and marketing success through national guidance. With examples of textiles from Jambi, Sumatra and highland Central Sulawesi, I argue that some Indonesian developers and fashion designers formulated a hierarchical code of aesthetics that was based on commercial markets and homogenizing nationalist goals. In certain respects, this code of aesthetics runs contrary to the financial and symbolic interests of local textile producers and foreign specialists who are offended by what they consider the denigration and pirating of local cultural arts.

Keywords: Art, textiles, Indonesia, economic development, nationalism.[]

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Lorraine V. Aragon, “The Currency of Indonesian Regional Textiles: Aesthetic Politics in Local, Transnational, and International Emblems”, Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, 64, 2 (1999): 151-169.
DOI:10.1080/00141844.1999.9981596

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Object Agreement and 'Pro-Drop' in Kerinci Malay

Timothy McKinnon, Peter Cole, Gabriella Hermon, “Object Agreement and 'Pro-Drop' in Kerinci Malay”, Language, 87, 4 (2011): 715–750.
DOI: 10.1353/lan.2011.0092


Abstract

KERINCI IS a group of grammatically diverse Malayic varieties spoken in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. This article focuses on a previously undescribed dialect of Kerinci, spoken in the village of Tanjung Pauh Mudik (TPM). Many Kerinci dialects have developed a morphological alternation in root-final syllables as a result of stress-related diachronic changes. In TPM, as in Sungai Penuh Kerinci (described by Steinhauer and Usman (1978), inter alia), lexical roots surface in two forms, termed ‘absolute’ and ‘oblique’, which differ in the phonological shape of their final syllable. These forms exhibit a wide array of grammatical properties that differ considerably between dialects. We focus on the function of this unique marking in the verbal domain, and argue that the oblique form marks agreement with a nominal complement. Our analysis explains why TPM, a language that retains the morphological properties of the traditional Malay voice system, unexpectedly appears to permit the extraction of nonsubject arguments from active clauses, contradicting the predictions of theories that causally link symmetrical voice morphology and a ban on nonsubject extraction from vP (e.g. Keenan 1972, 1979, Rackowski & Richards 2005, Cole et al. 2008).We argue that apparent cases of nonsubject extraction do not involve movement, but that the apparently moved argument is generated outside of vP and binds a phonologically null pronoun licensed by the oblique morphology; thus, we are able to relate TPM’s unexpected syntactic behavior to the availability of the absolute/oblique marking. This analysis has broader consequences for the theory of pro-drop. Neeleman and Szendrö’s (2007) theory of radical pro-drop is unable to differentiate between syntactically projected pronouns (like null objects in TPM) and nonobject pro-dropped arguments in TPM that lack the behavior of a syntactically projected argument. In light of this inadequacy, we put forward an alternative proposal regarding the universal typology of pro-drop.

Keywords: Voice, agreement, pro-drop, Kerinci, Malay, Austronesian.[]

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Tense and Auxiliaries in Jambi Malay

Yanti, “Tense and Auxiliaries in Jambi Malay”, NUSA: Linguistic Studies of Languages in and Around Indonesia, 55 [Aspect, Mood and Evidentiality in Languages of Indonesia], (2013): 239-257.


Abstract

THIS PAPER describes some syntactic and semantic properties of tense, aspectual, and modal auxiliaries in the variety of Malay spoken in Jambi City (Jambi Province, Indonesia). In addition to describing TAM auxiliaries, this paper demonstrates the ways in which auxiliaries behave differently from main verbs in the language. Moreover, this paper argues that the modal auxiliary biso ‘can’ occupy two distinct syntactic positions. I support this claim with evidence based on the properties of biso when it occurs in constructions with aspectual markers, modals, and certain kinds of syntactic fronting.


1. Introduction (p. 239)

Jambi Malay is a Malay variety spoken in Jambi Province, southeastern Sumatra. The focus of this paper is on the variety spoken in the city of Jambi (see also Yanti, 2010). This paper has two main purposes. The first is to describe tense, aspectual markers, and modal auxiliaries in Jambi Malay (henceforth, JM). The second purpose is to provide a syntactic analysis to explain observed ambiguities in the interpretation of the modal auxiliary biso ‘can’.

This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents a very brief description of how tense is expressed in the language. Section 3 describes the properties of aspectual auxiliaries, modal auxiliaries, and constructions with multiple auxiliaries. This section also illustrates how auxiliaries differ from main verbs. Section 4 accounts for an ambiguity in the interpretation of the modal auxiliary biso ‘can’ and proposes a syntactic analysis that accounts for this ambiguity.


5. Conclusion (p. 256)

This paper has presented a description of tense, aspectual, and modal auxiliaries in Jambi Malay. Aspectual auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries in JM pattern like the auxiliaries in European SVO languages in that they must appear to the left of the main verb. It has been shown that these auxiliaries are better treated as heads. In addition, this paper has provided an analysis of biso ‘can’. The fact that the modal auxiliary biso can have either a root (abilitative or permissive) interpretation or an epistemic (possibility) interpretation can be accounted for by proposing two distinct syntactic positions for biso. This claim is supported by the relationship between the word order and interpretation of sentences that contain aspectual markers and biso, sentences that involve fronting, sentences in which biso co-occurs with another modal, and sentences in which biso occurs twice.[]

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Are Permanent Rubber Agroforests an Alternative to Rotational Rubber Cultivation? An Agro-Ecological Perspective

Gregoire Vincent, Fauzan Azhima, Laxman Joshi & John R. Healey, “Are Permanent Rubber Agroforests an Alternative to Rotational Rubber Cultivation? An Agro-Ecological Perspective”, Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 20, 1 (2011): 85-109.
DOI: 10.1080/14728028.2011.9756699


Abstract

MANY RUBBER smallholdings in Indonesia have developed into rubber agroforests as a result of the extensive management of the plantation. The resulting complex multi-species agroforests have a number of environmentally beneficial characteristics including a high level of natural biodiversity. Most environmental benefits would be significantly enhanced if these systems were not taken periodically through a new cycle of slash-and-burn, as normally happens when latex yield drops to uneconomic levels. This paper explores, from an agroecological perspective, the potential for such cyclical systems to be developed into permanent agroforests providing sustained latex yield over a longer time frame without a slash-and-burn intervention. Evidence is provided from direct observations, interviews with farmers and the results of specific agronomic experiments. Enrichment planting of seedling or grafted-clonal rubber plants into existing rubber agroforests resulted in low growth rates as a result of shading from canopy trees and probably below-ground competition. Below-ground competition also probably continued to limit rubber growth at the sapling and pole stage within agroforests. High investment has to be made in physical protection to prevent mortality of planted rubber in agroforests due to wild pig damage. However, direct grafting of clonal buds onto naturally regenerated rubber seedlings within agroforests provides a potential technical alternative. It is concluded that, though technically possible, such development towards permanent forest cover implies a significant change in management strategy and is unlikely to develop spontaneously on a wide scale in the study area in Jambi Province, Indonesia.

Keywords: Jungle rubber, Hevea brasiliensis, enrichment planting, slash and burn, tree competition, grafting, Indonesia.[]

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Rubber Agroforests' Profitability: The Importance of Secondary Products

Ameline Lehébel-Péron, Laurène Feintrenie & Patrice Levang, “Rubber Agroforests' Profitability: The Importance of Secondary Products”, Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 20, 1 (2011): 69-84.
DOI: 10.1080/14728028.2011.9756698


Abstract

INDONESIAN RUBBER agroforests—smallholders' plantations combining a large number of perennial species—are known to provide a number of environmental services. They produce natural rubber as well as various secondary products for cash or home consumption. We estimated the quantities of the various products, the proportions harvested, consumed by the farmer's family or sold, and the cash income generated. Quantities and prices were estimated based on plot surveys and interviews. Economic models of various kinds of agroforest were generated, and the impact of the tree composition on the income was evaluated based on these models. Results show that agroforest products are quite well valued, but that return to land remains low. An enrichment of agroforests in Parkia speciosa Hassk could improve their productivity and help farmers cope with economic crises.

Keywords: Complex agroforestry system, non-timber forest product, economic modeling, Hevea brasiliensis, Parkia speciosa, Sumatra, Indonesia.[]

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