3 Bazaar cultural sphere

"In 17 days we have in Padang five dance parties, one concert, two musical soires
and so many night parties for the remaining nights ..., but, alas, not a single news were
ever heard". If these what he really experienced, there is no wonder that he, the visitor,
would continue his praise, by saying that, the people of Padang — he meant, naturally
the elite with whom he associated himself were very pleasant, "their parties are more
entertaining than the so-called 'receptions' in Batavia, where gentlemen would come to
say hello to the ladies of the house, and indifferently drink thee ..." [Lion 1869].
So, life seems to be full of parties and merry-making in the pleasant and beautiful
Padang. A visitor who have had a good time does, indeed, tend give glowing picture
of the town he has just visited. But, by the end of the 19th century, Padang, while
retaining its militaristic character — with big military hospital, military
compounds, and former military recruits — did gradually become a very-livable- place for
the small European cOmmunity, the colonial urban elite. Its were. not only beautiful
but also the locations of the .momunents of the historical figures (Raaf and Michiels —
the two military heroesof the Padri War — and de Greve, the discoverer of the Ombilin
coal Mine); -whom the small urban elite considered to have laid down the present
"good days" of Padang. By the end of the 19th century it already had three club -
houses. The . first one was even opened as early as 1820 that. is before the time
kolonel Nahuys came with his devastating comments on the town. Twenty seven
years later it had its own building. It was called De Eendracht (Concord). Since
this club was almost exclusively for military personnel, a new club house,
appropriately called Burger Societeit, was established to serve the growing number
civilian officials, as the consequence of the change of military to civil administration,
and enlargement of European business community. In 1898, the club-house, which
initially occupied an old wooden house, acquired a building in a more beautiful and
strategic location, near the beach of Padang, overlooking the wide ocean. Since then it
was called Societeit Ons Genoegen. Not, unlike the first club-house, this one also had
to be enlarged so that bigger get gatherings and art performances could be held at the
club [Amran 1988b].
Club-house was the center of European community life in this small town. It. was in
the secluded sphere of club-house they — the minority in the ocean of the indigenous
people — could expect to find the congenial environment and to observe from a diS-
tance a strange world of the natives. But outside these clubs these European masters
had to deal directly, even in their respective houses and offices, with the inlanders,
the indigenous peoples, whose composition in Padang had become increasingly het-
erogenous. The military recruits and itinerant merchants from various countries had
made this composition more heterogenous. They filled various types of occupations.
Thus, as Buys reported, women from the island of Nias, off the northern west coast,
for example, were much sought after by either Europeans or "Malays" as housekeepers.
The Chinese were mostly shopkeepers or artisants of all sorts of necessities, while the
Keling were mostly tailors or launderers [Buys 1886]. In this situation, the "purity" if
there ever was — of Dutch culture had to be tampered. It was neither adequate to cope
with the tropical climate of a distant land nor able to isolate itself from the
intrusion of "alien" cultures. In the process, the so-called Indisch 5 culture made itself
more apparent. It was a style of life that was neither Dutch (or European) nor
"Indonesian". It was the style of life of a colonial elite that had accommodated itself
with the local situation. It was through this type of cultural attitude and style of
life the colonial
50 n the Indische culture, see [Wertheim 1958; Milone 1966; and particularly Taylor 1983].
masters-could hope to establish a meaningful communication-with the majority
and -to glimpse the indigenous. world of meanings. In Other Words the Indisch
ctiltural style was at the .same time a colonial cultural moorings, in which the colonial
masters found their cultural solace amidst the strange world of the inlander, and the
symbolic communication system that could to some extent bridge the cultural gaps
between the colonial masters and their subjects. It was with this later aspect-of
Indische cultuur that the, colonial masters gave. their share in the formation of_ the
schakel world and the formation of bazaar cultural orientations.
The cultural sphere is a world of pretense. It is away to minimize the political
and psychological impacts of colonial domination. A make-belief frame of mind the
cyultural tendency ideologically negates the functionality of colonial relationship. The
basically antagonistic relationship between colonial superior and the indigenous inferior
is seen as it is an alliance of two friendly societies. With this frame of mind, not only the
existence of an alien power can be culturally tolerated, the sense of humiliation of being
subjugated can to some extent be minimized. In Padang this frame of mind was instru-
mental in creating the myth of the alliance between Padang (and its antecedents) with
the Company, with the slogan of Aso Solok, duo Salayo, tigo Padang, kaampek
jen Kompani. It was also this world that sustained the myth of Plakat Panjang —
the document issued in 1832, which emphasized the "partnership" between the Dutch
and the Minangkabau. This world of pretense is not only a, way to minimize the feeling
of political deprivation in a colonial setting, but also a pyschological bastion in the
dealing the growing superiority of colonial power [Abdullah 1976; Kuitenbrouwer 1982].
This frame of mind slowly emerged in towns, where the impacts of colonial domination
were directly felt. Its crisis also began in towns, where racial categories were becom-
ing the dominant feature in colonial relationship. Obviously this schakel world, which
tried to bridge the gap — hence, schakel, intermediary — between ruler and ruled, was
once in a while harassed by the hard realities that could never be properly concealed.
Despite these temporary harassments — a riot might happen, scattered uprisings might
occur, or Dutch officials might fail to pay proper respect to traditional authorities —
this intermediary world provided a colonial setting where divergent cultural traits met
and intermingled with each others. In the process bazaar culture was in the making.
In this sphere symbols and life styles were simply exchanged and gradually shared to-
gether. Ethnic or religious genesis of the traits were made irrelevant. Cultural traits
and symbols were simply shared and used as long as they could satisfy the needs of the
heterogenous population for meaningful communication.
Since the imposition of Dutch colonial power in the heartland of Minangkabau,
Padang had not only increasingly become a very attractive rantau for the migrants
front the Highlands and a town of opportunities for other nationalities, it- was -
also a a;:place• of exile for -Many politically unwanted elements from other parts
of the.-- - Netherlands Indies. Some Of these political exiles were very prominent figures in
their-- respective communities — a raja from Bali, a spritual leader of a -social
movement from Java (the famous Samin Sarantiko) and others. After the outbreak of
the so-called Aceh War (1872) Padang also became..a place of exile for the Acehnese
leading fighters.- Although the exiles were always under police surveillance they were
practically free to intermingle with the local population. The majority of other
Indonesian ethnic groups Who came and lived in Padang were military conscripts
from Java. By the beginning of the 20th century there was already a sizable number
of second generation Javanese living in Padang and other parts of Minangkabau. Many
of them had abandoned their Javanese names or even had formally acquired
Minangkabau adat titles fAmran 1988b].
It was, perhaps, not accidental that this cultural sphere developed during the pro-
cess of bureaucratization of traditional polity. One phenomenon supported the other.
More significantly, the growth of culture can never properly explained without a ref-
erence to the formation of capitalistic social relation. In spite of, perhaps, because of
the political defeat, by the end of the 19th century the indigenous trading community
in Padang had grown in size and in influence. This community had only expanded the
sphere of market influence in daily life but also began to cultivate certain style of life.
These two culturally significant tendencies radiated to other sectors of society. In addi-
tion to material goods, services, entertainment and information had become marketable
commodities. What is more important was the fact that the bazaar cultural sphere was
not confined to isolated settlement, it was an international, or at least, inter-regional
in orientation. Within this type of cosmopolitanism the flow of information, ideas, and
particularly, urban entertaintment run rather smoothly. In some ways bazaar cultural
sphere can be seen as an integrative factor of the heterogenous local population and
as a linkage of the various urban settlements. It is therefore undertandable that the
Eurasians, the Judo, along with the Chinese and the Arabs, emerged as the cultural
pioneers. Relatively liberated "from their respective traditional cultural constraints,
these minorities were very keen on creating a congenial cultural sphere. Their growing
economic influence opened up so many doors that hitherto still closed to them. Thus,
the exclusive societeit, clubs, finally opened their doors to them, particularly to those
who had been gelijkgesteld, whose legal right had been equalized with that of the
Europeans. At the end of the century a new club-house, simply called De Club, was
opened. Unlike the older and rather elitist clubs, this one admitted as its members
any gelijkgesteld persons of different nationalities and lower ranking military person-
nel. By that time rich Chinese merchants had become familiar faces in the European
gatherings. The Chinese kapitan, tie Say, who had the reputation of being "a very-
intelligent person" and "g, very good chess player"- [Lion 1g69: 27], quite often invited
high officials with their respective- ladies to _his.-mansion. The owner of the most suc-
cessful markets in Padang, the rich Chinese captain was also reported to be the biggest
contributor to the erection of a new big Protestant church.
- One of the most important cultural impacts of the attitude was the gradual
acceptance of Western education. In a situation of conflict this cultural gesture of
educating the people could easily be rejected as the ploy of the kafir, infidels,
government to deviate the Muslims from "the right path". But the schakel world
minimized this antagonistic posture. The importance of this world of pretense,
which was supported by the myth of Plakat Panjang becomes clearer if we realize
that most of urban centers in the Residency had from the beginning been
functioning as the central military fortresses and coffee warehouses to their
respective surroundings. In the 1850s these towns shared another similarity. Its
government buildings, either those of the European or "native" officials, had to provide
spaces for class rooms. In Payakumbuh, for example, a space was provided for 16
pupils to learn the essential three Rs at the hall of indigenous rumah bicara, or to
put more correctly, in the balai adat, the adat hall. In Solok a simple bamboo
building was erected for class room, where 48 pupils learned, on the yard of the
office of the district officer. Similar situation could be found in Pariaman with its 35
pupils. All of the pupils were sons or nephews of the inlandsch hoofden, native chiefs
[Buddingh 1861 III: 28, 187, 212, 219]. By the end of the 19th century these native
educated class had filled most of minor offices in the government branches. In 1890 the
number od "native" educated class and succesful merchants and brokers had so
much increased that they strong enough to have their own club-house. It was called
Medan Perdamaian Laras nan Dua, (The Hall of Peace of the Two Laras). Here, in
this hall, they, who began to wear Western style pantalon long trousers, sans
coulot) in the 1870s, could discuss anything of common interest or simply enoyecl
typical coastal Malay-Minangkabau bazaar music, the kaparinyo, a Portuguese
influenced traditional rythm.
 In addition to the dress style of the young and educated gentlemen, entertainment
and newspaper publications were two of the most important bazaar cultural phenom-
ena in Padang at the turn of the century. In 1880s komedi Parsi, a Malay song-and -
music theatrical play, was already very popular in Padang. The play was brought from
Riau to Padang by Si Nong [Kerkholf 1886] (a son of Raja Burhanudin of Batavia,
who was, incidentally a grand son of Sultan Bagagar Syah, the exiled last king of
Minangkabau [Amran 1988b: 221]).
In a way this play can be seen as a kind of forum in which most of the known genre of

Malay poetry,-such as pantun, seloka, gurindam,- and especially syair6 were

enacted. The lyrids were-sung according to the various types of melodies (lagu)i.with, if
need be,. some Changes to suit the tempo and the rythm. The orchestra generally
consisted of a several violins, a kecapi,- a couple of tambourines (rebana) and drums
and cymbals. Sometirhes Western music, such as march or dance tunes, were played
in between Malay music tKerkehoff 1886]. This musical drama; which might had been
introduced to Riau from Pontianak, through Singapore, usually performed famous
Malay hikayat, either those that had been influenced by Persia or adaptation from
Persian or Malay translations of Javanese romances. Some of the most popular plays
were , Syair Sri Bidasari, and Syair Ken Tam buhan and many others.' The plays must
have been very popular among the urban population. The plays took them to the
world of dream, which was adorned by colourful costumes. Not rarely the actors of
these all male casting drama (the female parts were played by young actors) wore copies
of the actual costumes of the native rulers of the East Coast of Sumatra. Chinese,
Persian, and European dresses were also popular properties of these musical drama.
The companies or kongsi were usually owned by the actors themselves, although with
some fiancial backing from Chinese (sometimes indigenous) money lenders.
A new type of theatrical performance was introduced at the turn of the century. The
introduction of this new stage performance also meant the end of the kongsi tradition.
Since that time it was the boss, no longer the actors, who owned the company. In 1891
August Mahieu, a French-Eurasian, supported by some Chinese capitalists, introduced
his creation in Surabaya. Since all of its earliest repertoire was exclusively drawn from
stories of, it was popularly called komedi Stamboel (or was simply called stambul
— derived from Istambul, the then capital of Ottoman empire). Although its repertoire
was later much enlarged — due to its gaining popularity, particularly among the Chinese
and the Indo communities — the majority of the stories performed were still largely
dealt with the lives of the princes and princesses in the never-never lands. Therefore, it
was also later called komidi bangsawan (the Aristocrats'Comedy). By the beginning
of the third decade of the century this Indische opera had performed in most of the
important towns and cities in Java and Sumatra. More importantly it also began to
perform more or less realistic stories, such as, a Betawi "folklore" that is still popular
until the present day, or historical heroic romances, such as, a "social bandit" in colonial
Batavia. At the peak of its development the Stamboel also included in its repertoire
drama from other countries.8 But at this time, this "song -and -music" drama was
begun to be challenged by another theatrical genre — a modern theater, pioneered by
60n these genre of classical Malay poetry, see for example, [Winstedt. 1940]. 7 On the Malay

hikayat, see also [Winstedt 1940].

This portion is based on Mannsama, n.d.
8

Dardanella; had begun to attract the attention of urban audience. Dance and-
song were no longerparts the drama. They were performed only during intermezzo;
between:. - the scenes. Dialognes were no longer. sung, but realistically spoken.. The_
:Chinese and the Indo were once. again the early financial backers of this new genre. -
A lasting impact of the:commercial and urban-based theater was the gradual change
of Minangkabau traditional dance-and- drama, the randai. The present forth of the
randai can really be traced to the peak popularity of the urban theater in the 1930s.
With the repertoire exclusively drawn from Minangkabau kaba, stories, with the ac-
companiment of the pencak dance (traditional self-defense art) and the sounds of
talempong and other instruments, the all male-casting randai also became popular
among the urban population [Mob. Anies 1986]. In other words, since the 1930s tradi-
tional arts had begun to penetrate market economy. Eventhough, it should be noted,
the randai troupes remain, until to-day, amateur, whose main jobs are entirely outside
their artistic activities.
These urban and commercial performances directly responsible for the emergence
of various amateur drama groups. Since the 1910s it bad became a custom for middle
level schools to perform drama. in their school celebrations — thus, the Sekolah Raja
in Bukittinggi proudly presented the drama of Cindue Mato — or youth organizations
to generate contributions from their respective donors. In Padang the commercial (and
professional) performances were usually staged at the performing hall.
In the 1910s Padang also became acquainted with the silver screen, the movie. At
first it was shown in the club-house, Ons Genoegen. With its gaining popularity
several movie houses were opened. By the beginning of 1930s Padang had already
acquired seven movie-houses — some of them are still in operation to-day.
The Indo or Eurasians, who belonged to two different political world, were the first
to take advantage of the emerging bazaar culture and the growing size of trading
and reading public. They started the process of the development of print - capitalism
in Padang, and indeed, in the whole Sumatra. Although they were later overtaken
and replaced by the Chinese and Minangkabau publicists, the 19th century is rightly
considered to be their century as fas as newspaper publication is concerned. Thank to
their activities, the late 19th and early 20th centuries Padang can rightly be considered
as the intellectual center of Sumatra. At the peak of its development (1915) there were
no less eight newpapers, in Dutch and Malay languages, published in Padang. Although
the number of publications does not in any way indicate the continuing appearance of
the newspapers, it is still safe to conclude that as far the number of publications is
concerned the period between the 1910s and 1920s may rightly be seen as "the golden
decade" of newpaper publications in Padang.

But, let have a glance at the "cultural:services" Of the Indo.publicists-cum-capitalists.

In 1859_L.N.H,A. Chatelin published the first newspaper in Padang. Written in
Dutch, it was called Sumatra Courant. At the beginning this Judo gentleman served-
as both - the publisher and editor. For some unclear reason be was replaced as the
publisher by H.A. -Mess, a former lower ranking government official. Chatelin only
appeared as . the editor of the weekly newspaper. In 1878-the Sumatra Courant was
published three. times a week. But Chatelin, the pioneer, was largely forgotten. Mess,
in the meantime, had become the "local king" of newspapers. He controled several
publications.
Not long after the appearance of the Sumatra Courant, R.H. van Wijk published
Padangsch Niews en Advertentieblad. The third oldest newspaper in Padang was
Padangsch Handelsblad. It was published by a large company, H.J. Klitsch & Co, in
1871. The company was owned by a prominent Indo family. Its first editor was
then a very famous lawyer, J. van Bosse. In 1883 it changed its name to Nieuw
Padangsch Handelsblad. By the end of the 19th century, when the number of Dutch
population in the whole Residency of Westcoast of Sumatra were less than two
thousand, Padang had four Dutch language newspapers. Because in 1892 Paul
Baumer, a rich German- Eurasian, published the durable Sumatra Bode. But in
January, 1900 Sumatra Courant merged Nieuw Padangsch Handelsblad. The new
newspaper, now a daily, was called De Pad anger. As the names of the newspapers
clearly indicate their main interests and concerns were commercial and trading
news and advertisement. But, typical of the Eurasian publications, once in a while,
these newspapers expressed the social and political concerns of the group, who was
caught between colonial masters and their subjects.
By the beginning of the century, however, Malay language publications had already
gained important position as opinion-makers. Again in this field, the Eurasian took
the first initiative. In 1877 Arnold Snackey, a son of the daughter of an adat chief,
published the first Malay weekly newspaper, Bentara Melajoe. Although the editor,
Snackey, who was, perhaps, the most knowledgable Judo on Minangkabau history and
adat in his time, never wasted opportunities to write about Minangkabau past and
legends, the weekly newspaper lasted only half a year. The reading public was still
limited to patronize a newspaper.
Nineteen years later, in 1886, the publisher of Sumatra Courant, Mess followed
Snackey's step. He came up with Palita Ketjil — a more lasting newspaper. He was
lucky to get Mahyuddin Datuk Sutan Maharadja, a former jaksa, attorney, as the
editor of the newspaper. An adat chief in his nagari, Datuk Sutan Maharadja not
only proved himself a prolific writer but also an ardent advocate of social change. Not
without reason that van Houle! and Schrieke, two prominent Dutch scholars, called

him as "the father of Malay journalism".9 MOre would said about him later, but he
did not Stay more than a few years in the newspaper.. Perhaps; because of his
resignation, the Palita Ketjil had to cease publication. In 1892 Mess published
another Malay newspaper, Pertja Barat. It was under the editorship of a Batak school
teacher, Dja Endar Moeda, who was at the same time served as the editor of a Batak
language publication, Tapian na Uli. In the late 1910s Dja Endar -Moeda moved to
Medan to serve as the first editor of Pewarta Deli.
After resigning from the Palita Ketjil, Datuk Sutan Maharadja and his younger
brother published Warta Berta, which was, perhaps the first newspaper published by
an indegenous publisher. But it lasted only ten years. Datuk Sutan Maharadja himself
joined the Tjaja Soematra, which had appeared since 1897 under the editorship of Lim
Soen Lin, a Chinese. The newspaper was owned by Baumer.
So, at the close of the 19th century, Padang had not only seen "the rise and demise"
of Eurasian owned Dutch language newspapers, but also the early phase of the almost
never ending period. of "trial and error" of Malay language publications. The new
century was not only saw the beginning of the new era of Dutch colonialism, with
its new liberal policies, but also the maturity of the bazaar cultural sphere and the
schakel society. In these maturities also laid the foundation of their own demise. And
Padang was about the experience its culural conflict and to a lesser extent, its social
fragementation.

4 The Decline of Aristocratic Class

Whatever its literary merits, Siti Noerbaja, a melodramatic novel that has been
widely regarded as the pioneer of modern Indonesian novel, is, from historical point of
view, quite important. Written by Marah Rusli, a coastal aristocrat, the novel reflects
social sphere of Padang at turn of the century. In addition to its cultural attitude that
clearly finds its most congenial moorings in the sphere of bazaar-culture, the novel
— an aesthetically imagined world as what the novel actually is — describes the growing
influence of the merchant class, who came mostly from the Highlands and the declining
position of the local aristoctratic class. It also shows a significant aristocratic internal
tension, between those who were struggling to find honorable place in the colonial niche,
through modern education, and those who clinged to traditional aristocratic mores.
In short, the seating of the novel is the changing sphere of the social world of
Padang.
A melodrama is the story of human inability to face unexpected challenges. But,
the significance of the novel lies in it description of the failed romantic love between
This portion is based on [Arnran 19881)].
9

-two-young-educated urban elites. Minatigkabau literary tradition is quite familiar

with the-theme of tragic ending of romantic love. But, if in the past regardless the:
deep symphathy commonly shared by the story teller and his audience to thee-
-

personae of the story ---- romantic: love was always treated as a kind of .rebellion
against the all too demanding social expectations, the Sit] Noerbaja not only treats-it
as natural, but also glorifies it. The love between -Siti Noerbaja, the -daughter of a rich
merchant, and Samsoelbahri, the son of an aristocratic high official in Padang, are
supported by their respective -parents. They the parents, have even visualized the
time when the two educated youths could be together. But the socially sanctioned
dream is destroyed by the treachery of a robber-merchant, whose main aim in life is
only to make money and more money, without any regards to whatever considered to
be noble and sacrosant. The tragic ends of Siti Noerbaja and Samsoelbahri, and their
respective parents, should not be seen, as this rather didactical novel explicitly
suggests, as the failure of adat to sanction this romantic love. The tragic end genuinely
reflects a society in a transitional period, when the lure of newly acquired wealth has
begun to undermine the sanctity of adat ethical conduct.
Romantic love between two educated youths would become an important theme
of the other novels, written by Minangkabau writers in the 1920s and 30s. Arranged
marriage, the only known system in this matrilineal society, with its extended family
system, and the attachment to the old notion of family- glory, which manifests itself in
the selection of son-in-laws are two most important cultural "culprits" of these early
modern Indonesian novels. But if the social world of Padang is used as the setting of
the plot, the novelist rarely fails to add another dimension to above mentioned social
criticism. Some novels, not unlike Sit] Noerbaja, also take aristocratic style of life as
the main target. The convention that a male aristocrat should have more than one
wife and, worse still, should be "invited" to become a "worthy" sumando ("in-married
guest"), without any economic, and even, social responsibility to his several families
— after all in this matrilocal social system woman remains under the guardianship of
her matrilineal extended family — are consistently ridiculed by the novels. And, true
enough, by the educated, Islamic or Western, youth in Padang.
By the time Marah Rusli published his novel, Siti Noerbaja, the office of the Regent,
the political pillar of the aristocratic cliques of Padang, had been abolished. The
adat-administration had already been replaced by a purely bureaucratic officialdom.
Religious and intellectual activities in Padang had also by that time increasingly under
the influence of the Highlanders, the recent "migrants" from the interior. These were
the people who were relatively more successful in educational and economic fields.
Education and wealth had become more important. Padang, the colonial town had

begun to reject its own elite the elite that had supported the colonial establishment
-
for almost to and half century.- -
It all began, in the early 17th century, when the Acehenese monarch exerted his• •
power in the _then pepper rich. region of Padang. A Minangkabau text explains this -
historical fact as the Compensation for the unfaithfulness of the Minangkabau
king to his wife, the daughter of the great Acehenese monarch [Abdullah 1970]
•Despite this claim, the subjugation-of the western coast of Minangkabau cannot be
separated from the beginning of Dutch 'involvement in the pepper trade. In order
to secure • his position the Achenese king- appointed some one called Panglima
Nando, as the panglima. But he failed to secure the support of the eight penghulu,
the indigenous rulers of Padang. In the 1660s, • in their determination to get rid of
the "Achenese yoke", these adat rulers, who, like their anak buah, or followers,
came from the Highlands, sealed an alliance with the V.O.C., the Dutch East
Indies Company. In 1666 the acknowledged leader of the eight adat-chiefs or
penghulu, Orang Kaya Kecil (Urangkayo Kaciak)' was recognized by the V.O.C. as
the governor of Padang, the successor to the expelled Acehenese panglima. The next
year the Minangkabau king, who resided in Pagarruyung, in the interior (Tanah
Datar), sent a delegation to the Dutch factory in Pulau Cingkuk (near Painan).
Both finally agreed that while the V.O.C. recognized the souvereignty of the king
as a token of this recognition the V.O.C. should send annual tribute — the
Minangkabau souvereign recognized the validity of the agreement between the
V.O.C. and the penghulu of Padang and the appointment of Orang Kaya Kecil
as the panglima.1° This agreement might well be the beginning, or most probably, an
historical confirmation of the Minangkabau political dictum, luhak bapanghulu,
rantau barajo, that is the regions of luhak (the interior) has its (many) penghulu,
and every rantau region has its respective (one) raja. But, more importantly with
this agreement, the people of Padang, who neither forgot in their collective memory
that they came from the interior, nor ever abandoned their matrilineal adat system,
began to develop their distinct political system. An aristoctratic class was already in
the making.
In addition to the official recognition of the Minangkabau king or Yang di pertuan
Pagarruyung and the political support of the V.O.C., the process toward the forma-
tion of a distinct aristocratic class was facilitated by marriage alliances that took place
with the Sultanate of Indrapura. Their offsprings in Padang were given aristocratic
titles. The continuing flow of new blood from the darek, the highland, also added
to this aristocrtaic tendency. Some of the newcomers were penghulu adat in their
respective suku in the highland. In Padang, the rantau territory, they demanded, and
'°See section I of this paper.

usually succeeded, -equal treatment as being the persons whose,social positions

should be somewhat elated.' The -offsprings of these "in-married" -(sumando) to the
local nobility were -accepted as the members of-the aristocratic class.
The formation of this aristocratic class was, naturally, very -much dependent on
the type of political structure that finally_ emerged after that historic agreement. The
penghuluship was basically a genealogical concept. A penghulu ruled over his .anak
buah, followers, who were tied by matrilineally based kinship system. But in Padang
the frontier, or rantau, that was occupied by the new corners-- the penghulu ruled
over certain localities. In other words it was at the same time a territorial concept.
By the beginning of the 19th century, the eight original penghulu had definitively
also became the heads of eigth districts (wijk). But, following the tradition in the
heartland of Minangkabau, the region of the Luhak nan Tigo, these districts —
hence their respective penghuluship — were divided into two adat divisions, or laras,
namely the Bodi Caniago and the Koto Piliang. Unlike in the heartland, where these
two laras are seen as the two distinct political systems (or more appropriately, two
different systems of of penghuluship lAbdullah 1966], in Padang this division simply
indicates the existence of two phratries. But, living within the same political boundaries
— unlike in the interior, where each nagari was, politically speaking, an island in
itself (or relatively so) — these two divisions were manifested in the division of power.
In 1730 a new office was created, with the title Datuk Bandaharo (the title might
remind one with the Bendahara in the royal Malay tradition), who would serve as the
deputy of the panglima, and the eventual successor to the highest office. But, it was
decided that they should belong to different laras. If the panglima belonged to the
Bodi Caniago, then the datuk Badaharo should come from the Koto Piliang. With
this arrangement the two phratries would, hopefully, have equal share in the
division of power — if not syncronically, then at least diacronically the equality can
be guaranteed. Let God decide who would rule the longest. Holders of the two highest
positions were elected from the penghulu group. But, if someone was elected as the
panglima he had to resign as the penghulu, while the Datuk Bandaharo maintained
his position as the penghulu. In other words the ideal composition of the ruling
aristocrats consisted of one panglima, one Datuk Bandaharo and seven penghulu.
The moment someone was elected as the panglima, a new penghulu election in
one's suku (as an adat category) and one's district (as an administrative category)
was immediately held. Needless to say that only those who belonged to the penghulu
extended family that were eligible for the vacant penghulu position. Nor should it. be
emphasized that the
''Interviews conducted with several "aristocratic" local historians of Padang in 1973 (Interview
was conducted with Ishaq Thaher of the IMP Padang).

final decision was made by the.colonial authorities.

It was on the basis of this power structure, which, as: has heen indicated earlier,
had "new blood" from both the kingly tradition of Indrapura-and the supposedly
adat-sanctioned "aristocracy" from the heartland, the local aristocracy of Padang
gradually grew. Eventhough the foundation of this aristocratic structure was laid down
by patrilineal principle — the children of the "in-married"(sumando) of, say, an aris-
tocrat:from Indrapura were acknowledged as members of.the aristocrats — it gradually
based itself on the matrilineal descent system. The social background of the mother
became the determining factor in placing one's status. The children of a highly placed
mother, a putri or (in Minangkabau) puti, would be given the aristocratic titles sutan
for males and puti for females. But if the mother were a commoner, then the male
children would be called marah, and the female ones, sitti.'2 Obviously these titles
not only functioned as symbols of one's status in aristocratic structure, but also, and
more significantly, as social boundaries as well. Only those who had these aristocratic
titles had any opportunity to occupy adat and administrative positions — the two
functions that were treated as one until the 1910s. With wealth, mostly in land, and
power and priveleges, this distinct social class developed its own style of life. In time
when Padang began to experience social change, as will be discussed later, this style of
life would be the subject social criticism, or even ribald remarks.
A few years after the British interregnum, in 1821, an important change in the
indigenous administration was introduced. In addition the penghulu, whose number
since 1730 has been been increased to twelve (with the coming of four highly resepected
penghulu from the Highland), twelve soedagar or "merchants" were appointed. They
were considered to be the representatives of the recent "migrants" from the Highlands
— six of them came from the XIII Koto (Solok).and the other six from Tanah Datar.
This appointment reflects the growing importance of the Highlanders in Padang. The
abolition of this "representative system" and its replacement by a new one only em-
phasized the growing concern of the Dutch over these people from the darek. In 1826
— that is five years after the Dutch in Padang intervened in the Padri War — the
so-called "Malays" from the Highlands were, administratively speaking, treated as
the
12Actually it is more complex than this. The marah and sitti class can be divided into three

categories:
a.Marah tumbueh di puncak (Marah who grows on the top)- the father is a sutan but the
mother is a sitti.
b. Marah tumbueh di lereng (Marah who grows on the slopes)- the father is asutan, but the
mother is a commoner.
c. Marah tumbueh di lambah (Marah who grows in the valley)- the father is a marah, but
the mother is a commoner.
Interview withan adat leader of Padang, December 1973.

Chinese. They were put under their kapitan, who was assisted by-two•luitenants.
One was entrusted to be in charge of the Pasar Mudik and the other of the Pasar Mir,_
the two- biggest markets at that time. This system, however, run out of its- usefulneSs
with the 'Dutch victory over the Padri forces and the eventual unification of Padang and
the rest of the Minangkabau world. Eventhough for a while the people from the
Highland were still looked after by their respective penghulu dagang, their informal
leaders, administrativelythey.were put under the jurisdiction of existing local power
structure. But, in the meantime, the number of the, both as the penghulu lineage and
territorial heads, was reduced again to eight.13
Not unlike the situation in Java, which has been superbly analyzed by Schrieke
[Schrieke 1956], and, indeed, in other areas, too, the process of transforming "native
rulers" into salaried civil servants also took place in Padang. In time when the V.O.C.
decided to stop giving credits to all indigenous merchants and brokers, the penghulu
class was excempted [Dobbin 1983: 81-82]. But, this was only a way to make them
more dependent on the'Dutch. Later, with the official establishment of the government
of the Netherlands Indies the panglima Regent and the penghulu wijk (who were
also at the same. time the penghulu adat) were given salaries. But, again, not unlike
the situation in Java, the position of these "native rulers" vis-a-vis their people were
strengthened, both symbolically and structurally. In accordance with Minangkabau
emerging political system, which had become predominant after the Padri war, each
penghulu wijk should be accompanied by an imam wijk, who was in charge of
religious matters. Unlike in the Highland, in Padang, the imam was appointed by
the penghulu wijk with the approval of the panglima Regent (later called Tuanku
Regent ). It was proper enough for the penghulu to appoint someone from his own
suku. Padang then had eight imam wijk. But one of them might be appointed by
the Regent as the kadi, who would serve as his advisor in religious matters. and at
the same time became the chairman of the imam wijk. Again it is not difficult to
understand that the Regent would also appoint his own man. And, since the number of
the imam should remain eight the Regent had another possibility to appoint his own
supporter. The kadi would be the counterpart of the Tuanku Bandaharo, who, while
waiting his time to become the next Regent, was in charge of adat matters. Because of
this function the Tuanku Bandahara was sometimes referred to as Rajo Adat. All
of these- political and adat appointees had their respective official uniforms and other
ceremonial ascesories.
From the perspective of Minangkabau political tradition, Padang should be con-
13 Unless otherwise cited the discussion on colonial-sanctioned indigenous power structure is based
on the articles of darwis Datuk Madjolelo, a former demang of Padang, reprinted in Adatrectbundel.

sidered as-the first and earliest actual supra-nagari political organization. Despite-
his
position as merely the head of a wijk. section,- the pefighulu wijk can practically
be- seen as the nagari head. The sheer size of the wijk had made his power even
greater than that of the nagari heads-in the Highland. If the nagari head had to consider
the legitimate power of the kerapatan adat, the adat council, whose members
consisted of other penghulu from several suku, the penghulu wijk simply had
to rely on the judgement of the Tuanku Regen. These authoritarian tendencies,
however, were somewhat tempered by three types. of kerapatan or council, where
the ruling elite of Padang could settle various administrative, adat, and religious
matters. In these councils the members of the ruling elite had to base their judgment
on the commonly accepted decisions. The first council was called rapat ketek, small
council, whose members consisted of the eight heads of the districts (wijk). It was
under the chairmanship of the bandaharo, the main function of this rapat was to
settle all matters pertaining to adat. Religious problems were taken care of by the
rapat agamo, the religiopus council. Its members were the imam wijk and khatib
and the kadi. The council was under the chairman of the Tuanku Regen.
The most important council was the Rapat basa, "great council". This rapat was
actually a part of colonial judicial system. It practically functioned as a stepping stone
to the abolition of Minangkabau judiciary power. Established in 1837, it was put under
the supervision of the Hight Court. Its members were the regent, the bandaharo, the
kadi, and the seven penghulu. Its main functions were to settle all problems that
might arise among the penghulu, and to deal with criminal cases. But, all criminal
cases that were conducted by the indigenous people towards foreigners were tried by
the government court (landraad). Likewise all judicial problems that could not be
included into the jurisdiction of rapat basa were to be tackled by the landraad
[Amran 1985: 230-231j. In other words, despite all the pomp and splendid procession
that usually accompanied the Tuanku Regen and his entourage every time they were
to participate in the rapat basa, the power of the council had been curtailed since its
early inception. In the 1870s the government of the Netherlands Indies had practically
taken over all adat judicial power, not ony in Padang, but also in other parts of the
Minangkabau region.
The above described power structure had two faces. On the one hand the whole
system strengtened the power of the local aristocracy on the society. In the process
local aristocratic tradition gradually emerged and grew. But, on the other hand, this
power structure was created to such an extent that it was entirely dependent on the
government. When it had lost its usefulness it could easily be abolished or changed in
accordance with the needs of time. The irony is that once the structure had entrenched

-itself in social reality, it not only invented-its own tradition, but alsO a left a deep
mark - in the collective .memory. By -the end of the 19th century- Padang began to
experience •. -the situation when the structure- had lost its practical usefulness and its
custodians
failed to-tope properly with the changing reality. A crisis of the aristocracy had
begun.
Obviously one of the most important consequences of the administrative unification.
of Padang with the rest of Minangkabau world, after the Padri war, was that the
-government had to-see the Regent as one of the supra-nagari federation in Minangkabau.
As such the regent of Padang was ranked as the Hoofdregent, the head regent. He
--

.received a much higher salary than the other regents in the Highland. Even after
the regent system was abandoned and changed into the laras system, the position of
Padang remained intact. But, one of the main functions of these nagari-federation
heads, the tuanku laras, was to supervise the forced coffee cultivation. The rapid
decline of coffee production in the late 19th century made the usefulness of the the
tuanku laras, as the administrative and adat head of the sometimes rather artificially
created nagari federation became no longer sustainable. By the end of 19th century
the government had already decided to let the laras system faced the natural death.
In other words, since that time no new tuanku laras was to be appointed. Similar
situation occurred in Padang. The Panama or tuanku regen, whose position as the
hoofdregent had been demoted to merely a regent, was facing a natural death. In
1904 the post of bandaharo was abolished. In 1910 the penghulu wijk followed suit.
Padang was then divided into 13 kampung, which was purely a territorial concept.
The person to be appointed as the kepala kampung could be either a local aristocrat
or a commoner. The monopoly of administrative power of the local aristocracy had
been broken. Finally, in 1914, the tuanku regen was retired, without a single of his
requests was ever granted by the government [Amran 1988b: 167-170].
In fifty years since the adminstrative unification of Minangkabau under the colonial
government, it had not only learned that the attempt to implant the Javanese system of
having the Regent as the head of a quite sizable district failed disastrously to function
in the political tradition of independent nagari. But also the merging of adat and
adminsitrative functions of an appointed head of a supra-nagari organization could
not be upheld. Not unlike in Padang, in the Highland, these adat-cum-adminstrative
nagari-federation head had also gradually "invented" its "aristocratic" tradition. But,
in the first place, this "invented" tradition was too expensive to sustain, particularly
in time when coffee production had continously declined. Secondly, this double power
gave ample opportunity to the tuanku laras to exert his influence over two or three
nagari under his supervision. This might. be to the advantage of the government, but
the tradition that had been invented could also have the capacity to reject whatever
reform the.goVernment might want to impose on the village-communities. This what
happened in". 1,90S, when the scattered anti-tax rebellions broke out in the.provinee.
Some tuanku_ laras were found to. be actively engaged in the, politics of opposition.
But more importantly, the continuing process of bureaucratization had finally forced
the government to make a chaise between "inherited right" (that was: given by adat)
and .."modern.-education" (that had to be provided). The -chaise had to be made,
because the ideal solution — that is a person of high birth was also the.most qualified
candidate could not always easy to find, despite all the efforts. The situation was
worse in Padang.. No where in the ReSidency of West Sumatra the gap between "good
education" and "high birth" was larger than Padang. Since the great fiasco in 1826 the
Dutch government practically failed to raise the confidence of the local aristocrats to
receive Western education in Padang. The initial success in introducing Dutch system
of education was soon terminated after the request of the local elite to have Islamic
religious instruction included in the curriculum was flatly rejected. This rejection was
taken to indicate that their main objective of the school was nothing less than to
Christianize the people [Graves 1971: 251-253]. Once the trust was felt to have been
betrayed, it took years to recover. But, in the meantime the people in the Highland had
begun to see opportunities in education as a way to solve their colonial problems. With
their educational background these people began to fill the still very limited number
of bureaucratic posts available. Pakhuis master and jaksa, public prosecutor, the
two most most sought after positions, not only promised wealth, but also career in
the newly established colonial bureaucracy. With the abolition of the office of tuanku
regen and the separation adat and administrative jurisdictions, the possibility of the
people from the Highland to get a bureaucratic position in Padang became bigger. This
could mean nothing less than a furher erosion of the aristocratic prestige.
Education was not the only advantage of the Highlander over the aristocratic elite
of Padang. Success in business venture was another path that could lead one to sponsor
one's relatives in the new world of colonial bureaucracy. Perhaps, no one was more
successful in using business connections to ensure the advancement of his relatives in
government services than Haji Abdul Gani Rajo Ma.ngkuto, from Kota Gedang —
a nagari, near Fort de Kock (Bukittinggi). Gani might well be the richest man in
Minangkabau in the late 19th century. After working as a. very unqualified teacher in
the newly open normal school, the future Sekolah Raja14 in Bukittinggi, Gani, the
protege of the Resident, Steinmetz (whose name can never be separated from the early
history "modern" education in Minangkabau EGaves 1971; Amran 1988b; Kroeskamp
"According to the report of a school inspector who visited Fort de Kock, quoted by Kroeskamp
[1974: 3221.

_ 1974D - reqigned (1857).-- -was soon -appointed by Steinmetz as the pakhuis.

master.
Here Gani found his real elements. The very enterprising Gani was already on his
way up. He was 'not only a successful pakhuis master, who could satisfy his
emplOyer, the government he also proved to be a- realentrepreneur in his own right.
,

One might easily see his biography as the protoptype of entrepreneurial-power

holder. Through his friendship and' influence he managed to enroll many of his relatives
in the Sekolah Raja, the teacherS' trailing school that mostly "produced" future
bureaucrats. He established family relationship with potential members of the
emerging indigenous colonial elite. By the end of the century, Gani, who was the
earliest Minangkabau to haVe an audience with the Dutch Queen, had managed to fill
so many important posts in several places in the Residency that even aroused the
suspicion of Dutch private citizens. In 1876, for example, the Sumatra Courant
accussed him of being the leader of the so-called kongsi Kotagedang, "which is
attempting to established a family regime in Sumatra" [Amran 1988: 264].
Gani was the.Most illustrious and the most successful Minangkabau who profitably
used any opportunities that were available in the colonial setting. His efforts laid the
foundation of the reputation of Kota Gedang, the small village used to be known as the
center gold and silver works, as the village of the intelek, the educated, and officials.
But, he was not an exeption. In much smaller scales other individuals also emerged
to take whatever opportunities there were under political domination of a colonial
power. Against these dynamic Highlanders the complacent Padang aristocrats, who
remained proud of their traditional position as being orang jemputan, the person
who was "invited" to become the son-in-law of the house, simply had no chance in
the competition. By the second decade of the century they already became subjects of
ribald laughing stock. If the sutan and the puti prefered to be seen as the manusia
kelas satu, first class human being, why not look at the marah and the sitti as the
manusia kelas dua, the second class? Aristocratic hierachy was seen as an absurdity.
Money and education had taken their tolls — an aristocratic establishment had been
made irrelevant. The bureaucratic process that on the hand made officialdom a purely
colonial jurisdiction, and on the other, intensified the force of rationality in the processes
of selection of officials and decision making, made the privileged position of traditional
elite became even more untenable. The division of the officialdom into governmental
administration — with the demang, district head, being the highest position entrusted
to indigenous officials — and the functional positions, whose main tasks were in the
fields of social services, even gave more ample opportunities to those with qualified
educational background to climb up the ladder of social hierarchy. Despite all the
opportunities to get access into modern education were given to the children of the

inla.ndsche hoofden, by the beginning of the 20th century, it_ was Clear that
the
aristocrats of Padang had largely been left. behind- in this Competition [Graves 1971,
paSsim].
Since the opening of the teachers' training school, the kweekschool (or better
known with its nickname, Sekolah Raja) in Bukittinggi in 1856, and particularly,
after introduction of its new curricular systeui in the 1870s, it was clear that it was this
town, instead of Padang, that had emerged as the center of education. This position of
strengthened by the fact that the nagari-schools, established by the nagari communities,
were far more developed in the Highland than that of on the coast. By the beginning
of the second decade of the 20th century the Residency of West Sumatra, as a whole,
had already emerged as the Muslim region with the highest percentage of population
went to schools and also as the region with the highest percentage of girls who went
schools [Graves 1971; Abdullah 1967].
The success of nagari schools, and its more dynamic successor, the volksschool, in
the Highlands regions was an embarrasment to the high officials of Padang, because,
except for the kweekschool the government had located important schools in this
town. From the government perspectives Padang and Bukittinggi were two educational
centers in the Residency. Both towns were the sites of Second Class Schools, which were
later to be transformed into the networks of indigenous school-system (with "Malay" or
"Minangkabau" as the medium of instructions) and the First Class Schools, which were
later changed into the famous Hollandsch Inlandsche Schools or H.I.S. (with Dutch
as the medium), and also the meisjesschools (school for girls). But in Padang (in 191.5)
only about 50 percent of the pupils were the children of inlander, the "natives". In 1914
in both towns the government opened the Mulo, the junior high schools veterenarian
schools [Lekkekeker 1916: 176-171.
But, a more important educational development from the perspectives of recruit-
ment into the colonial bureaucracy was the enrollment of Minangkabau youths in higher
educational institutions in Java. Already in the 1850s two Minangkabau youth belonged
to the first graduate of the what was later called sekolah dokter Jawa, the prede-
cessor of the famous STOVIA. But, it was, perhaps, a lucky incident. Because after
that the number of Minangkabau graduates from this medical school, was very limited.
From 1874 to 1900, out of 184 students, only 3 came from Minangkabau. But from
1900 to 1914, out of 200 students enrolled, at least 36 came from Minangkabau [Graves
1971: 367]. After this year the relative prOportion of Minangkabau youth in the student
population in educational institutes in Jakarta contiued to grow [Bouman 1949j.
The participation of the Minangkabau in the modern education has been noticed
by many writers. Already in the early 1910s several indigenous organizations began
to
establish their private schools. The far from adequate places available -in the government
schools proMpted early Minangkabau reformers to establish -their schools.- At the
same time this was also an opportuity to provide children with alternatiVe system
and -ideology; In time, these privates schools, either those that were basically
"secular" or .-"moderniet Islamic" in their eduational orientation became the centers of
activities of various anti-colonial organization [Abdullah 1971].
. Actually, already in the later part of the 19th century; government officials realized
the danger of introducing modern education. For a simple reason, these schools were
established as the channels for the recruitment of colonial officials. But before long, it
was obvious that the number of positions available could no longer able to absorb the
growing number of qualified candidates. It means competition became stiffer. And,
in time when patronage was still important, it is not hard to imagine that people like.
Gani, the rich and well connected "god father" of Kotagedang, managed to fill so many
positions, be it in administrative or functional ones, for his close and distant relatives.
The political impacts of these sociological trends became obvious after the futile
so-called "communist uprisings" of 1927 — it was found out that a large majority of
the alleged rebels were graduates of the Second Class Schools [Niel 1960]. By that
time, Padang had already been under the cultural domination of the new migrants
from the Highlands. Bazaar culture had gradually been ideologically molded into a
more consciously defined cultural sphere. And, the aristocrats of Padang found them-
selves participating in the on-going debates, the idioms of which more pronouncedly
formulated by the Highlanders. But in the meantime they had become "Minangkabau"
again. If not in their continuing personal pride as being the descendants of the
"chosen few" of Padang, at least it was so in their cultural perceptions of themselves: