Page 28 - E-BOOK SEJARAH DAN BUDAYA INDONESIA

HISTORY OF THE BATAK

Batak is the name of one of the tribes in Indonesia and is an ethnic group with the second
largest population after the Javanese. The Batak tribe is a community group that mostly lives on
the West Coast and East Coast of North Sumatra province. The Batak tribe is divided into 6 sub-
tribes or clumps, namely the Toba Batak, Angkola, Karo, Mandailing, Pakoak, and Simalungun
tribes. However, the most well-known sub-ethnic is the Toba Batak Tribe, so many people think
that only the Toba Batak are considered the Batak Tribe.

The Batak tribe is an old ethnic group in the archipelago. However, due to limited records
and literature, its history is difficult to trace. It is not known for certain when the ancestors of the
Batak people first began to inhabit the eastern part of Sumatra, namely Tapanuli. However, some
archaeological evidence suggests that the Taiwanese had moved to the Philippines and Indonesia
about 2,500 years ago, to be precise during the Neolithic or Young Stone Age. However, because
no evidence was found of the existence of the Batak Tribe from that period, it is concluded that
the ancestors of the Batak Tribe came and moved to Tapanuli at a later time, namely the metal
period. It is difficult to find historical evidence, so there is still debate about the origin of the Batak
Tribe. Most likely the ancestors of the Batak tribe came from Formosa Island in Taiwan, but it
could also be from the Indochina, Mongolia, or Mizoram regions. The Batak are a group of tribes
that inhabit most of North Sumatra.

The Batak people are Austronesian speakers but it is not known when the ancestors of the
Batak people first settled in Tapanuli and East Sumatra. Language and archaeological evidence
indicate that Austronesian-speaking people from Taiwan had moved to the Philippines and
Indonesia about 2,500 years ago, namely in the Neolithic Age. [2] Since until now no Neolithic
artifacts (One Hundred Years of Young Stone) have been found in the Batak region, it can be
assumed that the ancestors of the Bataks migrated to North Sumatra in the metal centuries. In the
6th century, Tamil traders from India founded the trading city of Barus, on the west coast of North

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