ofthe SAME TREE

The Sisingamangaraja was revered for his powers in assuring the material
welfare of the people through the promotion of agriculture, creating harmony
among the Batak groups through mediation, and the maintenance of
the marketplace. In agriculture he was attributed with the ability to bring the
rains, locate wells, maintain the irrigation system, enforce the acceptance of
his allocation of the rice lands, and assure efficacious agricultural rituals. 125
The Sisingamangaraja was said to have been capable of causing rice plants
to grow with their stalks in the ground and their roots in the air. His control
over the growth of rice and various types of ubi or root crops, and his ability
to cause rainfall and to locate well water, were attributes expected of one
with direct links to the agricultural deities. Before the rice-planting season
began, the Sisingamangaraja conducted rituals invoking the ancestral spirits
to assure a good harvest and prosperity for their descendants. In Toba proper,
his appointed officials, the parbaringin, presided over the sacrifices in the
important agricultural rites. Although there is very little about the other two
high priests, the Ompu Palti Raja and the Jonggi Manaor, nineteenth- and
twentieth-century sources mention that they continued to be highly revered
for their ability to summon rain and control rice growth. 126
Conducting the agricultural ritual was considered an essential task of the
parbaringin to assure the ongoing prosperity of the inhabitants, the animals,
and the crops. As late as 1938 the Dutch received delegations of parbaringin
who sought to revoke a colonial measure introduced earlier in the century that
forbade the continuation of this ritual. It was this prohibition, they asserted,
which had resulted in problems in their community. 127
The esteem and respect of the high priests among the Batak may have
risen even further when rice became an important Batak export commodity.
The growth of the pepper trade in the fifteenth century led to an increasing
demand for rice from communities engaged in pepper production in Sumatra
and the Malay Peninsula. It may have been around this time that the Batak
intensified rice planting in existing fields to meet this need. Rice is a fragile
plant requiring great preparation and care. Moreover, during its growth it
is vulnerable to unexpected weather changes, diseases, and pests, which can
destroy the entire crop. In such circumstances traditional rice-growing societies
everywhere have resorted to appeals to supernatural forces to prevent
the loss of a crop and to assure a bountiful harvest. The Batak were no different,
and Raffles commented on their belief that the Sisingamangaraja could
“blight the paddy, or restore the luxuriance of a faded crop.” 128
A second important function of the Sisingamangaraja was to assure harmony
among the Batak groups through his mediation. In this role he was able
to gain widespread agreement on standard rice measures and scales, and the
assurance that the sanctity of the marketplace would be observed. Burton and
The Batak Malayu 165