ofthe SAME TREE

something like an ecclesiastical Emperor or Chief, who is universally acknowledged,
and referred to in all case of public calamity, etc. His title is Si Singah
Maha Rajah, and he resides at Bakara in the Toba district. He is descended
from the Menangkabau race, and is of an antiquity which none disputes. My
informants say certainly above thirty descents, or 900 years. He does not live
in any very great state, but is particular in his observances; he neither eats hog
nor drinks tuah [palm-wine]. They believe him possessed of supernatural
powers. 131
In this letter Raffles claims that the Sisingamangaraja was “universally” acknowledged.
Although it is more likely that he had direct influence only over the
Sumba group of marga among the Toba Batak, stories of his superior powers
would have been sufficient to convince many other Batak to heed his words or
the words of those who represented him. In this way the Batak in the southern
Lake Toba region, who were the Sisingamangaraja’s principal adherents,
would have been joined by Batak elsewhere in forming a group responsive
to his wishes. While he did not possess any means for physical coercion, his
acknowledged supernatural powers were far more intimidating. Instead of
a political structure with the accoutrements of state authority, the Sisingamangaraja
and the other high priests created an ethnic unity among many
Batak groups based on their sacred reputation, system of marketplaces, and a
coterie of magico-religious officials who operated in a borderless world.
Batak ethnic consciousness was further reinforced by the creation of
pusta ha or bark books. Written in a language and a script unlike anything
possessed by their neighbors, the pustaha was regarded as distinctly “Batak.”
Although the Batak language employs an old Indian Pallava-derived script,
there is no record when pustaha were first written. Nevertheless, Uli Kozok
argues that the Batak script continues to have an affinity with the Pallava and
Old Javanese (Kawi) scripts, whereas modern Javanese has diverged significantly
from the original Pallava. 132 The antiquity of the Batak script is further
attested by the fact that the first Batak bark books acquired by the British
Museum in 1764 already demonstrated marked regional variations. 133 This
suggests that Batak writing may have begun early in the creation of the pustaha
but remained relatively unchanged over the centuries, perhaps because of the
pustaha’s sacred contents. The pustaha were intended for magico-religious
purposes and contained astrological tables and magic formulae. 134
The retention of a Batak language using a modified Pallava script to transmit
sacred and other tribal knowledge is noteworthy. From the seventh until
at least the fourteenth century, the dominant intellectual and political languages
in Sumatra were Sanskrit and Malayu. Their influence was particularly
strong, and evidence of their presence has been noted in the discussion of the
The Batak Malayu 167