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458 MADURESE
Works, John A. "Wither Chad? Scenarios and Prospects." Paper presented to the Colloquium
on Chad, Department of State, Washington, D.C., October 1979.
John A. Works, Jr.
MADURESE Less than one-third of the Madurese live on their island of
Madura off the north coast of East Java. While the inhabitants of the small islands
along the south coast of Madura and those living on the Sapudi and Kangean
archipelagos east of Madura are also known as Madurese or Orang Madura,
most Madurese are dispersed to other parts of Indonesia. Those in and around
Madura number perhaps 3 million; nearly 8 million live elsewhere, making the
Madurese (10.9 million) Indonesia's third largest ethnic group. Nearly all are
Muslim.
Since the second half of the eighteenth century, many Madurese have settled
as farmers in East Java, which was underpopulated due to frequent wars between
Balinese and Javanese. In the nineteenth century a great number migrated to
areas in East Java in search of temporary work on the large sugar and tobacco
plantations. In the course of time, thousands settled permanently. Today, the
eastern regencies of East Java are mostly inhabited by Madurese, with many
more now migrating to the cities of Surabaya and Jakarta as well as to the islands
of Bali and Kalimantan.
The Madurese language is related to the Javanese language, the largest subgroup
in the Malayo-Polynesian language family. It is also spoken by the inhabitants
of the island of Bawean northwest of Madura (see Baweanese). The main dialects
are Western Madurese and Eastern Madurese. Within Western Madurese the
dialects of Gangkalan and Pamekasan are distinguishable. The Madurese spoken
on the islands of Sapudi and Kangean is considered to be a distinct dialect within
Eastern Madurese. An indigenous Madurese literature has barely developed.
Most Madurese manuscripts are translations of Javanese literary works.
Only 10 percent of the population on Madura lives in the capital cities of the
four regencies into which the island of Madura is divided. By far the largest
part of the Madurese live in rural villages. These villages were formed by
administrative fiat and do not form a social unit. A Madurese village rather
consists of a collection of small social units based on kinship and territorial
alliances. Compounds are scattered over the farm land. A cluster of 5 to 15
compounds constitutes a hamlet, or pedukoan. The inhabitants of such a hamlet
are often connected by kinship and marriage.
The majority of the Madurese subsist on agriculture, although fishing, salt
production and maritime trade are also important economic activities. Fruit and
tobacco cultivation is an important source of income, and the breeding of cattle
and animal husbandry are widespread. There are no large industries on Madura;
small-scale industry, like the production of tiles, bricks and lime, is only found
where the raw materials are.
Due to the shortage of water, rice can be cultivated only once a year on rain-