2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Indonesia's Sumatra is the sixth largest and fourth most populous island in the world. The peoples living here profess four religions and speak 52 languages. Including these are Bataks, which represent six ethnic groups with similar traditions, speaking closely related languages. The largest group - Bataki Toba - settled on the shores of the lake of the same name, which is located in the north of Sumatra.
Some Bataks still live in villages, in traditional houses, which may be more than a hundred years old. The houses were built of wood, on stilts, and were designed for several families. Since the construction of housing took a long time and was expensive, people united and erected a kind of "communal apartment". The traditional dwelling had three floors: on the lower, in the space between the piles, pets were kept, on the second, people lived, and on the third, rice and other food supplies were stored. Food was also hung from the roof rafters to prevent mice from reaching it.
Traditional house of bataks toba
The Bataks (both Toba and other groups) have had a developed culture for a long time. They independently invented writing, as well as the calendar (their year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each). Today most Batak Toba are Protestant Christians, but 150 years ago they were animists and believed in good and evil spirits. And even before the end of the 19th century (and according to some reports, even before the beginning of the 20th), they practiced ritual cannibalism and ate criminals. If today you come to Lake Toba in the village of Ambarita, the center of the former kingdom of Sialagan, where the king used to live, then someone from the villagers (most likely a descendant of the royal family) will definitely tell you about the terrible customs of the former cannibals.
In general, Toba's punishment system was quite logical. In particular, they highlighted crimes, the consequences of which could be corrected, such as theft. If the thief was found guilty, he had to correct his wrong - to compensate the cost of the stolen fourfold. If he was too poor for this, then the thief became the king's slave until he worked off the debt. If a grave, that is, an irreparable crime, such as murder or rape, was committed, then the culprit was sentenced to death. Death also punished captured enemy soldiers, spies and men who had sinned with one of the king's wives.
The trial took place under a sacred tree next to the royal house. All the actors had specially designated places for them.
After the criminal was caught, he was put on trial. The trial took place under a tree sacred to the Bataks, next to the king's house. On the dais, on stone benches, sat the judges (the king and the elders), the shaman, the accused, and the guards who guarded him. If the defendant was found guilty of a serious crime, he was no longer considered a human being. The Bataki believed that a person cannot commit grave crimes, only unreasonable animals are capable of them. And animals can be eaten. Therefore, from the moment the sentence was pronounced until the execution of the criminal, as a sign of lowering his status, they were kept in the stable of the royal house. After the verdict was pronounced, the shaman calculated a suitable day for execution. With this, everything was also not easy, since the Batak calendar had “forbidden” days when it was impossible to participate in business or hold public ceremonies.
"Place of execution"
When the day of execution came, the criminal was taken to the "place of execution." There was a stone on which he was prepared for death, a block and a bench for the king and elders. The executioner cut off the head of the condemned, but he had to do it with one blow, otherwise he himself was executed. Therefore, before the execution, the criminal was prepared in a special way. His hands and feet were tied and his eyes were blindfolded. Then the convict was fed for the last time in his life, but he had to eat with his hands tied, like an animal. Again, as a sign of "animal" status, he was stripped, leaving only a loincloth, and placed on a large flat stone. To deprive the condemned of magical powers that could make him invulnerable, the shaman struck him with his rod. Then the executioner made cuts all over the criminal's body and poured lemon juice on them so that the convict would lose consciousness and would not resist during the execution. If a spy was executed, his tongue could also be cut off, and if the seducer, his genitals. The insensitive criminal was carried to the chopping block and his head was chopped off. His blood was collected, mixed with lemon juice and finely chopped heart and liver, and offered this terrible dish first to the king, and then to the elders. The rest of the body of the executed, with the exception of the head, the king gave to his subjects in order to test their courage and combat readiness. He could summon any of his warriors and ask which body part he wants to eat. If a person refused such "honor", they began to look at him askance and considered him a coward.
A descendant of the kings of Sialagan, who is also a tour guide, shows how a shaman expelled magical power from a criminal.
At the end of the day, the remains of the executed were thrown into the lake, which for the next seven days was considered unclean - it was impossible to take water from it. Therefore, the villagers stocked up on water in advance. The head of the criminal was hung on the outskirts of the village, for the edification of residents and enemies. One must think that such an execution contained a strong educational moment and for a long time discouraged the Bataks from committing crimes, and from their enemies - to attack the village.
