Bugis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bugis are an ethnic group on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi with the main settlement in the province of Sulawesi Selatan . They are ethnically Malaysian . The Makassar and Mandar live in the neighborhood . Although many Bugis reside in large port cities, the majority of them are scattered in small villages along the coastline and along the rivers and major roads.

Main settlement areas of the Bugis in Sulawesi

The word "Bugis" is a Malay word, the proper name in Buginese is To Ugi . The To means "people"; and Ugi references the first king of the ancient Bugi kingdom, Cina .

The Bugis speak a distinguishable language, Buginese or Basa Ugi . They are described by others as being very strict, belligerent and hardworking. Honor, status and rank are of great importance to the Bugis. They are very confident in themselves, have a positive self-image, and rely heavily on their skills. As one of the larger groups in the region (more than 5 million people), they have a significant impact on their neighborhood.

history

Baju Bodo, traditional Bugis clothing

The Austronesian ancestors of the Bugis settled around 2500 BC. On Sulawesi . Theories suggest that they may have immigrated from Taiwan . This theory is also supported by some genetic studies. The region of origin of the Bugis in Sulawesi is the area around the Danau Tempe and Danau Sidenreng lakes in South Sulawesi , which spread from there to the east, west and south over South Sulawesi. Around AD 1200, the availability of imported goods such as Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics and printing block textiles from Gujarat , coupled with newly discovered iron ore deposits in Luwu , stimulated an agricultural revolution. Over the next 400 years this led to the development of the great kingdoms of South Sulawesi such as Tallo , Soppeng , Wajo and Bone , and to the social transformation of tribal societies into hierarchical proto-states.

The formerly ethnically religious Bugis converted to Islam around 1605 , which was spread in South Sulawesi by the Minangkabau - Ulema Ri Bandang Dato, Dato Ri Tiro and Dato Ri Patimang. Some Bugis have retained their pre-Islamic religion called Tolotang , and some Bugis have converted to Christianity through marriage , but these are only a minority.

The colonialism of the Dutch in the 17th century led to the diaspora of many Bugis and their entry into the politics of the Malaya / Malaysia peninsula and the island of Sumatra . The Bugis played an important role in defeating Jambi and had a great influence on the Sultanate of Johor . In Sabah , in North Borneo, the Bugis people are officially recognized as Bumiputera , along with the Suluk and other ethnic groups. The population is concentrated there mainly on the east coast of Sabah around the region of Tawau .

Sea voyages

Respected and feared as pirates , respected as seafarers, traders and adventurers, the seafarers of Southeast Asia always looked ahead, sought their luck beyond the horizon over the entire Indonesian island world and beyond. Some of them were so feared that some people attribute the English word "Bogeyman" ( Butzemann as well as Buschemann or Bugimann ) to a mutilated form of bugis man or bugines man .

Because trade was the primary goal of the seafarers, the Macassars, Bajau, and Bugis often established permanent settlements, either through conquest or diplomacy, and often married into local societies wherever they were matched. Across all of East Indonesia, the kings, sultans, Rajas and princes of almost a hundred small empires were the descendants of these seafarers, traders and fishermen along the coastlines.

Bugis in Northern Australia

Long before European colonialists extended their influence into these waters, the Macassars, Bajau and Bugis built elegant, ocean-going ships, the Pinisis . Their trade routes extended to the Aru Islands southwest of New Guinea , where they traded in bird skins of the birds of paradise and medicinal masoya bark . They also went to Northern Australia , where they traded clams , bird nests and mother-of-pearl for knives and salt with the Aborigines . The products of the forests and the sea that they brought back were in high demand in the Asian markets. The Bugis could use it to trade opium , silk , cotton , firearms and gunpowder .

The extraordinary history of the interaction between the Bugis and the Australian Aborigines is little known in Europe. The Bugis left their traces of trade on a coastline of more than two thousand kilometers in northern Australia, from the Kimberley to the Gulf of Carpentaria . There is ample evidence of the presence and influence of the Bugis throughout this entire stretch of Northern Australia's coastline. There are remains of Bugis buildings on the islands, Bugi words went into Aboriginal languages, and the Bugis and their crafts influenced the indigenous art of the people of Arnhem Land .

The Bugis came into Australian waters every year during the northwest monsoon with their wooden pinisis. Here they stayed for several months and caught sea ​​cucumbers , which they dried and processed into trepang before returning to Makassar in the dry season . These trips lasted until 1907.

The navigator Thomas Forrest wrote in Voyage from Calcutta in 1792 :

“The Buggesses in general are a high-spirited people; they will not bear ill usage ... They deserve the character given of Malays in general, by Monsieur Poivre, in his Travels of a Philosopher, "fund of adventures, emigration, and capable of undertaking the most dangerous enterprizes". "

“The Bugis are fiery people; they cannot bear bad treatment. ... The general description of Monsieur Poivre of the Malays in his 'Travels of a Philosopher' applies to them: "They love adventure, emigration, and are capable of daring the most dangerous ventures."

- Thomas Forrest : Voyage from Calcutta (1792).

Traditional culture

The Bugis hold the epic La Galigo sacred, which is a story of creation as well as a collection of rituals and a code of conduct for the kings.

Bugiculture also knows five different social genders . These five genders are considered necessary to keep the world in balance and harmony. These include Makkunrai ( feminine woman ), Calabai ( female man ), Calalai ( male woman), Oroané (male man), and Bissu (the latter embodies both male and female energies ( hermaphrodite ), revered as a shaman ). Makkunrai and Oroané correspond to heterosexual women and men who each behave according to their traditional male and female roles. Calabai, on the other hand, are biological men who behave like heterosexual women in clothing and behavior, but without allowing any physical changes to be made to them. Calalai are biological women who behave like heterosexual men in clothing and behavior, also without undergoing physical changes. All genders are taken for granted and natural.

The Bissu Puang Matoa

The bissu unites aspects of women and men. There are several theories about the origins and meaning of the bissu.

The royal rituals can only be performed by a bissu, that is, a person who is neither male nor female, but has tributes from both sexes. Only a bissu can mediate between humans and gods.

A bissu's advice is usually sought when approval from the powers of the Batin world is required. This can be the case, for example, when a Bugi wants to leave for the Hajj to Mecca . In this situation, the bissu will enable a spirit ( jinn ) to take possession of this man and act as the batin's emissary.

This is inconsistent with Orthodox Islam , but is tolerated by regional Islam as long as it does not involve an act in opposition to Sharia law . In this case it means that the spirit and the power of the bissu cannot be seen in any way autonomous by Allah , because Allah is the only one who is allowed to be worshiped.

The rituals of daily life, such as the inauguration of a new house or a new boat, rites of passage, the celebrations of the life cycles of rice, are carried out by a Sanro .

As Muslims, Bugis only recognize the existence of a god whom they call Puang Allataala or Dewata Seuwae. In addition to God, the Bugis have all sorts of other spirits or dewata (original Sanskrit word “deity”) to whom they have to pay tribute for their intercession with the highest being.

One of these ghosts is Sawerigading, the hero whose adventures are told in Galigo.

The Bugis worship Sangiang Serr, the goddess of rice (commonly known in Indonesia as Dewi Sri), who La Galigo says is the first earthly child of Batara Guru, son of Datu Patoto, the supreme deity. Sangiang Serri dies after seven days, is buried and then appears in the form of rice.

The To Tenrita are invisible spirits who act as mediators between humans and gods. Among them are the guardian spirits of the houses and boats, and spirits that inhabit trees, stones, and feathers.

Most of the rituals of traditional religion are no longer observed by the Bugis. The funeral in particular now follows the Muslim rite. The activity of the Bissu is increasingly restricted. But holy places have retained their importance, including graves, which are places of pilgrimage and the subject of an ancestral cult. For this cult a place in the house is reserved for offerings for the ancestors. Finally, the epic La Galigo is presented at ceremonies.

Current lifestyle

Bugis stilt houses in Sengkang .

Most of today's Bugis earn their living as traders, fishermen or rice farmers. The women are expected to work at home, silk - sarongs and move, and then sell. (A sarong is a piece of colored fabric sewn into a tube and worn as a skirt by both men and women in Indonesia.) Most of the household income is earned from selling sarongs.

Traditionally, the Bugis live in stilt houses, sometimes three meters or more above the ground, with wooden walls and floors. These are used throughout the Malay island world as protection against floods, earthquakes and animals. During the growing season, some family members spend the night in small huts scattered across the fields.

Many marriages continue to be arranged by the parents and are not infrequently between closely related cousins. A newlywed couple often lives with the bride's parents for the first few years of marriage. Divorce is a normal occurrence among the Bugis, especially in arranged marriages.

Bugis feed mainly on rice, fish, corn, coconuts, bananas and tea. Buffalo is served as a delicacy on certain festive occasions. Visual arts and performing arts, such as dance and shadow play, are a rich part of Bugis culture.

religion

Hinduism and Buddhism mixed with indigenous religious elements shaped the life of the Bugis until the early 17th century. Buddhism probably came to the area from Java or Sumatra in the 8th century. Several Buddhist kingdoms emerged, but disappeared after 1300 or were replaced by Hindu kingdoms. Hinduism came to the island with Javanese and Indian traders.

The Bugis converted to Islam in the early 17th century . Islamization took place about 100 years later than in the rest of Indonesia and came to the island again from Java.

Since then they have been strictly Sunni believers. They celebrate Islamic festivals and fasts; they pray five times a day. However, their Islamic practices are also deeply influenced by spiritism (belief in invisible spirits) and ancestor worship (praying to deceased ancestors). Although the Bugis are strict Muslims, few Bugi women wear a veil.

A very well-known group of Bugi customs are what they call the Tuanni . They include the worship of various deities, such as a "potato god", a "rice god", a "god of kings". They also believe that certain illnesses and misadventures of humans are caused by “spirits” of fire, air, earth and water.

Known Bugis

See also

literature

  • Maria Blechmann-Antweiler: It doesn't work without us: One year with women in Indonesia . Lit, Münster 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5645-3 .
  • Sharyn Graham Davies: Challenging Gender Norms: Five Genders among Bugis in Indonesia. Thompson Wadsworth, Boston 2007, ISBN 978-0-495-09280-3 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Susan G. Keates, Juliette M. Pasveer, Quaternary Research in Indonesia. Taylor & Francis , 2004. ISBN 90-5809-674-2
  2. ↑ H. Li, B. Wen, SJ Chen, B. Su, P. Pramoonjago, Y. Liu, S. Pan, Z. Qin, W. Liu, X. Cheng, N. Yang, X. Li, D. Tran, D. Lu, MT Hsu, R. Deka, S. Marzuki, CC Tan, L. Jin: Paternal genetic affinity between Western Austronesians and Daic populations. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. Volume 8, 2008, p. 146, doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-8-146 , PMID 18482451 , PMC 2408594 (free full text).
  3. ↑ Mochtar Naim: Merantau .
  4. ^ Keat Gin Ooi, Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, From Angkor Wat to East Timor. ABC-CLIO , 2004. ISBN 1-57607-770-5
  5. ^ Said, Nurman: Religion and Cultural Identity Among the Bugis (A Preliminary Remark) . In: Inter-Religio (journal) . No. 45, Summer 2004, pp. 12-20.
  6. ↑ Rakyat dan Sejarah Sabah ( Malay ) Sabah State Government. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved on December 31, 2013: “Suku barely lain-lain adalah termasuk suku barely bumiputera seperti Bisaya, Melayu Brunei, Bugis, Kedayan, Lotud, Ludayeh, Rungus, Suluk, Minokok, Bonggi, Ida 'on, dan banyak lagi. "
  7. ↑ Omar Mamat: Memori Bukit Pantai: sebuah catatan pengalaman ( Malay ). ITBM, 2012, ISBN 978-983-068-922-7 , p. 48-.
  8. ↑ John Auchard: In Indonesia , Washington Post. January 28, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2014. 
  9. ^ The Buginese of Sulawesi . Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ Thomas Forrest : A Voyage From Calcutta To The Mergui Archipelago ... , London 1792, pp. 76 and 78 ( archive.org ).
  11. ^ Sulawesi's fifth gender . Inside Indonesia . Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  12. ^ Sex, Gender, and Priests in South Sulawesi, Indonesia . International Institute for Asian Studies . Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2011.