Madurese people

Madurese, Madurans, Madurites or Madurace (mUH-dOO-rUH; Madurese: أَوريڠ مادْوراْ, romanized: oréng Mâdhurâ; Javanese: ꦠꦾꦁ​ꦩꦼꦝꦸꦤ꧀ꦠꦼꦤ꧀, romanized: tyang Maḍuntên)^[3] are one of the Javan ethnic groups native to the Indonesian island of Madura in Java Sea, off the northeastern coast of Java. They speak their own native Madurese language (with diverse varieties), shared common history, traditions, and cultural identity. Nationwide, the Madurese are the fourth largest ethnic group in Indonesia (after Javanese, Sundanese and Batak); one of the well-known Indonesian national dishes of Saté also ultimately attributed as the national culinary heritage of Madura-origin invented by the Madurese.

Madurese

oréng Mâdhurâ (in Madurese) wwaṅ Madhura (in Kawi) wong Maḍurå (in Javanese) tyang Maḍuntên (in Javanese)
Jârân Bodhâg, one of the Madurese cultural dances.
Total population
7,179,356^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia:
East Java	6,520,403
West Kalimantan	274,869
Jakarta	79,925
South Kalimantan	53,002
East Kalimantan	46,823
West Java	43,001
Central Kalimantan	42,668
Bali	29,864
Bangka Belitung	15,429
Central Java	12,920
Languages
Native Madurese Standard Madurese Bangkalan Madurese Bawean Madurese Pamekasan Madurese Sampang Madurese Sapudi Madurese Sumenep Madurese Also Javanese Standard Javanese Eastern Javanese Indonesian Standard Indonesian
Religion
Predominant Islam (Sunni of Nahdlatul Ulama) Nusantara Islamism^[2]
Related ethnic groups
Baweanese Kangeanese Javanese Balinese

There are about six million native Madurese who lived in their ancestral land on Madura Island, and about half of million lived in the eastern salient of Java (mainly in the regencies of Jember, Situbondo, Bondowoso etc.), while the rest are scattered in another regions of the Indonesian Archipelago and across the world. The Madurese population in Java formed a subgroup called the Pandalungan Madurese, and they speak admixture of Javanese and Madurese languages.

Not only well known as the inventor of satay, the Madurese people also known as the inventor of Kârabên Sapè bull race, they are also persistent merchants who could open their shops for 24 hours non-stop and they also one of the pioneers of classical Islamic religious movements in Indonesia, with the Pondhuk Pâsantrèn become the vital hotspot for the Madurese Muslims to learn about Islamism (especially Indonesian Islamism). Besides being the merchants, traditionally the Madurese diaspora are known as the farmers as well as the Mâñcak martial art practitioners who would work with their cultural Clurit sickle, their male cultural clothing prominently characterized by the red and white stripes which derived from the Majapahit naval flag (a historical eastern Java empire that was once controlled the Madura Island), however the larger spectrums such as black, red, yellow, white, green, and blue are also considered as the cultural colors of the Madurese people, which could be observed through their traditional Madurese-style Bâṭèk.

Population and distribution

Official and academic data on the population of Madurese people vary considerably. During the nationwide population census conducted in Indonesia in 2010, the Madurese people make up 3.03% of the country's population, that is 7,179,356 people.^[1] On the other hand, some scientific sources operate with significantly larger figures around 10.5 to 10.8 million people.^[4][5][6] In any case, the Madurese people are among the largest ethnics of Indonesia, thus, according to the statistics of the 2010 census, they occupy the fourth largest ethnic group after the Javanese people, Sundanese people and Batak people.^[1]

Historically, the Madurese people inhabit Madura Island and located to the east of it, a group of smaller islands in Java Sea such as Kambing Island, Sapudi Islands and Kangean Islands. Here they number about 3.3 million people, which is more than 90% of the population in these territories. Approximately the same number of Madurese people living in the eastern end of the Java Island, and more than 400,000 people in various parts of the Indonesian part of the island of Kalimantan. In addition, tens of thousands of the Madurese people live in other regions of Indonesia; especially, there are significant Madurese communities in the capital city of Jakarta (about 80,000 people), in Bali (about 30,000 people) and in the province of Bangka Belitung Islands (more than 15,000 people).^[7] There are also small Madurese communities in the countries of Southeast Asia adjacent to Indonesia, particularly, in Singapore.^[8]

Language

Main article: Madurese language

 

Radḍin Sâgara, the Madurese manuscript written in Javanese script.

The native spoken language of the Madurese people is the Madurese language (known natively as the bhâsa Mâdhurâ), a Madura-Kangeanic language of Austronesian family. The Madurese varies distinctively across the Madura Island,^[9] with the Sumenep Madurese regarded as the preferred standard variety of the language.^[10] Madurese is recognized as one of the native languages by the East Java provincial government, and allowed to be used as co-official language in certain regions (mainly in Madura).

Diasporic

Madurese is not only spoken on the Madura Island, but also spoken by the Madurese diaspora across Eastern Java, mostly in Jember, Probolinggo, Situbondo and Bondowoso, as well as Bawean Island in Gresik.^[8] The Madurese variety spoken on Bawean is known as the Bawean languages, meanwhile the variety spoken on Java is kind of admixture of both Madurese and Javanese respectively.^[11][12] As part of the larger Native Indonesians, many are also fluent in Standard Indonesian, the national language of the Republic of Indonesia.^[4][8]

Wikipedia

Main article: Madurese Wikipedia

 

The logo of Madurese Wikipedia.

The Wikimedia Project has launched the Madurese-language version of Wikipedia since 2020. It is the collaborative project to digitally documented informations using the Madurese language (esp. in Standard/Sumenep Madurese).

Religion and beliefs

Islam

Nowadays, the majority of Madurese people are adherent of Islam, predominantly followed the Sunni sect system of Nahdlatul Ulama. Muslim theologians play an important role in their spiritual and social life. A significant part of the Madurese people is trained in traditional local boarding Muslim schools known as Pondhuk Pâsantrèn, which play an important role in their spiritual and social life.^[4][8]

Socio-economic structure

Basic livelihood

 

A Madurese batik maker in Tanjungbumi, Bangkalan, Madura, Indonesia.

Family is important to the Madurese and they commonly live in villages that function around an Islamic religious center. According to Islamic law, a man may have more than one wife. Marriage proposals are usually made by the groom's parents,^[13] preferably to a first or second cousin. If the proposal is accepted, the bride's parents are then presented with the "bride price", which is usually cattle. The groom's parents then set the date for the upcoming wedding. Newlywed couples often live with the bride's family. Islam is an integral part of the social, political and economic life of the Madurese.^[14]

The main traditional occupations of the Madurese are animal farming, which mainly includes breeding of cattle, goats, horses, poultry and fighting cocks. The Madurese are known for herding cattle,^[15] hence they are often referred by a common nickname as the "cowboys" of Indonesia. Cattle are an important part of the culture, and bull-racing is one of their favorite sports.^[16]

Agriculture among the Madurese people on the island of Madura is poorly developed due to low fertility and very poor soil conditions, thus farming is not important in Madurese culture. As a result, the Madurese tend not to farm, unless on other islands with very good soil conditions, such as the Madurese people in Java,^[17] where agriculture is practiced more widely and have developed to a lesser degree. The main crops are such as corn, cassava, rice, tobacco, beans and cloves. Among craftsmen, tanning, pottery, batik manufacturing, blacksmithing, as well as small vassals and boat builders are also important occupations. In coastal areas, the Madurese are actively engaged in fishing,^[18] trading and as well as extraction of salt (from Madura Island).^[19] Lastly, the Madurese people also enjoyed a reputation in the region as skilled seafarers.^[18][20] Madurese residents of large cities, particularly in eastern Surabaya are actively involved in modern economic sectors.^[4][5][6]

Settlements

Traditional Madurese settlements are scattered and rarely linear in layout, depending rather on the direction of the roads. In most villages, there are paddocks for cattle rearing. Houses are made of bamboo and often built on low stilts. They have a frame structure usually supplemented with a veranda. Roofs are covered with palm leaves or reeds, however from the last third of the 20th century, the usage of roof tiles is increasingly common.^[4][5][6]

Transmigration

Main articles: Sambas conflict and Sampit conflict

Low yields on soils had long served the cause of mass migrant labor and the relocation of the local population outside the island, where the Madurese were major clients of the government's large-scale transmigration programmes undertaken by both the Dutch colonial administration as well as the authorities of independent Indonesia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, through which they settled in relatively sparsely populated areas of Indonesia's other islands, especially Kalimantan.^[8][21][22]

As a result of this program, more than half of the ethnic Madurese people currently living outside of their customary homeland had settled in many regions of Indonesia, where communities of former transmigrants and their descendants that still maintain their Madurese identity.^{[citation needed]}

Madurese people have lived on the territory of Java for several centuries, forming the ethnic majority in some of the north-eastern regions of the island. They tend to get along well with the Javanese people in relation to language, culture, and way of life. Mixed marriages between Javanese and Madurese people are also common. Moreover, in some areas of eastern Java, there are significant communities of descendants of such pendalungan marriages, which are distinguished by their unique cultural traditions that combine Madurese and Javanese elements to varying degrees.^[8][11][12]

Another situation often develops in the provinces of West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, where Madurese people resettled under the transmigration programmes in 1900 to 1950 in the span of 90 years. Some of these migrant groups have been the subject of conflict with Dayak communities. The native population, especially the Dayaks were quite wary of strangers, and seeing them as a threat to their traditional livelihoods. Mutual distrust also promote ethnic and cultural and religious differences, where most Dayak people practices Christianity or Kaharingan.^[21][22] The most publicized conflict has been on various localities in Kalimantan, where thousands were killed in a series of large scale armed fighting between the Madurese and the Dayak people during the late 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

In West Kalimantan there was communal violence between Dayaks and Madurese in 1996, in the Sambas conflict in 1999 and the Sampit conflict 2001, resulting in large scale massacres of Madurese.^[23][22][24] In the Sambas conflict, both Malays and Dayaks people massacred the Madurese people. Tens of thousands of Madurese people from Kalimantan were forced to move to Madura and Java. By the mid-2000s, the situation has somewhat stabilized and enabled the return of most of the Madurese resettlement back in Kalimantan.^[21][22]

Culture

Cuisine

Main article: Madurese cuisine

 

The Madurese satay is distinguished by the sharp sweetness of the marinade.

For the Madurese people, their traditional cuisine is characterized by a fairly large use of meat; of which primarily prepare miniature skewers called satay accompanied with special sweet marinade and thick sharp sauce made from peanut, has enjoyed a wide popularity in many parts of Indonesia. In addition, traditional Madurese culinary are characterized by the active use of corn and, in general, greater salinity and spiciness of dishes compared to other regional cuisines of the country.^[25]

Folk art and traditional attire

 

Traditional Madurese dancers, circa 1890–1917.

Culturally the Madurese people are close enough to eastern Javanese that they share similar forms of folklore, music (including gamelan), dance, and shadow theater or wayang. The traditional attire, however, is very specific to the Madurese people. Men would wear a completely black long-skirted coat with a wide belt, which most often hooks under a shirt that comes in broad red and white stripes, along with a checkered sarong. While women would have donned a dark blue or mottled jacket over a sarong.^[4][5][6]

Bull racing

 

Bull racing (karapan sapi) in Sumenep, Madura, East Java, Indonesia, 1999.

A truly unique tradition of the islanders is bull racing, known as Karapan sapi, where local bred bulls harnessed in special light carts are led by a charioteer, usually a young man or teenager.^[16] Such competitions are typical of Madura, where they serve as its main tourist attraction. Races are held annually in August and October in different localities, after which their winners compete in the final round, which is traditionally held in Pamekasan. Races are usually accompanied by gamelan performances and folk festivities.^[26][27][28]

By the end of the 1980s, the popularity of Madurese bull racing had grown so much that the winner of the competition would be awarded with a prize on behalf of the president of Indonesia.^[26][27][28] In addition, the scene of the races was depicted on the reverse of coins of 100 Indonesian rupiah, produced from 1991 to 1998.^[29]

Brawling

Traditionally in terms of socio-economic life of the Madurese people, there had been a visible impact on their national character. They are often characterized as hard workers, stubborn,^[30] courageous, possessing integrity, loyal, generous, fair; and, at the same time, sharpness, resentment, extreme frugality, isolation, arrogant, hot-tempered,^[31] prone to violence and distrust towards strangers - especially against the backdrop of kindness and sociability of their neighbors such as the Javanese people.^{[18][21][32][33]}

In rural areas, the Madurese still practice an ancient tradition of vendetta, called carok [id] (also spelled charok) which literally means "battle of honor". In the 1990s, law enforcement agencies in each of the four districts in Madura have recorded dozens of cases each year.^[34] The killing may provoke resentment, quite small by the standards of ordinary European or Indonesian. According to local criminal statistics, most of the reason for such attacks are usually molestation of women or property dispute, but it often happens that the Madurese's cruel revenge is motivated by an insufficiently polite treatment or insult in public places to one's honor.^[34][35]

Instrument of revenge used in this dueling is often the traditional Madurese crescent knife, celurit which is the most common peasant weapon and in some areas and also the attribute of traditional male attire. In such cases, the avenger usually prepares the celurit in advance in an event of dueling by casting special spells on the weapon.^[32][33][36]

Sometimes in the "battle of honor" are involved several people from each side - relatives and friends of the offender and the offended, and then it turns into a bloodbath. Such massive bloodshed have repeatedly occurred in Madura even in the 21st century. The most famous incident in recent years, a mass carok occurred on 13 July 2006 in Bujur Tengah village, Pamekasan Regency, East Java, Indonesia, resulting stabbing and killing of seven men and seriously injuring nine people.^[37][38]

References

1. . Badan Pusat Statistik. 2011. p. 31. ISBN 978-979-064-417-5. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
2. https://factsanddetails.com/indonesia/Minorities_and_Regions/sub6_3c/entry-4003.html
3. Piwulang Basa Jawa Pepak, S.B. Pramono, hal 148, 2013
4. Лев Миронович Минц, ed. (2007). "Ûрий Дмитриевич Анчабадзе". Народы мира. ОЛМА Медиа Групп. p. 305. ISBN 978-53-730-1057-3.
5. Тишков В.А., ed. (1999). Народы и религии мира. Энциклопедия. М.: Большая Российская энциклопедия. p. 304.
6. "Мадурцы". Etnolog. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
7. . Badan Pusat Statistik. 2011. p. 38. ISBN 978-979-064-417-5. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
8. "Madura". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
9. William D. Davies (2010). A Grammar of Madurese. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-31-102-2444-3.
10. Darrell T. Tryon, ed. (2011). Comparative Austronesian Dictionary: An Introduction to Austronesian Studies. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-31-108-8401-2.
11. Syamsul Hadi & Agnes Swetta Pandia (5 July 2014). "Diaspora Karnaval Pendalungan". Kompas. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
12. Agus Abrori (2010). Galeri Budaya Pendalungan di Kota Probolinggo: Tema metafora angin (undergraduate). Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
13. Nurul Ilmi Idrus (2016), Gender Relations in an Indonesian Society: Bugis Practices of Sexuality and Marriage, BRILL, p. 57, ISBN 978-900-4311-94-7
14. Sjaak van der Geest; Susan Whyte (2012), The Context of Medicines in Developing Countries: Studies in Pharmaceutical Anthropology, Springer Science & Business Media, p. 236, ISBN 978-940-0927-13-1
15. John Braithwaite; Valerie Braithwaite; Michael Cookson; Leah Dunn (2010), Anomie and Violence: Non-truth and Reconciliation in Indonesian Peacebuilding, ANU E Press, p. 305, ISBN 978-192-1666-23-0
16. Florence Lamoureux (2003), Indonesia: A Global Studies Handbook, ABC-CLIO, pp. 153–154, ISBN 978-1-57607-913-3
17. James B. Minahan (2012), Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-159-8846-60-7
18. Konstantinos Retsikas (2014), Becoming – An Anthropological Approach to Understandings of the Person in Java, Anthem Press, pp. 34–35, ISBN 978-178-3083-10-7
19. Arif Budiman (27 October 2016). . Madura Live. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
20. Kurt Stenross (2011), Madurese Seafarers: Prahus, Timber and Illegality on the Margins of the Indonesian State, University of Hawaiʻi Press, ISBN 978-082-4835-55-2
21. Andrew Chang (27 February 1999). "Hundreds Dead in Borneo's Ethnic Conflict". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
22. . Global Security. Archived from the original on 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
23. Armed Conflicts Report.Indonesia - Kalimantan 2011-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
24. . Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
25. . Arts and Culture - Javanese and Arabic. 4 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
26. Yoni Iskandar, ed. (21 October 2014). "Sapi Sonar Muda Bangkalan Sabet Piala Presiden". Tribun News. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
27. Taufiqurrahman (30 October 2013). "Karapan Sapi Piala Presiden Berubah Jadi Piala Gubernur Jatim". Kompas. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
28. Robertus Pudyanto (8 January 2014). "The Art of Bull Skating". Modern Farmer. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
29. "100 Rupiah", Numista
30. Ian Douglas Wilson (2015), The Politics of Protection Rackets in Post-New Order Indonesia: Coercive Capital, Authority and Street Politics, Routledge, p. 105, ISBN 978-113-5042-09-7
31. E. Aspinall; G. van Klinken (2011), E. Aspinall (ed.), The State and Illegality in Indonesia, BRILL, p. 225, ISBN 978-900-4253-68-1
32. A. Latief Wiyata (2002). Carok: Konflik Kekerasan Dan Harga Diri Orang Madura. PT LKiS Pelangi Aksara. p. 170. ISBN 9789799492678.
33. Henry Arianto, Krishna (May 2011). "Tradisi Carok Pada Masyarakat Adat Madura". Universitas Esa Unggul Jakarta, Forum Ilmiah Volume 8 Nomer 2. p. 150. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
34. A. Latief Wiyata (2002). Carok: Konflik Kekerasan Dan Harga Diri Orang Madura. PT LKiS Pelangi Aksara. p. 4. ISBN 9789799492678.
35. Henry Arianto, Krishna (May 2011). "Tradisi Carok Pada Masyarakat Adat Madura". Universitas Esa Unggul Jakarta, Forum Ilmiah Volume 8 Nomer 2. p. 147. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
36. A. Latief Wiyata (2002). Carok: Konflik Kekerasan Dan Harga Diri Orang Madura. PT LKiS Pelangi Aksara. p. 40. ISBN 9789799492678.
37. "Polisi Tangkap Otak Carok Massal". infoanda. Archived from the original on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-10-24.
38. Ahmad Baidowi (10 May 2007). "Inilah Kasus Carok Massal Terheboh di Pamekasan Madura". Okezone. p. 147. Retrieved 2018-07-10.

Bibliography

• I. Farjon (1980), Madura And Surrounding Islands: An Annotated Bibliography, 1860-1942, Volumes 9-13, M. Nijhoff, ISBN 978-902-472-4109

External links