BATAK

also spelled Battak, or Batta, several closely related ethnic groups of central Sumatra, Indonesia. They possess a written language of their own, consisting of several diverse dialects, belonging to the Austronesian family. The Batak are descendants of a powerful Proto-Malayan people who until 1825 lived in relative isolation in the highlands surrounding Lake Toba in Sumatra. The Batak had felt Indian influences by the 2nd or 3rd century AD and had borrowed ideas of government, writing, elements of religion, arts, and crafts. They did not, however, develop a unified state and today are found in six cultural divisions. Within these are exogamous patrilineal clans known as marga. A price is paid for a bride, who then becomes a member of her husband's group. Among the Toba Batak a village consists of several clan houses, but in the Karo division all dwell in one or more longhouses. Ancestors, plants, animals, and inanimate objects are considered to possess souls or spirits that can be coerced or enticed by male priests. These priests are aided by female mediums who, in trance, communicate with the dead. Cannibalism was once practiced, but victims were confined to prisoners and those guilty of incest. Today most of the Toba Batak are literate, as is the case of many in the other groups. Many are Christians who occupy places of importance in trade and in the Indonesian government. Muslim missionaries have been active in regions to the north and south of the Toba. The estimated population of Batak lands is about 3,100,000, of which about one-third is Christian, one-third Muslim, and the balance still adherents of traditional beliefs. After World War II there was a mass movement of Toba squatters into the rich plantation lands of the east coast, formerly owned by foreign investors.