page_title: Mandailing people
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mandailing people / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaiting mats and pounding rice at Pakantan Bahasa Indonesia: Menganyam Tikar dan Menumbuk padi di Pakantan Nederlands: Repronegatief. Het vlechten van matten en het stampen van rijst in Pakantan
context_page_description: The Mandailing is a traditional cultural group in Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came under the influence of the Kaum Padri who ruled the Minangkabau of Tanah Datar. As a result, the Mandailing were influenced by Muslim culture and converted to Islam. There are also a group of Mandailing in Malaysia, especially in the states of Selangor and Perak. They are closely related to the Angkola.
context_section_description: According to Tamboen's account (1952) the Mandailing, along with other sub-ethnic Batak groups are the descendants of one man by the name of Batak; who migrated to the south before the coming of the Portuguese and Dutch colonisation of Sumatra. Moreover, many Mandailing people are Minangkabau descent from Pagaruyung in Minangkabau highlands, such as Nasution clan. Dutch colonization in Sumatra caused the Mandailing to be typecast as a sub-category of the Batak, as a 'wedge policy' to classify the communities and create typologies. It instilled the division of the Islamic nations by a non-Muslim belt, called 'Bataklanden' (Bataklands). The Mandailing were associated with the Toba Batak people instead of being recognized as a distinct ethnic minority. Consequently, the Mandailing people have been torn between two cultural and ethnic identities, namely Batak-Mandailing in Indonesia and Malay-Mandailing in Malaysia.
caption: Plating mats and pounding rice in Pakantan.
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