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Contents : : The Mandailings in the Homeland : : Archaeology |
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Archaeology The Lost
Candis of Rao In 1991, a bulldozer clearing a path for an irrigation canal, part of a new irrigation project at Tanjung Medan on the road north from Lubuk Sikaping to Rao in Kabupaten Pasaman, West Sumatra struck a heap of brick rubble overgrown with rank weeds. Fortunately the driver had the sense to stop and to enquire what it was that he was in the process of destroying. It was, in fact all that remained of the candi of Tanjung Medan lying on an area of flat land between the main road and the Batang Sumpur, a major tributary of the Sungei Rokan which flows in to the Selat Melaka at Bagan Siapiapi. Tanjung Medan was one of at least five brick-built candi that once graced the area of Rao. Lying, as it were, on the border between Minangkabau and Mandailing, the country of Rao or Rawa, located in the modern kabupaten of Pasaman (West Sumatra province), occupies a strategic position on an old route running between the southern Batak lands and those of the Minang. It has direct riverine links to the east coast of Sumatra. Writing of the coastal area of Pasaman (Passamman) in 1783, the English historian William Marsden comments:
Many of the Rao or Rawa appear to have migrated to Pahang on the Malay peninsula in the early nineteenth century where they were to be much involved in peninsular politics. In Pahang their principal occupation was the search for gold. There they were regarded as `a restless warlike race' who were `long at war with the Dutch.' Indeed they were much involved in the Padri movement and had fiercely resisted Dutch intervention. By 1828, the Raja of Siak reported that the interior, that is three or four districts in the landward part of his realm had been burnt and laid waste by Rincis, followers of Tuanku Nan Rinci, one of the most radical leaders of the fanatical Padri movement. The Rinci came from the country of Rawa. In consequence, the subjects of Siak joined with the Minang to attack the country of Rawa. The troubles with the Rawa were causing difficulties for trade between Singapore and Malacca and the interior. By the 1830's the Padris had come into conflict with the Dutch and had retreated northward from Bonjol into Rau. The area was finally subjugated by force of arms by the Dutch in 1835. In the mid-nineteenth century the numbers of the Rao or Rawa in Sumatra were said to total about 25,000. The country of Rao consists of the nagari of Panti, Padang Glugur, Lansat Kadap (Kodok), Tanjung Batung, Tarung-Tarung, Padang Nunang, Lubuk Layang, Padang Matinggi, Langung and Kota Raja. Nineteenth century Dutch sources record the remains of brick candi at Pancahan (near Tarung-Tarung), Tarung-Tarung itself, Tanjung Medan and Lubuk Sikaping, now seat of the administration for Kabupaten Pasaman. Writing in 1912, however, Krom indicated that the remains in Lubuk Sikaping had been destroyed and that apart from Tanjung Medan, nothing was known of the other sites which, due their being no more than heaps of rubble and therefore of no architectural interest, appear to have been ignored by visitors such as Krom and Schnitger passing through the area in the 1930's. Padang Nunang In addition to the candi sites recorded in Dutch sources, an additional site has come to light in the Rau area. In 1977, the discovery of a dvarapala image and a number of bricks washed down by floodwaters of the Sungei Sibinail, a tributary of the Batang Sumpur led, eventually, to the discovery of a previously unknown candi site high on an eroding bank about one kilometre above Padang Nunang. Tarung-Tarung The village of Tarung-Tarung lies approximately one kilometre west of the main road from Panti to Kotanopan and is approached by a dirt tract which runs through rice padis. The village is surrounded by the remains of an earthen rampart which was one surmounted by a thorny-bamboo pagar or fence. Immediately to the right of the track before it crosses a small rivulet and enters the village is a small area of heavily overgrown higher ground where the candi was located. The foundations of the candi remained until sometime during the early 1970's when the bricks were reportedly dug out and sold off as far as Bukittinggi. As far as it was possible to ascertain from informants, only the disturbed remnants of the candi remained. The site may, however, still reward investigation by excavation. Pancahan The disturbed remains of the candi, nothing more than a heap of bricks, lies on an area of slightly higher ground in the midst of rice sawah some 500 m to the rear of the village school. The site is known locally as galanggang or 'arena', presumably being enclosed by an encircling wall. Access is by a path along the bunds of fishponds behind the school and then across the rice sawah. According to informants, the candi shaft was dug out by robbers some seven years ago at which time a stoneware jar containing black earth was recovered. No mention was made of any reliquary or foundation deposit though it seems reasonable to assume that such may have existed. A base sherd of white-glazed Song period Chinese stoneware bowl was recovered from the sawah some 50 m from the site. Tanujung Medan In the Panti area, some thirty kilometres south of Rao, on the west bank of the Batang Sumpur is the site of an enclosure (galanggang) and two now sadly ruinous candi. The ruins lie to the south of a small stream, the Kali Bandar which enters the main river just downstream from the site. This ruin, formerly described as a biaro (the same term used for the remains in the Padang Lawas further north) was still in a reasonable state of repair until the late nineteenth century when in 1876 an over-enthusiastic local official named Der Kinderen "excavated" the surrounds of the temple walls, causing them to collapse. When first discovered, a rectangular tower measuring some 7.5 X 4.5 m still stood to a height of approximately 4 m. A 1.5 m square stone below which ran a 0.80 m wide gallery around the building and a stairway of two steps, each 0.60 m in height and the same width. From under the steps a standing human figure is said to have been recovered. A foundation deposit, reportedly have been found at a depth of approximately 5 m yielded a fragmentary gold plate with an incised mandala and eight Boddhsatvas together with an inscription of a Buddhist formula in Nagari script thought to be no older than the twelfth century. Also found was the upper part of a metal kendi with the neck inlaid with gold and silver, some fragments of gold leaf and three rubies. Local informants reported that the site had formerly contained a number of stone statues and a copper bowl but these had all disappeared before the site was investigated in 1876. According to local tradition the enclosure and temples were built by Raja Sangat Baung Lubuk Sikaping Lubuk Sikaping in the most southerly of the known candi sites in the Rau/Panti area. Here a brick ruin, described as a "Hindu temple" stood formerly in the vicinity of the now demolished colonial administrative centre. It was demolished on the instructions of the local government in 1866. Enquiries by a Pusat P3N team in 1978 failed to yield any local knowledge of it but further enquiries in 1991 may have yielded a modicum of information. The candi stood, apparently, on high ground on the east bank of the Batang Sumpur between the main road and the east bank of the river, immediately to the north of where a small rivulet the enters the main stream. This, apparently, was the site of the goal demolished some years ago. A local council representative mentions having seen ancient bricks exposed when excavations for foundations where made for new building in this area. The candi sites discussed above are all located in the valley of the Batang Sumpur, a major tributary of the Rokan. Alluvial gold is still panned from the beds of many of the streams in this area and it was presumably for this reason that the region was of not inconsiderable economic importance in the early second millennium C.E. Conclusions Although there are seemingly no tangible architectural remains of any consequence, the sites of these 'lost' candi and the former habitation sites adjacent to them may well merit further survey and controlled excavation. During the medieval period, between about the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, this region appears to have been of some economic consequence with a relatively numerous population. It's history is still poorly documented and deserves greater attention. Bibliography Ballot, J. Bosch, F.D.K. Krom, N. J. Mardsen, William Miksic, J.N. Milner, A.C. Suleiman, Satywati The contents of this site is the reponsability of the respective contributors |
update september 2006