Everything about Padri War totally explained
The Padri War (also called the
Minangkabau War) was fought from
1821 to
1837, in
West Sumatra between
Dutch troops and the indigenous population.
Background
In the 1820s, the Dutch had yet to consolidate their possessions in some parts of the
Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia) after re-acquiring it from the
British. This was especially true on the island of Sumatra, where some areas wouldn't come under Dutch rule until the 20th century.
During the Napoleonic wars indegenous peoples in Sumatra had made progress in throwing off the Dutch yoke. During this time a conflict had broken out in West Sumatra between the so called
adat and
padri factions. Both factions included Minangkabaus and were at least nominally Muslims. The Adats were
Minangkabau traditionalists who wanted to continue to include indigenous pre-Islamic religious practices and social traditions in local custom (
Islam Abangan). The Padris, like contemporaneous jihadists in the
Sokoto Caliphate of West Africa), were
Islamist reformers who had made the
hajj to Mecca and returned inspired to bring the Qur'an and
shariah to a position of greater influence in Sumatra. The Padri movement had formed during the early nineteenth century and sought to purify the culture of traditions and beliefs its partisans viewed as un-Islamic, including syncretic folk beliefs, cockfighting, gambling, drinking alcohol, and Minangkabau matrilineal traditions.
Skirmishes and the Masang Treaty
After most of the
Minangkabau royal family was murdered in 1815, the Adat faction sought assistance from the Dutch upon their return to Sumatra in 1819. Between 1821-1824, skirmishes broke out throughout the region, ended only by the Masang Treaty. The war cooled down during the next six years, as the Dutch faced larger-scale uprisings in
Java.
Dutch advances
The conflict broke out again in the 1830s with the Dutch gaining early victories. Soon after, the war centered on Bonjol, the fortified last stronghold of the Padris. It finally fell in 1837 after being besieged for three years, and along with the exile of Padri leader
Tuanku Imam Bonjol, the conflict died out.
Impact
With the victory, the Dutch tightened their hold on West Sumatra. Yet there was a positive legacy for the native Minangs: after the war, the tribal and religious leaders increasingly reconciled their visions. This helped promulgating the new view of "
adat basandi syara', syara' basandi Kitabullah" ("tradition founded upon
Islamic law, Islamic law founded upon the
Qur'an").
Further Information
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