Abstract
Uli Kozok identifies the two pustaha (Batak bark books containing divination techniques and ritual practices) in the ‘Christoffel Collection’, registered under inventory numbers AE.1922.0001.1006 and AE.1922.0001.1007, as, in all likelihood, having been looted from the last Singamangaraja (1849–1907), a Batak leader, resistance fighter and pahlawan nasional (national hero). Although the MAS archives identify the pustaha as Toba Batak, they provide little further information about their specific provenance. Kozok bases this conclusion on palaeographic, linguistic and topographic analysis of one of the pustaha (AE.1922.0001.1007), combined with an assessment of its intended use.
Uli Kozok is a retired professor of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa specializing in Indonesian language, philology and history. He holds a PhD in Batak languages from the University of Hamburg.
This article was published in September 2025 in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia: Kozok, Uli. “A Batak Pustaha Looted from the Last Singamangaraja,” in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 181, 2–3: 191–225.
An Indonesian version was published in October 2025 in Jumantara Jurnal Manuskrip Nusantara: Kozok, Uli. “Pustaha Singamangaraja: Ramalan Perang Melawan Kolonialisme,” in Jumantara Jurnal Manuskrip Nusantara 16, 2: 225–250