Mandailing

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The Mandailing are a traditional cultural group in Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. There are also significant groups of Mandailing in Malaysia, especially in the state of Selangor and Perak. The Mandailings in Indonesia belong ethnically to the Batak people but a few often consider themselves as separate. They are influenced by the Kaum Paderi who rules Tanah Minangkabau, as a result Batak Mandailing were influenced with muslim culture and they were converted to Islam eventhough in the ancient time they used to practice Hinduism and Parmalim (Batak native religion). Mandailing originally cames from "Manda" and "Ilang" which mean Mother & Lost. If this word joined together became Manda Ilang means My Lost Mother. Another research also stated that Mandailing people originally are the descendant of Toba Batak whom were migrate to the south centuries before the coming of the Portuguese and Dutch colonial to Sumatra. There they converted to Islam due to intermarriage with Minangkabau and the Malay peoples. The Mandailing societies are patriarchal with family names or Marga just like the Toba Batak. We could found the same Marga in their tribes such as Lubis, Nasution, Siregar, Hasibuan, Harahap, Dalimunthe (originally from Munthe), Matondang, Rangkuti, Parinduri, Pulungan, Rambe, Daulae(y), Pohan, Batubara (not to be confused with the Batu Bara people from the East Coast of Sumatra), Barus and Hutajulu. Their closed related tribes was Angkola whom were also Muslim.