North Sumatra
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the southeast, West Sumatra to the south, the Indian Ocean to the west, and the Strait of Malacca to the east.
With a 2020 population around 14.8 million and a mid-2024 estimate around 15.6 million, North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province and the most populous province outside of Java Island. At, North Sumatra is the third-largest province in area on the island of Sumatra behind South Sumatra and Riau. Major ethnic groups include the Malay, native to the east coast; several Batak groups, indigenous to the west coast and central highlands; the Nias people of Nias Island and its surrounding islets; and Chinese, Javanese, and Indian peoples, who first migrated to Sumatra during Dutch rule.
North Sumatra is home to the Toba supervolcano, located in what is now Lake Toba, which erupted 74,000–75,000 years ago, wiping out nearly all of mankind. The supereruption resulted in the creation of Lake Toba and was rated a VEI-8 eruption.
During Dutch rule, North Sumatra was administered under the Gouvernement van Sumatra, which governed the entire island of Sumatra out of Medan. In 1948, after Indonesian independence was proclaimed, Sumatra Province was divided into three sub-provinces, each of which had the right to regulate and manage its own affairs. The 15th April was later designated as the anniversary of the founding of the province of North Sumatra.
History
Prehistoric era
Archaeological understanding of early North Sumatran peoples is limited compared to that of other nearby regions. Prehistoric relics in North Sumatra show that the oldest population may have been Austronesian or Melanesian. Archaeological evidence indicates that their dispersal took place in the Mesolithic era. They spread to the eastern part of Indonesia, to the island of Papua, and to the west, to North Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Early peoples in North Sumatra consumed mostly snails and clams, leaving large shell deposits sometimes referred to as kjokkenmoddinger, some of which are still found as hills in Saentis, Hinai, Tanjung Beringin, along the Deli-Langkat shore, and on riverbanks.In the second wave of migration from mainland Southeast Asia, the Young Malays or Deutero Malays settled on the coast. They mainly lived by fishing and by cultivating the marshy land for agriculture. Their villages were scattered along the big rivers that flow to the east coast of North Sumatra such as Besitang, Wampu, Asahan, and Barumun. Larger villages grew at the mouths of rivers and became centres of government. Relics of the Mesolithic era have been found in North Sumatra, including finely honed stone axes, bone tools, and painting materials.
Linguistic and archaeological evidence indicates that Austronesian speakers reached Sumatra from Taiwan and the Philippines through Borneo or Java about 2,500 years ago, and the Batak probably descended from these settlers.
New genetic research has found that the Nias people also came from the Austronesian peoples, though their initial ancestors may have arrived earlier: ancestors of the Nias people are thought to have come from Taiwan through the Philippines 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Ten years of research involving blood samples of 440 Nias people in 11 villages on Nias island show similarities between their Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA and that of Taiwanese and Filipino peoples.
Early historic era
The eastern coast of North Sumatra, bordering the Strait of Malacca, has been widely visited by Hindus and by Chinese traders for centuries since the founding of early Situs Kota Cina or Chinatown sites in Hamparan Perak. Barus, a trading port on the western coast of Tapanuli, attracted Middle Age era traders in search of camphor, which was popular in Ancient Egypt. In 1030, Rajendra Chola recorded the names of North Sumatran states he defeated in one expedition to conquer Srivijaya. States that he mentioned included Sriwijaya, Malayur, Kendara, and the Panai Kingdom. Furthermore, the Negarakertagama epic by Mpu Prapanca from the 14th century list states found in North Sumatra, Pane, Haru, Mandailing, Tamiang, Lawas, and Barus, which were mainly defeated by the Majapahit.File:Sunset di Candi Bahal.jpg|thumb|left|Bahal temple, also known as Portibi, is a Buddhist candi complex in Bahal village, North Sumatra. The temple site is linked to the Pannai Kingdom.
The earliest kingdom that was present on the eastern coast of North Sumatra was the Aru Kingdom, which existed from the 13th to the 16th century AD. In its height, the kingdom was a maritime power and controlled the northern part of the Malacca strait. The kingdom was initially established as a Karo polity. The indigenous population practiced native animism and Hinduism. Starting in 13th century, some also practised Islam. Aru's capital was located close to present-day Medan and Deli Serdang. Its people are believed to have been descendants of the Karo people from the hinterland of North Sumatra.
An area near Lake Toba called Batakland housed kingdoms of Batak people. It was first mentioned in Zhao Rugua's 13th-century Description of the Barbarous Peoples, which refers to a 'Ba-ta' dependency of Srivijaya. The Suma Oriental, written in the 15th century, also refers to the "Kingdom of Bata" between Pasai and the Aru kingdom. The Batak mainly practiced animism and cannibalism and remained isolated from foreign culture and kingdoms like Srivijaya and Majapahit. The Toba people divided the Batak Lands into several independent kingdoms, which often entered into defensive alliances. Of the many kingdoms, Bakkara and their king or Sisingamangaraja held the most sway due to customs and traditions which consider Bakkara the place of origin of the Batak people.
The Nias people on Nias Island remained isolated during its early era. Its people practised agriculture and cultivation, made art carvings, and adhered to shamanist and pagan practices.
Kingdom, sultanate, and colonial era
By, there were several kingdoms on the east coast of Sumatra, namely the larger Nagur and Aru kingdoms and the smaller Panai and Batangiou kingdoms. To the west, in the hinterland of Tapanuli, another kingdom emerged: a Batak kingdom founded by descendants of Sisingamangaraja. This kingdom gradually expanded its influenced throughout Tapanuli to Angkola, Mandailing, and Dairi. The three largest kingdoms in North Sumatra in the sixteenth century were Nagur, the Batak kingdom under the rule of King Sisingamangaraja, and Aru.Wars between these three kingdoms made the region vulnerable to outside influences from Aceh, Melaka, Portugal, Siak, and Minangkabau. The Sultanate of Aceh worked to spread Islam across the eastern coast, and in the Padri War, succeeded in spreading Islam into the southern Tapanuli kingdom. As a result of this warfare and cultural shifts, the three big kingdoms split into several small kingdoms and sultanates, including Deli, Serdang, Asahan, Langkat Sultanate, Maropat, Lingga.
Malacca fell to the Dutch East India Company in 1641. Coastal areas of North Sumatra felt economic impacts as the VOC subsequently reduced the presence of trade in Malacca and shifted resources towards Batavia. Still, North Sumatra also saw an increase in Arab, Chinese and Indian traders.
After Britain gained a position on the nearby island of Penang by establishing a trading post for the British East India Company in 1786, the British traded heavily with the east coast of Sumatra. Prior to the nineteenth century, Dutch power was concentrated on the island of Java and parts of the Moluccas, the Dutch East India Company competed with the British East India Company for trade in the area, especially for pepper, with the two nations trying to obstruct the other's trade efforts. In the nineteenth century, the Dutch began to focus more on to areas outside Java, including North Sumatra, driving out British influence. Dutch control was formalized with the handover of most of Indonesia in the 1814 Treaty of London, which was renewed in the 1824 Treaty of London. However, the UK maintained a presence in several places that were considered important for trade, including parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
During the Padri War, in the years prior to 1860, Dutch forces arrived in South Tapanuki at the request of a local leader to provide protection. The Siak sultan subsequently signed a treaty with the Dutch East Indies government recognizing Dutch authority over it and the sultanates of Asahan, Serdang, Deli and Langkat. The Dutch proceeded further into Batakland and North Sumatra, invading Toba, Karo Highland, Nias and Silindung with the help of Christian missionaries, such as Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, who worked to evangelise the area. The Dutch invasion into Batakland met resistance by Sisingamangaraja XII, causing a guerilla war lasting 30 years until and Sisingmangaraja XII's death in battle and a subsequent Dutch victory. Meanwhile, particularly after 1869, Dutch tobacco plantation activities expanded on the east coast, including the establishment of Deli Maatschappij and London Sumatra, using land leased from the Malay sultans. As there was a worker shortage, the Dutch began importing labourers from Java, Southern China and Southern India. This first big wave of migration established substantial Javanese, Chinese, and Indian populations in North Sumatra that remain to this day. By 1874, the sultanates had been formally included within the Dutch East Indies, and in Deli, the sultan of Deli granted the Dutch sole rights over taxation and leases, in exchange for an annual pension. That year, the East Coast Residency was established.
On March 12, 1942, Japanese forces landed in Palubuhan Ruku on the east coast, and advanced on Medan. The advance force reported it had captured the town the next day. The main force followed on bicycles. There was some resistance from the Dutch forces, particularly around Pematangsiantar, but the last major town, Sibolga, fell on 15 March. During the Japanese occupation of North Sumatra, the leader of the Japanese Armed Forces was centred in Bukittinggi, moving the de facto capital out of the Dutch centre of Medan. The occupation lasted 3 years. In 1945 the Japanese occupation officially ended with Japan's surrender in the Pacific and two days later Sukarno declared Indonesian Independence, beginning the four-year Indonesian War of Independence against the Dutch.