The Orang Batin/Orang Sakai in the Malay Kingdom of Siak Sri Indrapura

Abstract

One of the Orang Asli groups of mainland Riau (Sumatra) is the Orang Sakai, formally called Orang Batin. From the few early accounts and recent ethnographic research, this paper reconstructs their political-economic and political- cultural relationship with the former Malay kingdom of Siak Sri Indrapura. The Orang Batin had a specific economic and ritual role within the kingdom, and the Orang Asli/Malay nexus was relatively benign and balanced compared to what was described for some kingdoms of the Malay peninsula and even elsewhere in Sumatra. Further, unlike the Orang Asli of the Malay peninsula, they did not suffer from slave raiding. The paper also reconsiders the Malay-peninsula-centered Orang Asli categories (Northern, Central, Southern Aslian, and tribal Malay). It proposes that most (although not all) of the East Coast Sumatran (tribal) Orang Asli should be considered as forming a fifth category of Orang Asli: Malay-speaking Sumatran Orang Asli.