Lombok (info-2)

Picture from asiadivesite.com

People and Religion



The native inhabitants of Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara) followed a belief in animism. The Sasak are indigenous people in Lombok. Numbering about two million, they are thought to be descendents of a hill tribe in northern India and Myanmar (Burma). After the 16th century, Islam separated from Java and crossed the kingdoms to the Islands of Lombok and Sumbawa. Nowadays almost 90% of Lombok people are Muslim. In the 17th century the Balinese came to the west coast of Lombok Island. Within several decades a kingdom was established, extending the territory of the kingdom of Karang Asem, East of Bali. The Hindu Religion began to settle up on that times. In the beginning of the 18th century, the Dutch colonized the eastern part of Indonesia, including lesser Sunda (Bali, Lombok across to Timor). Belonging to the Dutch administration of the are they promoted Christian missions.
Religion
Lombok is often called the ‘island of a thousand mosques’. The original religion in Lombok was called Boda. This is a religion where they worshipped ancestors and believed in spiritual communication. However, in the 14th century, king Majapahit conquered Lombok and spread Hinduism and Buddhism. In the 16th century Islam came to Lombok with a group of people from Java led by Sunan Prapen. He firstly Islamized the kings. This was the reason why Islam spread so quickly in Lombok, because people listen to the king. The two highest classes in Indonesia are Lalu and Raden. To indicate that you are from one of these classes, you put an L or an R in front of your name. You also have Baig, Lale and Dende, and most of the inhabitants belong to Jajar Karang/Kaula. This tradition stays stronger in the villages then in the cities. It is allowed to marry between the different classes, but the one with highest class moves down socially. Islam does not really have a social stratification system. This system in Lombok is an old tradition from the Hindu community, which is mixed with religion. Islam in Lombok has kept quite a bit of the traditions from Hindu time, an example is that the man chooses whom he wants to marry. The man’s parents ask the female’s parents if he can marry her. The female has not any impact on this decision. But they also have the typical Muslim traditions as circumcising, and maulid, the celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Before Islam came to Lombok, the island was divided into many small kingdoms. The two biggest were Salapara and Bayern. But there is no written history before Islam came to Lombok. The Lalu and the Raden are originally from the kings. The dominating ethnic group in Lombok is Sasak. To be a Sasak, you also have to be a Muslim. A Hindu in Lombok is called Bali, which shows that the name of an island or an ethnic group also indicates the religion.