Bangsa — Malay/Indonesian for “nation,” “people,” “ethnicity” or “landaard” — was the term by which the soldiers of the K.N.I.L. identified themselves and were identified by their ethnic-tribal origin: Ambonezen, Menadonezen, Timorezen, Javanen, Madoerezen, Soendanezen, etc. In Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. the bangsa is the central category of the colonial army’s social organisation: on Java each compagnie consisted of one bangsa (except the European officers); in the buitengewesten all landaarden were mixed in one brigade. A slight to one’s bangsa was deeply felt: “Belediging voor de bangsa Ambon!” was a war cry in protests.
The bangsa and the compagnie
On Java each compagnie of the K.N.I.L. consisted of one bangsa — one ethnic group — except the European officers. The Ambonese compagnie, the Javanese compagnie, the Menadonese compagnie — each was ethnically homogeneous. The arrangement was both administrative and cultural: the compagnie was the unit of daily life, and the daily life of the compagnie was shaped by the bangsa of its soldaten.
The bangsa in the buitengewesten
In the buitengewesten — the outer territories, including Aceh — all landaarden were mixed in one brigade. The kongsis — the cooking groups on patrouille — were organised by bangsa: Ambonezen + Timorezen together; Menadonezen alone; Javanen + Soendanezen + Madoerezen together. The mixing of bangsa in the buitengewesten was both practical (the brigade was too small for ethnic compagnieën) and cultural (the buitengewesten were where the bangsa of the colonial army met and merged).
The bangsa and the belediging
A slight to one’s bangsa was deeply felt. “Belediging voor de bangsa Ambon!” was a war cry in protests. The Magelang menage protest of 1930 was triggered by a communist-instigated menage change that substituted rice for aardappelen — the Ambonese soldiers read it as “hetzelfde menu als de Javanen” (the same menu as the Javanese) — and therefore as a slight to the bangsa Ambon. The protest — a march to the colonel’s house — was the consequence.
The bangsa and the soldatenlied
The bangsa was also the category of the soldatenlied. The Ambonese soldiers sang “Rasa sajang kené”, “Ombak, ombak poetih”, “Hoera, hoera tjintjin” — the Ambonese songs that resounded in the tangsi. The Javanese soldiers sang their own songs; the Menadonese theirs. The bangsa was therefore not just an administrative category but a cultural one: the bangsa was the category of the song.
Significance
The bangsa is significant in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as the central category of the colonial army’s social organisation. The book’s argument is that the bangsa was both administrative and cultural: the compagnie on Java was ethnically homogeneous, the brigade in the buitengewesten was ethnically mixed, and the kongsies on patrouille were organised by bangsa. The slight to the bangsa — as in the Magelang menage protest — was the mechanism by which the bangsa’s honour was defended, and the bangsa was the category through which the colonial army’s Ambonese soldiers identified themselves.
See Also
- Oom Ambon
- Tangsi
- Kongsi
- Landaard
- Magelang menage protest (1930)
- Rasa sajang kené
- Ombak, ombak poetih
- Hoera, hoera tjintjin
- K.N.I.L.
- Korps Marechaussee van Atjeh en Onderhorigen
Source
Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L., by G. W. T. Dames, Maj. Inf. K.N.I.L. b.d. (‘s-Gravenhage: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1954), chapters “Van recruut tot pensioen,” “Moeilijkheden op den weg,” and “De buitenpost.”