Ripe was the Toba-Batak term for the dependants or clients whom a Radja (ni) Hoeta sought to attach to himself in building up his harajaon (chieftaincy). D. W. N. de Boer, writing in Het recht op den grond in Atjeh, explained that a Batak village radja — and above all one founding a new village — needed “uitgelezen, liefst tot dezelfde marga behoorende ripe’s,” picked ripe’s, preferably belonging to the same marga, in order to maintain or extend his chieftaincy; and that the beschikkingsrecht over land was the instrument through which such men were bound to him, as parripe’s on issued or re-issued land.
Comparative use
The concept served De Boer’s argument negatively: because the Atjehnese keradjaans had arisen territorially and not genealogically, the oeleebalang of Atjeh had no comparable need to recruit and bind kin-clients, and consequently no need for a vigilant right of avail.
See Also
Source
Het recht op den grond in Atjeh, by D. W. N. de Boer, dated Scheveningen, November 1931, pp. 59-80. Offprint DLP-141, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, ‘s-Gravenhage; Bibliotheek KITLV accession 0060 4460 60 081470 428.