The Bimanese or Mbojo are an

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

that inhabits the eastern part of Sumbawa Island in

West Nusa Tenggara West Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Barat – NTB) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises the western portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the exception of Bali which is its own province. Mataram, on Lombok, is the capital and largest ...

province. With a population of around half a million people, they are the second largest ethnic group in West Nusa Tenggara.

Society

The Bimanese live in the villages of the

Bima Bima (Indonesia: ''Kota Bima'') is a city on the eastern coast of the island of Sumbawa in central Indonesia's province West Nusa Tenggara. It is the largest city on the island of Sumbawa, with a population of 142,443 at the 2010 census and 155,1 ...

and

Dompu Dompu is a town and the administrative centre of the Dompu Regency, located in the eastern part of the island of Sumbawa, in central Indonesia's province of West Nusa Tenggara. It is the third largest town on the island of Sumbawa, with a populat ...

Regencies, and in the city of

. The main occupations of the rural population are wet rice farming,

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

Swidden Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

farming is still found among highland communities. Urban Bimanese practice a wide range of professions, including trade and local administration. Tourism also increasingly plays an important role due to the proximity of the

Komodo National Park Komodo National Park (Indonesian: ''Taman Nasional Komodo'') is a national park in Indonesia located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. The park includes the ...

. Among entrepreneurs there are many descendants from intermarriages with members of historical immigrant communities (especially Arabs, but also Chinese).

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

is the predominant religion of the Bimanese. Lowlanders are known as fervent adherents of Islam, while among the mountain communities of the ''Dou Donggo'' and ''Dou Wawo'', indigenous folk beliefs still play a strong role in everyday life. Some ''Dou Donggo'' communities converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the mid-20th century.

History

Before the spread of Islam to most coastal regions in the

Malay archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

, several small polities in the Bima area belonged to the influence sphere of the

Majapahit Empire Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia ...

, and later had close cultural and political ties with the Kingdom of Gowa in

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. Introduction of Islam is attributed in local traditions to the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

merchants. The Sultanate of Bima was established in the early seventeenth century under the influence of the

Sultanate of Gowa The Sultanate of Gowa (sometimes written as ''Goa''; not to be confused with Goa in India) was one of the great kingdoms in the history of Indonesia and the most successful kingdom in the South Sulawesi region. People of this kingdom come fr ...

Language

The Bimanese (including the highland groups) speak the

Bimanese language The Bima language, or Bimanese (Bima: ''Nggahi Mbojo'', Indonesian: ''Bahasa Bima'') is an Austronesian language spoken on the eastern half of Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, which it shares with speakers of the Sumbawa language. Bima territory inclu ...

, which belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is closely related to the languages of

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

and

Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...

further to the east, and only distantly to the

Sumbawa language Sumbawa (; id, bahasa Sumbawa) or Sumbawarese is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the western half of Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, which it shares with speakers of Bima. It is closely related to the languages of adjacent Lombok and Bali; indeed, i ...

that is spoken on the western half of Sumbawa island.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Ethnic groups in Indonesia Sumbawa {{Indonesia-stub