Singkil people are an ethnic group of people found in

Aceh Singkil Regency Aceh Singkil Regency ( id, Kabupaten Aceh Singkil) is a regency in the Aceh province of Indonesia. It is situated largely on the island of Sumatra, but also includes the offshore Banyak Islands, the largest of which is Tuangku (Great Banyak), wi ...

and

Subulussalam Subulussalam ( Jawoë: سبل السلام) is a city in the south of Aceh province of Indonesia. It is located inland on the island of Sumatra. On 2 January 2007, the provincial government of Aceh declared Subulussalam to be an independent ''city ...

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

province,

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 ...

. The customs and culture of the Singkil people are very different from the

Pakpak people Pakpak or Pakpak Dairi people are one of the ethnic group found mainly in North Sumatra, Indonesia. They are scattered in a few regencies and cities in North Sumatra and Aceh, such as Dairi Regency, Pakpak Bharat Regency, Humbang Hasundutan Regen ...

. This is because of the Singkil people practices

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, whereas the majority of the

practices

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Apart from that the Singkil people have intermarried with the neighbouring ethnic group of people like

Acehnese people The Acehnese (also written as Atjehnese and Achinese) are an ethnic group from Aceh, Indonesia on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra. The area has a history of political struggle against the Dutch. The vast majority of the Acehnese p ...

and

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people ( min, Urang Minang; Indonesian or Malay: ''Orang Minangkabau'' or ''Minangkabo''; Jawi: منڠكبو), also known as Minang, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesi ...

Language

Singkil language is widely spoken in

and part of Southeast Aceh Regency. The Singkil language is very similar to

Pakpak language Pakpak, or Batak Dairi, is an Austronesian language of Sumatra. It is spoken in Dairi Regency, Pakpak Bharat Regency, Parlilitan district of Humbang Hasundutan Regency, Manduamas district of Central Tapanuli Regency, and Subulussalam and Aceh ...

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

. However, the Singkil language have its own uniqueness whereby the alphabet "R" is pronounce as "kh". For example, the word "appearance" in Bahasa Indonesia is ''Rupa'', while in Singkil language it is ''Khupa''.

Culture

The culture of the Singkil people itself has been greatly influenced by Islamic traditions. Although they may belong to the same clusters of parent-ethnic, the culture of the

is vastly different from the Singkil people. This is because the Singkil people are mostly Muslims, while majority of the

are Christians. Apart from that, mix marriages among the Singkil people with other foreign ethnics such as

and

occurs more frequently.

Religion

is believed to have spread in lands of the Singkil people a few centuries ago by foreign merchants that came from

Minangkabau Highlands The Minangkabau Highlands ( id, Dataran Tinggi Minangkabau, Minang: ''Minang Darek'') is a mountainous area in the province of West Sumatra, located around three mountains— Mount Marapi, Mount Singgalang, and Mount Sago—in west-central Su ...

and later during the rule of the

Aceh Sultanate The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam ( ace, Keurajeuën Acèh Darussalam; Jawoë: كاورجاون اچيه دارالسلام), was a sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major ...

. Many of the

have left traces of their history and their descendants in the coastline region. Abdurrauf Singkil, also known as Syekh Abdur Rauf as-Singkili was once a famous Singkil

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

that was appointed as a head

and a

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

in the Acehnese kingdom in 17th century.

Surnames

Just as with other sub-ethnic

Batak people Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, the '' marga'' (family name or surname) of the Singkil people derives from the patrilineal lineage. Generally, the '' margas'' that are used by the Singkil people are similar to those used by the

Alas people The Alas people is an indigenous ethnic group from Kutacane, Southeast Aceh district, Sumatra, Indonesia. The Alas are found in the Gunung Leuser, Ketambe, and Alas River areas. Van Daalen's Alas, Batak and Gayo campaign　 At the final stage ...

Kluet people Kluet or Kluwat people dwell in a number of districts in South Aceh Regency, Aceh, Indonesia namely North Kluet, South Kluet, Central Kluet and East Kluet. The Kluet people are regarded as part of the Batak people sub-ethnicity. The Kluet region ...

and part of Karo people along with

Toba people The Toba people, also known as the Qom people, are one of the largest indigenous groups in Argentina who historically inhabited the region known today as the Pampas of the Central Chaco. During the 16th century, the Qom inhabited a large part of ...

. Nevertheless, there are '' margas'' that are different. Several of the '' margas'' that are found among the Singkil people includes:- * Kombih (Kumbi) * Ramin * Barat * Palis (Pelis) * Manik * Kembang * Kesugihen * Lingga * Bako * Ujung * Sulin (Solin) * Pokan (Pohan) There are also a number of Singkil '' margas'' that originates from the descendants of the

that have assimilated with the Singkil people centuries ago, such as:- * Melayu (Malau) * Goci

Language

Culture

Religion

Surnames

References

Further reading