Singkil people are an ethnic group of people found in Aceh Singkil Regency 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 ...

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 Gui ...

. The customs and culture of the Singkil people are very different from the Pakpak people. This is because of the Singkil people practices

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, whereas the majority of the Pakpak people 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 popula ...

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

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people ( min, Urang Minang; Indonesian language, Indonesian or Malay language, Malay: ''Orang Minangkabau'' or ''Minangkabo''; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: منڠكبو), also known as Minang, are an Austronesian people, Austronesian eth ...

Language

Singkil language is widely spoken in Aceh Singkil Regency,

and part of Southeast Aceh Regency. The Singkil language is very similar to Pakpak language of North Sumatra. However, the Singkil language have its own uniqueness whereby the alphabet "R" is pronounce as "kh". For example, the word "appearance" in

Bahasa Indonesia Indonesian ( ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia is t ...

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 Pakpak people is vastly different from the Singkil people. This is because the Singkil people are mostly Muslims, while majority of the Pakpak people are Christians. Apart from that, mix marriages among the Singkil people with other foreign ethnics such as Acehnese people 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 and later during the rule of the Aceh Sultanate. 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 in the Acehnese kingdom in 17th century.

Surnames

Just as with other sub-ethnic Batak 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 Pakpak people,

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 regions ...

and part of

Karo people Karo people may refer to: *Karo people (Indonesia) *Karo people (East Africa) ''Karo'' is a group of Nilotic tribes that straddles the Nile in the Republic of South Sudan and is predominately found in Central Equatoria State, and as far South ...

along with Toba people. 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