The Angkola (also known as Angkola Batak) people are part of the

Batak 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 ( ...

ethnic group from

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

who live in the South Tapanuli regency. The

Angkola language Angkola, or Batak Angkola, is an Austronesian language of Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth ...

is similar to

Mandailing language Mandailing Batak or Mandailing is an Austronesian language spoken in Sumatra, the northern island of Indonesia. It is spoken mainly in Mandailing Natal Regency, North Padang Lawas Regency, Padang Lawas Regency, and eastern parts of Labuha ...

also with Toba language, but it is

sociolinguistic Sociolinguistics is the descriptive, scientific study of how language is shaped by, and used differently within, any given society. The field largely looks at how a language changes between distinct social groups, as well as how it varies unde ...

ally distinct. The name ''Angkola'' is believed to have originated from the Angkola River or ''Batang Angkola'', which was named by an officer called Rajendra Kola (''Angkola'' or city lord) who was passing through Padang Lawas and later came to power there. The southern (downstream) part of the Angkola River is called ''Angkola Jae'', while the northern (upstream) part is called ''Angkola Julu''. The Angkola people practice patrilineal kinship, and the

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

s and

surnames In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several giv ...

of the Angkola people are based on the patrilineal system. There are only a few Angkola

- Siregar, Dalimunthe, Harahap, Hasibuan, Rambe, Nasution, Daulay, Tanjung, Ritonga, Batubara and Hutasuhut, amongst others. Angkola society strictly prohibits marriage between people with the same surname. Most of the Angkola are Muslim while a small minority are Christian.

Gallery

File:Batak Angkola.png, The traditional clothing of the Batak Angkola consists of ''ulos godang'', ''ampu'', and ''bulang''. File:Ulos paroppa angkola.jpg, Angkola ''ulos''

References

Ethnic groups in Indonesia Ethnic groups in Sumatra History of Sumatra Ethnography Batak Batak ethnic groups {{Indonesia-stub