Stories from Deli

Private correspondence from the Java-Bode. 02-03-1877 Circular The undersigned, Tjia Tjoe Yoe, chief leaseholder of the right to sell opium, will on the twenty-sixth of December assign to the highest bidder the right to retail opium. This auction will be held at the house of the Captain of the Chinese. Valck. Signed, Stamp . The…

(From the Nieuwe Bat. II. B.) Makassaarsch handels-blad 08-11-1872 Dear Editor, You have requested from me an explanation of the state of the country before the uprising and a suggestion of the means to bring this important settlement to peace. I will attempt to fulfill this to the best of my ability. Eight or nine…

Through the kindness of one of our readers, we have been able to provide an excerpt from a letter received by the last boat from Deli (North Sumatra). Deli, May 1, 1875. Earlier, I wrote to you, and you could read in the newspapers how all energy and zeal here were deliberately stifled by the…

“It is much easier loving the souls of the heathen in the abstract in America than it is here in the concrete, encompassed as they are with such dirty bodies, speaking forth their foul language and vile natures, and exhibiting every evidence of their depravity.” This lament, written in one of his letters by the…

Deli Ourant 26-08-1885 This displacement of the old Batak culture by Islam seems to have taken place via Atjeh and more recently through Deli. As an addition to my previous study on Batak religion, I must mention two small buildings intended for religious purposes, which were located in the village. One was a small hut,…

Deli Courant 22-08-1885 MY STAY IN NAGASARIBOE: About my dwelling, the old half-rotted, scarcely used Balé, I have already written the necessary; now I will give an account of the daily life among and with the Battas, as I witnessed it during my stay of three weeks at Nagasariboe. First to appear in the early…

Deli Courant 19-08-1885 I had looked forward with great anticipation to being able to greet my old benefactor and friend, “Sipaiak,” in Karna J Djamboe. Unfortunately, he was no longer among the living. Three months ago, he had suddenly passed away in Baroe Djahai, a Karo Batta village from where he originated, likely poisoned by…

Deli Courant 15-08-1885 The peculiar private situations among the Battas, as my first journey has taught me, entirely depend on the relationships of an influential guide for the outcome of a journey in the northern Batta lands. On my first journey, I was accompanied by a very wealthy and prominent Batta, among whom hundreds of…

Opinion in Medan, R.N.G. Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle, 6 April 1915 A staff member who spent their Easter holiday in Medan had the intention of escaping the constant barrage of war news from Penang but found it impossible to completely avoid the topic. Instead, they aimed to gain a different perspective, that of a…

GANGSTERS ON SUMATRA CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES AT BAGAN SI API API. In the announcements for the Lieutenant Governors of the Interior we find a very exciting contribution from Mr. Baalbergen about the existence of Chinese secret societies at Bagan Si Api Api, from which it can be read that these gentlemen do not shy away…