Damang Batu - Unifying Figure of the Dayak, Tumbang Anoi 1894

Rangkaya Bada
Mei 27, 2024

Damang Batu (middle) between wife, relatives, and close friends.

From May to August 1894, Damang Batu hosted the historic grand meeting that was initially initiated by the Dutch East Indies Company as a special tactic, namely "salt starvation," not divide et impera, to control the warring Dayak tribes. 

Pertemuan Tumbang Anoi 1894 (The Tumbang Anoi Meeting of 1894) is referred to by Dayak researchers and writers as the 'Dayak Awakening Day'. Because that year, for the first time, all Dayaks throughout Borneo gathered at the same point. 

Imagine! At that time, there were no roads like we have now. All journeys were done on foot, taking months.
The strategy was to unite the tribes that were at war with each other first, and then conquer them. Two controllers were recorded to have participated in the meeting, and over 100 figures were documented in the minutes written in Dutch.

My point is not about anything else, but the PHOTO of DAMANG BATU that had previously circulated, which was incorrect. 

I visited the TUMBANG ANOI location twice, where the grand meeting took place, and asked his relatives and kin. This is him, in the middle, among his wives and relatives, the figure of Damang Batu.

I want to ask the members of this WhatsApp group: Does anyone have a clear, individual photo of Damang Batu? 

This image is the result of my REPRODUCTION at the location, Tumbang Anoi, 2017.

"Sepakat saya yang di tengah adalah Damang Batu. Karena wajahnya mirip dengan beberapa turunannya yg saya cukup kenal." 

So Dr. Darmae Nasir, a resident of Central Kalimantan quite familiar with the customs, culture, and history of the Dayaks and Tumbang Anoi, stated, 'My consensus in the middle is Damang Batu. Because his face resembles several of his descendants whom I am quite acquainted with.'"

--Masri Sareb Putra

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