Wealth of W. Sumatra's history open to public

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): West Sumatra and the fascinating Minangkabau ethnic group have always been attractive to scholars interested in history.

The beautiful and plentiful natural resources, the people's outstanding mastery of the arts, and the distinctive societal system and rich traditions have inspired numerous locals and foreigners to study the area and its people.

One scholar who dedicated a large part of his life to documenting his province's history was Rusli Amran, born in 1922, who was a pioneer journalist and career diplomat.

When he died in September 1996, he left behind him a vast collection of thousands of authentic and reproduction photos, maps and old albums, and reports which recorded the way of life and activities of Minangkabau society and the Dutch colonial administration in West Sumatra and adjacent areas between l800s and early 1900s.

This wealth of information is now available to the public through his books and a photograph collection housed at the Rusli Amran Foundation which was set up last year on April 17.

The foundation is located in the Pesona Exclusive Housing Complex Kav.4, Jl. Mampang Prapatan XIX, in South Jakarta.

On Wednesday the foundation will launch a postcard collection of images of the 1821-1837 Paderi War between West Sumatrans and the Dutch led by Islamic scholars including Tuanku Imam Bonjol.

Historian Taufik Abdullah, also from West Sumatra, says that the best items in Rusli's collection are some of the old photos and reproductions, and pictures of historical places and events in West Sumatra such as a sketch of the Paderi War.

Rusli's brother, Irwan Amran, chairs the foundation. He said it was set up because it would have been a waste to keep the vast collection just within the Amran family.

Secretary of the foundation is Kartina Ruswiyanti, Rusli's youngest daughter. She said the foundation was actively promoting its services to local and foreign universities and other kinds of institutions.

"It was my father's will to make his works useful to others," she said.

Irwan explained: "Our main objective is to preserve his priceless collections and to disseminate information on the history of West Sumatra and its nearby areas."

The foundation has a prestigious line-up of advisors including Taufik, historians Sartono Kartodirdjo and AB Lapian, literary expert A. Teeuw in Leiden, and Makaminan Makagiansar.

Its short-term plans include issuing publications on West Sumatra's history such as Cerita Lama Dalam Sejarah in cooperation with PT Balai Pustaka; Soematra Barat Tempo Doeloe Dalam Gambar (Pustaka Sinar Harapan), and Gambar-Gambar Perdjoeangan Indonesia (Pustaka Sinar Harapan).

It plans to hold seminars and an exhibition of old photos on Minangkabau and its surroundings in Padang and Jakarta.

Born in Padang on Sept. 14, 1922, Rusli went to Dutch public schools HIS and MULO in Padang in the 1940s.

He continued his education in Yogyakarta and before attending law school in Jakarta. From here he won a scholarship to the schools of social and politic sciences in universities in Amsterdam and in Prague between 1947 and 1953.

Back in Indonesia he worked as a reporter at Berita Indonesia before joining the Ministry of Defense's Information Department in Yogyakarta and Trade Ministry in Jakarta.

In the mid l950s, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served in Moscow and Paris.

In 1972, he retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin his research work. Between 1974 and 1996, he conducted his meticulous research in West Sumatra and countries such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and France.

His research projects were sponsored by KILTV, the Ford Foundation, the Toyota Foundation and the West Sumatra provincial government.

He wrote a number of important history books and essays such as Sumatra Barat Hingga Plakat Panjang (1981), and Padang Riwayatmu Dulu (1983).

Rusli also chronicled genealogies, bibliographies, old newspapers, official and private notes which portrayed the history of Dutch colonialism in Minangkabau.

Taufik, a professor of history at the Indonesian Science Institute, said much of the collection consisted of copies of articles published in Dutch colonial newspapers, reports and journals.

"Rusli did not explore many local sources like articles, speeches or policies issued by Minangkabau leaders, scholars and other groups of the society."

Some libraries and agencies in Leiden, The Hague and Amsterdam still have mountains of archives and elaborate data and information on West Sumatra, he said.

"Of course, it would be costly and time consuming for an individual to copy all the materials and to finance his own research."

Documents, archives and other facts concerning West Sumatra, he said, were divided into four categories: Regular reports, verbal reports, reports based on Dutch officials' memories, and private letters and notes including diaries.

Taufik explained Dutch high-ranking officials made regular written reports on conditions in the province, while verbal reports often dealt with various issues such as taxation, legal and governmental systems.

"Rusli's collection is just a part of existing documentation on West Sumatra kept in the Netherlands," explained Taufik.

Rusli's tireless efforts had proved a worthy inspiration, he added.

"It has encouraged other researchers to explore more of the history of West Sumatra in particular and of other provinces in Indonesia.

"For students and young researchers, these collections would certainly be a valuable help to them in their search for important materials on West Sumatra that could otherwise only be found in the Netherlands."

Secretary Ruswiyanti said that foundation staff were still engaged in setting up a data base on all the items in the collection.

"We hope this work will be completed within six months so that people can then have easy on-line access to what is in the collection," she said.

Anyone interested in the collection can check the foundation's homepage on http//www.rusli-amran.org.