1. Historical records

2. Archaeology

3. See also

4. References

Barus is a kecamatan (district) in Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra Province, Sumatra,

Indonesia. Historically, Barus was well known as a port town on the western coast of Sumatra where it was a regional trade center from around the 7th or earlier until the 17th century. It is also known by other names, namely Fansur and Barusai.^[1] The name Fansur or Pansur means "spring of water" in the local Batak language.^[2] Barus was well known for its produce camphor. In the 16th century, Barus came under attack from the rising power of Aceh, and became absorbed into the Aceh Sultanate. The earliest known Malay poet Hamzah Fansuri may be from Barus as indicated by his name.

Historical records

Barus was a significant settlement on the west coast of Sumatra widely recorded in many historical documents. Other related sites in Sumatra includes Lamuri in Aceh and Pannai in North Sumatra.^[2] The second century Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy in his work Geography recorded the name Barusai (or Baroussai) as a group of five islands.^[3] The Indian text Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa makes a reference to a Warusaka that may be Barus.^[5] In 4th Chinese records, the name "Po-lu" is found, suggested to mean Barus or the northern part of Sumatra. During the Tang dynasty, the Chinese traveller Yijing mentioned the island of Polushi (婆魯師洲) to the west of Palembang where Mulasarvastivada Buddhism was practiced.^[3] Arab sources use the name Fansur or Pansur, the 9th century Arab geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih also used the term the "island of Bālūs", although the Arabs may consider Bālūs to be different from Fansur.^[4] Around 900 Ahmad ibn Rustah called Fansur "a well known country in the Indies" and wrote about its jurisdiction.^[5]

The best-known commodity produced and traded in Barus was camphor, locally known as kapur barus (lit. "Barus' chalk"). One of the earliest mentions of Barus in Muslim sources may be by Sulaiman who wrote in 851 of gold mines and "plantations called Fansur, where one obtains a superior quality of camphor".^[5] In the 10th century Al-Masudi wrote that "... the land of Fansur, whence is derived the fansuri camphor, which is only found there in large quantities in the years that have many storms and earthquakes".^[5] In the 13th century, Zhao Rugua wrote in Zhu Fan Zhi that Binsu (賓窣, Pansur) was one of the countries producing camphor.^[6] According to the Venetian traveller Marco Polo, the camphor from Fansur was the best in the world, its quality "so fine that it sells for its weight in fine gold".^[7]

Barus may have been an important site during the Srivijaya period; Xin Tangshu says that "Srivijaya is a double kingdom and the two parts have separate administration", and that its western kingdom was Barus.^[8] There may have been Tamil presence in the 11th century; four inscribed stones have been found in Barus, one in Tamil and dated to 1088 named the local inhabitants as Zabedj, a name also found in Arabic sources as Zabag or Zabaj and may refer here to the Batak people. A 13th century source mentions that there were once Christians there, although no trace of these early Christians remains.^[2] In Indonesian sources, it is mentioned in Carita Parahyangan as one of the conquests of King Sanjaya. It is also named in the 1365 Old Javanese epic poem Nagarakretagama as one of the vassal states of the Majapahit that formed part of 'tanah ri Malayu'.^[9] A Batak chronicle mentions that Barus moved three times.^[10]

Archaeology

Archaeological excavations at several sites around Barus have uncovered significant evidence of human settlement and trading activity. These settlements were inhabited at different times. A site a few miles to the north of modern Barus at Lubok Tua (or Lobu Tua) produced artifacts of Chinese, Arab, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian origin.^[10][11] Lubok Tua however was abandoned around the turn of the 12th century. A site at Bukit Hasang was settled from the mid-12th century, abandoned in the 15th, but resettled again in late 15th to mid-16th century. One of the earliest tombstones found here dated to 1370 indicate Arabic, Persian and Chinese influences or presence.^[19] The site at Kedai Gadang was occupied from the 13th to the 19th century.^[12]

Gold and silver coins found in Barus indicate it may have produced a currency as early as the 10th century, which may be the earliest found in Sumatra.^[13]

See also

• Srivijaya
• Lobu Tua Inscription

References

• Bouffignereux
• Boufflers
• Boufflers (disambiguation)
• Bouffry
• Bouffé délirante
• Bouffémont
• Bouffémont, France
• Bouffémont-Moisselles station
• Boufféré
• Boufhaima
• Bouficha
• Boufoura
• Bouga
• Bougaa
• Bougaa District
• Bougab
• Bougado (São Martinho e Santiago)
• Bougadoum
• Bougainville campaign (1943–45)
• Bougainville campaign (1944–45)
• Bougainville-class aviso
• Bougainville-class sloop
• Bougainville (disambiguation)
• Bougainville I.
• Bougainville (novel)