The People of Belitung in 1851

Population recorded in 1851

Loudon reproduces an official return supplied by the depattie (depati). He immediately warns that the figures were incomplete, particularly for the Orang Sekah, and that some inhabitants were underreported in connection with compulsory labour obligations.

This is a historical administrative estimate, not a verified census. Loudon later describes the Orang Sekah as numbering more than 2,000; that estimate should not be substituted silently for the earlier return.

Orang Darat: farming, forests and ironworking

Loudon describes the Orang Darat as cultivating dry rice fields (ladangs), gathering rattan, damar, wax and resins, weaving mats and working iron into tools and nails. He records local terms for different stages of forest regrowth: riembakh, beloekar and bebakh.

He also notes that locally forged nails once served as a medium of exchange, identified by names such as pakoe seratoes, doewa ratoes and tiga ratoes. These details provide a rare account of the island's economy before mining transformed it.

Source: Loudon (1883), printed pp. 18–20.

Orang Laut / Orang Sekah: life on the water

In his June 1853 memorandum, Loudon identifies five principal divisions: Ketappang, Parrak, Blantoe, Olim and Djoeroe. He describes fishing and collecting trepang, seaweed products and other marine resources as important occupations. He further records named leaders of constituent soekoe (groups).

The original term aloean is glossed by Loudon as voorstevens (“bows” or “prows”) and is used as a measure of boats, not persons. Ranges below apply per subgroup unless otherwise indicated.

The table preserves 32 recorded subgroup designations or leaders. A name in the source need not be a complete personal name; some may be titles or forms of address. The table is not a family genealogy.

Customs and social organisation

Loudon reports that each soekoe had its own leader or elder, and that some disputes were settled through fines following consultation among leaders. He describes wedding ceremonies involving a drum (gendang) and a journey by the couple in a boat, and states that marriage within the same soekoe was prohibited.

His account of funerals mentions white cloth and the burial of everyday possessions such as a cooking pot and a fishing spear (serampang). His interpretations of spiritual practices and his allegations concerning piracy are those of Loudon, and should be evaluated alongside local oral histories and other historical evidence.

Source: Loudon (1883), printed pp. 22–23.

Belitung and Toboali: an older maritime connection

Loudon writes that Orang Sekah based near Tandjong Pandan helped maintain boat connections between Belitung and Toboali on Bangka. He distinguishes these communities from groups associated with Blantoe, which he locates principally along Belitung's southern and eastern coasts.

This is evidence of an established maritime connection, but it does not demonstrate an etymological origin for the name Belitung or prove the later Ma-li-tung hypothesis.

Source: Loudon (1883), printed p. 23.