.J. c. Vergouwen's work, Het Rechtsleven der T'oba-Bataks, here presented in an English translation, was published in the autumn of 1933, a few weeks before the author's death at the early age of 44 from tuberculosis, from which he had suffered since 1930. During the time he spent in a sanatorium in Davos and later in the Netherlands, he began and completed his monograph on the customary law of the Toba-Batak. His book immediately became one of the outstanding works of Dutch scholarship on Indonesian customary law (Adat law). Jacob Cornelis Vergouwen began his career as an administrative officer in South Borneo (now Kalimantan) in 1913, after a brief prac tical training. In 1921 he was given the opportunity for further study at the University of Leiden where a five-year scientific training for a career as an administrative officer in the Dutch East Indies had just been instituted. On obtaining his Master's degree, he was appointed to the Tapanuli Residency, from of old, the homeland of the Toba, Mandailing, Angkola, and Dairi or Pakpak Batak. As a young official, Vergouwen had already evinced great interest in the laws and customs of the Dayak people in Borneo. His studies at the University brought him into close contact with the founder of the science of Indonesian Adat law, Professor Cornelis van Vollenhoven, one of the greatest Dutch jurists of this century.

Over 5,000 entries arranged in four parts. Part I comprises reference and general works to provide a guide to information on Southeast Asia. Part II provides the setting of space and time. Part III features the people and Part IV the many facets of culture and society — language; ideas, beliefs, values; institutions; creative expression; and social and cultural change. Within each section, the arrangement is geographical, beginning with Southeast Asia as a whole followed by the various countries in alphabetical order.

In this book Sita van Bemmelen offers an account of changes in Toba Batak society (Sumatra, Indonesia) due to Christianity and Dutch colonial rule (1861-1942) with a focus on customs and customary law related to the life cycle and gender relations. The first part, a historical ethnography, describes them as they existed at the onset of colonial rule. The second part zooms in on the negotiations between the Toba Batak elite, the missionaries of the German Rhenish Mission and colonial administrators about these customs showing the evolving views on desirable modernity of each contestant. The pillars of the Toba patrilineal kinship system were challenged, but alterations changed the way it was reproduced and gender relations for ever.

This summary is an invaluable reference for anyone who wishes to acquire a good basic knowledge of the customary laws of Southern Sudan. It provides, in an easily understandable form, a simplified explanation of the customary laws of the Dinka and Nuer peoples and their tradition-based background

Explores the concept of 'house' in the context of Levi-Strauss' idea of the house as a link between kinship-based societies and class societies, developing this further into an examination of a conjuncture of architecture, people and symbolism.

The topic of this monograph is kinship and affinal relations among the Karo Batak. My reason for selecting this topic is my belief that an understanding of the Karo system of social relations between kin and relatives by marriage is the necessary starting point for an understanding of most other aspects of Karo culture and society. Moreover, the Karo kinship system is similar to the kinship systems of numerous other peoples—including other Batak—which have become the focus of considerable anthropological interest and much theoretical debate.—From the Preface This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1975.