Folklore And Legends
LEGEND OF THE BAROAR

Si Baroar is a legend that tells about the origin of Mandailing people surnamed Nasution in North Sumatra, Indonesia. According to the story, the Baroar was a handsome-faced orphan. He had a face very similar to the face of the son of Sutan Pulungan, King of the Huta Bargot Kingdom. The resemblance of the faces of the two children makes the people often mistakenly greet the two children.

Once upon a time, in Mandailing, North Sumatra, there was a small kingdom called Huta Bargot. The kingdom is located across the Batang Gadis River. The king who holds the title Sutan Pulungan. He had a queen and a baby son. In between his busy life taking care of the kingdom, Sutan Pulungan often spend time going to the middle of the forest to hunt deer.

One day, Sutan Pulungan with some hulubalang people and his soldiers hunted deer in a dense forest. Sutan Pulungan brought her beloved hunting dog that is very smart and agile named Sipamutung. When they reached the middle of the forest, Sipamutung suddenly galloped towards somewhere. Not long after, he was heard barking with his cry. Hearing the salakan of his canine, Sutan Pulungan immediately ordered his soldiers to go to where Sipamutung barked.

“Soldiers Quickly follow the Pamutung I am sure he must have found deer” exclaimed Sutan Pulungan to his soldiers.

Hearing the order, several soldiers immediately ran to where Sipamutung barked. Upon arriving at the place, they saw a lot of women flashing out from under a big banyan tree. While Sipamutung still continues to bark. As the soldiers approached and checked under the tree, a handsome baby boy lay on a large rock. Not long after, Sutan Pulungan arrived at that place.

“Hai, Warrior Where is the deer?” ask Sutan Pulungan.

“Ammun, Sipamutang apparently barked not because he found a deer, but a baby,” replied a soldier.

“What did you say? A baby?” tanya Sutan Pulungan was surprised as she approached the baby.

“Who put the baby on this stone?” Sutan Pulungan asked again.

“Ammun, Your Majesty also does not know. But, just when it arrived, the servant and the other soldiers saw a woman flashing very quickly leaving this place,” replied another soldier.

Hearing the soldier's explanation, Sutan Pulungan was convinced that the baby was deliberately dumped by his parents. Finally, he and his entourage decided to stop hunting and immediately brought the poor baby home. Upon arrival in the Land of Huta Bargot, Sutan Pulungan handed the baby to an old widow named Saua, who had long craved for a child.

“Thank you, Sire Servant will take care of this baby like a child of her own servant,” said the old widow happily.

Every time she went to work in the rice field, the old woman put the baby in the baroque, the kennel. Therefore, the people named the boy the Baroar.

Time keeps going. The Baroar was five years old with a very handsome face. But strangely enough, the face and stature of the Baroar was very similar to that of Sutan Pulungan's son, so the people around him could no longer tell the two apart. People often mistakenly greet when meeting one of the two children. If the Baroar goes for a walk alone, the people who meet him always salute him and greet him like greeting the son of Sutan Pulungan. But on the contrary, if they meet Sutan Pulungan's son, they treat him like a child of the average person.

When he found out that his son often received such treatment from those around him, Sutan Pulungan and her empress felt very humiliated. Therefore, they decided to kill the Baroar in secret so as not to be known by the crowd.

One day, Sutan Pulungan gathered all the royal officials to draw up the secret assassination plan. During the trial, he ordered his dignitaries to immediately hold the Sopo Godang traditional ceremony, which is a ceremony to replace the large pole of the church hall that has been weathered. Sutan Pulungan will hold the ceremony on a large scale in the palace of the Kingdom of Huta Bargot, because he wants to use the crowd to cover up his actions to kill the Baroar.

“How do we kill the Baroar, Sire?” ask a hulubalang.

“Before inserting a replacement pole into the hole where to plant it, first you have to drop the Baroar into the hole, and hit it with a replacement pole,” explained Sutan Pulungan.

Sutan Pulungan also ordered a hulubalang to cross the Baroar's forehead with betel chalk.

“Although, Sire Why should the Baroar be cross-marked?” ask other hulubalang want to know.

“The point is so that you can distinguish exactly which one is Baroar and which one is my son, so that you are not mistaken to kill the Boroar,” explained Sutan Pulungan.

After hearing the explanation, the royal dignitaries immediately prepared everything needed in the Sopo Godang ceremony. Similarly, the hulubalang who had been appointed by the King immediately looked for the Baroar to put a cross on his forehead.

When the residents were busy cheering, the hulubalang also prepared a pole to be inserted into the hole. Coincidentally at that time, they saw the Baroar who had been marked on his forehead standing not far from them. Furtively, they immediately caught and dropped the Baroar into the hole, then hit him with a large pole. No one knows what they are doing, because the citizens are enjoying their joy. The upstream balang was relieved and happy, because it managed to run the task smoothly. Likewise felt by Sutan Pulungan, because the Baroar who always made him insulted has died.

However, since the event was held, Sutan Pulungan's son was never again seen in the palace. The entire palace family went into a panic and immediately looked for Sutan Pulungan's son. They had searched for him around the palace, yet they still did not find him. Sutan Pulungan also began to worry, lest the hulubangnya be mistaken in carrying out the task. For this reason, he immediately sent a hulubalang to the house of the Saua to see if the Baroar was still with him. Turns right. Arriving there, the messenger saw the Baroar splitting firewood with the Saua. He immediately returned to the palace to report it to the King.

“Ampun, Sire Turns out the Baroar is still alive. He was still with the old widow, ” reported the messenger.

Hearing the report, Sutan Pulungan went straight up. He was very angry with his nobles who had mistakenly carried out their duties.

“Hai, your Hulubalangs have wrongly killed. The child you put in that hole is my son, not the Baroar” exclaimed Sutan Pulungan with a flushed face.

Apparently the mistake began a while before the traditional ceremony was held. The son of Sutan Pulungan saw a cross on the Baroar's forehead. Wanting to be like the Baroar, he told someone to make a similar mark on his forehead. Then he went out into the crowd of ceremonies, and it was at that moment that the hulubalang caught him clandestinely, then put him in the hole.

Sutan Pulungan who had lost her son immediately ordered three of her ancestors to kill the Baroar. The three hulubalang also immediately headed to the Baroar's house with a drawn sword. When they got there, they did not find the Baroar and the Saua.

Apparently, there are people who know the assassination plan that will be carried out by the hulubalang against the Baroar. The man tells Saua to rescue the Baroar immediately. So, before the hulubalangs arrived at his house, the Saua had brought the Baroar to the rice fields that were yellowing on him, not far from the banks of the Batang Gadis River.

When he arrived at the rice field, the Saua invited the Baroar to hide in a hut whose roof was only his skeleton standing in the middle of the rice field. Because he was sure that the hulubalang would surely catch up and find them before arriving at the river bank.

“My son We hide here only If we keep running, they will definitely catch us, because they can run quickly” said the Saua while embracing the body of the Baroar.

All of a sudden, the people lost track. When they saw a hut in the middle of the rice field, they approached him. When they reached near the hut, their steps suddenly came to a halt. Si Saua and the Baroar were even more frightened, thinking that the hulubalangs knew of their existence. But apparently, the hulubalang stopped stepping, because he saw there was a balam bird perched on the top of the skeleton of the roof of the hut while continuing to chirp.

“Let's have our friends look elsewhere for what we're looking for in the old widow and the Baroar in the shack. If they hide there, it is impossible for the bald bird to perch up there” exclaimed the hulubalang who led the chase.

After the hulubalangs were far enough from the hut, Saua and the Baroar came out of the hut and ran towards the Batang Gadis River. Unfortunately, the gurus saw them again.

“Hai, that's them Let's pursue” exclaimed hulubalang leader.

Saua and Baroar ran faster. When they arrived at the riverbank, it turned out that Batang Gadis River was in a great flood, so they could not cross. While the hulubalangs who were chasing him got closer. They can't do anything anymore. In a state of threatened life, the Saua immediately prostrated to the ground pleading for the help of Almighty God.

“Yes God Save our lives” said the Saua.

When he lifted his head again, Saua saw a large, very long piece of wood drifting across the middle of the river. Surprisingly, the large wood stopped right in front of them in a transverse state all the way to the opposite. Without thinking and feeling the slightest fear, the old widow and the Baroar immediately walked up to the big wood. As soon as it arrived across the river, the big wood was washed away again by the flood. The hulubalangs who had just arrived by the river could no longer chase them. Finally, Saua and Baroar survived death.

It is said that, a few years later, across the Batang Gadis River stood a kingdom called Panyabungan Tonga-Tonga led by the Baroar with his queen. His descendants came to be known as the Mandailing people surnamed Nasution.

According to the community of speakers of this story, the story of Si Baroar is believed to be a legend of the origin of the Mandailing people surnamed Nasution.

Until now, the place called Huto Bargot and Tonga-Tonga Islands became the name of two villages in Mandailing. In Tonga-Tonga Village there is an old tomb believed to be the tomb of the Baroar.