25 Facts About Bugis

Bugis people, known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, in the south-western province of Sulawesi, third-largest island of Indonesia.

The main religion embraced by the Bugis is Islam, with a small minority adhering to Christianity or a pre-Islamic indigenous belief called Tolotang.

Bugis people speak a distinct regional language in addition to Indonesian, called Bugis, with several different dialects.

The Bugis language belongs to the South Sulawesi language group; other members include Makassarese, Toraja, Mandar and Massenrempulu.

The name Bugis is an exonym which represents an older form of the name; Ugi is the endonym.

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Homeland of the Bugis is the area around Lake Tempe and Lake Sidenreng in the Walannae Depression in the south-west peninsula of Sulawesi.

Bugis then embarked to promulgate the teaching of Islam in the Kingdom of Kutei, eastern Borneo, in which he was more triumphant.

The cosmopolitan port city of Makassar become a crucial maritime starting point for not only for the Makassarese, but for the Bugis who seek for wealth and fame in the western Archipelago, as the Dutch set a heavy restriction for their access on the eastern spice islands.

Many of the Bugis settled in the Riau Archipelago, in the proximity of the courts of Johore.

Bugis speakers are dominant in the most of the districts in South Sulawesi — namely Bone, Soppeng, Wajo, Sidrap, Pinrang, Barru, Sinjai, and Parepare.

However, some researchers are divided whether Sawitto — a divergent Bugis variety spoken in central Pinrang — remains under the same language group or being diverged enough to be considered as a separate language.

Bugis-Makassar possessed a rich heritage, philosophy, religious and social structure.

Bugis literature connotes to the forms of literature expressed in the Bugis language — which comprises both written and oral traditions.

The earliest works of Bugis literature were verbally transmitted, written literature began to arose and gradually codified with the evolution of the Lontara script by the 1400s.

Bugis folk literature is an oral composition deeply rooted in Bugis understanding and perception of life — in the form of prose, poetry and lyric.

Some dated as early as 1400 — about two hundred years prior to their Islamisation, the early Bugis genealogies provide a rare glimpse on the culture and ideology of an early and literate Austronesian society.

The Bugis-styled Songkok is made of woven rattan and golden thread.

Art of weapon among the Bugis-Makassar is constantly developed through the millennia.

The presence of a home in the Bugis society is part-and-parcel with life, hence home ownership is regarded in utmost importance — to commemorate life and to become a beacon symbol of life.

Development of the Bugis architecture is originated on the belief that a home is constructed with an optimistic faith for a greater future.

Across archipelagic Southeast Asia, the Bugis-Makassar earned the reputation as sailors, navigators and seafaring traders.

Rich nautical culture of Bugis-Makassar is equally captured by a plethora of ships — ranging from penjajap, warship; pajala, a smaller boat, used for fishing; palari, another descendant of the padewakang; Lambo, a trading boat; and the early ships of Somba Lete and sompe tanja.

Rice is highly venerated, based on the historical Bugis manual-almanac known as Kutika, only during specific schedules, day and time were permitted for cultivating activities; at home, the rice is stored at the attic of the house, signifying its zenith position in the social order; while during war, the destruction of rice fields was perceived as a highly forbidden taboo.

The Bugis would commonly organized a selamatan feast for divine favor, protection, thanksgiving and gratitude - including weddings, newborn celebration, aqiqah, house construction ceremony, sending a pilgrim for umrah and hajj, and funerals.

The Bugis performing arts can be broadly divided into four distinct categories — entertainment medium, ritualistic performance, court dance and martial arts.

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