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Socio-cultural history of PalembangSongketMegumi UchinoPublished online: 22 Jan 2007.
To cite this article: Megumi Uchino (2005) Socio-cultural history of Palembang Songket , Indonesiaand the Malay World, 33:96, 205-223, DOI: 10.1080/13639810500283985
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SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY OFPALEMBANG SONGKET 1
MEGUMI UCHINO
Introduction
Kain songket (hereafter songket) is a Malay term for a silk cloth with interwoven motifs
using supplementary metal weft, usually of gold (Akib 1975: 68; Maxwell 1990: 418;
Selvanayagam 1990: xv). It can be categorised as a type of brocade (Selvanayagam
1990: xv). The gold thread was originally made of real gold, 14 to 18 carats,2 which
suggests the high value of this cloth (Montegut et al. 1996: 104; Kartiwa 1996: 33).
Songket is not peculiar to Palembang. It is widely produced in Indonesia, for example in
the provinces of Aceh, West Sumatra (Minangkabau area), Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra,
West and East Kalimantan, Bali, Central and South Sulawesi, Lombok and Sumbawa
(Heringa 1994; Kartiwa 1996; Kerlogue 1997; Summerfield and Summerfield 1999).3 It
is also woven outside Indonesia, in such areas as the east coast of the Malay Peninsula
and Brunei (Selvanayagam 1990; Borneo Bulletin 1996: 96). Some scholars have
suggested that places with a long tradition of songket weaving have several features in
common. Suwati Kartiwa suggests that the expansion of the craft was probably associated
with Islam and trade routes, since supplementary gold- and silver-thread decoration tech-
niques could have been introduced to maritime Southeast Asia by Arab and Muslim Indian
merchants (1996: 4–7). Jessup points out that songket weaving was located in politically
significant kingdoms because of the use of expensive materials in its production (1990:
140–41). A third shared feature is that songket weaving was mainly associated with
areas of Malay settlement, which extended to the Malay peninsula, coastal Sumatra and
coastal Borneo; there are, however, a few exceptions, such as Bali (Hitchcock 1996: 126).
Palembang displays all three common features of songket-weaving places mentioned
above. With regard to trade and political significance, the city is located at the entrance
of one of the main international maritime trade routes, the Straits of Malacca, and
has played an important role as a port city from an early period (Groeneveldt 1887:
185–86). In the late 7th century the maritime empire, Sriwijaya, emerged in this
area, and Palembang is supposed to have been its capital city until the late 11th
century. Indian, Arab, Chinese and Malay merchants came to Palembang bringing
exotic trade goods, and exchanged these while waiting for the next monsoon period
1I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor V.T. King, University of Hull, and Dr Fiona Kerlogue,
Horniman Museum, who offered many suggestions for this paper.2Montegut et al. scientifically examined the gold thread in some West Sumatran songket woven in the 19th
century (1996). However, real gold thread in Palembang songket has yet to be scientifically examined, but it
is very likely that it resembles one of the types used in West Sumatra assumed to have been imported from
China or Japan (Montegut et al. 1996: 102, 105) since Palembang mainly imported gold thread from China.3Suwati Kartiwa includes cloth interwoven with supplementary thread of coloured silk, embroidery, cotton, wool
or rayon (1996). In this paper, however, only cloth decorated with supplementary metal weft will be discussed.
ISSN 1363-9811 print=ISSN 1469-8382 online=05=960205-19# 2005 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World
DOI: 10.1080=13639810500283985
Indonesia and the Malay World, Vol. 33, No. 96, July 2005
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(Hall 1985: 78–9). Brocade was probably introduced to Palembang from India or China4
during the Sriwijayan period, and it is likely to have been worn by the ruler and nobility at
that time (Gittinger 1979: 102). Finally, local residents of Palembang refer to themselves
as Wong Palembang (wong means ‘people’ in Javanese as well as in Palembang Malay5),
and by extension ‘the indigenous people of Palembang’. Although the aristocracy were of
Javanese descent, most inhabitants belong to the broad Malay ethnic group, which shares
certain common cultural features, including language (Malay), religion (Islam), ritual
and custom, literature and legends called hikayat, and material culture including dress
such as the short jacket (baju), trousers and sarong (Milner 1982: 2–11; Britannica
2002: vol. 7, 727).
In the mid-16th century, Prince Ki Gede Ing Suro, fled to Palembang from Surabaya and
established a new dynasty which became the Palembang sultanate around 1670 prospering
through trade until 1824. Palembang songket culture flourished during the sultanate period
as one of the typical local handicrafts. The cloth was woven and worn by the local nobility,
but more recently its use has extended to ordinary people who wear it at weddings and
other ceremonies (Heringa 1994).
This paper traces the history of songket from the 18th century to the present to
clarify how the nature of songket weaving and songket clothing culture has changed
through time, and why. Historical records, those of the Dutch in particular, and old photo-
graphs, were examined to reconstruct the history of Palembang songket prior to World
War II. Data from fieldwork conducted in Palembang from October 2001 to September
2002 are also used to examine songket manufacturing and songket clothing culture after
the war.
From 1700 to 1800
The word songket is hardly found in the sultanate period records on Palembang; neither in
local records6 nor in Dutch records. In 1640 the Dutch recorded that the Pangeran (ruler) of
Jambi presented the Dutch Resident with a gilded silk cloth made by his wife (Daghreg-
ister 1640–41: 110; Andaya 1989: 41); it is clear that this cloth was not songket. The
Hikayat Aceh, a 17th-century account, mentions a word sungkit, describing kain sungkit
yang betelapuk mas, dan kain sungkit yang berpucuk rebung [kain sungkit decorated
with gold foil, and kain sungkit with the bamboc shoot motifs] (Iskandar, 1958: 105),
but this is not about Palembang. In the Syair Bidasari, whose date is unknown (but
which according to the Malay Concordance Project http://www.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/
ahcen/proudfoot/MCP/Q/searches.html was possibly composed in the mid-18th
century), there is a repeated phrase berkain songket tekat celari [to wear a sarong of
songket, a silk cloth adorned with motifs using gold thread] (Van Hoevell 1843). Some
4Chau Ju-Kua recorded in the 13th century that silk brocade was popular in Sriwijaya (Hirth and Rockhill 1911:
61). Although the place which he referred to is probably Jambi, because the capital of Sriwijaya was there at that
time, it is likely that Palembang also obtained brocade. Apart from India and China, the Middle East and Central
Asia may have introduced brocade to Palembang, since cloth interwoven with gold weft, supposed to have been
made in the 2nd or 3rd century BC, was unearthed in an archaeological site in northern Afghanistan in 1979
(Economist 2003).5Jalaluddin states that Palembang Malay includes Javanese loan words (1991: 73).6Local records written before the 19th century are scarce. A local anthropologist and historian and a descendant of
the Sultan, Djohan Hanafiah, assumed that many of the records in Palembang were burned prior to Dutch occu-
pation in 1821, to prevent them from acquiring local knowledge (2002 interview).
206 Megumi Uchino
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scholars suggest that this syair originated from Palembang (Liaw 1982: 296), although this
cannot be corroborated. At the end of the 18th century, a local Palembang document
describes noblemen’s clothing, including silk cloth coloured and adorned with red,
orange, green and gold (UBL Berg Collectie 146; Andaya 1989: 43). But it does not expli-
citly refer to songket, since there is a possibility that gold adornment on cloth could have
referred to motifs made with gold leaf.
However, the existence of valuable textile production using gold thread in Palembang in
the 18th century is suggested by the harbourmaster’s records contained in the annual
reports of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, here-
after VOC).7 According to these records, from the mid-18th century, a large amount of
gold thread was brought to Palembang.8 About 17,000 kg of gold thread were imported
between 1757 and 1758.9 During 1758 and 1759 imports increased to 38,613 kg;
9,760 kg from Cancauw,10 26,840 kg from Terengganu, 1,830 kg from Cambodia and
183 kg from Malacca.11 A considerable amount of gold thread continued to be brought
into Palembang each year, from 1773 to 1778 mainly from Terengganu and Indragiri
(Table 1).
Andaya (1989) has argued that songket was woven in Palembang by noblewomen from
the mid-18th century onwards. Considering the importation of such a huge amount of gold
thread, the scale of songket weaving in Palembang must have been considerable. By the
end of the early 19th century it was exported from Palembang to north Sumatra and was
available there in the 1820s, when John Anderson, researching the markets of east Sumatra
Table 1. Palembang’s gold thread import (kg)12
1773–74 1774–75 1775–76 1776–77 1777–78 1779–80
Terengganu 1,220 1,952 1,098 1,952 1,220 1,586
Cambodia – 976 732 – – –
Siantan – 976 – – – –
Indragiri – 3,660 6,588 2,196 1,830 2,318
Riaw – – 610 – – –
Total 1,220 7,564 9,028 4,148 3,050 3,904
7ARA, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) 2013; 2051; 2073; 2100; 2193; 2934; 2965; 2991; 3024;
3059; 3089; 3151; 3211; 3244; 3273; 3333; 3385; 3413; 3442; 3494; 3525; 3581; 3624; 3649; 3674; 3733;
3960; Comite tot den Oost-Indische Handel en Bezittingen (OIC) 103. I am most grateful to Professor Tsuneyuki
Suzuki, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University, and Professor Barbara W. Andaya, University of Hawai’i, who
provided information on this series of records.8The import of gold thread was recorded by the Dutch in the 17th century (cf. Daghregister). The import was,
however, irregular, and the amount unclear, since it was recorded in terms of cost.9In the original sources, the special unit of weight thong (or thon) is used. The amounts were converted as 1 thong
to approximately 120 kg by the author (Knaap 1996: 193).10Probably present-day Ha Tien, Vietnam, a town on the Gulf of Thailand, near the Cambodian border. According
to Andaya, Ha Tien was also known as Kiang K’ou or Pantai Mas, which ‘developed into a rendezvous for the
junk trade from China, Formosa, Macao, Vietnam, and Siam’ (1993: 123). I would like to acknowledge Professor
Suzuki’s help in identifying the place.11ARA, VOC 2965.12Sources: ARA, VOC 3413; 3442; 3494; 3525; 3581.
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 207
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for the East India Company, remarked that ‘the north-east coast of Sumatra imported rich
gold-wrought cloth from Palembang’ (1971: 191).
The question arises as to why songket weaving was not recorded by the Dutch in the
18th century. One likely reason is that the Dutch officers were not interested in local tex-
tiles; their interests were focused on profitable commodities such as tin, pepper and forest
products. Another possible reason is that the Dutch might not have witnessed songket
weaving at first hand. In the 18th century, the area inside the wall surrounding the
ruler’s palace (kraton) was closed to Europeans (Marsden 1811: 361). According to the
sketch of the kraton drawn in 1811, there was a harem surrounded by another wall near
the Sultan’s palace13. It is very likely that songket were woven by noblewomen in this
section. Weaving or cloth-making by noblewomen was not unusual, and such cloth was
considered to have a special significance (Andaya 1989: 41).14 It is probable, too, that
women needed to keep themselves busy, since there was a local belief that a lazy
woman would bring disaster to her family (Kota Palembang 1956: 141). Women also had
to stay indoors all day, unless they had an important matter to attend to outside; handicrafts
such as weaving and embroidery were therefore considered suitable tasks for them at home.
Palembang nobles may have tried to keep this precious cloth within the kraton. Songket
was not included in the list of presents from the sultan to the Dutch Governor-General.15 If
songket, or cloth interwoven with gold thread, had been locally woven in the 18th century,
one might have expected it to have been presented to the Dutch Governor-General, just as
the ruler of Jambi gave the Dutch Resident a gilded silk cloth in the 17th century, as men-
tioned above.16 Why, then, was songket excluded from the list of important gifts? This
remains a matter of conjecture, but it may be that the local nobles at the time viewed
songket as so significant and precious that they were unwilling to allow it to be taken
out from the kraton.
The manner of wearing songket was closely related to the social hierarchy of Palembang.
The people of Palembang were classified into two broad categories: nobles and commoners.
Among the nobles there were two ranks below the Sultan and his legitimate sons (pangeran):
the higher rank, raden, and the lower, mas-agus (ranks for their wives and daughters were
raden ayu and mas ayu, respectively). These titles indicated that the holders were legitimate
members of the royal family, and their specific rank depended on their blood tie with
the Sultan. Among commoners, there were people who had a special title as distant relatives
of the Sultan, called ki-mas and ki-agus 17 (van Sevenhoven 1823: 65–7, 69; Court 1821: 114).
This status system was strictly observed. At ceremonies conducted in the rumah limas
(traditional Palembang house for wealthy people), the seating arrangement was decided by
social rank. The stilt house, which was generally long from the front to the back, had tiers
(traditionally five) called kekijing, starting low in the front section, and rising like steps
towards the centre (Siregar and Abu 1985: 15–7). When ceremonies took place, distinguished
13KITLV, D 17.7.14In Central Java, making high-quality batik cloth was the prerogative of noblewomen (Joseph 1987: 6).15See, for example, VOC records in 1744 (ARA, VOC 2607), in 1752 (VOC 2780), 1754 (VOC 2818) and 1787
(VOC 3733). The Sultan sent as presents other Palembang specialities such as pepper, tin, wax, gambier, elephant
tusks and rattan mats.16Local ruler sometimes gave local textiles to Dutch officers. In 1819 the Sultan of Yogyakarta sent William I of
the Netherlands, a complete royal outfit including ‘a velvet waistcloth embroidered with gold thread and lined
with cinde cloth’ (Wassing-Visser 1995: 60).17De Kock, Resident of Palembang from 1842 to 1849, considered ki-mas and ki-agus as nobles (1846: 293–94).
Ranks for their wives and daughters were nyimas and nyayu, respectively.
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people such as men of higher rank or elderly men sat on the upper tier in the centre, and people
of lower rank sat on the lower tier near the entrance. For example, a nobleman with the title
raden would have had his seat on the highest tier and one titled mas-agus, on a lower tier.
Similar observances almost certainly would have existed for clothing.
According to local accounts, wearing cloths adorned with gold was a privilege of the
nobles during the sultanate period. Akib, a descendant of the Sultan and a local cultural
anthropologist, states that the wearing of songket was restricted to married noblewomen18
(1975: 65–6). On this point, Saragih suggests that certain motifs of Palembang songket,
most of which are associated with femaleness, such as flowers with curvy lines,
could be a vestige of an old tradition which designated songket as a cloth for women
(1995: 35).
Akib has suggested that songket was worn only when noblewomen attended traditional
ceremonies and performed local dances. This tradition of wearing songket on these two
specific occasions can still be seen today. He has also argued that songket and costumes
were classified according to the motif of the songket and the decorations of the costumes,
and which type a woman could wear was regulated on the basis of traditional social rank in
the nobility (1975: 72–5). For example, women with the title raden ayu wore songket
lepus, which had gold thread woven over the whole surface. This type of songket was
the most prestigious. Meanwhile those with the title mas ayu wore cloth with less gold.
Nyimas and nyayu might have been allowed to wear songket, but it was presumably
less elaborate. Songket thus indicated that the wearer was a noble married woman, and
the elaboration of her songket identified her status level. This is a reasonable assumption
since songket was at that time interwoven with real gold thread (benang emas jantung) and
the amount used would identify the value of the cloth. Some other special designs also
conveyed further information about the wearer. The songket jando (jando or janda is a
widow) design worn by widows, has a simple centre field, plainly woven in a solid
colour without any motifs with a small amount of songket work only on the edges. It is
also called tengah kosong (empty centre).
From 1800 to the 1850s
In 1803, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II (r.1803–12, 1813, 1818–19) came to the throne.
According to local tradition, he encouraged cultural and educational developments, and
his library boasted a wide range of books (Akib 1973: 21). Songket weaving probably
also flourished in the kraton during his reign. Noblewomen may still have engaged in
weaving songket in the harem in the kraton, and would have performed traditional
dances for important guests, presumably dressed in songket costume. Alternatively, a
group of professional songket weavers might have been formed as the demand for
songket increased in the kraton. This was, however, probably the last time that songket
culture prospered there.
After Palembang forces attacked the Dutch garrison and killed most of its residents in
1811,19 Palembang became unstable, and was involved in conflicts with both the British
and the Dutch until 1821. Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II must have invested large sums
18Akib suggested that men did not wear songket in the period before the defeat of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II
by the Dutch in 1821 (1975: 65–6). According to local people, the custom that unmarried women could not wear
songket was in practice before World War II (Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo and Bpk Usman Agus, 2002 interview).19See, for the massacre, Baud (1853); Bastin (1953; 1954).
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 209
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of money in these conflicts,20 and it probably became hard for him to support the hundred
or so nobles.21 The gap between high- and low-ranking nobles increased considerably.
Van Sevenhoven made the observation:
The nobles live in their houses usually in great poverty. Those of the first
(highest) class possess some fine [bed]spreads, embroidered with gold
thread or decorated with gold flowers and figures, some cloths that are
braided (trimmed with braid/trimmed lace) and [cloths] made of other
expensive materials, fine glasswork, etc.; and they show these off,
when they receive guests or go out.22
De Kock later reported that low-ranking nobility engaged in handicraft production as a
means of livelihood (1846: 295–6); the involvement of low-ranking nobles in handicrafts
is likely to have begun in the late sultanate period. Songket weaving was surely one of the
handicrafts in which the newly impoverished noblewomen engaged, and it may gradually
have grown into an industry.
In 1821, Mahmud Badaruddin II and his family were arrested and sent to Batavia, then
to Ternate, where the Sultan eventually died in 1852. Although his successor, Ahmad
Najamuddin IV (r.1821–23), acceded to the throne, he was soon forced to retire from
state administration by the Dutch who were dissatisfied with him. In 1823, the Dutch
took over Palembang and occupied the kraton. The Sultan surrendered all his sources
of income and was given a pension of 2,200 florins a month from the Dutch government.23
The Sultan, his family and other nobles were evicted from their homes in and around the
kraton and forced to live frugally.24 They formed small concentrations in particular vil-
lages in Palembang, one of which was located in 30 Ilir, known as Daerah Suro
(Peeters 1994: 40), and is today the centre of the songket industry. It may have been
from this period that songket weaving spread beyond the kraton and were observed by
Europeans.
Van Sevenhoven’s document of 1823 is probably the earliest record which explicitly
describes Palembang songket. According to him, ‘[t]he best silk cloth interwoven with
gold thread was made in Palembang and was sent everywhere’.25 He also reported that
songket was sold in the market in Palembang for 44 florins. It was expensive, compared
to other goods; for example, simple silk cloth cost 20 florins, three gantang (about
9.4 kg) of rice was just 1 florin, and a large buffalo was 26 florins (Van Sevenhoven
1823: 117–22). A Dutch officer, W.L. de Sturler, who stayed in Palembang from 1821
20According to Djohan Hanafiah, the Sultan first strengthened his defences at the lower reaches of the River Musi;
he built a fortress about 1,000 metres long from one side of the river to the other, and some small walls on islands
in the river, then put three chains of snags in the river (2002: 102).21De Kock reported that there were some hundred nobles at the end of the sultanate period (1846: 295).22‘De Priaijs leven in hunne huizen meestal zeer armoedig. Die van den eersten stand bezitten eenige fraaije sprei-
jen, met gouddraad geborduurd of met gouden bloemen en figuren versierd, eenige gegallonneerde en van andere
kostbare stoffen gemaakte kleederen, fraaije glaswerken, enz.; en pronken daarmede, als zij gasten zien of
uitgaan’ (Van Sevenhoven 1823: 79).23KITLV, DH371a I.24ANRI, 60.7.25‘De beste zijden en met gouddraad doorweefde kleedjes worden alhier gemaakt en overal verzonden’ (Van
Sevenhoven 1823: 79).
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until 1824, wrote that ‘sarongs, head-cloth and handkerchiefs were interwoven with gold,
and the durability, material, and colour of this cloth were supreme’.26
The importation of gold thread provides an indication of the luxury textile industry in
Palembang at that time. For instance, in 1822 some 4,000 kg or more of gold thread were
imported from Bangka, Malacca, Singapore and China.27
The prosperity of the songket industry (1830–50)
Songket weaving probably peaked in the 1830s. Praetorius, Resident of Palembang from
1828 to 1833, listed songket weaving first among women’s jobs in Palembang, which
may suggest that it had the highest status (Table 2). He listed 78 songket weavers in
Palembang earning from 7 to 8 florins monthly, 131 cotton weavers whose wages were
5 florins a month (Praetorius 1843: 395). The high wages of the songket weavers indicate
the complexity of the weaving technique. Although there were fewer songket weavers
compared to the number of cotton weavers, their numbers are significant for such a lux-
urious and special cloth. The then Resident, J.W. Boers, reported in the Jaarlijksch
Verslag Residentie Palembang (Annual Report of the Palembang Residency) of 1835
that songket was ‘a fine material made of silk interwoven with gold thread’,28 and that
silk stuffs such as cloths and selendang made in Palembang were exported to Java and
Singapore.29
During the sultanate period, songket weaving was probably carried out only by noble-
women as a feminine accomplishment. Who then were the professional songket weavers
in the 1830s mentioned in Praetorius’ record? It is unlikely that high-ranking noblewomen,
who had enjoyed a life of luxury during the sultanate period, wove for wages. In fact,
de Kock, the Resident of Palembang from 1842 to 1845, noted:
Proud, lazy and stupid, these are the characteristics that have always dis-
tinguished the nobility. [. . .] The laziness made them unskilled at any
craft or trade, but moreover they considered it to be below the dignity
of their birth; it was the task of the populace to provide for the
upkeep of all the members of the royal household.30
According to de Kock, high-ranking nobles in particular were unwilling to change their
life-styles. They were still proud of their titles and such privileges as the right to use a
payung (parasol). Meanwhile, lower-ranking nobles were engaged in handicrafts, such
as ivory work, carpentry, gold work and silk cloth weaving (de Kock 1846: 296, 304).
26‘. . .met goud doorwerkte sarongs [. . .] en de hoofd- of zakdoeken geweven worden, waarvan duurzaamheid en
van stof en van kleur met elkander wedijveren’ (De Sturler 1843: 153).27ARA, Ministerie van Kolonien 3075. The original document counts one kist, 64 kistjes, 11 dostjes and 25
pakkis. A kist was equivalent to 1 pikul or c. 61 kg (Knaap 1996: 191), and a kistje (small kist) was presumably
at least a half kist. One pak of Bengal silk was c. 1.2 pikul, while the same volume of opium was probably equal to
1 kist (Knaap 1996: 192); therefore, it could be inferred that one pak of gold thread was more than 1.2 pikul (about
67 kg). The weight of a dostje (small doos) is uncertain; I assume it could have been the same as a kistje.28‘sonkets: fraaije stoffe van zijde, met gouddraad doorweven’ (ANRI, 62.2: fol.162).29ANRI, 62.2: fol.162.30‘Trotsch, lui en dom, zijn de karaktertrekken die de prijais ten allen tijde onderscheiden hebben [. . .] De luiheid
maakte hen onbekwaam tot eenig ambacht of nering, bovendien achtten zij dit beneden de waardigheid hunner
geboorte; het was de taak der bevolking voor het onderhoud van alle leden van het vorstelijk huis te zorgen’
(De Kock 1846: 295).
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 211
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Although many nobles abandoned their opulent clothing and released their followers,
the numbers of whom had formerly served to indicate their rank (de Kock 1846: 288,
296, 300–1), noblewomen who remained wealthy surely continued to wear songket.
Some songket was exported; therefore wealthy people outside Palembang must have
worn it too. In the later years of the sultanate period there were other groups in Palembang
who were becoming conspicuous in the higher echelons of Palembang society in place of
the impoverished nobility: the Arabs and Chinese. Court, for example, had already
reported that, even before the abolition of the sultanate, the wealthy Arabs and Chinese
lived in the same kinds of houses as the principal chiefs (1821: 104).
The Arabs, who were mainly from Hadhramaut,31 migrated to Palembang in the
late 18th century. Having won the Sultan’s favour as fellow Muslims, they soon
dominated the Palembang trade that was previously the monopoly of the Chinese. They
achieved great success in trading during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin
(r. 1775–1804) (Peeters 1994: 33). The Hadhrami Arabs thought much of the concept
of kafaah (balance) in marriage; a marriage should be contracted between people whose
ancestors were of similar social standing. Since many more men than women had
settled in Palembang from their homeland in the first wave of migration, the sayid, who
claimed to be descendants of the prophet, Muhammad, had to find wives from local
noble families (Peeters 1994: 41–2). De Sturler wrote:
It is remarkable that the royal family, a few members of whom are still
alive now, is distinguished by graceful facial features, and among some
of the nobles, too, for example in the less depressed appearance of the
nose and in the slightness of the upper lip, a visible deviation is
Table 2. Women’s jobs in the textile and clothing industry
Jobs Numbers
Songket weavers 78
Cotton cloth weavers 131
Silk and cotton cloth dyers 40
Thread dyers 99
Cotton-thread spinners 1,035
Arabian cap weavers 12
Weavers of another kind of hat 37
Tailors 109
Tudung (veil) sewers 44
Embroiderers 132
European chintz decorators 68
Linen washers 20
Decorators of repairers of batik cloth (i)
Printers on cloth (ii)
(i), (ii): no numbers listed.
Source: Praetorius 1843 (1832): 395–98
31An area by the Arabian Sea in Yemen.
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evident. The only reason there can be for this, in my opinion, is to be
found in a mixing [interbreeding] with the Arabs.32
Gramberg, a Dutch medical doctor who was sent to the Dutch East Indies, also men-
tioned an Arab, Sjarief (Syarif) Mohammad whose mother was a member of the Palem-
bang noble family (1878: 8–9). Noblewomen who married wealthy Arabs had the
privilege of wearing songket, and the means to afford this luxury cloth. For these
reasons, it is very likely that these women were the main supporters of the songket indus-
try. The Arabs themselves were also interested in textiles, but as a business. They had the
exclusive right to import textiles produced in Arab-owned workshops on the north coast of
Java, particularly in Pekalongan (Peeters 1994: 37). Songket may also have been exported
from Palembang by the Arabs.
The Chinese too became wealthy from trade, although on a smaller scale than the Arabs.
Some Chinese were also related to the nobility by birth, since Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin
I (r.1724–58) had married a Chinese woman. It is, therefore, possible that wealthy Chinese
women also wore songket.
Stability or decline? (1850–1900)
From the 1850s until the end of the 19th century, songket weaving was either stable or had
declined slightly. Some Dutch travellers left accounts of Palembang during the 1850s and
the 1860s. In 1854, Van Doren wrote that the famous silk cloth, songket, along with kain
limar,33 were widely made in Palembang (1854: 83–4). Budhing, who travelled in the
Dutch East Indies between 1852 and 1857, reported that shops in Palembang dealt in
huge amounts of sarong, selendang, small cloths, head cloths and handkerchiefs among
others, and that the silk sarong of Palembang were exceptional, especially those interwo-
ven with the fibre from pineapple leaves and gold thread, with a gold edging, which could
cost from 20 to 25 florins each. The sarong with a gold weave or a gold edging, Budhing
wrote, could sometimes cost as much as 100 florins (1866: 88). He did not mention
‘songket’ explicitly, but ‘cloth woven with gold’, which probably refers to songket.
Another traveller, Ullmann, who wrote about Palembang did not refer to songket or the
songket industry but mentioned that women wove cloth everywhere in Palembang,
without specifying the kind of cloth.34
In the 1850s, Dutch officers did not specifically mention songket in their reports. For
example, de Brauw, the Resident of Palembang from 1851 to 1855, wrote in 1854:
‘Most women weave cotton or silk cloth, or engage in dyeing of cotton and silk threads
and spinning [. . .] They earn money by doing embroidery and lacework’.35 He listed 8
silk- and thread-dyers and 203 weavers, 48 thread-makers and 21 sewers and embroi-
derers, as workers in the textile industry.36 There was no precise description of the
32‘Opmerkelijk is het, dat de vorstelijke familie, waarvan thans nog eenige leden in leven zijn, zich door sierlijke
gelaatstrekken onderscheidt, en dat ook bij eenige rijksgrooten, onder anderen in het minder gedrukte van den
neus en in de weinig zware bovenlip, zigtbare afwijking in het oog valt. De eenige reden, die hiervoor, mijns
inziens, bestaan kan, is in eene vermenging met de Arabieren te zoeken’ (De Sturler 1843: 68).33Silk cloth with patterns derived from the ikat technique in the weft.34KITLV DH117.35‘De meesten derzelve weven katoenen of zyden kleedjes of houden zich bezig met het verwen van katoenen en
zyden garen, en met het spinnen van het zelve [. . .] Ze munten uit in het maken van borduur en kantwerk’
(KITLV, DH297b, fol. 37).36KITLV, DH 297b, fol.39.
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 213
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weavers, although the overall number of weavers was close to that in 1832. On the other
hand, the numbers of thread-dyers and cotton-spinners had plunged when compared to the
figures given by Praetorius (Table 2), which suggests a scaling-down of the textile industry
in the mid-19th century. Two years later, Storm van’s Gravesande, the Assistant Resident
of Palembang, wrote that linen and silk cloths manufactured in Palembang were exported,
but he did not specify the kind of cloth (1856: 465–66).
Dutch trade records showed that gold thread was imported steadily into Palembang in
the mid-19th century, which would suggest that the songket industry was still flourishing
in the 1850s (Table 3). Unfortunately, the import data was less clear after 1857 as the data
for gold thread were merged with those for other gold work. Moreover, the import record
for gold thread would not be an indication that songket was still being woven as it was
also used for embroidery and lace work. As reported by de Brauw lace work was
popular in Palembang in the 1850s. Silk, another important material for songket, was
still being regularly imported into Palembang (Table 4). However, as with the problem
of gold thread, figures for raw silk imports were merged with those for other silk stuffs
after 1855.
After the 1860s some Europeans continued reporting on songket or a songket-like cloth
of Palembang. For instance, van Diest wrote that the people of Bangka wore silk selendang
of songket with flower motifs woven with gold thread, the finest of which were those
woven in Palembang and stitched in Muntok in Bangka (1865: 4–5).
At the world exhibitions in 1878 in Paris and Amsterdam in 1883 the Dutch East Indies
government participated with many local crafts. The list of goods for the ‘international exhi-
bition of colonial export-trade’ in Amsterdam included 12 pieces of local craftwork pur-
chased in Palembang in 1882 for the exhibition, among which eight pieces were songket
cloth or cloth decorated with songket work.39 The most expensive was a selendang
Table 3. Palembang’s gold thread import (florins)37
Year 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856
Amount 3,342 2,585 4,296 2,886 0 2,279 3,472 7,010 2,014 6,547 7,035
Note: 1848 and 1851 figures include silver thread.
Table 4. Palembang’s raw silk import from China, Cochinchina, Manila and/or Siam(florins)38
Year 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854
Amount 19,326 14,350 22,526 17,239 15,650 2,075 10,331 16,482 32,271
37Sources: Overzigt van den handel 1846–48, pp. 11; 1849–53, pp. 42–3, 49–50, 56, 63, 70; 1854–56, pp. 26,
34, 42, 50.38Sources: Overzigt van den handel 1846–48, pp. 11; 1849–53, pp. 42–3, 49–50, 56, 63, 70; 1854–56, pp. 27,
35.39RMV, series of 370 no.5 Palembang.
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songket lepus which cost 110 florins. A British naturalist, Henry O. Forbes, noted that
Palembang was famed for ‘the weaving of rich sarongs of silk interwrought with gold into
most elegant designs’ (1885: 259). The 1888 and 1889 annual administrative reports of
Palembang stated that ‘the weaving of silk sarong using gold thread and lacework are prac-
tised with advantage by many women at the capital’.40 In the late 19th century, songket
weaving still prospered, while lacework became increasingly popular among Palembang
women.
The first half of the twentieth century
Accounts of Palembang songket written in the first half of the 20th century are rare, which
suggests that the songket industry may have started to decline by the turn of the century.
Jasper and Pirngadie mentioned the songket weaving of Surabaya; they noted that blong-
song, a weft-ikat cloth, was manufactured in Palembang, but not songket as an on-going
industry (1912: 234). Prior to World War II, a considerable number of songket pieces were
taken to the Netherlands. Some of them were probably woven in the early 20th century but
most owners had no information on these pieces.
What happened to songket weaving at the beginning of the 20th century? Firstly, there
was a shortage of materials. Gold thread did not appear in the import lists. It may have
been imported under ‘gold work’ but even so quantities were small. Lacework could
continue with cotton thread, but a lack of gold thread would seriously affect songket
weaving. In Palembang, it was generally thought that factories manufacturing gold
thread in China had been razed in the conflicts but there was no clear information on
these conflicts from local informants. China from the mid-19th century had suffered
from political instability as a result of European and Japanese interventions. In 1911,
the Chinese revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), and the Republic of
China was established, becoming the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The use of
Nanking brocade, which had been worn by emperors for 1500 years, had declined
about the same time.41 It is likely that the gold thread factories were destroyed some
time between the mid-19th century and 1911, or that they simply stopped producing
gold thread after 1911, since it was no longer used.
However, silk thread still seems to have been supplied to Palembang, since Jasper and
Mas Pirngadie mentioned that kain blongsong was woven. Dutch trade records indicate
that raw silk amounting to 111,746 florins in 1901 were imported from Singapore into
Palembang but this amount shrivelled to 4,312 florins by 1909 (Statistiek van den
handel). Various kinds of yarns were imported by Palembang, mainly from Singapore
but also from the Netherlands, England, Germany and Switzerland, before 1914. Yarn
imports increased dramatically from 30,555 kg in 1900 to 202,435 kg in 1911, but the
records during this period did not specify if they were silk, cotton or some other thread.
It seems likely that a quantity of silk thread may have been imported at the beginning
of the 20th century, but that the amount decreased each year. Most of the imported
yarns were probably cotton yarn, since the 1915 record showed that silk thread accounted
for only 3% of all the yarn imported (Statistiek van den handel).
The early 20th century saw changes in Palembang society which had previously fos-
tered the songket culture. Anti-colonial movements grew accompanied by an awakening
consciousness of local identities and a belief in the importance of modernising local
40ANRI, 65.8, fol.60; 65.9, fol.73.41,http://www.kie-china.co.jp/031023news.htm..
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 215
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societies to compete with the Dutch.42 In Java, students from noble families established a
union called Budi Utomo in 1908. The Sarekat Dagang Islamiyah (Islamic Commercial
Union) was founded in Batavia in 1909 to support indigenous traders (Mestika Zed
1991: 106–17; Ricklefs 2001: 208–11). In Palembang, people began to organise
groups based on their urban villages with the intention of improving education, providing
mutual aid, and exploring other ways of improving their lives. These activities were led by
local intellectuals, such as teachers, lawyers, doctors and engineers, who were mostly part
of the nobility and had been educated in Java. Although most of them had received their
education in Dutch academies, they had also embraced anti-colonial ideas. By 1912, 27
mutual aid groups had been organised in Palembang (Mestika Zed 1991: 103–4). In
these circumstances, it became increasingly difficult for Palembang nobles to use
songket as a status marker. Some of the nobility dropped their titles, considering them
to be undemocratic.43 They probably wore songket on rare special occasions. Photographs
in the early 20th century show songket worn at a reception for the Dutch Governor-
General in 1920,44 at an official event for the Queen’s birthday in 1935,45 and also at a
wedding ceremony (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. A bride and groom (ARA, Tijdeman, p. 44).
42These movements were inspired by the Ethical Policy of the Dutch in 1901 to improve social welfare and to
decentralise authority in the Dutch East Indies (Ricklefs 2001: 193–205).43Bpk Djohan Hanafiah, 2002, interview.44See the KITLV Photograph Collection, no. 32328.45See the KITLV Photograph Collection, no. 12712.
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The then Resident, W. Steinbuch, wrote in the 1936 report: ‘The home weaving indus-
try, especially the weaving of gold brocade cloth (songket) and silk sarong (plikat),46
which had formerly been a prosperous house-industry, has decayed’.47 He gave several
reasons for this:
A. The high- and middle-classes of the population bought fewer and
fewer of the products.
B. The industry had to concentrate therefore on the manufacture of
cheap clothing for the masses, and in doing so had to compete
with cheap imported goods.
C. The profit to be made from this home industry was quickly shown to
be smaller than that from coffee and rubber cultivation.
D. There was an inadequate supply of thread.48
It is uncertain if the reasons above are valid or apply equally in explaining the decline of
songket weaving. For example, it is unlikely that the development of the cheap cotton
cloth industry was one of the reasons for the decline in songket weaving, since these
two cloths have different uses. Cotton cloth is a practical, everyday cloth, while
songket is a traditional ceremonial cloth. Songket is used less often but it had great signifi-
cance for local people. Abe and Saito have argued, in relation to the early 20th-century
textile industry of Japan, that the traditional cloth for kimonos retained a large market
in the country even when modern cloth in the European style started to flourish in the
1910s (1988: 145). Songket could equally have survived alongside the popularity of
cotton cloth. However, more labour and finance were invested in the essential and
cheaper cotton cloth industry than in the production of local luxury weaving. This
report also suggests that weavers suffered extreme poverty and looked for alternative
work in plantations. However, it is unclear if songket weavers related to the nobility
shared the same predicament. But there were other crucial reasons leading to the
decline of the songket industry. Materials, gold thread in particular, were in short
supply; the democratic movement that was stirring in Palembang society inhibited the
nobles’ from wearing songket; and, after the Great Depression of 1929, the wealthy
could not afford expensive cloth such as songket. This is likely to have impacted on
songket weavers who did not earn enough and may have found alternative work in the
cotton cloth industry or in the plantations.
The Japanese captured Palembang in February 1942 for its oil resources, and their occu-
pation continued to 1945. There is, unsurprisingly, no record of the local weaving industry
during the Japanese occupation. A local document suggests that songket weaving virtually
disappeared from 1942 to 1950, but in the 1950s a few individuals began to weave songket
for personal use. They used alternative materials such as fibres from pineapple leaves and
gold thread taken from old songket (Proyek RPM 1977/1978). Its full revival had to wait
until the 1960s.
46It probably signified kain tajung, another type of weft-ikat cloth.47‘De huisweefnijverheid, met name het weven van goudbrocaatdoeken (songkets) en zijden sarong (plikats),
eertijds een bloeiende huisindustrie, geraakte in den loop der jaren in verval’ (KIT 322-29).48‘A) de hoogere - en middenklasse van de bevolking nam in steeds mindere mate de producten af, B) de nijver-
heid moest zich instellen op het vervaardigen van minder kostbare volkskleeding, en zulks in concurrentie met
de - goedkoope- importartikelen, C) de baten van de huisnijverheid bleken al spoedig in de minderheid in verge-
lijking met die uit koffie- en rubbercultuur, D) een gebrekkige garenvoorziening’ (KIT 322–29).
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 217
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From 1965 onwards
Around 1965 a Palembang woman of noble descent, Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo, initiated a
project for reviving songket weaving.49 The silk thread came from Sulawesi as the import
of Chinese silk had not resumed. Benang emas jantung was still unavailable, but syntheti-
cally coloured gold thread was imported from Japan, India and Europe (Proyek
RPM 1977/1978). The artificial gold thread was much cheaper than benang emas
jantung, and reasonably attractive. Furthermore, synthetic dyes were becoming popular
in Palembang.
Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo realised that the surviving songket weavers were old and no
longer active. She recruited experienced weavers to teach ten young men and women
the techniques of songket weaving. She invested in a shop in Daerah Suro; this was the
first songket shop in Palembang, but was soon followed by two others.
After organising the new manufacturers and distributors, Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo set
about adapting songket to attract new customers. She suggested that songket weavers use
pastel colours like pink, cream, and grey, as well as the traditional strong colours of Palem-
bang songket, such as maroon, red, purple and dark green. The new colours attracted fresh
customers, especially people outside Palembang who tended to prefer pastel-coloured
songket.50 Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo redesigned the selendang to a smaller size as it
was previously the same width and length as a sarong.51 The smaller selendang was
Figure 2. Cukuran: a man holding the baby is going around the room to show the baby to
the participants.
49It is unclear exactly why she started this project in 1965, but the change of regime from Sukarno to Suharto, the
accession to the IMF loans in 1966, and the prevailing social movement to protect local businesses, no doubt
encouraged and sustained the project.50Cek Yeni, interview 2002.51Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo, interview 2002.
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well-received by customers because it was cheaper and easier to wear. She also diversified
production to include wall hangings, table runners and cushion covers.
These efforts bore fruit by the 1980s. The number of weavers increased, and the sales of
songket picked up. There were only 31 people engaged in the songket industry in 1969, but
by 1985 there were 1,200 people (PIKM 1997/1998: 5). In the 1980s, private companies
and Ministries also supported a number of songket shops financially and technically.52
Some 270 groups were engaged in the songket industry in 1997, but business shrank
following the 1997–98 economic depression (PIKM 1997/98: 5–6). However, by
2002, the Palembang songket industry was prospering. Songket was sold in 22 shops in
Daerah Suro, in the market, and in major department stores in the town centre.
As the number of weavers increased, the characteristics of the songket weavers have
changed. The conventional pre-World War II view held that songket weaving should be
passed from generation to generation among native Palembang women. But many
young Palembang people today find songket weaving unattractive. It is not an easy job
as the wages are relatively low, and many weavers suffer from backache. There were
Figure 3. Aesan gedeh, the traditional costume of Palembang.
52Cek Yeni, interview 2002,; Bpk Jakfar Sidik, interview 2002, a pamphlet, ‘Pesona Bari’.
Socio-cultural history of Palembang songket 219
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others who consider songket weaving to be an old-fashioned job. However, those from
districts outside Palembang are often prepared to be weavers despite the demanding
conditions as they find it preferable to agricultural labour in their villages. There are
now male weavers as well. One who had been weaving songket for 30 years said he
chose this work because he could not find another good job.
The relative rapid training of new weavers has brought about a group of weavers who
know only the weaving techniques and have little knowledge of related skills such as
dyeing or making motif-sticks, let alone the history, culture and tradition of songket
They are, for example, unable to explain the names and symbolic meanings of motifs.
Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo has noted that while contemporary weavers have an acceptable
standard they are not as fine as that of the old weavers. The weavers today work quickly to
earn more whereas pre-war period songket weavers had professional pride and wove
songket with great care and skill.53
In cukuran, the first hair-cutting ceremony for babies, selendang songket is worn by theman
who carries the baby,54 and another kain songket is placed under thebaby (Figure 2). Songket is
also sometimes presented as a bridal gift–from the groom’s family to the bride’s. In wedding
ceremonies, the bride andgroomwear a local costume, aesan gedeh, which is supposed to have
been the best court dress during the sultanate period (Figure 3). Local people believe that the
bride and groom must show that they are beautiful and dignified, since they are considered to
be ‘raja sehari–the king of the day’ (Heringa, 1994: 30). The aesan gedeh, which contains
songket and gold accessories, decidedly befits a king and queen. Particularly, when the
groom walks in a procession to the bride’s home, he looks every inch a king, being given
shade from a yellow parasol, which was also a royal privilege. Close relatives of the couple
often wear songket; women wear a sarong and selendang, and men wear songko, a head-
cloth, and umpak, a hip-cloth. When local people wear songket on the important day, they
display and celebrate their awareness of their identity as Wong Palembang, whose ancestry
can be traced back to Sriwijaya, as well as displaying the wealth and authority of the family.
Conclusion
The function of songket has changed from being a status marker of the nobility during the
sultanate period, to a symbol of wealth in the colonial period, and more recently, it has
become increasingly a key identity marker of Wong Palembang. At the same time,
songket styles, colours and patterns have diversified since it is crucial to provide a wide
range of products to meet a variety of demands. The Palembang songket industry has
metamorphosed into an international business, supplying employment in the city. The
people have recognised that sustained efforts to maintain and support the industry as a
commercial enterprise will help to preserve Palembang songket culture, even though
that culture has been modified and adapted, finding new functions in a changing society.
Centre for South-East Asian Studies
University of Hull
Cottingham Road
Hull HU6 7RX
53Ibu Sity Bambang Utoyo, interview 2002.54Usually a male relative from the baby’s mother’s side.
220 Megumi Uchino
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Abbreviations
ANRI Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (National Archives of the Republic of
Indonesia, Jakarta).
ARA Algemeen Rijksarchief (National Archives, The Hague).
KIT Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam).
KITLV Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royal Institute of
Linguistics and Anthropology, Leiden).
OIC Comite tot den Oost-Indische Handel en Bezittingen (Committee of East
Indian Trade and Posts).
RMV Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (Royal Museum of Ethnology, Leiden).
UBL Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden (University Library, Leiden).
VOC Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company).
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