Siberut, Sipora and the Pagais, separated from Sumatra by a deep trench and by a much longer stretch of time.
The people here farm sago, keep no rice, know no metal working and want nothing from the coast (the campaign board's statement of their later way of life, read back). There is no trade to tax and there never has been, and nothing in the sources of the age mentions them. They appear on the map because a research area should not leave its inhabited islands blank, and because they mark where the Indian Ocean world stops.
Who holds it
- Title
- Clan elders and shamans of the Mentawai uma (long houses), not named
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names a holder for any date near 1 January 1200.
Overlord
None named.
What it holds
- The islands' clan lands, sago stands and coast
How things stand that morning
Not recorded. Clan long houses under their elders and shamans; no state, no port.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Thin: later ethnography, the campaign board and geography; nothing dated near 1 January 1200 describes the people.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Drawn on the modern regencies (kabupaten) that match the people's later homeland; the boundaries of 1200 are not known.
Sources and studies
- Island histories and archaeology of Nias, Simeulue, the Mentawai islands and Enggano, as the OMNIA board states them; no medieval text names them, and we found none to cite
- OMNIA board note (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
- Nineteenth and twentieth century ethnography of the Batak, Minangkabau, Rejang and Lampung peoples (Dutch and later writers), read back to 1200 as a caution only, from memory, not rechecked
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.