The Iban People and Their Language:- My Personal View

Life has been busy for the past few months. However, it doesn’t means that I have to stop doing the things that I really love to do. Blogging is one of them and I am always passionate about the things that are within my area of interest. I tried to fit myself with my current situation where I need to rush on datelines, tones of paperwork and clerical activities. Teaching is always my passion and at the same time I will be able to have an endless input of ideas for my blog page.

The fearless Iban warriors of Borneo posed proudly in front of the highly-prized head trophies (Disclaimer: Picture is not owned by the blogger but downloaded from the internet)

For those who have read my previous posts, they will realize that I shared a lot about how I learnt the KadazanDusun language. It’s pretty interesting right??? New cultures, lifestyles and people that dress differently from our own create a more mind-stirring situation that would evoke our typical, routine-based life. As I began to learn other people’s culture, I also started to appreciate the uniqueness of my own culture and language.

Being an Iban myself, I am always astonished to learn about my own culture and language. At the same time, I always wondered whether other cultures had similar practices with our own. The curiosity grew as I was also an Iban from two different “dialect groups” (or more correctly, accents, since I can hardly find any major differences between the so-called “dialects” as proposed by the linguists). First and foremost, I have to admit that I am still an infant in this field. I never assume myself as a linguist or anthropologist. Rather, my small researches are largely based on my personal interest plus some of the reading materials that I had read many years before. In other words, I am no professional neither I am trying to write an academically-styled essay.

The linguists clearly classify the Iban language as a branch of the standard Malay language despite the claims by the Iban themselves that consider the language as unique and taught by the gods.

My father hailed from Betong, Saribas while my Mom is a Batang Rejang Iban from Kanowit (actually, the term “Rejang” is not accurate since my maternal ancestors came from Lemanak and Engkari in Sri Aman during the 1800s. Historically, there were no Ibans occupying any part of the Rejang Basin before late 18^th century; 1800-1899.). as a matter of fact, the said territory was predominantly occupied by the Kajang-Melanau tribes such as Kanowit, Tanjong, Lugat, Seduan, Beliun, Sihan, Kejaman, Sekapan and others. After the invasion of Batang Rajang by the Ibans who prefer their way to the fertile Rajang Basin, they were pushed downriver from their homeland to the Rejang Delta. Some of them went upriver to Belaga and Balui River. If I elaborate and study my parentage in detail, I would find out that I am not only a descendant of the said dialect groups but it could be more than that. It is not considered as an excessive and pungent statement if I say that I would have all the Iban dialect ancestries in my blood right now! I have the Saribas, Skrang, Engkari and Lemanak ; who were once rivals! 

According to the linguists (most of them were Westerners, just like the rest of the Oriental tribes and communities who would dedicate their life to study the language and culture of different tribes) the Iban language falls under the Malayic-Dayak group; in other words, closely related to the Malay language. We are much closer to the Malays rather than to the Bidayuhs, Melanaus or Kayan/Kenyahs. I am not ardent researcher, since my hands are already full with endless tasks and clerical works. Fortunately, the internet serves as a useful source if information despite its unreliability and impreciseness. To be honest, I won’t spend my precious time to go to the Ethnological Library and turn every page in the super-thick books; each with its own theories and most of them never agree with the others.

A standard traditional Iban longhouse. Nowadays, it is very hard to find a traditional-style longhouses. Most of them have been replaced by modern-designed; urban-oriented longhouses.

According to one theory (sorry, I am unable neither to name the person who proposed the idea nor to cite which books that said so), the Ibans were one of the diasporic Malayic groups that fled from Sumatra after the Islamic conquest around 14 A.D. They were once local Hindu-Buddhist adherents who later incorporated the religion into folk religion and shamanism. Until this day, some areas of the Iban beliefs system retains Hinduism and Buddhism doctrines such as giving food offerings, circumambulation of holy relics (stupa), recitation of mantras, terminologies such as “Petara” (Avatara) and “Biku” (Bhikku, Buddhist High Priest) are still prevalent. The Iban’s Keling and Kumang legend also largely resembles the Hindu Rama-Sita epic.

Before migrating to Sarawak, the first Iban settlers lived along the major rivers in West Borneo (Dutch Borneo) such as the Kapuas and Merakai rivers. Nowadays, these areas belong to the Indonesian government. However, there are still a large number of the Ibanic groups who still maintain their ethnological identity despite coexisting with the other native groups of Borneo. The Ibans also had a very interesting version of the “Tower of Babel” which is locally known as “Beji Nangga Hari” (Beji’s Ladder).

The language tree proves it all then, despite facing disapproval from the Ibans themselves. They believed that the Iban language was taught by the gods; handed down to our first ancestors whom later passed the knowledge to the latter generations. Due to this reason, they considered the language itself as exotic and always regard the sole-proprietor of this language as the Ibans themselves.

The Ibans were also known as 'Sea Dayaks" despite the fact that the majority of them live deep in the interiors of Borneo.

Unlike the isolated languages like Japanese, Korean or Ainu; which are still under debate whether these languages can be classified under a larger family language group. Further, there are also other ‘Ibanic’ languages which are closely related to the ‘standard’ Iban, which are the Melikin (Remun), Kantu, Seberuang, Air Tabun and other dialect groups that mostly inhabit the Upper Kapuas River in Indonesian Borneo territory. I haven’t encountered any of these people so far, but I believed that their language might be intelligible to the Sarawakian Ibans to some degree. 

The linguists themselves even considered the Iban people as a “homogenous society” since their “dialects” are mutually intelligible. Even most of their traditional beliefs and practices are not as diverse as the other Dayak groups; like the Bidayuhs or Orang Ulus. From Lundu to Limbang, the Ibans are scattered all around the Land of the Hornbill, concentrating their settlements around the central areas of the main river basins. They can be largely found in their “traditional homeland” which is Sri Aman (Batang Lupar, Skrang, Saribas and their tributaries) and the “New World” Rejang River from which the migration expanded further north heading to Mukah, Bintulu and Miri.

            The Iban migration can be divided into three main waves; the first one being the great migration from their ancestry homeland in Upper Kapuas River in the neighbouring Kalimantan. Some of the older generation still remembered that their ancestors came all their way long from the Upper Kapuas via Bukit Tiang Laju; the most prominent landmark in Sri Aman which is prominent from the Pan-Borneo Highway. Since that most of the historical accounts are passed from one generation to another through oral transmission, their reliability are highly doubted, but it seems that it told us one similar event:- that the Ibans migrated from their ancestry homeland in what we called now as the West Kalimantan vicinity to the major rivers of Batang Lupar and Skrang in Sarawak.

The north-easternly migration of the Iban people for the past 400 years.

The main reason for the great migration is diverse; from expanding agricultural areas to avoiding Islamization by the Pontianak Sultanate. Anyway, the topic is still open for discussion among historians and anthropologists. One thing was for sure then, that inter-tribal wars between different Iban groups were so rampant that it spread across the island of Borneo. Definitely, the Dutch Borneo colonials in Kalimantan and the Brunei Sultanate had lost control over this situation and the conflicts worsened from time to time. As the White Rajahs started to expand their territory by asking the Brunei Sultanate to hand over the northern part of Sarawak to them, they also managed to put an end to the merciless headhunting parties once and for all. They started to assemble different ethnic groups that supported the Rajahs and attacked the strongholds of the rebels. The most famous example is of Libau; or famously known as Rentap where the Rajah and his army of Skrang Ibans traditional foes attacked the Sadok Fort and forced Rentap to retreat to Upper Kanowit till his death.

The sexy belles of Borneo adorned themselves with heavy silver corsets 

There were also ‘small migrations’ done by a small group of Ibanic people known as the Melikin or more famously, the Remuns. They are believed to be the first Iban settlers who first came to Sarawak; long before the other Iban tribes made their first journey from Upper Kapuas River to the Great Rivers. They are mainly concentrated in areas bordering the Iban-Bidayuh BukarSadong area; namely Simunjan, Balai Ringin and near the Serian town. Their language somehow is an archetype of the “modern” Iban language but it is still yet to be proven since the Remuns can only be found in Sarawak and not elsewhere in Dutch Borneo. Their numbers are far smaller than the other larger Iban groups and studies had found limited evidence to show that the claim was true.

The ‘Serian Ibans’ are not related to the Remuns since they were originally the Iban settlers that hailed from the neighbouring Batang Lupar/Undup areas. 

So, the topic is now open for debate among the linguists. The “Balau” and “Sebuyau” groups are much closer to the Central Iban language, since their language is largely similar to the “standard” Iban and their vocabulary is a mixture between typical Iban and Sarawakian Malay loanwords. These two groups mainly inhabit the near-coastal areas of Batang Sadong, Sebuyau and Lupar rivers, where the chance of them to mix around with the local Malays and adapt to their language and culture is not an unlikely event. Historical inter-tribal wars complicated this matter even more since each tribal group claimed that their ancestors are superior to the others and to prove their worth, they launched headhunting parties to the neighbouring Iban tribes. The reigning Rajah during that time even took advantage of the existing enmity between the different Iban tribes to expand the Sarawak’s territory further into the interior.

Under the ‘Skrang Iban’ group, the Iban language is further divided into smaller sub-dialects; the Ulu Ai/Engkari, Lemanak, Skrang and Saribas (Betong/Saratok/Roban). The Rejang Ibans are actually an offshoot of the Lemanak and Ulu Ai/Engkari Ibans who settled in the Rejang Basin about 200 years ago. Now, they become the largest group of Ibans in Sarawak as they moved further north. My late grandmother always referred herself as a Lemanak Iban since her grandmother came from Lemanak River. It seems that I am now a fifth-generation Lemanak Iban that resides in Batang Rejang. There were also a small number of Saribas Ibans that migrated to upper Julau, Pakan and Bintangor which are actually the tributaries of the Rejang River. Unlike the domineering Lemanak/Ulu Ai Ibans that conquered most of the Rejang Basin, the latter group only managed to settle in the swampy, less fertile areas of the Lower Rejang River. It is also very noticeable since they still retain the original Saribas accent despite their migration to an area which is dominated by the Rejang Ibans.

A very rare picture showing the ancient Iban ritual of "Naku Antu Pala". The last time I saw this kind of ritual was when I was only 12 years old.

The third wave happened during the late 20^th century (1900-…) when the Ibans began to expand their territories northeasterly to Batang Oya, Mukah, Balingian, Tatau, Kemena, Suai-Niah and finally to Miri and Limbang. Different groups of Iban from Batang Rejang, Skrang, Saribas and Lupar ventured their ways to the uncharted upper reaches of these rivers; driving away the local natives to the coastal areas and opened up new farmlands and longhouses.

Many Ibans and non-Ibans agreed that the Saribas Ibans have a very “polite and soft-spoken” accent which attracted the westerners to study the language and as a result, the Saribas Iban became the “standard literary language” among the Ibans. The Iban Bible and primary schools’ Iban text books produced by the Borneo Literary Bureau used Saribas Iban as a standard. It is largely understood by the other Ibans from any parts of Sarawak; just like the Bundu-Liwan dialect of the KadazanDusun people. Somehow, to certain degree, I can compare the Rejang Iban and the Saribas Iban accents like the American and the British English. Here, I include a table which briefly describes some of the differences between the Rejang (Lemanak/Ulu Ai) Ibans (which is the predominant dialect spoken by most Iban population) and the Saribas (Betong/Saratok/Roban) Ibans (which has been accepted as the “standard” literary form of Iban used in schools, government offices and news broadcast). Please take note that despite the differences, the Ibans from these two dialect groups can converse with each other without any difficulties.