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Concept
Iban people
Summary
The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak peoples on the island of Borneo in South East Asia. Dayak is a title given by the British to the local tribe people of Borneo island. It is believed that the term "Iban" was originally an exonym used by the Kayans, who – when they initially came into contact with them – referred to the Sea Dayaks in the upper Rajang river region as the "Hivan".
Ibans were renowned for practicing headhunting and territorial migration, and had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successfully warring tribe. Since the arrival for
Europeans and the subsequent colonisation of the area, headhunting gradually faded out of practice, although many other tribal customs and practices as well as the Iban language continue to thrive. The Iban population is concentrated in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia, Brunei, and the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. They traditionally live in longhouses called rumah panjai or betang (trunk) in West Kalimantan.
History of the Iban people
The Iban people of Borneo possess an indigenous account of their history, mostly in oral literature, partly in writing in papan turai (wooden records), and partly in common cultural customary practices.
According to native myths and legend, they historically came from Kapuas river in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). They slowly moved to Sarawak due to tribal indifference. The ancient Iban legend is also being supported by several modern-day linguistic studies by Asmah Haji Omar (1981), Rahim Aman (1997), Chong Shin and James T. Collins (2019) and material cultures by M. Heppell (2020) that traces the Iban language and culture originated from the upper Kapuas.
Based on the research conducted by Benedict Sandin (1968). The period of Iban migrations from the Kapuas Hulu Range were determined to commenced from the 1750s. These settlers were indentified to enter Batang Lupar and established settlement adjacent to the Undop River. In the period of five generations, they expanded towards west, east and north, founding new settlements within the tributaries of Batang Lupar, Batang Sadong, Saribas and Batang Layar.
Official source
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