Indonesia’s fertility is a miracle and a blessing in itself. How not, even though many types of plants are actually not endemic, but after being planted in Indonesia’s tropical natural environment, it turns out that the quality of the results is no less than when the plants were cultivated in their country of origin.
In fact, not infrequently the results are much better quality. Examples are certainly abundant. These include tobacco, coffee, cassava, corn, and many others.
Latin name nicotiana tabacum , this plant is thought to have come from South America or North America. After tobacco consumption became a lifestyle in Europe, tobacco was brought into Indonesia by the history of Western colonialism, at least in the early 17th century. There are several historical hypotheses, namely the Spanish, Portuguese or perhaps the Dutch. However etymologically, the term tobacco itself comes from the Spanish language, “tabaco” .
Although it is almost certain that historically it came from outside Indonesia, but because tobacco has been a cultivated plant and people’s livelihood for hundreds of years, as a result, many folklores narrate that this plant originates from Indonesia.
For the people on the slopes of Sumbing-Sidoro-Prau, for example, there is known among the thick rituals . This is one of four local community rituals related to tobacco, where among thick is the ceremony before the first day of planting seeds. Dedicated to Ki Ageng Makukuhan, this ritual honors and remembers the holy man who is believed to be the first to introduce tobacco seeds. It is said that the plant was obtained by Ki Ageng Makukuhan from Sunan Kudus. The term “mbako” in Javanese comes from the words of Ki Makukuhan: “Iki tambaku!”so he said when treating the sick and instantly healed. This plant is believed by residents on the slopes of Sumbing-Sindoro-Prau as the first tobacco seed to be planted in their area.
While in Madura, there is also folklore telling the history of tobacco related to a character named Prince Katandur. The term ‘kandur’ means to plant. This name was given to Habib Ahmad Baidlowi, the figure who later became known as the forerunner of the tobacco plant developed on the salt island since the 12th century. Not to mention some indigenous communities such as Sunda Wiwitan Ciptagelar, Bayan (Wetu Telu), and it is possible that there are many other indigenous peoples who believe that tobacco plants like clove plants originate from the archipelago.
Of course, historians such as Kuntowijoyo may contradict myth and history. However, this does not apply to the people of Sumbing-Sindoro-Prau. Without being bothered by the historians’ version of the origins of tobacco, the origins of tobacco are related to the folklore of Ki Ageng Makukuhan, which they believe to be the truth handed down by their ancestors. Likewise for the people of Madura, Sunda Wiwitan Ciptagelar and Bayan.
Of course it is difficult if we have to trace since when tobacco plants began to be cultivated in Indonesia in general and in various indigenous communities in particular. However, if you trace the history of people’s consumption of tobacco in various ways of consumption, records about it may still be found.
Call it the tradition of nyirih , nyereh , nginang , or nyusur , for example. It is depicted in one of the reliefs at Borobudur Temple (8th century) and Sojiwan Temple (9th century). The relief shows a betel holder and a dubang container as well as the shape of a person chewing which is interpreted by archaeologists as chewing betel. Initially, the position of tobacco was to complement or substitute for the practice of betel nut . True, it is not very clear when tobacco was used. But, according to Anthony Reid, on his journey then chewing tobacco became a common practice of the community which is synonymous with chewing betel. This phenomenon is also seen in the Javanese lingua-franca, where the terms nyirih , nyereh , nginang and nyusur are often used synonymously. Nyirih , nyereh , nginang and nyusur , may no longer have semantic differences.
This means that in line with the facts above, it is actually not impossible not only limited to the betel nut tradition , but also related to the existence of tobacco plants and the nyusur tradition . .
While talking about tobacco consumption by burning, history records that this habit has become the behavior and habits of the Indonesian people long ago. The Babad Tanah Jawa notes that smoking began to be popular with the Javanese when Panembahan Senapati died. Historian De Graaf said, King Sultan Agung in Islamic Mataram was a first-class smoker. Meanwhile, portraits of the wider audience who have liked cigarettes can be seen in the folklore and ketoprak play “Rara Mendut-Pranacitra”. Rara Mendut and Pranacitra, which is a local narrative about the love story a la Romeo and Juliet, takes the context of the time during the reign of Sunan Amangkurat I, son of Sultan Agung. In the folklore and ketoprak play, it is told that cigarettes have become daily merchandise.
In addition, in Serat Centhini (1814) which is touted as a Javanese encyclopedia, the words “ngaudut” , “eses” or “ses” are also found as general terms in the Javanese language referring to the phenomenon of tobacco consumption by burning. The term cigarette itself has only been used recently, at the end of the 19th century. Derived from the Dutch language ” ro’ken” , at first it was only used to refer to people smoking pipes and cigars.
From Plantation to National Industrial Prototype
Talking about the history of tobacco plants as a plantation industry sector that is managed on a large scale, of course, is the fruit of the Dutch government’s policy. The high value of tobacco in world trade at that time, Governor-General Van den Bosch issued a culturing policy to place tobacco plants as one of the commodities that must be planted. Called “onderneming” , namely cultivation plantations that are cultivated on a large scale with modern technological tools. The implementation of forced cultivation in the Dutch East Indies coincided with the peak of tobacco commodity prices in Europe.
Call the popularity of “Deli Tabak” or “Tobacco Deli” in Europe later, for example, starting from the expansion of tobacco trading in East Sumatra. Pioneered by a Dutchman J. Nienhujs. Coming to Deli at the invitation of Said Abdullah in 1863, Nienhujs managed to get a land concession from the Sultan of Deli to open a plantation. It is located on the banks of the Deli River with an area of 4,000 bau (1 smell : 0.7 hectares). The concession agreement is granted for 20 years. For the first 5 years he was exempt from taxes and after that he only paid 200 guilders a year. Although initially less successful, since then the economic expansion of plantations has begun on a large scale.
In 1869 Nienhuijs founded Deli Maatschappij , the first limited liability company operating in the Dutch East Indies with its head office in Rotterdam. From year to year the number of tobacco plantations continues to grow. It was recorded that from 1 tobacco onderneming in 1864, then it rose and rose until it reached its peak in 1891 with 169 tobacco deliveries. The location is not only in Deli but extends to Langkat and Serdang. The emergence of tobacco plantations also occurs not only in East Sumatra but also in Java. The growth of the tobacco plantation industry is in line with the increase in the number of tobacco exports to Rotterdam. The quality of Indonesian tobacco is known as one of the best tobacco in the world.
However, in line with the emergence of overproduction in the world market, as well as the boycott of the practice of poenale sanctie against plantation workers, the application of the McKinley duty , and of course also the decline in tobacco prices, in 1904 the number of onderneming tobacco in East Sumatra decreased to 114. Even before the economic crisis of the 1930s an—which was often referred to by the Proclaimer Soekarno – Hatta as the “missing era”—in 1928 the number of onderneming tobacco was recorded at 72; during the 1931 economic crisis, it dropped to 67; 1932 recorded down again to 61; and in 1934-1940 only 45 tobacco suppliers remained. The same phenomenon of course also occurs in Java.
Thus, Indonesia’s tobacco commodities are well known in the world, since 1959 Indonesia has also established trade cooperation with the Bremen tobacco auction market in Germany. Indonesian tobacco, especially from Sumatra, is the prima donna for cigar fans in Europe. Trade cooperation through the auction mechanism began with the establishment of Tabak Börse, 1961. It started in 1959 when the auction process for tobacco harvested from plantations in Indonesia had to be moved from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Indonesia not only produces quality tobacco at the world level, another interesting thing to note is the emergence of a prototype of a national industry: kretek . However, kretek is a unique and original product from Indonesia that is specifically different from cigarettes in general. Kretek is not only a blend of various tobaccos mixed into one, but also mixed with cloves and other spice ingredients. The distinctive taste characteristics of kretek really dominate the national market and relatively become a strong barrier to the entry of cigarette products from other countries.
No exaggeration, the contribution of state revenue in this sector was recorded significantly: in 2011 it was 73.25 trillion; in 2012 amounted to 90.55 trillion; in 2013 amounted to 103.56 trillion; in 2014 amounted to 112.54 trillion; in 2015 amounted to 123.2 trillion; in 2016 amounted to 123.93 trillion; in 2017 amounted to 145.48 trillion; and lastly in 2018 it was estimated at 148.23 trillion.