Imam Bondjol

Imam Bondjol

(born 1772, Kampung Tandjung Bunga, Sumatra—died Nov. 6, 1864, Manado, Celebes) Leader in a religious war that divided the Minangkabau people of Sumatra. A convert to reformist Wahhabi Islam, known in Sumatra as the Padri sect, he established the fortified community of Bondjol, from which he took his name, as a centre from which to wage holy war. The secular government called on the Dutch to help, but the Dutch were preoccupied with the Java War (1825–30), and Imam Bondjol's forces expanded the area under their control. The Dutch eventually turned their attention to the Padris and defeated them; Imam Bondjol surrendered (1837), and the Minangkabau territory was added to the Dutch colonial holdings.