Ma'anyan, Dayak Maanyan or Eastern Barito Dayak people are a sub-ethnic group of the Dayak people indigenous to Borneo. They are also considered as part of the east Barito Dusun group with the name Dusun Ma'anyan. According to J. Mallinckrodt, the Dusun people group is part of the Ot Danum people cluster, although later that theory was disproved by A. B. Hudson, who argues that the Ma'anyan people are a branch of the Barito family. The Ma'anyan people who are often referred to as Dayak people are also referred to as Dayak Ma'anyan. The Dayak Ma'anyan people inhabit the east side of Central Kalimantan, especially in the East Barito Regency and parts of South Barito Regency which are grouped as Ma'anyan I. The Dayak Ma'anyan people also inhabit the northern parts of South Kalimantan, especially in Tabalong Regency which refers to the Dayak Warukin people. The Dayak Balangan people or Dusun Balangan people which are found in the Balangan Regency and the Dayak Samihim people that are found in the Kotabaru Regency are grouped together with the Dayak Ma'anyan people group. The Dayak Ma'anyan people in South Kalimantan are grouped as Ma'anyan II. Administratively, the Ma'anyan people have just recently appeared in the 2000 census and made up 2.8% of the Central Kalimantan population; previously the Ma'anyan people were grouped together with the Dayak people in the 1930 census. The uniqueness of the Dusun Ma'anyan people among others are agriculture, elaborate funeral ceremonies, and having shaman to treat their disease.
History
Ma'anyan people were brought as labourer and slaves by Malay and Javanese in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50-500 AD. The Malagasy language originated from the Southeast Barito language, and the Ma'anyan language is its closest relative, with numerous Malay and Javanese loanwords. It is possible that scholars and artisans of 10th century recorded the events of the Ma'anyan people evacuating in large numbers to Africa on outriggersailboats like those depicted on the stone reliefs of Borobudur in 945 to 946 AD. The 10th century Arab account Ajayeb al-Hind gives an account of invasion in Africa, probably by Malay people of Srivijaya, in 945-946 CE. They arrived in the coast of Tanganyika and Mozambique with 1000 boats and attempted to take the citadel of Qanbaloh, though eventually failed. The reason of the attack is because that place had goods suitable for their country and for China, such as ivory, tortoise shells, panther skins, and ambergris, and also because they wanted black slaves from Bantu people who were strong and make good slaves. In the oral literature of the Ma'anyan people, after the Nan Sarunai kingdom was attacked by the Majapahit kingdom, the Ma'anyan people broke up into several sub-group. Among the sub-groups, they are:-
Ma'anyan Paku
Ma'anyan Paju Epat/Ampat or Ma'anyan Siong
Ma'anyan Dayu Lasi Muda
Ma'anyan Paju Sapuluh of Kampung Sapuluh
Ma'anyan Banua Lima or Paju Dime
* Ma'anyan Warukin
* Ma'anyan Jangkung
According to the Ma'anyan people, before they had begun occupying the current regions, they came from the downstream of South Kalimantan. Although today the East Barito Regency is not part of the South Kalimantan province, that region in the past was the last region to be a part of the Banjar sultanate before it was annexed to the Dutch Indies in 1860. It was a region of the Banjar sultanate that had shrunk and was land-locked as it was surrounded by other Dutch Indies territories.
Culture
Language
The Ma'anyan language shares many similarities with the languages in Madagascar. Examples of Ma'anyan words are:-
The organization of the Ma'anyan people is "Dusmala" which combines three Dayak people sub-group which are Dusun people, Ma'anyan people and Lawangan people.
Bagamat, a giant bat meat gravy cooked with garlic and various vegetables.
Kalumpe or Karuang by the Ngaju people, a pounded Cassava leaf salad mixed with eggplant, lemongrass, onion and garlic.
Ma'anyan people in Tabalong Regency and Balangan Regency in South Kalimantan
The Dayak Ma'anyan Warukin people whom are often referred as Dayak Warukin people are the sub-ethnic of the Ma'anyan people group living in villages such as Warukin, Haus and its surrounding in Tabalong Regency, South Kalimantan. The settlements of the Dayak Warukin are found in regions where its surroundings are Banjarese settlements. The Dayak Warukin in Warukin village in Tanta District, Tabalong Regency are part of the Ma'anyan Banua Lima people. The Ma'anyan Banua Lima people are a sub-ethnic of the Ma'anyan people found in Banua Lima, East Barito Regency. The original name of the people was Ma'anyan Paju Lima. The word "Banua" came from the Banjar language. The funeral ceremony of the Dayak Warukin people according to the Kaharingan religion is called mambatur, or marabia for the Ma'anyan Banua Lima people. The similarities of the Ma'anyan Warukin language with the Banjar language of Kuala Lupak are about 50%. While the similarities of the Ma'anyan Warukin language with the Banjar language of Asam-Asam village are about 57%. There are four regions of Dayak culture in Tabalong Regency, where one of its region is of Dayak Ma'anyan culture, namely:-
Outside of the four Dayak cultural regions in Tabalong Regency, there are also Banjar people who form as the majority of the Tabalong Regency population and these Banjar people are not bound by Dayak customary laws.
