leading leaders in padri movement
credit picture to ittheacher

Imam Bondjol was also known as Muhammad Syahab, Peto Syarif, and Malim Basa. He was one of the most popular leaders of the Padri movement in Central Sumatra. He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia. His family came from Sungai Rimbang, Suliki, Limapuluh Koto.

He was born in Bonjol the Minangkabau region of West Sumatra around 1772 and died 1864. Some scholar says, outside the city of Manado in North Sulawesi in 1854. He was immersed in Islamic studies as he grew up, studying first from his father and later under various other Muslim theologians. 

The word “Tuanku” was a title given to high-ranking ulama in West Sumatra who were recognized authorities in the Islamic sciences of tauhid, fikh, and tasawuf.

- "Imam" signifies that he was a religious leader, individual characteristic of the alim. 
- The Tuanku Imam is in Indonesia an official national hero from the early nineteenth century, a putative Wahhabi, and leader of the Padri War.

Indonesian notes with the picture of Imam Bondjol

- He died on 6 November 1864, at the age of 92 and is buried in Sulawesi. The site of his grave is marked by a Minangkabau (West Sumatran) house.

Contribution and roles in the Padri Movement
• Established the fortified community of Bondjol, from which he took his name, as a centre for waging a “holy war” to spread the Padri doctrines.
• Providing political and military leadership for the Padri community.
• Removing local distortions like gambling, cockfighting, the use of opium and strong drink, tobacco, and so forth.

NASKAH TUANKU IMAM BONDJOL

credit picture: BPNB Jawa Barat

• Recapitulate the history of West Sumatra in the nineteenth century

• Comprise three distinctive sections:
1) First 190 pages – memoir of Tuanku Imam Bondjol himself from his youth until death in Manado
2) Page 191 until 324 – the memoir of Tuanku’s son (Naali Sutan Caniago)
3) Page 325 until 332 – the minutes of a pair of meetings held in the Minangkabau highland.