Datuk

Datuk is a traditional Malay honorific title commonly used in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Its variant is Dato and its equivalent is Datu in the Philippines.

The oldest historical records mentioning about the title datuk is the 7th century Srivijayan inscriptions such as Telaga Batu to describe lesser kings or vassalized kings. It was called dātu in Old Malay language to describe regional leader or elder, a kind of chieftain that rules of a collection of kampungs (villages). The Srivijaya empire was described as a network of mandala that consists of settlements, villages, and ports each ruled by a datu that vowed their loyalty (persumpahan) to the central administration of Srivijayan Maharaja. Unlike the indianized title of raja and maharaja, the term datuk was also found in the Philippines as datu, which suggests its common native Austronesian origin. The term kadatwan or kedaton refer to the residence of datuk, equivalent with keraton and istana. In later Mataram Javanese culture, the term kedaton shifted to refer the inner private compound of the keraton, the residential complex of king and royal family.

Today in Indonesia, datuk refer to honorific title of traditional community, especially among Malay and Minangkabau people. It is functioned as a title reserved for community leader that deals with traditions and community affairs.

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