Manggarai people

Manggarai people
Ata Manggarai

A Manggarai family.
Total population
(725,000)
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia: (Flores Island) East Nusa Tenggara
Languages
Manggarainese language (including Rongga language), Indonesian language
Religion
Christianity (predominantly), Islam, Ancestral worship
Related ethnic groups
Lamaholot people

The Manggarai are an ethnic group found in western Flores in the East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. Manggarai people are spread across three districts in the province, namely the West Manggarai Regency, Manggarai Regency and East Manggarai Regency.

The Manggarai people sometimes refer to themselves as Ata Manggarai, which means "people of Manggarai".

Manggarai people are the aboriginal population of the island of Flores. Manggarai settlements cover over 6,700 square kilometers, almost a third of Flores Island.

According to historical records, they have been occupied alternately by other tribes such as the Bima people from the island of Sumbawa and the Makassar people from Sulawesi island, Indonesia. As of the late 20th century, there are about 500,000 Manggarai people.

Early state formations of the Manggarai in the 17th century had their first king of Minangkabau descent from the Sultanate of Gowa, Makassar; which led to the spread of Islam on the island of Flores most likely through trading sea-route. In 1727, the Manggarai region was given to the Bima Sultanate as a dowry when a Makassarese princes was married into the Bima royalty. In 1929, the Western part of Flores was separated from the Bima Sultanate. Then, followed by the invasion of the Dutch colonialists in the 20th century and the subsequent Christianization of Manggarai.

The language spoken throughout the region is called Tombo Manggarai, a language with around 43 sub-dialects divided into 5 dialect groups and it is a language that is very distinct from the languages of ethnic groups to the east and from Indonesian. The 5 dialect groups are Western Manggarai, Central West Manggarai, Central Manggarai, East Manggarai and Far East Manggarai. The latter, separated from other dialects by the Rembong language, is distributed in the north-central part of the island of Flores. It is spoken by about 300,000 people. There are also native speakers of the Rongga language (there are about 5,000 of them) living in three settlements in the southern part of the East Manggarai Regency. This language is not singled out even by most of Manggarai people themselves, because it is considered as part of the Manggarai language.