Kasepuhan

The Kasepuhan are an ethnic group of approximately 5300 people, who live in the southern part of Gunung Halimun National Park, in the Indonesian province of West Java. Gunung Halimun National Park is located within the borders of kabupaten Sukabumi, Bogor and southern Banten.

According to oral information, the Kasepuhan have lived in this area for about 570 years. Around the year 1430, the ancestors of the Kasepuhan were still living in the area of Bogor, east of Gunung Halimun. At that time, there were also several Pajajaran kingdoms in West Java, for example in Banten, but also in Bogor.

The people of the Pajajaran also followed Hinduism as their main religion, but combined this with animism and Sundanese traditions. The people of the Kasepuhan claim they are genetically linked with the Badui, which is another traditional group in West Java. Nowadays, the Kasepuhan are influenced by Islam, but they do not strictly follow all rules of this religion. Just as their ancestors, they have combined several traditions and religions with their own Kasepuhan tradition; that is, they are influenced by Islam, Sundanese traditions, Pajajaran traditions and thus Hinduism, and also animism.

By far the most important way of subsistence for the Kasepuhan is agriculture, which can split into three categories: "sawah" (wet rice cultivation), "ladang" (dry rice cultivation), and "kebun" (gardens on horizontal fields). About 85% of Kasepuhan agricultural land is "sawah", 10% consists of "ladang", and 5% "kebun".

References

Bas Bolman (2006). [http://library.wur.nl/way/bestanden/clc/1843354.pdf "Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia - A comparative research on differences in modernisation trends."] Major Thesis, Wageningen University.