Note 34 — Chapter XII · THE SPREAD OF ISLAM IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.

In the early part of the nineteenth century a religious revival was set on foot in Sumatra, which was not without its influence in promoting the further propagation of Islam. In 1803 three Sumatran ḥājīs returned from Mecca to their native country: during their stay in the holy city they had been profoundly influenced by the Wahhābī movement for the reformation of Islam, and were now eager to introduce the same reforms among their fellow-countrymen and to stir up in them a purer and more zealous religious life. Accordingly they began to preach the strict monotheism of the Wahhābī sect, forbade prayers to saints, drinking and gambling and all other practices contrary to the law of the Qurʼān. They made a number of proselytes both from among their co-religionists and the heathen population. They later declared a Jihād against the Bataks, and in the hands of unscrupulous and ambitious men the movement lost its original character and degenerated into a savage and bloody war of conquest. In 1821 these so-called Padris came into conflict with the Dutch Government and it was not until 1838 that their last stronghold was taken and their power broken.34