MANUSKRIP Barus or camphor in English (Cinnamomum camphora). - https:// www.shutterstock.com/g/ ecbpl – ELAKSHI CREATIVE BUSINESS
The Healing Power of
Borneo Champor in Various Archipelago’s Manuscripts
T
he distinctive smell of camphor (kapur barus) has long attracted commodity hunters from
all over the world to the Indonesian archipelago. The umbil oil or borneol from the Borneo camphor tree is efficacious as inflammatory medicine and analgesics (pain relievers), as well as food additives. Its white and transparent colour, grabbed by kapur tree (Dryobalanops aromatica) and camphor trees (Cinnamomum camphora) trappers, embraced with local wisdom. It takes extra patience to wait for the proper growth of one camphor tree. It takes around 50 years to get a mature Borneo camphor tree with good quality and sell it at a fantastic price. Uniquely, the exact location of Barus is
century, for example, came across cam-
when Umar bin Abdul Aziz gave praise in his
still being debated, even though it is now
phor, which they thought was salt in jars,
reply to a king from Sriwijaya. It’s said that
included in the administrative area of
when they had just conquered Chosroes
Sriwijaya had a camphor scent that could be
Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra.
II’s Sasanid Dynasty’s palace on the banks
smelled for miles away.
If you look at changes from one era to
of the Tigris River.
another, it is possible that the position of
Yi Jing, who lived around the same age,
be traced back to the Portuguese explorers
also mentioned “Po-Lu camphor” as the
who arrived in the Indonesian archipelago in
main commodity of Shih-li-fo-shih alias
the 16th century AD. Tomé Pires, a Portu-
Camphor is mentioned in Western
Sriwijaya. The name Po-lu refers to the
guese who was careful to observe conditions
records through Aetii Medici, by Ateius
Chinese name for Barus in the classical
in the archipelago, said that the “kingdom” of
Amida (502-578 AD). The fame of the
Chinese prose from the Tang Dynasty
Baros was wealthy.
aroma of camphor also spread to West
entitled Hsin-Tang-Shu, which was “Lang-
Asia. Umar bin Khattab’s troops in the 7th
po-lu-si”. The Arabs mentioned camphor
the port and coastal city of Barus moved for a reason.
in 775 AD in Kitab al-Fitan wal ‘Malahim,
I
The start of the trading pulse of Barus could
82 INDONESIANA VOL. 11, 2021
