Charoc

Maduro boy in national military costume. 1870s photo

The history of the occurrence of enchantment is poorly studied. It is assumed that this custom is not ancient - its first known cases date back to the 18th century . Most researchers attribute the occurrence of the charok to the Dutch colonization of Madura . Based on popular legends, it is concluded that the Dutch , in an effort to consolidate their power over the island, deliberately provoked enmity between various local communities - this led to the fact that representatives of the latter often began to sort things out with weapons in their hands. Over time, the cup ceased to have an intercommunal character: for one reason or another, residents of the same village and even close relatives began to challenge each other. Even the unambiguous condemnation of it by the local Islamic clergy could not prevent such a wide spread of this custom - despite the fact that the Madurians, unlike many other peoples of Indonesia , are, for the most part, very zealous Muslims. It is believed that the popularization of enchantment was largely favored by the characteristics of the national Madura character - an increased sense of self-esteem, resentment and temper ^{[1] [2]} .

It is noteworthy that the tradition of enchantment developed and took root precisely among the communal peasantry and did not manifest itself among the Madur nobility . This is its important difference from the European duel, the practice of which, on the contrary, was limited to the higher circles of society. Another distinctive feature of it is that the reason for the collision can be not only an insult to the dignity of a person or his relatives, but also circumstances of a very mercantile nature that are categorically unacceptable as a reason for a duel: a dispute when sharing a crop, fishing catch or inheritance, using land or water sources, delayed repayment of debt and the like ^[3] .

Gradually, among the common people of Madur, certain rules of enchantment developed, which, however, are quite general and never fixed in writing - in contrast to the very detailed written European duel codes . In accordance with them, evading a call is considered extremely shameful: a person who refuses to become a social outcast, until the end of his days, he has a reputation of “not a man” and “not a Madur.” Opponents agree on the time and place of the enchantment, but in the past they often turned to the leadership of the peasant community or representatives of the feudal aristocracy for relevant instructions - in such publicly announced cases, a duel was often held with a large crowd of spectators. The battle usually continues until the death or injury of one of the opponents. If the defendant is wounded, then the incident that caused the enchantment is usually considered to be over. If the plaintiff is wounded, then the continuation of vengeance after recovery remains at his discretion - in any case, he retains his dignity in the eyes of the local community ^[4] .

Most often, the cup is held in the form of a duel. However, if more than one person is involved in a conflict on one side, his friends or relatives may join the fight on the side of the one who is in the minority, even if none of them has anything to do with the cause that provoked the cup. However, such a balancing of forces is not necessary: ​​there are numerous cases where the plaintiff or defendant had to fight several opponents at once - the possibility of such a numerical inequality is another difference between the charm and the European duel ^[5] .

Sometimes the death of a person as a result of the charcoal became the reason for calling the killer to battle by one of the relatives of the deceased - in this case the charcoal actually turned into a blood feud and could last for many years. There are cases when relatives buried the victim of the enchantment not in the cemetery, but in the immediate vicinity of the house, so that the grave serves as a constant reminder of the need to take revenge on the killer ^[6] .

From the very beginning, chelurite , the national Madura sickle, was established as an instrument of enchantment. This circumstance is associated with the fact that during the formation of this custom on Madura the ban on the carrying of cold steel was introduced by the colonial administration ^[6] . Being the main instrument of labor of local farmers , chelurit is often worn on a belt in a sheath like a knife or dagger . It differs from the sickles adopted by most other peoples with a relatively straight blade, which facilitates its use as a weapon ^[6] .

An important component of the charok tradition is the advance preparation of chelurite for bloodshed: for this, the owner casts special spells over his sickle. Chelurit, who brought victory in a duel, was decided to be kept as a relic in the old days: the winners of the charok usually didn’t even erase the opponent’s blood from the blade of the sickle so that it served as a reminder of the victory. Such a significant, almost sacred role of chelurite in enchantment led to the fact that this tool was firmly established as a symbol of this custom ^{[7] [8]} .

By the time Madura became a part of the independent Republic of Indonesia in 1950, cuping was practiced quite widely among the local population. Republican authorities have actively fought this custom. At the same time, no specialized article was instituted in this regard in the Criminal Code of Indonesia: the relevant cases are qualified as intentional murder or attempted murder, which prescribes punishment in the form of imprisonment for life , and when killing several people or other especially aggravating circumstances - the death penalty ^[9] .

Punitive measures are combined with advocacy. A particularly powerful campaign against the enchantment was launched by law enforcement in the 1980s. One of its means was the wide distribution among the population of the island of leaflets reporting severe penalties for such a clarification of relations, as well as the possibility of resolving disputes in court ^[10] .

The efforts of the Indonesian authorities and law enforcement agencies had a limited effect: by the beginning of the 21st century, the practice of enchantment was noticeably reduced, but this custom is still preserved among part of the peasant population of Madura. So, in the 1990s, in each of the four districts of Madura, several dozen cases of “honor fights” were registered annually. As a result, according to the statistics of intentional killings, Madura stably remains in one of the first places among the regions of Indonesia: the corresponding indicator is twice as high as the whole for the province of East Java, to which the island belongs, and one and a half times higher than the national ^[11] .

As before, the reason for the call to battle are both insults and domestic conflicts. Thus, according to criminal statistics recorded in the early 1990s in Bankalan, the most densely populated of the four Maduraan districts, more than 60% of cases of enchantment occurred due to molestation of a stranger’s wife, 17% - due to various “misunderstandings”, 9% - due to debts, 7% - due to land disputes or disputes about inheritance ^[12] .

Collective enchantment still happens, which sometimes take the scale of massacres. The most bloody of these clashes occurred on July 13, 2006 in the village of Bujur Tengah ( indon. Bujur Tengah ) in the north of the island: seven were killed and at least nine people were seriously injured ^{[13] [14]} .

Moreover, in modern conditions, the practice of enchantment undergoes certain changes. Such a showdown takes place secretly, without attracting viewers and notifying rural elders. Traces of blood from the "victorious" chelurits are carefully erased, the sickles themselves, which have become the murder weapon, are carefully hidden. Public approval of the enchantment has become rare, although many islanders still find it shameful to report “duelists” to the police. In addition, the ancient "noble" rules of enchantment are far from always respected: Madura police note an increasing number of cases when an endeavor is declared by an enchantment without prior agreement on an unarmed opponent, which in fact erases the line between a ritual duel and ordinary murder ^{[9] [13] [14 ] ] [15]} .

• A. Latief Wiyata. Carok: Konflik Kekerasan Dan Harga Diri Orang Madura. - Yogyakarta: LKiS Pelangi Aksara, 2002 .-- 267 p. - ISBN 978-979-9492-678 .
• Henry Arianto, Krishna. Tradisi Carok pada Masyarakat Adat Madura (indonesian) // Forum Ilmiah. - 2011. - Vol. 8 , num. 2 . - P. 146-155 .