Ulu scripts

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title: "Ulu scripts" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["brahmic-scripts", "indonesian-scripts"] description: "Writing system family from Sumatra, Indonesia" topic_path: "geography/indonesia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulu_scripts" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Writing system family from Sumatra, Indonesia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writing system"]

Field	Value
name	Ulu scripts
type	Abugida
region	Sumatra, Indonesia
languages	Malay, Bengkulu, Kerinci, Lampung, Rejang, Serawai, and others
fam1	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet
fam2	Phoenician alphabet
fam3	Aramaic alphabet
fam4	Brāhmī
fam5	Tamil-Brahmi
fam6	Pallava
fam7	Old Kawi
sisters	Balinese
Batak
Baybayin scripts
Javanese
Lontara
Makasar
Old Sundanese
time	c. 13th–present
unicode	{{ublist
class	nowrap
imagesize	300px
<!--	sample
sample	SuratUluSample.png
caption	Examples of the Ulu family of scripts: Incung (top), Lampung (middle), and Rejang (bottom)
::

|name=Ulu scripts |type=Abugida |region=Sumatra, Indonesia |languages=Malay, Bengkulu, Kerinci, Lampung, Rejang, Serawai, and others |fam1=Proto-Sinaitic alphabet |footnotes= |fam2=Phoenician alphabet |fam3=Aramaic alphabet |fam4=Brāhmī |fam5=Tamil-Brahmi |fam6=Pallava |fam7=Old Kawi |sisters=Balinese Batak Baybayin scripts Javanese Lontara Makasar Old Sundanese |time=c. 13th–present |unicode={{ublist |class=nowrap |U+A930–U+A95F Rejang |imagesize=300px |sample=SuratUluSample.png |caption=Examples of the Ulu family of scripts: Incung (top), Lampung (middle), and Rejang (bottom)

The Ulu scripts, locally known as Surat Ulu ('upstream script') are a family of writing systems found in central and south Sumatra, in the regions of Kerinci, Bengkulu, Palembang and Lampung, Indonesia. They were used to write manuscripts in Malay and other Sumatran languages. The Malay writing was gradually replaced by the Jawi script, a localized version of the Arabic script.

Naming

The terms "surat" and "ulu" are the origin of the name Surat Ulu. While "ulu" ('upstream') refers to the highland region where the rivers in South Sumatra and Bengkulu originate (the Barisan Mountains), "Surat" refers to the script. The user community first referred to this script family as Surat Ulu.

The Rencong script () is another well-known naming system. "Rencong" is thought to be derived from the Old Malay word mèncong, which means oblique or italics. It could also be derived from the word runcing ('sharp'), as this script family was originally written with a sharp knife tip. Regardless of its origin, Western scholars frequently use this term to refer to this family of scripts.{{efn|Regarding the naming relationship between the Rencong script and Surat Ulu, L. C. Westenenk writes as follows:{{Verse translation|lang=nl |Toen ik dit eerste opstel schreef, wist ik n.l. niet, of de bij Europeanen gebruikelijke term "rèntjong-schrift" inderdaad ergens door Maleisch wordt gebezigd. Het is mij nu gebleken, dat dit in het landschap Rawas (Palembang) het geval is. Elders noemt men het gewonlijk: soerat oeloe = bovenlandsch schrift. |When I wrote the first essay, I had no idea whether the term "rencong script" used by Europeans was also used by Malay. It has now become clear to me that this is the case in the Rawas (Palembang) landscape. Surat Ulu (upriver scripts) is another name for it. |attr1=Westenenk (1919)

The Kaganga script is another name coined by Mervyn A. Jaspan (1926-1975), an anthropologist at the University of Hull. He was probably not aware that most Brahmi script lineages use KA Ga and Nga as the first characters of the alphabetic order. The name "Kaganga" is derived from the first three letters of the Pāṇini sequence, which is used in the Brahmi (Indian) script family. This is equivalent to the word "alphabet," which is derived from the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet (Α-Β, alpha-beta), and the word "abjad," which is derived from the names of the first four letters of the Arabic alphabet (ا-ب-ج-د, alif-ba-jim-dal).

Several tribes have their own names in addition to the three mentioned above. For example, this script family is known as the surat ʁincung among the Pasemah ethnic group.

Materials

Rencong script was often written on tree bark, bamboo, horns and palmyra-palm leaves.

Disambiguation

The term "Rencong" is often confused with "Rejang", which refers to a specific Rencong alphabet that was used to write various dialects of the Rejang language and for writing Malay in the region.

Distribution

This map below shows the distribution of various Rencong alphabets in South Sumatra:

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/South_Sumatra_Rencong_Scripts_Map.png" caption="Map showing distribution of Rencong scripts."] ::

Galleries

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Handschrift op 20 bamboelatjes TMnr A-3291.jpg|Gelumpai inscribed with the Rejang script

Notes

References

Bibliographies

References

1. (26 January 2017). "Aksara Kaganga Bengkulu – Kantor Bahasa Provinsi Bengkulu".
2. "Carian Umum".
3. "Hasil Pencarian - KBBI Daring".
4. Pitri, Nandia. (2019). "Batik Incung dan Islam di Kerinci". Jurnal Islamika: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman.
5. Westenenk, L. C.. (1919). "Aanteekeningen omtrent het hoornopschrift van Loeboek Blimbing in de marga Sindang Bliti, onder-afdeeling Redjang, afdeeling Lebong, residentie Benkoelen". Albrecht & Co..
6. M. A. Jaspan. (1964). "Folk literature of South Sumatra: Redjang Ka-Ga-Nga Texts".
7. Mahdi, Sutiono. (2014). "Aksara base besemah : pelajaghan mbace nga nulis urup ulu (surat ghincung)".
8. Miller, Christopher. (2011). [https://www.unicode.org/notes/tn35/indonesian-philippine.pdf ''Indonesian and Philippine Scripts and extensions not yet encoded or proposed for encoding in Unicode as of version 6.0: A report for the Script Encoding Initiative''.]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::