Uang Kebon and Colonial Power Relations in East Sumatra Plantation

Colonialism in East Sumatra has been going on since the 19th century, which was initiated by the emergence and development of the plantation industry. In maintaining the power of the gardeners the practice of a binding power system for plantation workers. The colonialism system through the legitimacy of using uang kebon that prevails in the plantation environment reflects the hegemony of power of the colonialism system in plantations. The type of research used is qualitative research. The data source used in this study is the uang kebon archive which is a collection of the Museum Uang Sumatera. The results showed that there were differences in uang kebon and official currency used by the rulers of the Dutch East Indies. Money is used as the highest authority that not only acts as a medium of exchange (economic and monetary tools) but also as a political tool and the legitimacy of power (money power) to maintain power in the East Sumatra plantation area.