People / group

Karo Batak

Also known as Karo people

The Karo Batak are a Batak people of the highlands of North Sumatra in Indonesia, around the Karo plateau above Medan. Linked to the coast by trade in forest products, they were connected with the Aru kingdom and later with the Deli Sultanate, which claimed authority over neighbouring Karo lands. Many converted to Christianity or Islam in the twentieth century.

Karo Batak
Image: Picsplease · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Aru KingdomDeli SultanateSerdang Sultanate

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Karo Batak. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/karo-batak
MLA
“Karo Batak.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/karo-batak. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Karo Batak.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/karo-batak.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Karo Batak’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/karo-batak (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻