Let me finally examine the impact of an external administrative unit, the marga system, on the succession and continuity of a Gumai village. The marga system was used originally by the Sultanate of Palembang, and then was made into a rigid administrative unit by the Dutch Administration in the highlands of South Sumatra in the 19th century.

In order to rule indirectly in an efficient manner, the Dutch concentrated administrative power in a single person, the head of a marga, a territorial unit, and appointed him as pasirah (Galizia 1996: 136-8). A pasirah was a representative of the people of a marga and important decisions were always made through discussions among elders within his marga unit. In contrast, the Dutch-appointed pasirah was made to assume the role of the centralised ruler of a marga, with more power in his hands. Only his family members were allowed opportunities for Western education, which provided close connections with the Dutch Colonial Government. ^[39] A marga, in turn, consisted of several villages (dusun), each of which was headed by a local Proatin with the title of Krie, Lurah or Ginda. Through this indirect control and manipulation of their power at the marga level, the Dutch succeeded in directing their administrative power into the lower levels of political organisation in the highlands. ^[40]

A consequence of the implementation of the marga system was that, by 1930, the Gumai were divided into several marga located in various parts of Southern Sumatra. According to Wellan’s report (1932: 194-8), Marga Gumai Talang and Marga Gumai Lembak were located in Lematang Ulu Subdistrict, while Gumai Ulu and Pagar Gunung were located in the Pasemahlanden Subdistrict. These four marga were located in the Palembang Highlands. Other marga in which the Gumai were the main population group included Marga Rambang Ampatsuku in the Ogan Ilir Subdistrict, and two marga in the Bengkulu Residency: Marga Anak Gumai in the Manna Subdistrict and Marga Semidang Gumai in the Kaur Subdistrict.

In this process of institutionalising the marga system, non-Gumai villages were also incorporated into Gumai marga. For instance, the people of Jati village in Marga Gumai Lembak claim descent from Suku Lima, who were descendants of the legendary Javanese Kingdom of Majapahit, but Jati village became a part of Marga Gumai Lembak. The creation of Marga Semidang Gumai in South Bengkulu was the result of combining Gumai villages and Semidang villages into one marga.

The marga and pasirah system continued after the independence of Indonesia until the implementation of the Law on Village Administration No. 5 of 1979 (Undang-Undang 5/1979) under which each marga was divided into various villages known as desa.

Despite the implementation of the marga system, the aim of which was primarily for administration by the outer authorities, it did little to interfere with the social structure and ritual practice of each village. For example, the Gumai did not consider marga as a unit sharing origins nor did they develop rituals for the marga. Marga was perceived as a unit of political administration and knowledge about each village was transmitted by a ritual specialist from each village. There were some discussions on the revival of the marga system as a result of regional autonomy in 2000-01, but the idea did not gain any political momentum.