The name pustaha is borrowed from the Sanskrit word pustaka meaning “book” or “manuscript.”

The pustaha of the Batak in North Sumatra often contained dark and secret knowledge passed down through ritual specialists (datu). Among its most striking tales are those of black magic, where the text describes methods to destroy enemies through gruesome rites. One account tells of kidnapping and rearing a child, then killing it by pouring boiling tin into its mouth. The body would be chopped, mixed with animal remains, left to rot, and the liquid collected to summon the child’s spirit (begu), now transformed into a pangulubalang, a fierce guardian spirit controlled by the datu to attack rivals. Another recipe, for a poison called gadam, promised to make the victim’s skin peel and scale like that of a leper.