Mandailing Batak or Mandailing is an Austronesian language spoken in Sumatra, the northern island of Indonesia. It is spoken mainly in Mandailing Natal Regency, North Padang Lawas Regency, Padang Lawas Regency, and eastern parts of Labuhan Batu Regency, North Labuhan Batu Regency, South Labuhan Batu Regency and northwestern parts of Riau Province. It is written using the Latin script but historically used Batak script.

[tʃ] is heard as an allophone of /s/.

Mandailing literary art is transmitted through a distinctive tradition, for example through the following media:

Example :

Mandailing
tu sigama pe so lalu
madung donok tu Ujung Gading
di angan-angan pe so lalu
laing tungkus abit partinggal

English
To Sigama was not up
It's close to Ujung Gading
What not even in the imagination
Keep the memorable cloth

Some of the literary milestones that developed in the colonial period include:

In addition to Mandailing Angkola's literary language, the growth of Malay-language Indonesian literature adopting local color: for example, the novel Azab dan Sengsara (1921) written by Merari Siregar. This novel includes contextual customs and cultures such as forced marriage, inheritance, kinship relations, and the local traditions of Mandailing-Angkola.