Aceh Sultanate
Encyclopedia
The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam was a sultanate centered in the modern area of Aceh Province, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, which was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...

.

At its peak it was a formidable enemy of the sultanate of Johor
Johor Sultanate
The Sultanate of Johor was founded by Malaccan Sultan Mahmud Shah's son, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II in 1528. Johor was part of the Malaccan Sultanate before the Portuguese conquered Malacca's capital in 1511...

 and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

-controlled Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

, both on the Malayan Peninsula, as all three attempted to control the trade through the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...

 and the regional exports of pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

 and tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 with fluctuating success. In addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted center of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic scholarship and trade.

Foundation and rise

Aceh's origins are unquestionably Cham, as the Champa
Champa
The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...

 king Syah Pau Kubah sent his son Syah Pau Ling to rule over Aceh when the capital Vijaya (Champa)
Vijaya (Champa)
Vijaya was a city-state in the ancient kingdom of Champa in what is now south-central Vietnam. It was the capital of Champa for several centuries until it was conquered by Vietnam in 1471.-Geography, Economy, Transport:...

 in 1471 AD, was sacked by the Vietnamese Le Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....

. Acehnese language
Acehnese language
Acehnese or Aceh is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by Acehnese people natively in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia...

 is the only other non-Chamic language in the 11 language Aceh-Chamic languages group.

The ruler of Aceh converted to Islam in the mid-15th century. The sultanate was founded by Ali Mughayat Syah
Ali Mughayat Syah
Ali Mughayat Syah was the first sultan of Aceh, reigning from c. 1514 until his death. He is considered the founder of the Aceh, and is presumed to be the same person or a relative of "Syah Pau Ling" of Champa, the son of the King of Champa Syah Pau Kubah, who fled Champa when the Vietnamese...

, who began campaigns to extend his control over northern Sumatra in 1520. His conquests included Deli
Sultanate of Deli
Deli is a 1,820 km² state in east Sumatra founded in 1630. A tributary kingdom from 1630 until 1814, the state became a sultanate in 1814 when acquiring independence from Sultanate of Siak....

, Pedir, and Pasai
Pasai
Pasai, also known as Samudera and Samudera-Pasai sometimes called Samudera Darussalam was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 15th centuries CE. It was believed the word Samudera derived from Samudra meaning ocean in Sanskrit...

, and he attacked Aru. His son Alauddin al-Kahar
Alauddin al-Kahar
Alauddin Riayat Syah al-Kahar was the third sultan of Aceh, and was one of the sultanate's strongest warriors. He succeeded his brother Salahuddin in 1537 or 1539 in a royal coup...

 extended the domains farther south into Sumatra, but was less successful in his attempts to gain a foothold across the strait, though he made several attacks on both Johor and Malacca, with the support along with men and firearms from Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...

's Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. The Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 sent a relief force of 15 Xebec
Xebec
A xebec , also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. It would have a long overhanging bowsprit and protruding mizzen mast...

s commanded by Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis
Kurtoglu Hizir Reis
Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was an Ottoman admiral who is best known for commanding the Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra in Indonesia .-Background and family origins:...

, the fleet introduced gunsmiths, cannons, and muskets to Muslim Sultanates in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 (see also: Ottoman expedition to Aceh
Ottoman expedition to Aceh
The Ottoman expedition to Aceh was started from around 1565 when the Ottoman Empire endeavoured to support the Aceh Sultanate in its fight against the Portuguese Empire in Malacca...

).

Internal dissension in the sultanate prevented another powerful sultan from appearing until 1607, when Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Aceh, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests...

 came to the position. He extended the sultanate's control over most of Sumatra. He also conquered Pahang
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...

, a tin-producing region on the Malayan Peninsula. The strength of his formidable fleet was brought to an end with a disastrous campaign against Malacca in 1629, when the combined Portuguese and Johor forces managed to destroy all his ships and 19,000 troops according to Portuguese account. Aceh forces was not destroyed, however, as Aceh was able to conquer Kedah
Kedah
Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...

 within the same year and taking many of its citizens to Aceh. The Sultan's son in law, Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda...

, former prince of Pahang later became his successor. During his reign Aceh focused on internal consolidation and religious unity.

After the reign of Sultan Iskandar Sani, Aceh was ruled by a series of female sultana. Aceh previous policy of taking hostage conquered kingdoms' population made them eager to seek independence, the results are Aceh's power weakened while regional rulers gained effective power. The sultan ultimately became a largely symbolic title. By the 1680s, a Persian visitor could describe a northern Sumatra where "every corner shelters a separate king or governor and all the local rulers maintain themselves independently and do not pay tribute to any higher authority."

Culture and economy

Aceh saw itself as heir to Pasai
Pasai
Pasai, also known as Samudera and Samudera-Pasai sometimes called Samudera Darussalam was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 15th centuries CE. It was believed the word Samudera derived from Samudra meaning ocean in Sanskrit...

, the first Muslim state in Southeast Asia, and continuing Muslim missionary work of Malacca after it was conquered by the Roman Catholic Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

. It called itself the "veranda of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

," and became a center of Islamic scholarship, where the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 and other Islamic texts were translated into Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

. Its notable scholars included Hamzah Pansuri, Syamsuddin of Pasai, Abdurrauf of Singkil, and the Indian Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri was an Islamic scholar from Gujarat, India, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia...

.

Aceh gained wealth from its export of pepper, nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...

, clove
Clove
Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world...

s, betel nut
Betel nut
The Areca nut is the seed of the Areca palm , which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as "betel nut" as it is often chewed wrapped in betel leaves.-Description:...

s, and, once it conquered Pahang in 1617, tin. Low interest rates and the use of gold currency strengthened its economy. It was always somewhat fragile economically, however, because of the difficulty in providing enough surplus food to support the military and commercial adventures of the state. However, as it lost political cohesion in the 17th century, it saw its trading importance yielding to the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

, who became the dominant military and economic power in the region following the successful siege of Malacca in 1641.

Later years and conquest by the Dutch

In the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, Koh Lay Huan
Koh Lay Huan
Koh Lay Huan was a wealthy and educated man, who had earlier rebelled against the Manchu Qing Dynasty and fled to Siam and the Malay States, to eventually settle in Penang as its first Kapitan China...

 - the first Kapitan Cina of Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

, had good contacts with the English- and French-speaking Sultan of Aceh, Jauhar al-Alam. The Sultan enabled Koh to gather pepper plants in Aceh to begin pepper cultivation in Penang. Later, about 1819, Koh helped Sultan Jauhar al-Alam put down a rebellion by Acehnese territorial chiefs .

In the 1820s, as Aceh produced over half the world's supply of pepper, a new leader, Tuanku Ibrahim, was able to restore some authority to the sultanate and gain control over the "pepper raja
Raja
Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

s" who were nominal vassals of the sultan by playing them off against each other. He rose to power during the sultanate of his brother, Muhammad Syah, and was able to dominate the reign of his successor Sulaiman Syah (r. 1838-1857), before taking the Sultanate himself, under the title Sultan Ali Alauddin Mansur Syah (1857–1870). He extended Aceh's effective control southward at just the time when the Dutch were consolidating their holdings northward.

Britain, heretofore guarding the independence of Aceh in order to keep it out of Dutch hands, re-evaluated its policy and concluded the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of Sumatra, which allowed for Dutch control throughout Sumatra in exchange for concessions in the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...

 and equal trading rights in northern Aceh. The treaty was tantamount to a declaration of war on Aceh, and the Aceh War
Aceh War
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War , was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the U.S. in Singapore during early 1873...

 followed soon after in 1873. As the Dutch prepared for war, Mahmud Syah (1870–1874) appealed for international help, but no one was willing or able to assist.

In 1874 the sultan abandoned the capital, withdrawing to the hills, while the Dutch announced the annexation of Aceh. The sultan died of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

, as did many combatants on both sides, but the Acehnese proclaimed a grandson of Tuanku Ibrahim sultan. The rulers of Acehnese ports nominally submitted to Dutch authority in order to avoid a blockade, but they used their income to support the resistance.

However, eventually many of them compromised with the Dutch, and the Dutch were able establish a fairly stable government in Aceh with their cooperation, and get the sultan to surrender in 1903. After his death in 1907, no successor was named, but the resistance continued to fight for some time.

Lineage

Sultan of Aceh Reign
Ali Mughayat Syah
Ali Mughayat Syah
Ali Mughayat Syah was the first sultan of Aceh, reigning from c. 1514 until his death. He is considered the founder of the Aceh, and is presumed to be the same person or a relative of "Syah Pau Ling" of Champa, the son of the King of Champa Syah Pau Kubah, who fled Champa when the Vietnamese...

 
1496 - 1528
Salahuddin
Salahuddin of Aceh
In Indonesian history, Salahuddin was the second sultan of Aceh, reigning from 1530 to 1537 or 1539. He was the eldest son of Ali Mughayat Syah, the first sultan of Aceh. Relative to his father and brother, Alauddin Riayat Syah al-Kahar, who deposed him, he was a weaker ruler. It is unclear whether...

 
1528 - 1537
Alauddin al Qahhar  1537 - 1568
Husain Ali I Riayat Syah  1568 - 1575
Muda  1575
Sri Alam  1575 - 1576
Zainal Abidin  1576 - 1577
Alauddin II Mansur I Syah 1577 - 1589
Buyong 1589 - 1596
Alauddin III Riayat Syah Sayyid al-Mukammil 1596 - 1604
Ali II Riayat Syah 1604 - 1607
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Aceh, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests...

 
1607 - 1636
Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda...

 
1636 - 1641
Ratu Safiatuddin Tajul Alam  1641 - 1675
Ratu Naqiatuddin Nurul Alam 1675 - 1678
Ratu Zaqiatuddin Inayat Syah 1678 - 1688
Ratu Kamalat Syah Zinatuddin  1688 - 1699
Badrul Alam Syarif Hashim Jamaluddin 1699 - 1702
Perkasa Alam Syarif Lamtui Syah Johan Berdaulat 1702 - 1703
Jamal ul Alam Badrul Munir 1703 - 1726
Jauhar ul Alam Aminuddin 1726
Syamsul Alam 1726 - 1727
Alauddin IV Ahmad Syah 1727 - 1735
Alauddin V Johan Syah 1735 - 1760
Mahmud I Syah 1760 - 1781
Badruddin Syah 1764 - 1785
Sulaiman I Syah 1775 - 1781
Alauddin VI Muhammad I Daud Syah 1781 - 1795
Alauddin VII Jauhar ul Alam 1795 - 1815
Syarif Saif ul Alam 1815 - 1818
Alauddin VII Jauhar ul Alam (second time) 1818 - 1824
Muhammad II Syah 1824 - 1838
Sulaiman II Syah 1838 - 1857
Mansur II Syah 1857 - 1870
Mahmud II Syah 1870 - 1874
Muhammad III Daud Syah Johan Berdaulat 1874 - 1903

See also

  • History of Indonesia
    History of Indonesia
    The History of Indonesia was shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, the series of human migrations, contacts, economy and trade, conquests and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands stretching along the equator in South East Asia...

  • The spread of Islam in Indonesia
  • Ottoman expedition to Aceh
    Ottoman expedition to Aceh
    The Ottoman expedition to Aceh was started from around 1565 when the Ottoman Empire endeavoured to support the Aceh Sultanate in its fight against the Portuguese Empire in Malacca...


See also

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