10 January 2007

Aceh 1496-1908

Also referred to as Atjeh, Achin. An Islamic sultanate located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, at times controlling land on both sides of the Malacca Straits. Its strategic location gave it political importance.
In 1816/1824 the Dutch and British agreed on delimitation of their mutual spheres of influence in the Malay Archipelago; Aceh was allocated to neither of them. In the SUMATRA TREATISE of 1871, Britain conceded Aceh to the Netherlands, in return for Dutch concessions regarding Sarawak/North Borneo and on the Gold Coast.
In 1832 (Quallah Battoo) and in 1838/1839 US troops landed in Aceh (Quallah Battoo, Muckie) to protect US interests.
The Sultan of Aceh sensed the imminent danger and sent a delegation to Singapore, where they contected the consuls of Italy and the USA (for a possible protectorate, 1873). The Dutch regarded this as the "Treason of Singapore" and declared war. The first Dutch attempt to conquer Aceh failed in 1873; in 1874 the Kraton (capital, called Koetaradja by the Dutch) was occupied and the Sultanate formally annexed. The Dutch controlled only the area around Koetaradja; most of the territory remained unoccupied, and the Acehnese continued to resist, regarding the struggle against the Dutch as a JIHAD.
The Dutch strategy of occupying the political center had failed; the resistance continued (2nd Acehnese War 1874-1880, 3rd Acehnese War 1884-1886, 4th Acehnese War since 1888).
In 1882, the population of Aceh was calculated as 479,419 (Meyers). Advised by scholar SNOUCK HURGRONJE, the Dutch army, under Lt. VAN HEUTSZ, adopted a new strategy of brutal repression. In 1903 the Acehnese Sultan POLIM surrendered; only in 1908 were the Dutch able to establish control over the area; guerilla resistance continued. The wars leading to the conquest and pacification of Aceh (1873-1908) have cost an estimated 10,000 Dutch and 100,000 Acehnese fatalities.

05 January 2007

Introducing Aceh


Aceh (ä`chā), special region (1980 pop. 2,875,634), 21,387 sq mi (55,392 sq km), N Sumatra, Indonesia, formerly known as Atjeh or Achin. The capital and largest city is Banda Aceh. The northernmost province of Sumatra, Aceh has rich petroleum and natural gas deposits as well as valuable rubber, oil palm, and timber resources. The Acehnese, like most Indonesians, are Muslim, but are generally more conservative. Gunung Leuser National Park is in SE Aceh.

A kingdom in N Sumatra is recorded by the 6th-cent. A.D. Chinese. By the 8th cent. Islam had arrived, and a number of Muslim kingdoms and sultanates were subsequently established in the region. Aceh (Achin) reached the height of its power in the early 17th cent. The Dutch gained control of the coast in 1873 and engaged in a partly successful effort to subdue the interior until c.1910.

Aceh also resisted Indonesian control and in 1959 was designated a special region with autonomy in religion, culture, and education. Late in 1976 the Movement for a Free Aceh declared the province independent but was suppressed; guerrilla warfare resumed in the late 1980s and continued through the rest of the century. A peace agreement providing for greater Acehnese autonomy was signed in 2002, but with neither side willing to compromise, Indonesia ended the subsequent talks in 2003, imposed martial law (reduced to a state of emergency in 2004 and ended in 2005), and launched new attacks against the rebels.

Many coastal areas in Aceh were devastated by an intense offshore earthquake and resulting tsunami in Dec., 2004; some 166,000 died in the province. In the aftermath, the rebels and government held a series of talks aimed at ending the fighting. A new peace accord, calling for the rebels to disarm, government forces to be reduced, and for local self-government to be established in Aceh, was signed in Aug., 2005. Some 15,000 people are believed to died as a result of the conflict. An autonomy law for Aceh was passed by the Indonesian parliament in 2006, but some Acehnese criticized it for provisions that left the central government with more powers in Aceh than had been envisioned by the peace agreement.



Sumber: Columbia