Muslim Sultanate in South-East Asia
- Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam
- Sultanate of Mindanao and Sultanate of Sulu
- Muslims Sultanates in Peninsular Malaysia
- Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam
- Kingdom of Champa
- The Coming of Islam to the Region: The Rise of the Muslim Sultanate Aceh Darussalam
According to some historians, Islam first entered the Indonesian archipelago, and possibly all of Southeast Asia, through Aceh sometime around the year 700 A.C. The first Islamic kingdom, Perlak (a prosperous rading port in what is now Aceh), was established in the year 804 A. C. Much later, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the port of Aceh became entangled, along with the rest of what is now Indonesia, in the European colonial powers' competition for worldwide political and economic dominance Interested parties included the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British.
Aceh is a region located in the tip of the North Sea of Sumatra Island, which covers an area of 57,365,57 km², including more than a hundred small islands stretching along its Western Coast. At present, Aceh’s population is 4 million(1) residing in twelve regencies: Sabang, Proper Aceh, Pidie, Aceh Jeumpa Bireun, North Aceh, East Aceh, Central Aceh, West Aceh, South Aceh, Southeast Aceh, Aceh Singkel, and Simeulu.
It was in this region that a great Muslim Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam flourished.(2) Aceh was the first region to receive Islam, and from here, it began to flourish all over the Southeast Asian region. Aceh was unknown to the world until the coming of Islam in early seventh century AC, until then only one-third of its area was under the influence of the Buddhist kingdom Shrivijaya that was located in Palembang.(3) Meanwhile, the Hindu kingdom of Java, Majapahit which was at its zenith in the late fourteen century(4), was not able to influence Aceh which eventually was growing stronger and extended its control over the Malacca straits.
The Muslim Sultanate of Aceh had not only become a strong rival of the Majapahit(5), but it had also sent some Muslim missionaries to Java that marked the beginning of the Islamization of Java and as the turning point of the Muslim sultanate in Java to replace the decaying Hindu Majapahit kingdom.(6)
The first kingdom that declared Islam as a state religion was located in East Aceh, the kingdom of Pereulak in 1258(7). In Pasé, North Aceh, there was another kingdom under the King Meurah Silu(8) who embraced Islam and assumed he title of Malik al- Salih. He then married the princess of the Pereulak Kingdom and fathered two sons, Malik al-Zahir and Malik al-Mansur. According to Ibn Batuta, the crown was inherited by Malik al-Zahir (1298-1346) after the death of al-Salih. He loved to have discussions with the learned persons, such as theologians, jurists and his court was frequented by poets and men of learning(9). In addition to that, he was such a great general and made war against the infidels of the surrounding countries until they submitted and paid tribute(10).
The Sultan Malik al-Zahir established the first Islamic educational institution at the Mosque of Pasé (today Lhokseumawe). The institution was patronized by the Sultan himself who also participated in the studies. As mentioned above, Ibn Batuta witnessed the way how the Sultan loved knowledge and encouraged people to study. Consequently, Pasé evolved to be the center for Islamic studies and also the meeting place for Islamic scholars and theologians from the world of Islam, including for instance Qadi Amir Sayyid from Shiraz (Iran), Taj al-Din from Isfahan and Amir Daulasa from the Sultanate of Delhi, India. It was reported that even ‘Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad al-Muntasir, a descendant of the last Caliph of Baghdad had also visited Pasé and passed away there in 1407(11).
This in line with Paul Wolfowitz, Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, who says that for many centuries Aceh was a very distinct and influential political entity. "The Sultan of Aceh," he says, "along with the Sultan of Malacca, was a major controller of trade through the straits." The profitable spice trade led the Dutch to establish the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602.
There were many small kingdoms in Aceh such as the kingdom of Daya, Pedier, Beunua (Tamieng), Linge, Jaya and all these kingdoms were unified under the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam during the early sixteenth century A.C by Sultan Alaiddin Ali Mughaiyat Syah(12). And, under the leadership of Sultan Iskandar Muda, who reigned from 1607 to 1636 A.C, the Muslim successfully destroyed the naval force of the Portuguese that had occupied Malacca in 1614 in Bintan(13). It was the starting point of their expansionism(14).
During this period the Sultan claimed that along the West Coast their territory extended beyond Tapus, Barus, Sorkam, and even Tapanuli. In the East Coast, Batubara and Tamiang were said to be the limits marking the Muslim-Acehan Sultanate influence(15). Almost half of the Sumatra Island was under its control until the coming of the Dutch in 1873. The fact that Aceh is located in the northern part of Sumatra and sited in the eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal, gave it a commanding position over the Straits of Malacca. It produced chaphor, sappanwood, dammar, rattan, beeswax, pepper, betel nut, some rice, as well as horses which were exported through Pedier coast.
On the other hand, Aceh also imported such goods as opium, cloth, iron, gunpowder, various Indian goods and an assortment of goods from China(16). Trade was taking place on the West Bank, the Kampong Jawa that acted as the main commercial center. Meanwhile, on the east bank where Penajong was located, traders set up shops and residence. Five kilometers inland from the mouth of the river was the capital of Aceh Darussalam, which was referred to as Banda Aceh Darussalam or Kutaraja(17), connoting abode of peace, where the Sultan’s palace was located. The Sultan was at the apex of the political system, as the source of all political, judicial and economic power.
He appointed all the orangkaya (merchant-official)(18) and the Ulèëbalangs (the aristocrat/ territorial chief). Aceh was divided into many mukims (territories) that included a numbers of mosques. The Ulèëbalang, who was originally the chief military commander in their respective mukim, ruled each mukim. During the reign of Nur al-Alam Nagiyat ad-Din Syah, mukim was grouped into three federations. Each federation was controlled by a Panglima Sagi (Sago), and their title was followed by the number of mukim that had been placed under him, such as Panglima Sagi of the XXII, XXV and XXVI mukim(Districts). Moreover, the Panglima Sagi of the XXII was the most powerful and was referred to as Panglima Polem.
There were other mukims which were directly under the control of the Sultan and other Ulèëbalangs, while in other newly opened territory by the immigration of the Muslim- Acehan, the Sultan appointed a family member to be the head of these principalities in order to have full control over them(19). The Geuchik (the Chief) was the leader of a village which comprised of many meunasah(20) as the smallest community with a Teungku Imum(21)as its leader.Therefore, the cohesiveness of the Muslim community in Aceh, absolutely depended on the compromise and tolerance among those Teungku Imums(22). Concerning the revenues, not all were sent to the Sultan, but they were also shared by the orangkaya and Ulèëbalangs, who were directly controlling the port.
As the former were growing wealthy and powerful due to the economic prosperity, Sultan Iskandar Muda, began to check them. He seized their weapons, forbade them from building their house of bricks and stones, and went to the extreme of executing many of them. In order to strengthen his power, the Sultan codified the commercial regulation(23). It was during his reign that the royal had full control over all important ports of the West and East Coast which by then marked the zenith of the Sultanate Aceh Darussalam(24). After his death, Iskandar Muda, was succeeded by his son in-law Iskandar Thani (1636-1641) who later was succeeded subsequently by four other Queens(25), during whose reign the struggle for power became profound, leading to several attempted coups.
The 1641 death of Aceh's Sultan-Sultan Iskandar Thani-began Aceh's decline and sparked Dutch and British efforts to dominate the region. In nationalizin the VOC in 1799, the Dutch government began to assert firm control over various Indonesian territories, ushering in the region's Dutch colonial era. One of the most significant events in Aceh's history came in 1824 with the signing of the London Treaty (also referred to as the Anglo- Dutch treaty). Through this instrument, the Dutch gained control of all British possessions on the island of Sumatra (including Aceh, at the island's northern tip).
In exchange, the Dutch surrendered their possessions in India and withdrew all claims in Singapore. In the same treaty, however, the Dutch agreed to allow independence for Aceh. Nevertheless, in 1871, the British authorized the Dutch to invade Aceh, possibly to prevent French annexation. As one writer explains it:
The situation was rather confused, with the Netherlands asserting a general sphere of influence over the entire archipelago yet formally acknowledging the independence of 'native states in amity with the Netherlands government'.... From the mid-19th century, and especially after 1870, the colonial state began to fill out the territorial boundaries of modern Indonesia by conquering or incorporating these independent states.
Thus, in 1873 the Netherlands issued a formal declaration of war and invaded Aceh. They found gaining control of the territory more difficult than expected. The Muslim-Acehnese resisted occupation, touching off the Aceh War, which lasted intermittently from 1873 to 1942, when they have to leave for good the land of Aceh.
It was self evidence that although the Dutch had captured the palace and the last Sultan,under the strong and committed leadership of the tradionalist Ulama, inspired by a pure and sincere faith in Islam, the Acehan continued the struggle to protect their Faith [Islam] and father-land. As described in the Hikayat of Prangsabi [The Epic of The Holy War in the Path of Allah](26).
...It was a great pride in fact that Aceh was the only region of the Republic that was free from the Dutch soldiers’ atrocities and that Aceh with its concern for national interest and an awareness of God’s cause gave everything for national struggle for independence(27)
END NOTES:
1. The Acehnese are also divided into three ethnic groups, those who live in the coastal area, and the other two groups who live in the mountainous central and southeastern region known as Gayo and Alas. They speak different languages from that of the people of the coastal area. According to the late A.Hasymy, an Acehnese historian, those highlanders are the original Acehnese.
2. Lukman Thaib, The Roots of the Achehnese Struggle (Bangi: Dept of Political Science UKM, 1996), 154.
3. Christine Drake, National Integration in Indonesia: Pattern and Politics (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989),20.
4. Ibid.
5. Jon M. Reinhardt, Foreign Policy and National Integration: The Case of Indonesia (New Haven: Yale University South East Asia Studies, 1971), 14.
6. However, the influence of Hindus and paganism cannot be illuminated completely from the way of life of the Javanese. For the civilization that Hindus once brought to the Javanese had become the pride of the past generation. It is obviously reflected in the later political developments in Indonesia.
7. S.Q Fatimi, Islam Came to Malaysia (Singapore: Islamic Institution, 1963), 9.
8. “Meurah” is an Acehnese word which means “Your Highness”, see M Arifin Amin, Monisa Dalam Lintasan Sejarah Bangsa[Monisa in the Line of National History] (Medan: U.D. Rahmad, 1984), 12-13.
9. H. A. R Gibb, Ibn Batuta: Travels in Asia and Africa (London n.np, 1929), 274, 302.
10. Ismail Hamid, “The Earliest Center of Islamic Studies in the Malay World,” in Islamic Herald, Vol. 10, No. 4, Kuala Lumpur (Feb, 1986), 11-14.
11. Syed Muhammad Nuquib al-Attas, Preliminary Statement on a General Theory of the Islamization of Malay-Indonesia Archipelago (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa, 1969), 21.
12. Lukman Thaib, The Politics and Government of Southeast Asia (Kuala Lumpur: Golden Books Center Sdn. Bhd, 1997), 46; Teungku Syik diPaloh, Acheh Sumatra Kelahiran Baru untuk Merdeka [New Birth of Acheh Sumatra for Independence] (Kuala Lumpur: Anis Sdn. Bhd, 1997).
13. “Iskandar Muda” in, Encarta Encyclopedy.
14. Lee Kam Hing, The Sultanate of Aceh Relation with the British 1760-1824 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995), 2.
15. Ibid., 9.
16. Ibid., 8.
17. Kutaraja, at present refers to Banda Aceh.
18. Orangkaya was the title owned by rich merchants, court officials and members of nobility.
19. Ibid., 9.
19. It is a multi-purposes building used for daily congregational prayers, but not for Jum`at prayer because it is smaller than the Mosque. It also functions as the village gathering place. Basic Islamic education for children was also conducted there and boys over ten years would spend the night there, instead of spending the night at home. See Siegel T. James, The Rope of God (Los Angeles: University California Press, 1969), 50- 80.
20. Teungku Imum is derived from two words, Teungku and Imam, the former is an Acehan title for the Learned man and the latter is an Arabic word “Imam” which connotes leader, who leads in offering five times prayers, as well as in social life. By the same token to the term Imum in Acehnese language, he holds both functions.
21. The role of those Teungku Imums was profound in motivating the community to fight in the path of Allah against colonial power, as to be explained in the later part of the paper.
22. Lee Kam Hing, The Sultanate of Aceh Relation with the British 1760-1824, 14.
23. Lukman Thaib The Politics and Government of Southeast Asia, 46.
24. Ismail Sofyan, Prominent Women in the Glimpse of History (Jakarta: Jakarta Agung Offset, 1994)
25. Richard V. Weeks, (eds.), Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1984), 4.
26. Teungku Haji Pante Kulu was one of the writers of the Hikayat Perang Sabil [The Epic of the Holy War]. This epic is about the journey of man from the world to the hereafter. It begins with the convention, “In the name of Allah the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate”. Then announces that this is the story of the command to fight in the Holy War and followed by the verses of the Qur‘an: "Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions with Paradise; They fight in the way of Allah; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon Allah in the Torah and the Gospel, and the Qur‘an…" See James T. Siegel, The Rope of God, 75-77; James T. Siegel, Shadow and Sound: the Historical Thought of a Sumatra People (Chicago: the University of Chicago Press, 1979), 229-265.
27. Ibrahim Alfian, “The Aceh Question,” International Conference on, The Future Integration of Indonesia: Focus on Aceh, New York, April 3rd, 1999.