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ACEH AND THE PORTUGUESE

A Study of the Strugale of Islam ln Southeast Asla

1500-1579

by

Amirul Hadi

A Thesis Submitted to

the Faculty of Graduate Studles and Research

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Instltute of Isla mie Studles

McGIII University
Montreal. Canada

f) April 1992

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ACEH AND THE PORTUGUESE

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Kupersembahkan buat
Ayah dan Bundaku,
Kakak dan Adlk-adlkku,
serra semua keponakanku:
Zlkra, Rlna, Usl, Putra dan Uzmah.

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ABSTRACT
Author: Amirul Hadi
Title: Aceh and the Portuguese: A Study of the Struggle of Islam in
Southeast Asia, 1500-1579
Department: Institute of Islamic Studies

Degree: M.A.

The comlng of the Portuguese to Malacca in 1511 dlsrupted the

existence of the people of the Malay-Indoneslan archlpelago, where trade
and Islam were the main Influences. The Christian European intruders were
regarded as both economic competltors and religious enemies. The Muslim

kingdoms of the reglon put up fierce reslstance to the Portuguese. The

strongest opposition was shown by Aceh. Its response was mainly

expressed ln three aspects,; mllitary action, polltlcal maneuverlng and

economic reactlon. Jihad (holy war) also played an important spiritual role

ln the response. This reslstance comblned with the strategie location of

Aceh in the northern tlp of Sumatra and the support of other Musllm
powers accelerated the rlse of Aceh ln the slxteenth century.
 ii
, ,
RESUME
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Auteur: Amirul Hadi
Titre: Aceh et les Portuguais: une etude de la lutte de l'Islam dans le
sud-est asiatique. 1500-1579
D6partement: Institut des êtudes islamk1ues
Diplome: M.A.

La venue des Portuguais à Malaka en 1511 a p8fturb6 la vie des

habitants de l'archipel malais-indoneslen qui subissait alors surtout
l'Influence du commerce et de l'Islam. Les intrus européens chr6tiens
furent consid6r6s des concurrents sur le plan économique. et des ennemis

( sur le plan religieux. Les royaumes musulmans de la r6glon opposirent aux

Portuguais une rhlstance féroce. La pluS forte résistance eut lieu al Aceh.
Celle-ci prit essentiellement trois formes: action militaire. manoeuvres
politiques et r6action économique. Le jihad (guerre sainte) joua aussi un
rôle spirituel Important. Cette r6sistance. associant avec la position
stratégique d'Aceh. qui se situe sur la pOinte nord de Sumatra. 10 soutien
d'autres puissances musulmanes. a amen' l'adAratlon de l'Importance
que connut Aceh au seizlime siècle.

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 iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1 wish to express my gratitude to the McGiII Indonesia IAIN

Development Project for its financial support during the past two years.
My gratitude also goes to Professor H. Ibrahim Husein, the former rector of

IAIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh-Indonesia, whose support and encouragement

were of great value ta my studies. 1 would also like ta express my sincere

thanks to Dr. A. Uner Turgay, the director of the Institute of Islamic Studles

and my thesis advisor, for his criticism and patience in seeing this thesis

through. My gratitude and sincere thanks also go to Dr. Howard M.

Federspiel who kindly read the draft of this thesls and contributed his
constructive criticism. His encouragement was of great assistance to me in

completing this research. 1 would like to thank Ms. Salwa Ferahian 1rom

the Library of the Institute of Islamic studies for her assistance in obtalnlng

sorne important books for this thesis through interlibrary loans. Special

thanks go to Steve Millier, Shafiq Virani and John Calvert for editing my

Engllsh. My thanks also go to Roxanne Marcotte for the translation of the

abstract Into French and to Eric Ross for the maps. Flnally, my great

gratitude and love are dedlcated to my parents who, wlth their endless

effort and love, guide me ln thls life.

1
 iv

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LtST OF ABBREVIATIONS

JMBRAS Journal of Ma/ayan Sranch of the Royal Aslatlc Society

(Singapore)

JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Sritain and lreland
(London)

JSSRAS Journal of Straits Sranch of the Royal Aslatic Society

(Singapore)

JSEAH Journal of Southeas' As/an History (Slngapore)

JSEAS Journal of Southeast As/an Studies (Slngapore)

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 v
Li:ll:C!'\ InsU tute of lelaaio 8_1"
19.11.&L McGUl um.nni\J

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 vi
A NOTE ON SPELLING
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ln this thesis, various spellings of the names of kir'gdoms will be
noticed. European travelers and historians spell Pasai as Pase or Pacem;
Pidie as Pedir; and Lamuri as Lambri. Though the spelling Me/aka has been

adopted by some recent authors, the more universal spelling Malacca is

used in this thesis. The spellings of Aceh are numerous and include Acheh,
Achem, Achin, Acheen and Atjeh. Atjeh was the preferred spelling in

Indonesia until the government changed the spelling to Aceh in 1972 when
it decreed an overhaul of the spellings of many Indonesian words (EJaan
Bahasa Indonesia yang Disempurnakan). Therefore, the latter spelling is

utilized here. An attempt has been made in this thesis to use standardized
spellings. However, spellings used in direct quotations remain unchanged.

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 vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ......•........•..............................

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .......•.......... Iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................ . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. .. Iv

TRANSLITERATION TABLE .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. .................. v

A NOTE ON SPELLING ...... •..... . . ... . ... ................ vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ......•....•.....•.. ................ vii

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1: THE "THREE POWERS" DURING THE FIFTEENTH
CENTURV

A. Aceh in the Fifteenth Century . . . . . . . . . . . .. .•.... 9

B. The Emergence of Malacca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 28
C. The Portuguese in Malacca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 40
Chapter 2: THE RESPONSE OF THE ACEHNESE TO THE
PORTUGUESE

A. Milltsry Encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. 51
B. Polltiesl Maneuver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 64
C. Trading Competition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . .. 72
D. Islamic Response ............... , . . . . . . . . . . . .. 81
Chapter 3: THE EMERGENCE OF ACEH IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
A. The Rise of Aceh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ , 88
B. Aceh's Motivations. . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. 108
CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ............... 114

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. 119

MAPS . ... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . ............... . 126

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INTRODUCTION

Few would deny that the comlng of the Portuguese to Malacca ln the

early part of the sbdeenth century brought about a new era for the peoples
of Southeast Asla. They were the flrst Europeans to come to the reglon. a

reglon where trade and agriculture were the main actlvltles of the people.

The ambition of the portuguese to domlnate the trading actlvltles and to

spread Chrlstlanlty clearly upset native traders and polltlcal rulers of the

reglon at a tlme when Islam was consolldatlng Its hold on the population
and local rulers clearly empowered It as the "officlal" religion. Hence. the
Portuguese were regarded as both trading competltors and rellglous

adversarles.
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The reactlon of the people to the Portuguese presence in Malacca was
formidable. The strongest opposition was shown by Aceh whlch was

strateglcally located on the northern tlp of Sumatra; It was the flrst and
most fraquent place touched by Islam ln the archlpelago slnee the seventh
century. At the time the portuguese conquered Malacca ln the .rly

slxteenth century Aceh emerged as a powerful Musllm klngdom. Its

proximlty to Malacca across the straits made It a competltor for the Indlan

Ocean trade as weil as a champlon of local Interests agalnst the

Portuguese.

The main task of thls thesls will be to answer two major questions: the
first, how rjid Aceh respond to the Portuguese? and the second. to what

extent did the response provide an impetus to the rise of Aceh?

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1
 2
This study focuses only on the history of Aceh du ring the period from
'. 1500 to 1579. It might seem that the period covered is quite long.
However, thls thesis concentrates on the relation of Aceh wlth the

Portuguese and the Impact of this relation on the ri se of Aceh rather than
on a complete study of the Muslim kingdom. It was durlng thls period that
Aceh, for the flrst tlme, emerged as a strong Musllm klngdom ln the reglon.

This rlse constltuted the basic foundation for the gOlden age of the
klngdom in the seventeenth century, especlally du ring tha relgn of Sul~ân

Iskandar Muda (1607-1636).

Chapter one deals with the roles of Aceh. Malacca and the Portuguese
durlng the fifteenth century. There were severa 1 main powers ln the
northern part of the Island of Sumatra in this century: Pasal, Pidle, Daya,

Lamurl and Aceh. They played an important role ln trade and Islamie

propagation, especlally Pasal and Pidie. At thls time, Malacca had

emerged as a power'ul and rich Muslim sultanate ln the archlpelago, based

on its status as an Important entrepot in Southeast Asla. It was the wealth

and potentlal of Malacca that motlvated the Portuguese, whose ambition

was to domlnate the splce trade of the raglon and to spread Chrlstlanlty

and to seize the port and city.

The second chapter deals wlth the response of Aceh to the Portuguese

in Malacca. The response Involved military force, polltlcal challenges, and

trading competition. Islam undoubtedly playpd an Important role in the

response. The final chapter discusses the rlse of Aceh ln military strength,

polltles, economics and Islamlc studles. This development Is dlscus~ed by

relatlng It to the presence of the Portuguese in Malacca.

 3
This work is primarily based on historical and descriptive analytical
(
approaches. For the most part, a chronological sequence has been
followad in presenting materlal. Within the wlder historical and descriptive
analytical approaches, soclo-polltical, economlc, rellgious and milltary
matters and the Interrelations among them are stressad.

The sources on whlch this work Is based reflect the fact that the study
of Indonesian history is extremely complex and dlfficult to reconstruct as a
unit. In his introduction to the book An Introduction ta Indoneslan

Hlstoriography Soedjatmoko writes:

Reflecting the haphazard development of Indoneslan hlstoriography,

Indonesian history that has been written so far Is notoriously full of
gaps, and our knowledge of Its periods is quite uneven. There is no
contlnuous hlstorlcal narrative nor Is there any central point of vision,
and the reconstruction of several periods Is often based on extremely
limlted evldence. Although for some perlods there Is a more or less
( continuous historical narrative. the material Is organlzed accordlng to
a viewpoint that was not, an,\ ln ail falrness could not have been, an
Indonesia-centric viewpolnt ....

To sOllle extent, thls condition leads the hlstorlan to handle the hlstory of
the reglon differently from that of Europe and North America. A. H. Johns
comments on the matter. He states:

when the European hlstorlan turns to the study of Asian history, and
writes in the same way as he would were he writing the history of a
European people, merely substitutlng an Asian set of names and
places, then tlle result frequently lacks interest, and may even be a
distortion of the general plcture of the past that he wlshes to relate. 2

It is against thls backdrop that any discussion regardlng the sources whlch

1 Soedjatmoko, ed., An Introduction ta Indonesian Hlstorlography (Ithaca:

Cornell University Press, 1965), xli.
( 2 A. H. Johns, "Sufism as a Category ln Indoneslan Uterature and
History," JSEAH, vol. 2, no. 2 (July 1961), 10.
 4

were consulted in this study must take place. The sources refleet dlfferent

goographic origins, cultural biases, poUtical blases etc. This study relies

prlmarily on indlgenous (Malay) sources, European sources, Chlnese and, to

sorne extent, Arable sources. Eaeh set of sources has Its own language,

outlooks and cultural eccentricities that make It unique and divorce It from
the others.

ln general, Malay sources are full of legends and myths whlch are

unrellable and even contradictory ln thelr hlstorlcal Information. This Is

understandable since for the Malay people history "has not until reeently

been f'1,ther a science or an art, but an entertalnment. ,,3 This Is not to say

that the sources are useless. In fact, they are ri ch with information about

\ the peoples of the reglon. Three Malay ehronlcles were consulted. The flrst
l,
r
la the fifteenth century chronlcle Se/arah Me/ayu (Malay Annals) translated
i

and pubUshed by C. C. Brown ln 1970.4 "Consldered to be the finest work

i ~
ln penlnsular Malay IIterature, ,,5 the Malay Anna/s dlscusses the Malacca

sultanate and Its people, covering the customs, government and rellglous
traditions there. It also mentions Pasal and the eomlng of the Portuguese

to Malacca. The second source Is the Hlkayat Aceh, a seventeenth century

,->
,>

work, whlch Is dlscussed by T. Iskandar ln hls published dissertation

,•,
entltled De Hlka/at Atjeh.6 Dedicated to the renowned Sultan of Aceh,

3 J. C. Bottoms, "Some Malay Historleal Sources: A Blbllographieal Note,"

ln Soedjatmoko, An Introduction, 180.

4 This chronlele was publlshed for the flrst tlme ln JMBRAS, vol. 25, pt. 2
and 3 (1935).
5 Buttoms, "Some Malay Hlstorleal Sources," 168.

6 Hoesein Djajadinlngrat, "Local Tradition and the Study of Indoneslan

History," in Soedjatmoko, An Introduction, 76. In thls study only his
translated editlon was consulted.
 5
Iskandar Muda (1607-1636), more than half of thls work is devoted to the
(
glorification of the Sul!an himself. However, it also includes some of the

accounts and a chronology of the early SUI!anS of Aceh. The thlrd source is

the Bust'n ai-SalB!in composed by a Gujaratl .,im, Shalkh Nur al-OTn al-

Rànlri in in the reign of Sul!An Iskandar ThAnT. This chronlcle conslsts of

seven chapters which dlscuss both religious and historlcal matters. Chapter

two was most useful for this partlcular study. This section was published
wlth a &tudy by T. Iskandar in 1966. Iskandar suggests that this ehronicle is

not only the greatest work of the author but also the greatest work ln Malay
lIterature. 7 While the historical accounts of this chroniele seem to be
generally accu rate on the basis of areheological findings such as tombs,8

Hoesein Ojajadiningrat, in his critical study on Aceh from Malay sources,

concludes that the historieal aceounts of this chronlcle are accu rate only

( for information between the years 1600 to 1680.9

European sources are usually chronologically and historically aecurate.

but are often one-slded and mlsleadlng concernlng the motivations of non-
European actors of the tlme. The most Important European sources on

shcteenth century Indonesla are the Portuguese sources. They are ri ch and

informative. covering not only voyages, sieges and Intrigues. but also

7 T. ISkandar, Bustanu's-Salatin, Bab. 2, Fasal 13 (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan

Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementrlan Pelajaran Malaysia, 1966),4.

8 Denys Lombard, Le Sultanat dAtjeh au temp dlskandar Muda. 1607-1636

(Paris: Ecole Francaise d'Extrime-Orient, 1967), 19. For more discussion
on the author and the date of thls ehornicle see R. O. Wlnstedt,
"Bustanu's-Salatln," JSBRAS. 82 (September 1920), 151-152.

9 Raden Hoeseln Ojajadlnlngrat, Kesultanan Aceh: Suatu Pembahasan

Tentang Sejarah Kesultanan Aceh Berdasarkan Bahan-Bahan yang Terdapat
Da/am Karya Me/ayu, trans. by Teuku Hamld (Banda Aceh: Departement
( Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Proyek Permeuseuman Oaerah Istlmewa
Aceh, 1982/1983),3.
.,
'.

6
geographical anthropological, political, economic, rellgious and socio-

cultural data. An excellent exam~le of these sources is Tome Pires' Suma

Oriental. It has been regarded as "the most Important and complete

account of the East produced ln the first half of the slxteenth century.,,10

However, this work Is only related to the early part of this study since it was

written in the years 1512-1515. In 1557 Braz de Albuquerque, the son of

Alfonso de Albuquerque, published The Commentaries of the Great Alfonso

Dalboquerque which. he clalmed, represented the original letters of his

father to king Manuel. This work Is useful for the study of the archipelago

ln the early sixteenth century. The Peregrination of Fernao Mendez Pinto

(1510-1583) is also useful for this study, even though it Is not as complete

as Pires' work. In thls study Pinto's work was consulted, especially the

English edition translated, edited and annotated by Rebecca C. Catz. Other

Portuguese works are much more eoncerned with battles, sieges and

expeditions,11 such as those of Joao de Barras (1496-1570), Diogo do

Couto (1542-1616), Gaspar Correi! (1495-1565), Duarte Barbosa (who was in

the service of the Indlan Portuguese between 1500-1516/17), Manoel

Gadinho de Eredla (1563-1623) and Fernao Lopez de Castanheda

(1500-1559). Sorne of these works (in their English translations) were

consulted, wh Ile others were only quoted from secondary sources.

Chlnese and Arable sources are the most dlfficult sources to use 5:oce,

as eursory vlsltors to the region, thelr observations often lack context either

10 1. A. Macgregor. "Sorne Aspects of portuguese Historleal Writing of the

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries on South East Asla," in D. G. E.
Hall, ed., Historions of South East Asla (London: Oxford University Press,
1961), 173.

11 Sartono Kartodlrdjo, "Religious and Economie Aspects of Portuguese-

Indoneslan Relation," STUDIA, no. 29 (Centro de Estudios Historicos
Ultramarinos. Portugal. April 1970), 178-179.
,
7
in time or in regard to developments in the ragion. Still, many are useful
(
because they add another dimension to the study. W. P. Groeneveldt has

succeeded in compillng a description of the Malayan and Indonesian

peoples from Chinese sources prior to the European Infiltration. His

Hlstorlesl Notes on Indonesia and Ma/ays Complled from Chinese Sources

covers severa 1 aspects of the people and geography. Although not as

complete as the other works, Arable sources glve us some Information on

the Indonesian people before the comlng of the Europeans. G. R. Tlbbetts

has discussed these issues and published them in a book entitled A Study

of the Arabie Texts Containing Msteria/on South East Asia.

The weighing of Information from these different kinds of sources and

the forming of a historical composite ca Ils for careful analysis. The

Portuguese sources, for instance, are rich in Information. However, they are
( subject to Ha strong patriotic and religlous bias, a sense of portuguese

mission in Asia, a note of pride, an intolerance and suspicion of Muslims

and a disregard for rights of Asians.,,12 The IIterary IIcense of Malay

authors and theîr lack of concern for malters outslde the courts of the
rulers lessen the reliability of thefr Information, but often brlng across the

sense of destîny and feelings of accompllshment that local rulers had

regardlng their own adventures. Therefore, there Is a need to verity the

European (Portuguese) Information with local sources: and to verify local

sources. which contain much legend. myth and unreliabllity. with

European sources. This is what Djajadiningrat, for instance. has done in his
critical discussion of the history of Aceh.

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12 Macgregor. "Some Aspects of Portuguese," 199.
 8
The net result of using such varied sources. whether from the original
texts or through secondary sources, is to better understand the essence of
scholarship in the perlphery of the Islamic world. The use of this set of
sources lIIustrates the task confronting Southeast Aslan Musllms
themselves as they continue their efforts at fashioning their own reglonal
and national histories. In time, they may even come to be accepted by the
greater tradition of the Islamlc world Itself, including Southeast Asian
developments as an important Ingredient ln Islamic history.

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(

Chapter 1

THE "THREE POWERS" DURING THE FIFl'E'ENTH CENTURY

ln order to comprehend the main toples dlscussed ln thls thesla. thla

section will focus on the Interrelations durlng the flfteenth century among
three powers: Aceh. Malacca and Portugal. In Aceh. there were several
small Islamic sultanates that flourished in trade. They also played an
Important role ln the propagation of Islam ln the Malay-Indonesla
archlpelago. Malacca flourlshed as a strong Islamlc Empire by maklng

Itself an Important trading center ln Southeast Asla and a center for Islamlc
studles. The Portuguese. after conquerlng Ceuta ln 1415 and Goa ln 1510.

( took Malacca in 1511.

A. Aceh in The Flfteenth Century1

Aceh Is the northern part of the Island of Sumatra. which la now one of
the provinces of the Republic of Indonesla. In the course of hlatory, aeveral

Islamlc sultanates su ch as Pasal, Pldle, Daya, Lamurl and Aceh 2 ernerged

ln thls area. They eaoh played Important roles ln the development of

religion, economles and politles ln the reglon. G. P. Toison wrltes that

"Acheh Is a correct name of that part of Sumatra extendlng from Tamlang

1 ln thls section we will dlscuss only some sultanates whleh constltuted

the main ploneera of the emergence of the lai amie Empire of Aceh Dlr
ai-Salim.
( 2 Aceh here Is an Islamlc sultanate ln thls area whlch will be dlacussad
later.
9
 10
point on the east to Trumon on the west coast, though it is commonly, not
erroneously, known to Europeans as Acheen.,,3 The people, who "occupy

the land borderlng the sea as far Inland as the high ranges of hills,,,4 have a

long hlstory, although here only the fifteenth century will be discussed.

Tome Pires' description of Sumatra in the early sixteenth century

mentions some klngdoms in the region, namely Aceh, Lamurl, Pidle,

Peudada, Pasal, Meulaboh and Daya. 5 ln thls thesis, however, the only

kingdoms dlscussed are Pasal, Pidle, Daya, Lamuri and Aceh whlch were

the key components forming the klngdom of Aceh. Peureulak, Teumieng

(Beuna)6 and Lingga 7 combined to form the federation of Pasai. There Is

not enough information avaUable to us regarding Pirada (Peudada),

Meulaboh and Tarumon (Trumon).8

Pasai represents the earliest Islamlc sultanate in the Indoneslan

archipelago. The accounts of Marco Polo and Ibn Ba~ü~a regardlng thls

klngdom glve us some of the Information on whlch later hlstorians rely for

3 G. P. Toison, "Acheh, Commonly Called Acheen," JSBRAS, 5 (June

1880),37.
4 Ibid., 39.

5 Tome Pires, The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires, trans. and ed. by Armando
Cortesao, vol. 1 (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1944), 135-136.

6 A. Hasjmy, Se/arah Kebudayaan Islam dl /ndones/a, (Jakarta: Bulan

Blntang, 1990), 12; M. Junus DjamU, SI/silah Tawarich Radja2 Keradjaan
Atjeh (Banda Atjeh: Kodam Iiskandar Muda, 1968), 5-8.

7 DjamU, Si/sI/ah, 28-30.

8 Tome Pires very briefly mentions Peudada, Aelabu, Mancopa (Meulaboh)
and Ude. Tgk. IsmaU Jakoeb glves only one sentence on Trumon. He
says that "according to W. L. Ritter the kingdom of Trumon was founded
by Raja Bujang," Tgk. Ismai! Jakoeb, Atjeh da/am Sed/arah, vol. 1
...... (Koetaradja: Penerbit Joesoef Mahmoed dan Semangat Merdeka. 1946),
25.
•
11

their studies. Marco Polo stopped at Perlak in 1292 on his way to Venice.
(
Regarding this kingdom he mentions that "its inhabitants are for the most

part idolaters, but many of those who dwefl in the seaport towns have been

converted to the religion of Mahomet, by the saracen merchants who

constantly frequent them.,,9 Because 0' bad weather, he stayed at Samara

for 'ive months, where he and his 3000 men had to struggle against what

he called "mischief 'rom the savage natives."10 The Samara and Basman
in hls account "have been Identlfied as Samudra and Pase, two towns
separated by the Pase river, a short distance above Perlak.,,11

About five decades later, in 746 A.H. (1345 A.D.) and agaln in Ram~n

747 A.H. (December 1346 or January 1347), Ibn Ba~ü!a, a famous Musllm

traveler 'rom Morocco, visitect Samudra and found that Islam (Shl'Ie;
school) had been established for about a century. The King, al-Malik al-
( ~Ahir, was a devoted Muslim. He established religious activities as weil as

performed the refigious obligations. Ibn Ba~ü!a also describes some royal
court ceremonies that he witnessed. 12 80th important accounts have led

Hoeseln Djajadiningrat to the conclusion that "if the Idelltificatlon of

Samara with Samudra is correct, then thls must have been the flrst Musllm

klngdom in Indonesla when Marco Polo vislted it at the end of the seventh

9 Marco Polo, The Trevel of Marco Polo, trans. by W. Marsden and Intr. by
John Masefield (London: J. M. Dent and Sons Llmlted. 1926). 338.
10 Ibid., 341-342.

11 P.A. Hoesein Djajadlningrat, "Islam in Indonesia," in Kenneth W.

Morgan, ed., Islam the Stralght Path (New York: The Ronald Press
Company, 1959), 375.

12 Ibn Battuta, Ibn Battuta Travels ln Asie and Africa 1325-1354, trans. and
select. by H. A. R. Gibb (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963),
272-276, 301-303; see also Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta:
( A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century (Berkeley, Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1989), 251, 257, 266.
 12
century (thirteenth century A.D.).,,13

Uttle is known about this kingdom subsequent to these accounts.

Europe3n sources such as Pires' Suma Oriental give sa me descriptions of it
at a later stage of development. He states that "the kingdom of Pase has
the city called Pase, and sorne people cali it Camotra (Sumatra)." 14 It was
united wlth Samudra and called Samudra Pasai. 15 This unification took

place during the relgn of Sul!An Mu~ammad al-Malik al- ~ahlr (1289- 1326).
The reasons for this unification are uncertaln, but they likely lie in thelr
closeness in terms of geography and ideology (Islam) as weil as in poUtieal
and economlc reasons. A more plausible reason Is that the relations
between both klngdoms were very cordial, since "the first sultan of
Samudra founded also the sultanate of Pase.,,16

The kingdom of Pasai was prosperous. It was one of the mast central
entrepots in Southeast Asia, where many merchants from different

countries came to pursue their trading activities. According to Horace

Stone, "the port of Pasal grew Into a great trading centre, so that at about
A.D. 1400 the trade was shared between MaJapahlt, ln Java, and Passi, in
Sumatra. Aiso the Slamese were overlords of the Malay penlnsula,
particularly in Old Singapore dnd at Patani."17 The other important

13 Djajadlnlngrat, "Islam ln Indonesia," 376.

14 Pires, The Suma, vol. 1, 142.

15 Edwin M. LOeb, Sumatra: Ifs History and People, with an addition al

chapter by Robert Heine-Geldern (Singapore: Oxford University Press,
1989),218; Teuku Ibrahirll Alfian, Kronika Pasa;: Sebuah Tinjauan Sejarah
(Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1973), 21.

- 16 Loeb, Sumatra, 218.

17 Horace Stone, From Malacca to Malaysia 1400-1965 (London: George G.

Harrap & Co., 1966), 17; see also, M. A. P. Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian

«
 13
entrepots in this area were Malacca, Johor, Patani, Aceh and Brunai. 18
(
F. l. de Castanheda states that "Pacem was the principal matter in
Sumatra, and very important for trade of Malacca by reason of the
pepper.,,19 ln his description on this kingdom Tome Pires states:

Since Malacca has been punished and POOir is at war, the kingdom of
Pase is becoming prosperous, rich, wlth many merchants from
dlfferent Moorish and Kling nations, who do a great deal of trade.
among whom the most Important are the Bengalees. There are
Rumes, Turks d'rabs, Persians, Gujaratees. Kfing, Malays. Javanese.
and Siamese. 2

The main natural resources of Pasai were pepper. silk and benzoin. It
produced "from eight to ten thousand bahars of peppers every year.,,21

From Chinese sources we know that in the early sixteenth century the priee
of pepper was 80 dirhams or one tael of silver for 100 caties (62.5 kg).22

( Another important resource was "oil from natural flows at Perlak, whlch
enriched the kingdom of Pasai and later Aceh.,,23 The sllk of Pasai was an

Trade and European Influence (The Hague: Martlnus Nijhoff, 1962), 13,
18-19.
18 Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia ln the Age of Commerce 1450-1680, vol. 1
(New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988), 7.
19 F. L. de Castanheda, Historia do Deseobrimento e Conqulsta da ln dia ,
(lisbon. 1551-6). Reprint. Lisbon, 1883. Engl. trans. by N. Lltchfiel
(London. 1582). vol. 2, 178, quoted in Duarte Barbosa, The Book of
Duane Barbosa, trans. by Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon, ed.
and annot. by Mansel Longworth Dames, vol. 2 (London: The Haklyut
Society, 1921). 185; see also, Meilink-Roelofsz, As/an Trade, 88-89.
20 Pires, The Suma, vol. 1, 142.

21 Ibid.; see also, Meillnk-Roelofsz, As/an Trade, 21. Bahar Is a "varlable

unit of welght. equivalent to 3 p/kul or approx. 180 kg when welghlng
pepper, but only 72.5 kg when welghlng gold." (Reid, Southeast As/a,
267).

22 W. P. Groeneveldt, Historieal Notes of Indonesia and Ma/aya Compl/ed

( (rom Chinese Sources (Djakarta: Bhratara, 1960), 86.
 14

important resource which attracted Europeans, su ch as Alfonso de

Albuquerque, the governor of Portugal at Goa who conquered Malacca.

Anthony Reid writes:

Albuquerque learned about the silk of Pasai when he was on the way
to the conquest of Melaka in 1511. He sent his Genoese
troubleshooter, Giovanni da Empoli, back there from lodia to
negotiate for the supply of ail the silk Pasal could produce. Empoll
was told by the R~t that this would cost the Portuguese one hundred
thousand ducats.

Every year at the beglnning of the slxteenth century "Pegu ports sent at

least forty rice-Iaden vessels (wlth perhaps 14,000 tonnes of rlce) to Pasai,
POOir, and Melaka.,,25 ln his study on Southeast Asla from Arabie sources,

G. R. Tibbetts coneludes that "the port of Sumatra is the most famous one
of ail the ports of the Island. This is a large town. It is the port for pepper,
silk and gold and Is a very flourishlng port.,,26

The rapid economlc development of Pasai apparently brought It to the

stage of an advanced kingdom with large towns. At the time when Tome

Pires reached this kingdom the population ln the eity was not less than

twenty thousand.27 A number of large towns 1" the Inter/or of the kingdom

were inhabited by Important and educated people.28 Unfortunately, we do

not have detailed Information regardlng these people.

23 Reid, Southeast Asia, 75.

24 Ibid., 93.

25 Ibid., 21.

26 G. R. Tibbetts, A Study of The Arable Texts Containlng Materials on

South-East Asia (le/den & london: E. J. Brill, 1979) ,223.

27 Pires, The Suma, vol. 1, 143.

28 Groeneveldt, Historiea' Notes, 85-93.

 15
Tome Pires and Chinese sources teU us that the coinage used in this
(
kingdom was the dirham. Pires says:

There are smaU coins like ceitis. They are tin coins bearing the name
of the reigning king. There are very small gold coins which they cali
d,amas. Nine of these are worth one Cruzado, and 1believe that each
one of them Is worth five hundred cash. Above this they have gOld-
dust and silver. Their bahar of pep~W Is less than that of Malacca-
flve eates, that Is tlNeive arrateis less.

Though there Is little Information on Islam ln Samudra Pasal, It has

been suggested th at It was a center of rellglous studles and "the flrst

important diffusion centre of the new falth in South-East Asla. ,,30 At the

time when Ibn Ba!!ü!a stopped there, there were two Parslan theologlans

who participated in the discussions of the Sul!ln ai-Malik al- ~Ahlr, namely
aà~i Sharif Amir Sayyid of ShlrAz and TAj al-Din of IsfahAn.31 Later "In
( 1407 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad Ibn C'Abd al-QAdir ibn %d al-~iz Ibn al-
.
Man~ür Abü JaC'far al-CAbbàs al-Munta!lr bl AllAh, grand-son of the last
Abbasid Caliph, died at Pase; half a century earller Ibn Ba!!ü!a had met hls
father at the court of the ru 1er of Delhl.,,32

It is difflcult to estabUsh exadly what klnd of religious Institutions

existed in Pasai at this tlme. However. It Is probable that there were to be

29 Pires, The Suma. vol. 1, 144; Groeneveldt. Hlstorieal Notes, 87-88; see
also, Proyek Penelitlan dan Pencatatan Kebudayaan Daerah. Se/arah
Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aeeh (Banda Aceh: Departemen Pendidlkan
dan Kebudayaan. Pusat Penelltlan Sejarah dan Budaya. 1977/1988).50.
30 D. G. E. Hall, A History of South-East Asla. 3th ed. (New York: St
Martin's Press, 1962). 206.
31 Rita R. Di Megllo, "Arab Trade wlth Indonesla and the Malay Peninsula
from the 8th to the 16th Century," ln D. S. Richards. ed., Islam and the
Trade of Asia: A Col/oquium (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1970).117.
(
32 Ibid.
 16
found institutions which were slmllar to the Pesantren or Dayah (tradition al
Islamic schools), the mosque and the Surau or Meunasah (a place for
praying, smaUer than a mosque, which Is also used for the study of Islam),
the most popular Islamlc institutions in the Empire of Aceh DAr al-SaIAm. 33

From Pasai, Islam spread out to Malacca, Patani 34 and even to Java.
ft is weil known that "one of Java's fa mous walis, Sunan Gunung Jati. came

from Pase with the object of convertlng the Island.-3S Furthermore,

Malacca, which rose as an Islamic sultenate in the fifteenth century,
assumed the role of Samudra Pasal ln spreadlng Islam. Yet, Pasal was still
respected as a center of Islamlc studies and -the scholars in Pasai were
however more learned than those in Malacca:36

Pasai actlvely pursued International relations, especially in trade,

religion and even poUtics. Pasai had a long retationship wlth China. In 1282,

33 Proyek Penelitian, Se/arah Propinsi, 56.

34 Fur a discussion on the relation of Islamic history of Patani and

Samudra Pasai, see Hamdan Hasan, -Pertalian Pemiklran Islam
Malaysla-Aceh," ln Khoo Kim, ad., Tamaddun Islam di Malaysia (Kuala
Lumpur: Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia, 1980),48-59.
3S B. O. J. Schrieke. Het Boek van Bonang (Utrecht, 1916), 12, as quoted ln
Melllnk-Roelofzs, Aslan Trade, 21.
36 HaJI Buyong bln Ad il , The History of Malacca Durlng the Period of the
Malay Sultanate (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Sahasa dan Pustaka
Kernentrian Pelajaran Malaysia, 1974), 36. SultAn Mansür ShAh of
Malacca asked Makhdum Patakan, an '1l1m of 'pasai. to' Interpret a
book called -Dlr al-Mazlüm- written by Maulana Abü IshAq. His pupil,
Maulana Abü Bakr, brought this book to Malacca and 'delivered it to
SultAn Mansür ShAh. The SultAn also sent his assistant, Tun Blja
Wang.a, to Pasal to submlt a renglous question. The same mission 100
by Tun Muhammad was also sent to Pasai to "pose the problem of
theology" during the reign of SultAn Mahmüd ShAh. See Se/arah
Me/ayu or Malay Annals, annot. and trans. by C. C. Brown (Kuala
Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1970), 90-96. 145-149; H. Overbeck.
-. -rhe Answer of Pasai," JMBRAS, vol. 11, pt. 2 (December, 1933),
254-280; R. Roolvink. "The Answer of Pasai," JMBRAS, vol. 38, pt. 2
(1965), 129-139: Abu Hassan Sham, "Perhubungan Metaka dengan
 17
the kingdom of Samudra sent two ambassadors to China identlfled as
(
Sulayman and Shams al-Oin. 37 80th Pasal and China sent envoya to each
other bearing presents such as durlng the refgn of the emperor Cheng-tsu
(1403-1424). Cheng Ho was sent to Pasal three tlmes. in 1405. 1414 and
1430.38 Pasai also sent envoya to this country wlth presents in 1426. 1433
and 1434.39

Pasal's relations with Malacca ln the flfteenth century were also very
cordial. Abu Hassan Sham 8uggests that the relations were based on four
areas: religion. commerce. polltles and culture. The Islamlzatlon of
Malacca by Pasal made the latter a rellglous reference for the former.
Although Malacca domlnated trade in the raglon, Pasal still had 80rne
products which were needed in Malacca's markets 8uch a8 pepper and
ri ce. The poUtical disorder ln Pasal motivated Malacca to Interfere ln thls
( conflict by sendlng Bendahara Paduka Raja and Hang ruah to support
Zayn al-C'Abldin, who was in conflict wlth hls brother. It seems that the
structure of the Malaccan government was taken from that of Pasal and
that in soclo-cultural aspects both Pasal and Malacca Influenced each
other. This influence can be seen in language (Malay), literature and
tradltion. 40

The klngdom of Samudra Pasai, whlch was unlfled with Beuna

Pasal dl Abad ke-15 dan 16," Journal Sejarah Me/aka, 6 (1981), 6-14.
37 MagUo," Arab Trade with Indonesia." 116.
38 Groenevefdt, Historleel Notes, 85-93.
39 Said, Aceh, 120-121.
(
40 Sham, "Perhubungan Melaka dengan Pasai," 5-14.
 18

(Temieng) ln the relgn of Sul~An A~mad al·Malik al· ~Ahlr (d. 1350).41 was

attacked by Majapahit. the dominant poUtlcal power of Insular Southeast

Asla at the time wlth ilS capital on Java. The force under Patlh Nala

arrlved ln the relgn of Sul!ln Zayn al-CAbldTn al·Malik al· ~Ahlr (d. 1394).

The attack faned due to the strong resistance of Pasai and the death of the

King of Majapahlt, Prabu Rajasanegara Hayam Wuruk. 42

ln the early slxteenth century Pasal began to decline as an Important

entrepot ln Southeast Asla, a development related to the rlse of Malacca

as a major trading center in the fifteenth century. Even then Pasal's

commercial importance continued. As mentloned before, Pasai still

Imported rlce from Pegu at that tlme. It also produced pepper, oil and a

good quallty of sllk which attracted Europeans, such as the portuguese and

later the Dutch.

Polltlcal eonfllct wlthln thls sultanate apparently invited forelgn

Infiltration. The struggle between Zayn al·cAbidTn and hls brother Zayn al·

OTn to attaln power led to the Interference of Malacca and the Portuguese.

Zayn al·fAbidTn was supported by Malacca wh Ile hls brother was assisted

by the Portuguese. This polltieal dlsorder was explolted by the portuguese

who used the port of Pasal as a temporary post before launehing an attack

on Malacca ln 1511. In 1521, the portuguese occupied Pasal, until Aceh

Olr al·Sallm, under Sul!ln fAIT MughAyah ShAh, took Pasal from the

portuguese by force in 1524.43

41 Ojamll, SlIsllah, 14.

42 Ibid.; Said, Aceh, 90; H. M. Zainuddln, Tar/ch Atjeh dan Nusantar8
(Medan: Pustaka Iskandar Muda, 1961), 221·233 .
.-
43 Malay Annals, 96-100; Said, Aceh, 129·130; Adil, The Histary of Malacca,
37·38.
i

19
Besides Pasai there was another important klngdom ln the reglon.
(
namely Pidle. It ·was on the straits nearly opposite to Malacca. and had
long been famous ln India as one of the principal entrepots for pepper.,,44

Tome Pires also glves sorne Important notes on thls klngdom. Accordlng

to hlm:

Pedir in the Island of Sumatra used to be important and ri ch and a

trading place. and it had dominion over ail the above !Aceh, Lamuri,
BiaO and also over the land of Aellabu and the klngdom of Llde and
the ldngdom of Pifada; and It was at war with Pase; and Pedlr once
held the mouth of the chann15 And It had ail the trade. and they
sailed there more than to Pa se.

Joao De Barros also remarks on thls klngdom:

Of ail these kingdoms Cof north coast) that of Pedir was the greatest
and most famous in those reglons. and was so before Malacca was
Inhablted. In It came together what went from the west and came
from the east by reason of the emporium and market where goods of
( ail klnds could be found. and because that city comrnanded the strait
between this Island of Sarnatra and the rnalnland. But after the
foundation of Malacca. and especially at our entry Into Indla. the
kingdom of Pacem began to grow and that of Pedlr to decline. And
that of Achem its neighbour being (then) but of IIttle power Is now the
grestest of ail; such are 1f'e variations ln States of whlch mankind
makes so much account. 4

Pidie was famous and wealthy. This was due to "its being the princip le
source of supply for pepper. a condiment whlch was so greatly valued by
the nations of the East and the West.,,47 Therefore. It was "the best of the

44 Barbosa. The Book of Duarte, vol. 2. 181; Meilink-Reolofsz, As/sn Trade.

19-20; 88-89.
45 Pires. The Sums. vol. 1. 139.
46 Joao De Barros as quoted ln Decadas da Asia (Usbon and Madrid.
1563-1615), vol. 3, 120. as quoted in Barbosa. The Book of Duarte. vol.
2. 182.
(
47 Ibid.
 20
Island.,,48 A more detalled description of this kingdom is given by Ludivico

di Varthema, a Bolognese traveler who visited the region ln the early

sbcteenth century, as quoted by Hall:

ln Sumatra Varthema visited the flourishing port of POOir, near Acheh.

Every year, he tells us, elghteen to twenty shlps were laden with
pepper for China. It also produced an immense quantity of silk and
much benzoln. So extensive was its trade, and so great the number of
merchants rp.sortlng there, that one of its streets contained about 500
money-changera. Stamped money of gOld, sil ver and tin was in use
there, with a devll stamped on one side and somethlng resembllng a
chariot drawn by elephants on the other. He was much impressed by
the strict administration of Justice there. Three-masted junks wlth two
ruddera were built there. He also makes the Inter~~g statement that
the natives excelled in the art of maklng fireworks.

These descriptions by European travelers are also supported by an

Arab traveler, SulaymAn Ibn A~mad al·Ma~rT. In his book al-Mlnhêj al·Fakhir

.
fi "'m a/·Bahr al·Ziklr he mentions that Pidie was one of the most well-
known ports of the east coast of Sumatra, especlally as a port for
..
'
pepper.50

Tome Pires gives us more Information about the trade of thls kingdom.

Its main products were pepper, white sllk, benzoin and gold. Each year It

produced from six or seven to ten thousand bahars of pepper. This amount

declined ln the last four years (early slxteenth century) until no more than

two or three thousand bahars of pepper a year were exported. Pldie was

still engaged ln trade untll 1500. Merchants from many nations vlslted Its

port. Two shlps came from Cambay and Bengsl every year, as at Pegu.

The trade decllned after the taklng of Malacca by the Portuguese. The war

48 Ibid.

49 Badger ln hls edltlon of The Travel of Indovieo Di Varthema (Hak. Soc.,

1863) as mentioned by Hall, A History of South-East Asis, 235.

50 Tibbetts, The Arabie Texts, 223.

 21
in Pidie itself was also the cause of thls decline, whlch Itself resulted in so
( many merchants leaving the kingdom. Gold and silver as weil as tin coins
formed the currency.51

It seems that Islamization took place ln the middle of the fourteenth

century A.D., when the Sul!An of Aceh DAr ai-SalAm, Sul!An Ma~mud

ShAh, attacked il. Sul!An Ma~müd Il 'AIl' al-Din Johan ShAh of Aceh
(1408-1465) appolnted hls son, Prince J:lusayn ShAh, to be the King in Pidie.
He later became the Sul!An of Aceh (1465-1480) as well. 52

There is agreement among historians, both local and foreign, that Daya
was a kingdom located on the west coast of the northern part of
Sumatra.53 However, none of the forelgn hlstorians Identify precisely the
location of this kingdom. Tgk. IsmaU Jakoeb relates that de Vink, who did

( hls research in 1915 in Daya (Calang), dlscovered the tomb of Poteu

Meureuhom Daya, who was called cAli' al-Din Rillyah ShAh (d. 7 Rajab
913/12 November 1508), the son of Sul!An qnAyah ShAh in Cot Gle Jong
(Kuala Daya).54

Nor Is mu ch known of the early hlstory of thls klnpdom. Djamll asserts

that Daya was Islamlzed by Meurah Pupook (also known as Tengku
Sagoop; we have no detaJied information on hls dates and or place from
where he came), who, later, was appolnted as a Musllm Sul!An of Daya. It
Is said that Meureuhom Onga was one of the famous Sul!AnS of Daya

51 Pires, The Suma, vol. 1, 139-140.

52 Djamil. Si/si/ah. 24-26.

53 Ibid .• 30; Hasjmy, Se/arah Kebudayaan, 14: De Barros, Decada, quoted

in Barbosa, The Book of Duarte, vol. 2, 183.
(
54 Jakoeb. Atjeh. 25; Said. Aceh. 150-151,155.
,
22
descended from Meurah Pupook. Daya fell into disorder after the death of
' .. thls Sul!An, and did not recover until the coming of Sul~An qnAyah ShAh and
his son, RlClyah ShAh, from the kingdom of Aceh. Prince RNyah Shlh was

appolnted the Sul~An of Daya, while hls father ruled the klngdom ot Aceh in
1480-1490.55

Just on the north slde of Daya there lay the klngdom of Lamurl. De
Barros Informs us that It was located between Daya and Aceh.56 Based on

extracts from the books Ying-yal Shang-Lan (1416) and History of the Ming

Dynasty (1368-1643), Groeneveldt wrltes that "Lambrl must have been

situated on the north-western corner of the Island of Sumatra, on or near

the spot of the present Achin: we see that It was bounded by the sea on

the north and the west, and that the Indian ocean was called after this
Inslgnlflcant place, because it was consldered to begin there.,,57 The

kingdom of Lamuri comprised the area of Lamreh and probably even the

river of Aceh. But ail activities were centrallzed in the capital city, Krueng

Raya.58

Lamuri was weil known to foreign travelers and merchants, Includlng

Arabs, Persians, Europeans and Chlnese. The name of this klngdom was

spelled dlfferently by ail of these people. Arabs and Perslans spelled It

Ram1, Ramnl, or Llmur1. Europeans called it Lambrl, Lambry, or Lamor/.
The Chlnese spelled it Lan-'i, Lan-bu-'i, Lan-wu-'/, and even Nan-po-II. Lamlrl

55 Djamil, SI/sI/ah, 30-32; Hasjmy, Se/arah Kebudayaan, 14-15.

56 De Barros, Decada, quoted ln Barbosa, The Book of Dua"e, vol. 2, 184.

57 Groenevelt, Hlstorlesl Notes, 100.
....... 58 Teuku Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, trans. by Aboe Bakar (Banda Aceh,
Departemen Pendldikan dan Kebudayaan Dlrektorat Jenderal
Kebudayaan, Meuseum Negeri Aceh, 1986),32.
 23
Is used in the Sejarah Me/ayu (Malay Anna/s), white Lamrl Is found ln the
(
Hikayat ACtih. The name Lamurl Is found in Nagarakertagama. It was

spelled lIamurldocam in Tanjore Inscriptions. Local hlstorlans, like M. Junus

Ojamil and A. Hasjmy, use the name Lamurl. 59

Accordlng to T. Iskandar, Lamurl was estabUshed ln the nlnth century

and its capital was Krueng Raya. About the year 943, LamurJ was colonJzed

by Crlwljaya, a state of affaJrs whlch contlnued untll 1225. By the year 1288

Lamurl sent envoys to China, and subsequently often sent glfts and
embassles to thls country until the early part of the flfteenth century. It was

not untit 1365 that Lamuri was attacked by Majapahlt. Iskandar also states
that Islam came to this klngdom Jn the fourteenth century.60 This vlew Is

dlfferent from that of Djamil who asserts that Islam came to thls area ln the
twelfth century.61 ln the fifteenth century, the King of Lamurl, Munawwar
( Shah, removed his kingdom to Mahkota Alam. The reason for thls move

was to avold the attack of Pidle whJch wanted to conquer Aceh's valley.

The mouth of the river where LamurJ was located had become shallow.
preventlng any shlps from docklng.82

The presence of the LamurJ kJngdom Jn Mahkota Alam constltuted a

rival for Aceh whlch was located Jn Dlr al-Kamll and whlch was only

separated from Mahkota Alam by a river. The rivalry led to a war between

the two kingdoms whlch resulted in stalemate. This situation encouraged

59 See Iskandar. Hikayat Aceh. 30: Lombard, Le Sultanat dAtjeh, 31;

DjamU, Si/si/ah, 34-37; Hasjmy, Se/arah Kebudayaan, 15-18.
60 Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, 41.

61 DjamU, Silsl/ah, 35.

(
62 Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, 35.
1------

24
Munawwar ShAh to resort to trickery by proposing the marriage of hls son

with the daughter of Sul!ln qnAyah ShAh. When qnlyah ShAh accepted this

proposai, the envoya of Munawwar ShAh secretly brought guns with them

to attack Dlr al-Kamll. This ruse was successful and Dlr al-Ka mal was

occupied by Munawwar's envoya, who were actually soldiers. From then

on Lamuri and Aceh were united under the relgn of Sul~in Shams ShAh,
the son of Munawwar ShAh. In order to strengthen his position, Shams
Shlh married his son, c;t\IT MughAyah ShAh, to the daughter of qnAyah

Shlh.63

Iskandar's version obvlously points out that lamurl was not Aceh. But
he belleves that the name of Lamuri was later changed to Aceh.64 Aceh, in

his view, was probably founded at the end of the fifteenth century. He

bases thls vlew on the Information inscribed on the tomb of Muzaffar ShAh

(d. 1497), who was the son of qnAyah ShAh and the grandson of CAbd Allah

ai-Malik al-Mubin. He Insists that Dlr al-KamAI was the ealier name of

Aceh,65 a vlew also supported by Muhammad Said.66

Foreign traveiers glve us flmlted Information on thls kingdom. Arab

travelera only mention that Lamurl was one of the most Important ports ln
Southeast Asla.67 Pires tells us only that It was located rlght beslde

Aceh.68 Other European travelers point out that Lamurl was "the anclent

63 Ibid., 35, 41; Sald, Aceh, 151-153.

64 Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, 29. 31.

65 Ibld.,35.

66 Sald, Aeeh, 131-156.

-" 67 Tlbbetts, The Arabie Texts, 230.

68 Pires, The Suma, vol. 1, 138.

 25
country of Sumatra" and ca lied it "the Lamuri of the Arabs.,,69 It was
(
vlsited by Frlar Odoric after 1320 who "names the kingdoms of Lamuri and
Somoltra, the latter of which he places more to the south.,,70 The account

of Ylng-yal Sheng-Ian (1416) mentions that the inhabitants of Lamuri were

good and that they, including their Kings, were Muslims. He states that its

port was visited by many ships, including some from China, and that the
relations between the klngdom and China were very cordial. 71 The Hlstory
of Ming Dynasty (1368-1643) tells us, as paraphrased by Groeneveldt, that:

ln the year 1412 the king Ma-ha-ra-sa sent envoya, together with
those of Sumatra, to carry tribute: the envoya were presented with
court-dresses and the king got a seal, a commission and sllks, whilst
Cheng Ho was sent to carry the Instructions of the emperor to that
country. Till the end of the reign of the emperor Cheng-tsu (1424), they
sent tribute every year.
When ln 1430 Chen~ro brought presents to dlfferent countrles,
Lambri was one of them.

( Lamuri had sent envoya to China since 1286. ln 1408 the admirai Cheng
Ho was sent to Lamuri, while ln 1411 Lamuri's envoya were agaln sent to

China to carry tribute. In 1412 King Mu~ammad ShAh of Lamuri. together

with Samudra, sent another envoy to China for the same reason, as did his
son, ShAh Johan, later.73 According to Iskandar the Cakra Donya bell,

dating from 1409 and inscribed with Chinese and Arabie script, was the

present of the Chinese emperor to Lamuri. It was brought by Cheng Ho in

69 See notes in Barbosa, The Book of Duarte, vol. 2, 182.

70 Ibid.

71 Groeneveldt, Historieal Notes, 98-99.

72 Ibid.

73 G. Schlegel Geographieal Notes XVI: The Old States in the ISland of

( Sumatra, T'oung Pao, serie 2, vol. 2 (1901),235-259, quoted in Iskandar,
Hikayat Aceh, 28-29.
 26

1430 and was later removed to Aceh Dir al-Salàm. 74

Uttle is known about Aceh in the fifteenth century. Unlike Lamuri, Aceh
was neither known nor visited mueh by foreign travelers and traders sinee it
was located in the hinterland, more than one mile from the coast. 75

Djajadlningrat Insists that before the year 1500 Aceh was an insignificant
area. 76 Signs of the emergence of Aceh have been identifled at the end of
the flfteenth century and the early sixteenth century with the unification of
Mahkota Alam and DAr ai-Kamllinto one kingdom.

Ali the kingdoms dlscussed conceivably had similar ethnie and

lingulstic backgrounds. Looking at thelr racial features, language, literature
and historical remains, Djamil concludes that the people of this area came
from India, Siam, Funan, Cambodla and Campa. 77 This population
assimilated with others who came for the purpose of trading and religious
proselytlzation, a process whlch eventually affected racial features,
language and culture. The old trade relations with India, for instance,
brought a Hlndu Influence in clvilizatlon and language. Arab and Persian
traders brought Islam and thelr own languages. Pasai, for instance, was
reported by Tome Pires as a klngdom inhablted by a Bengali majority. C.
Snouck Hurgronje, who wrote a study on the Acehnese people, mentions
that Teungku Kuta Karang, who was a religlous leader (Cilim) as weil as a
district chief (huluba/ang), Inslsted that Aceh was born from the

74 Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, 28-29.

75 Ibid.
76 Djajadiningrat, Kesultanan Aceh, 20.
77 Djamil, Si/si/ah, 2; see also, Lombard, Le Sultanat d'Atjeh, 34·35.
 27

intermarriage of an indigenous people with Arabs, Persians and Turks. 78

(
Undoubtedly the rise of several of these cities as entrepots and religious
centers accelerated this intermbcture of people.

Using Chinese sources Groeneveldt concludes that in Pasai "the

language, the marriage and burial ceremonies. the dress etc. are ail the
same as Malacca. ,,79 This statement probably implies that the people of
the area used the Malay language for international communications in
trading and. perhaps, as the language of the courts. government
correspondence, official documE'nts, etc.80 However. Acehnese was also
used as the common language of the population. wh Ile both the Acehnese
and Malay languages were also used ln literature and other works.
including hlstorical and religious writings.81

Our knowledge of the early history of the sultanates or kingdoms in the

region Is still very limited. loeb says that "the hlstory of Atjeh before 1500
A.D. lies very much in the dark,,82 and Ojajadiningrat repeats this

observation.83 That there were several sultanates or klngdoms before the

sixteenth century, located at different sites in the general Acehnese
terrltory, is reasonably clear. Wh en Aceh emerged. It brought wlth It the

78 C. Snouck Hurgronje. The Aehehnese. trans. by A. W. S. Q'Sullivan. vol.

1 (Lelden: Brlll, 1906). 18.
79 Groeneveldt, Historieal Notes. 87.

80 Ibid.; Zainuddin, Tarieh Atjeh. 37-38.

81 For a discussion on these works see A. Hasjmy. Sumbangan

Kesusastersan Aeeh Dalam Pemblnaan Kesusasteraan Indones/a (Jakarta:
Bulan Bintang, 1977), 75-111.
82 loeb, Sumatra, 218.
(
83 Djajadiningrat, Kesultanan Aeeh, 9.
 28

legacy of ail those predecessor states. carrying this legacy into the

sixteenth century and a new historical era in the region.

B. The Emergence of Malacca

Accordiny to Fernand Braudel. "geography was certalnly responsible

for a good deal of Malacca's story. The town occuples an advantageous

site on the straits whlch bear its name. Iylng on the maritime channel

eonnecting the waters ot the Indian Ocean to those of the China seas on

the edge of the Pacific,,84 and protecting a" sails trom monsoons.

Fourteenth century Malacca was an unimportant place. Its historieal

signiflcance goes back to the arrivai of Parameswara who. according to

Pires. fled from Pall!mbang wlth his followers to Singapore. where he killed
-. ,
the local prince and established his ru le over the small settlement existing

there. Since Singapore was a vassal of Siam. Parameswara only ruled

there for tive years betore he was driven out by the Slamese. He then

moved to Muar and later to Malacca sometlme before 1403.85 When

Parameswara came to its shores Malacca was a poor place. occupied by

about twenty to thirty people who IIved either by fishlng or plracy. as

described by Albuquerque.86 Shortly atter 14103. Malacca began to develop

84 Fernand Braudel. The Perspective of The World: Civilization and

Capital/sm 15th-18th Century. vol. 3, trans, by Sian Reynolds (New York:
Harper & Row Publisher, 1984),524.

85 Pires. The Suma. vol. 2, 229-235; Richard O. Winstedt, A Hlstory of

Mataya (Singapore: Marican & Sons. 1962), 44-46; C. H. Wake. "Melaka
ln the Fifteenth Century: Malay Historical Traditions and the Polltics of
the Islamizatlon," in Kernial Singh Sandhu and Paul Wheatly, eds.,

- Metaka: The Transformation of A Malay Capital, C. 1400-1980 (Kuala

Lumpur, New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), 140.

86 Braz de Albuquerque, The Commentaries of the Great Afonso

.
 29
as an important entrepot ln thls region.
(
F. J. Moorhead suggests that both an internai and an external factor

account for Malacca's ri se. The Internai factor lies ln Its excellent

geographical position. The external factor Is made up of both the

expansion of Chlnese trade under the Ming emperors and Musllm

patronage as a result of the conversion to Islam of Parameswara hlmSelf.87

It has been suggested that hls conversion was motlvated by poUtlcal and

economlc reasons. 88 MegUo asserts that "It was due to the exertlon and
eloquence of an Arab holy man.,,89 He quotes OIogo do Cuoto's statement
as follows:

When he had founded Malacca, ships started to arrive from Arablan

ports. One year a Casslz arrlved on one of these shlps who had come
to preach the falth of Muhammad in those parts. He resided with the
King (who grew attachecf. to hlm) and eventually converted hlm to
( Islam and ienamed him, in the name of the Prophet, ShAh
Muhammad

Economie factors seem to have played an Important role ln the

conversion as weil. Speaklng to thls point Stone states:

ln any case, he had already made hls peace wlth Siam. Followlng on
thls pOlicy of maklng peace wlth the nelghbourlng powers, he sent

Dalboquerque, ed., trans., and annote by Walter de Gray Birch, vol. 3

(London: The Hakluyt Society, 1880), 74-75.

87 F. J. Moorhead, A Hlstory of Ma/aya and Her Nelghbours, vol. 1 (Kuala

Lumpur: Longmans of Malaysia, 1981), 118-124.

88 Stone, From Malacca, 20-21: Wan Shamsuddln and Arena Watl, Se/arah
Tanah Melayu 1400-1967, (Kuala Lumpur: Penerbltan Pustaka Antara.
1969),22.
89 Megllo,"Arab Trade with Indonesla," 119.

90 Ologo do Cuoto reproduced Joao de Barros' Decades. The passage

( quoted is taken from the edition of Lisboa, 1788, Decada IV, book Il,
chapter i, p. 84, quoted in Meglio, "Arab Trade with Indonesla," 119.
 30
embassies to Majapahit (Java) and Pasai, in the far north of Sumatra.
He found that the soli near Malacca would not grow rice very weil,
and Java and Siam are places that export it. In addition. he asked
the King of Majapahit to allow hia traders to cali at Malacca, for It
had a better harbour than Pasai. He also asked the Sultan of Pasal to
allow traders to go to Malacca. The Sultan replled that he dld not
mind provlded Parameswara became a Musllm. Flnally, ParO'l'eswara
sent an embassy to China wlth Yin Ching when he returned.

Apparently, the key elements were galnlng Chlnese recognition and glving

evldence of a connectlon wlth Islam. The latter was galned by marrylng the
daughter of the King of Pasai and by convertlng to Islam wlth the tltle of

Iskandar ShAh. These moves changed Malacca "from a pirate centre to a

trading port recognlzed by ail powers around. ,,92 Tome Pires tells us that

there were Musllm traders coming from such dlfferent places as Calro,

Mecca, Aden, Abysslnia, Kilwa, Mallndl, Hormuz, Persia, Turkey,

Turkomenlstan, Gujarat, Pasal and Pldle. So many people came to thls

entrepot that there were elghty-four languages in use there.93 On thls point

George Cho and Marion W. Ward wrlte:

the settlement at the mouth of the Melaka River grew rapldly to

command the trade between East (China and Japan, the Islands of
Indonesla and the Philippines, the coasts of mainland Southeast Asla)
and West (the Indlan subcontlnent, Arabia, the Persian Gulf, the Red
Sea, the Mediterranean and Europe). At their greatest, the port's
trading connections reached from Maluku to Suez (thence Indirectly
to E'6Wpe), from Japan to East Africa, trom Luzon to the Persian
Gulf.

Internally, the conversion of Parameswara to Islam led to the

91 Stone, From Malacca, 20.

92 Ibid.

93 Pires, The Suma, vol. 2, 288·269.

94 George Cho and Marion W. Ward, "The Port of Melaka," in Sandhu and
Wheatly, Meleka, vol. 1,824.
 31

conversion of his people and accordingly transformed Malacca into an

( Islamic sultanate which eventually replaced Pasai as a center of Islamlc
studles and Islamic propagation in the Malay archipelago. The King used
an Islamic name, adopted the title of Sul!ln and employed other MusUm

terms and accolades.

The prosperity of Malacca was based malnly on trade. M. A. P.

Meilink-Roelofsz discusses the "commercial traffic" of thls entrepot at the
end of the flfteenth century wlth other Important ports, such as Gujarat,
Coromandel, Bengal, Ceylon, Pegu, Kedah, Siam and other countrles of
further India, China, Japan, the Philippines, Sumatra, Java, Borneo,
Celebes and the lesser Sunda Islands.9S Though It was not a major
producer, Malacca exported salted and frled flsh throughout the
archipelago. A small amount of goId and tin was also produCed.96 As far
( as coin age is concerned, Meillnk-Roelofsz writes that "the accepted
coin age was tin, but gold and silver were also used for bartering, though
more as a commodity than as coin age. Foreign coins, for example those of
~
the Indian seaports, were also current ln Malacca, where, no doubt, many 1
1

monay-changers were to be found. ,,97

Malacca was a dynastlc sultanate and under Sul!ln Ma~müd ShAh

(1424-1444) Its organizatlon and operation were glven their basic forms.
The Sul!an was at the apex of the state organizatlon. His authorlty was
derived from both descent and religion. From the religious point of view he

95 Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian Trade, 60-88.

96 M. A. P. Meilink-Roelofsz, "Trade and Islam in the Malay-Indonesian

Archipelago Prior to the Arrivai of the Europeans," ln Richards, Islam
and Trade, 150.
(
97 Ibid., 151.
 r----
32

was respected as "God's Shadow on Earth, and that as one performed

good deeds for God and the Prophet, so should one do for a ruler.,,98 This

authorlty Is corroborated by two tradition al Malay concepts ca lied dau/at

and dumaka. Datuk Zalnal Abldln states:

Dau/at can be Interpreted as sovereignty. The sovereignty of a Malay

ruler is not merely a legal concept; it is a cultural and rellgious one as
weil. And It Iles ln the person of the ru 1er. The dau/at endows hlm with
many rlghts and prlvlleges, places hlm above his society, beyond
reproach and crlticism. The dau/at also enta ils unquestlonlng loyalty
from hls subject. Derhaka Is a concept related to deu/at. It could, for
convenlence, be translated as 'dlsobedience' though, in actuallty,
derhaka has a wlder meanlng. If one were dlsobedlent to his ruler,
one could be regarded as derhaka; if one were to rebel agalnst hlm,
on could be considered as demaka; or if one's father were ordered to
be killed by a sultan for unjustlfiable real'ons, one would still be
regarded aSJU!vin g derhaka, If one were to try to keep hls parent from
bang killed.

,
lf
r
This position of Sul!An was also strengthened by customs, traditions
,
1"
'i and prohlbltlons. 100 However, the Sul!An distrlbuted hls power structurally
~
~
L to hls officiais, namely the Bendahara, the Penghulu Bendahari, the

!ï;;
Ternanggung, the Laksamana and the Shahbandar. To sorne extent, the

Bendahara was slmilar to a Prime Minister. He was the most senior chief,
it who acted as a chief advlsor to the Sul!An, oversaw the administration of

f- the laws of the country and served as the commander of the mllitary

i,
forces, though he was never Involved in baH'es. During the absence of the

y
. .
SultAn he was the acting SultAn. The Penghulu Bendahari was the person in

:
98 Datuk Zalnal Abldln bln Abdul Wahld, "Power and Authorlty in the
1 Melaka Sultanate: The Traditional View," in Sandhu and Wheatly,
.t Melaka, 102 •
" 99 Zain al Abldln bin Abdul Wahid, "Sejarah Melayu," As/an Studles, vof. 4,
nO.3 (1966),446 as quoted ln Abdul Wahld, "Power and Authority," 102.

100 For these customs, traditions and prohibitions see Adil, The History of
Malacca, 17-22.
 33

charge of financial affairs. Law and order were under the responslbility of
(
the Temanggung. The Laksamana was the military commmander in both
sea and land wars, wh Ile the Shahbandar was ln charge of trading actlvltles

ln the harbour, a position which Is somewhat slmllar to a present day

harbour master. 101

The commercial prosperlty of Malacca encouraged the Sul!An and hls

officiais to be actlvely Involved wlth Its operation. Apparently, great wealth

was acqulred by this rullng elite from fees and assessments placed on the
for8lgn traders. Wilkinson says, as quoted by Moorhead, that "the Malacca

Malay were a ruling class living rather parasitically on a commu nity of aUen
traders. ,,102

The Introduction of the customs, traditions and prohibitions regarding

( the royal status by Sul!An Mu~ammad ShAh enlarged the gap between the
royal famlly and senior government officiais on one side and the general
population on the other. Eventually, Malaccan society, accordlng to

Muhammad Yusoff Hashlm, was divided into three levels: the first

conslsted of the Sul!An and the royal family; the second was the
Sultanate's officiais; and the last one was made up of the common people

who had to support the royal institution as weil as obey the rules, customs,
traditions and prohlbitions. 103 There was a hlgh degree of organlzation and

laws exlstec:t for maritime affaira, for marrlage and for sale and procedure.
These laws, reflectlng a hlgh degree of Influence from elsewhere ln the

101 Abdul Wahid, "Power and Authority," 105-106.

102 Moorhead, A History of Ma/aya, vol. 1, 137.

103 Muhammad Yusoff Hashim, Kesultanan Me/ayu Me/aka (Kuala Lumpur:

( Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementrian Pendidikan Malaysia, 1989),
272-332.
 34

Musllm world, have been complled ln a book entitled Undsng Undang

Me/ska (The Laws of Melaka).104

Meanwhile, the control of the country depended to a great extent on

the officiais, especially the Bendahara. Tun Perak, whom Winstedt has
called "the brain of Malacca's imperialist pOlicy ln Malay and Sumatra for
more than three reigns,,,105 was the most popular Bendahara. On thls

figure Moorhead writes:

This man was to play a part ln Malaccan hlstory similar to that played
in Java by GaJah Mada, and Indeed the author of the Malay Anna/s
called thase two of the greatest men of their time. He was, ln truth,
the all-powerful minister during three reigns, a real king-maker who
ensured that a relative of his own should be nominated as Sultan in
each case. Having firmly entrenched himself in power, he followed
with single-mlnded devotion a pOlicy which 100 to the f6~atlon of the
Malacca Empire and the aggrandisement of hls house.

He, with other senior officiais, totally ruled the country du ring the early
years of Sul!An Ma~mOd ShAh's reig'1, who came to the throne whlle still a
chlld. Another famous Bendahara was Tun Mutahir, who took the tltle
Bendahara Sri MaharaJa. He Is described ln the Malay Anna/s as "the
grandest of ail the Bendaharas.,,107 Thanks to his "efficient and wise
administration, and hls ability to attract forelgn traders to Malacca,,,108 he

brought the entrepot to a point where it greatly flourished, especially

during the relgn of the last Sul!An, Ma~mOd ShAh. Wilkinson describes him

104 See Uaw Yock Fang, Undang Undang Melaka (the Laws of Melaka)
(The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1976).
105 Winstedt, A History of Ma/aya, 51.

106 Moorhead, A History of Malaya, vol. 1, 132.

--.... 107 Malay Anna/s, 128.

108 Ad Il , The History of Ma/acca, 53 .

 35
as a "handsome" gentleman who "lIked looking weil, wealthy, showy, vain,
arrogant, lavish and corrupt" which won him many enemies. 109 Obviously,
the role of the Bendahara and other senior officiais was very Important and
one of the basic factors that attracted forelgn merchants to use the

facilitles at Malacca.

It was mentioned above that the cultural plurallty of the population was
a characteristic of this town. The dominant foralgn ethnie group consisted
of Tamil Muslims who had become an important element among the alite
group, whlch apparently led to competition between them and the Malay

faction. Some Important positions were occupled by the members of thls

group such as Bendahara Tun Ali, Temanggung Tun Tahlr, Bendahara Tun
Mutahlr and Temanggung Tun Hasan. 110 The successful coup d'etat led by
Raja Kaslm ln 1446, whose mother was Tamil, resultlng ln the overthrow of
( Raja Ibrahim (Sul~àn Abü Shàhid) and the subsequent accession of Raja

Kaslm as the flfth Sul~an with the tltle of Mu~affar Shah, was an Indication
of the triumph of the Tamil Muslims. 111

The poUtlcal achlevement of thls sultanate was very substantlal. The

Initiative taken by Parameswara to gain recognition from other powers ln
the raglon and even from China was very slgnlflcant for the later

development of Malacca economlcally as wall as politlcally. The cordial

relatlonshlp with China and Its vassals gave It the self-confidence needed
to reslst the politlcal and military aspirations of other reglonal powers.

109 R. J. Wilkinson, "The Malacca Sultanate," JMBRAS, vol. 13, pt. 2

(October 1935), 63·64.
110 Muhammad Yusoff Hashlm, "Masyarakat Melaka Zaman Kesultanan
dan Sifat Kosmopolitannya," ln Sandhu and Whealthy, Me/aka. 118.
(
111 Hall. A History of South-East Asia, 210.
 36
There were, for example, two unsuccessful attacks launched by Siam
during the reign of Mu~affar ShAh, trying to bring Malacca under its tutelary
system whlch extended throughout most of the Malay penlnsula at the
time. After the attacks Mu~affar ShAh inltlated peaee by sending an
embassy led by Tun Telanl to Siam. 112 From information contalned in
Chinese sources, we know that a cordial relationshlp between the rulers
was obtained by sendlng envoya wlth presents to each other. Sul!lnS of
Malacca sometlmes made royal visits to China, such as Parameswara
(Iskandar ShAh. d. 1424) in 1411, and Sul!ln Mu~ammad ShAh (d. 1444) ln
1424 and 1433,113 slnee they were beholden to the Chinese for ultimate
protection and were regarded by the Chlnese as part of their own vassal
system.

The Malacca sultanate became a chief power ln Southeast Asia.

Several states in the ragion became its vassals, su ch as the Rlau-Llngga
islands and Sumatra, Pahang, Sungai Ujung, Jeram, Langat, Inderagiri,
Palembang, Jambl, Ungga. Tungkal. Siantan, Brunei, Beruas, Bentan,
Kampar and Siak. 114 The sultanate was responslble for the securlty of
these vassals. Malacca. for Instance. sent an army to help Pahang and
Beruas when they were attacked by Llgor and Manjung. 115

The prosperity of Malacca was also supported by its status as a center

of Islamie studles. There is no doubt that Islam was an important element

.
ln this sultanate. The Malay Annals Inform us of the plety of SultAn MansOr .
112 Malay Annals, 55-62.
113 Groeneveldt, Hlstorlc.' Notes. 123-138.

-
.....
114 Adll, The Hlstory of Malacca, 38-39.
115 Abdul Wahld. "Power and Authority," 107.
 37
Shih and hls interest in religion and we even learn of how he studled
(
Islamlc teachings with Maulana Abü Bakr. In sorne rellglous matters. the

. ordered that the ~/ama' of Pasal be consulted. 116 SultAn WA' al-DTn
SultAn .
's also reported to have been a devoted Muslim. Tome Pires states that
"thls king was more devoted to the affairs of the mosque than anything
else.... He was a soUtary man and was not often in the town; and in his
time he amassed more riches and swore to go to Mecca to carry out his
father's pUgrlmage; ...." 117

EventuaUy, "Malacca's trading actlvltles enabled Islam to spread out

over a vaster area than merely poUticaUy dependent territorfes, 'ndicatlng
how important trade and shipping were as factors ln the Islamlzatlon of the
archlpelago.,,118 Islam, whlch was brought by traders to the reglon.
became both a port and court religion and played an Important role ln both

.
trade and state affalrs. It was mentloned above that the flrst SultAn of
Malacca, Parameswara. converted to Islam ln order to attract Muslim
traders ln the archlpelago, such as Pasal and Java, to come to hls new
port. From Malacca. Islam spread to Trengganu. Patanl. Kelantan. Kedah.
Rohan, Kampar, Inderaglri, Slak, Brunel "9 and even to Pahang.

. . .
SultAn Mansür ShAh was the most famous SultAn of Malacca. It was
durlng hls relgn that Malacca reached lta glory. Durlng hls relgn Malacca
was served by a group of energetlc and personally brave, young officiais,
who became legends ln Malay hlstory and Important symbols of the

116 Malay Anna/s. 90-96; Adll, The Hlstory of Malacca, 36-37.

117 pIres. The Suma. vol. 1.251.

118 Meillnk-Roelofzs. "Trade and Islam." 148.

(
119 Hall. A Hlstory of South-East As/a. 213.
 38
courage of the Malay people. These were Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang

Kesturl, Hang Leklr, Hang Ali, Hang Iskandar, Hang Hasan and Hang

Huseln. Hang Tuah was the most famous one. He was -a man of humble
birth, probably a proto-Malayan sea-gypsy from Bentan.,,120 His bravery as

weil as hls Intelligence won hlm the tltle Lalcsamana (Admlral).121 However,

It should be polnted out that thls glory Is much due to the wlsdom and the

ability of hls Bendahara, Tun Perak. This Is ln contrast wlth Sul!ln Man~ür
Shlh who, accordlng to Wilkinson, was "a man of IIHle force of character,
colourless, unwarllke and perhaps personaUy unambltlous.,,122

.
Mansür Shlh's son, who succeeded hlm and took the tltle SultAn CAlA' .
al-DTn RI«iyah ShAh, was probably the most able Sul!An of Malacca. He

was "a man of energy and great physlcal strength, he dld not allow hls
country to be governed by hls offlcers.,,123 He was the only one able to rid

the country of bandltry, and the only Sul!An who was so much concerned

about hls people that he secretly went out to Inspect the city. Pires states
that "at nlght he used to go about the city ln person; ...he slept IIttle....,,124

He had many enemles, partlcularly among hls senior officiais who were

annoyed by thl. break wlth the tradition of allowlng them to govern ln the

Sul!ln'. name. The bitter Jealousy of hls brother, who clalmed to have the

rlght to be a Sul!ln, also created a dangerous situation. The early death of

the Sul!ln Is not entlrely surprlslng- Albuquerque states that he was

120 Wilkinson, "The Malacca Sultanate," 41.

121 Adn, The History of Malacca, 30, 38-39.

122 Wilkinson, "The Malacca Sultanate," 50.

,...,. 123 Ibid., 52.

,. . 124 Pires, The Suma, vol. 2, 249.
 39
poisoned-125 and may suggest the important role played by hls senior
(
offlclals. 126

.. .
SultAn Mahmüd ShAh, the last SultAn of Malacca, was ln many ways

unlike Man~ür ShAh. He became Sul!An whlle still a chlld. Durlng hls
mlnority it was Bendahara Tun Perak and other senior officiais who ruled

the country. Tun Perak (d. 1498) was succeeded by hls brother, Tun
Perpatlh and later Tun Mutahlr was appolnted as Bendahara wlth the tltle
"Bendahara Sri Maharaja". It seems that the prosperlty of Malacca durlng

thls tlme was due to thls talented man. There are confllctlng reports about
the character and abllities of the Sul!ln. In one report he Is portrayed as a
figure who practiced "the bad habit of womanlsing.,,127 Pires says that "he

was a great eater and drlnker, brought up to live weil and vlclously. He was

feared by the other klngs; when they spoke to hlm It was with great
( reverence and courtesles of their klnd.,,128 However, the Malay Anna/s

Inform us that he was also much concerned about religlouB matters, partly

awlng to his having been the pupil of Maulana Sardar Jahan. He also used

ta send Tun Mu~ammad to Pasal to seek answers to theologlcal

questlons. 129

Durlng the relgn of thls SUI!ln the flrst Portuguese fleet led by Dlogo

Lapez de Sequelra arrlved at Malacca ln 1509. The prosperlty of Malacca

125 Albuquerque, The Commentarles, vol. 3, 81.

126 For the discussion on thls event Bee Muhammad Vusoff Hashlm,
Kesultanan Me/ayu Me/aka, 113-127.
127 Adll, The History of Malacca, 50.
128 Pires, The Suma, vol. 2, 253.
( 129 Malay Anna/s. 145-149.
 40

attracted the Portuguese, with the result that later Albuquerque took
- ......
Malacca ln 1511 and forced the Sul!ln to flee the country. The power of the

Portuguese could not be sternmed, though the Sul!ln and hls allies reslsted

for a tlme, after being deposed. Eventually, Sul!ën Ma~müd spent the rest

of his IIfe in Kampar (Sumatra), where he dled in 1528, and came to be

known as "Marhum Kampar.,,130 His downfall and the capture of Malacca

by the portuguese Inaugurate a new era ln the history of thls reglon.

c. The Portuguese in Malacca

It was a rernarkable achievement for Portugal, a small and weak
country in commercial terms, to have acquired the capabllity to explore
,
l
"" much of the world. The Portuguese were driven by the need for gold and

silver ln Medieval Europe to meet commercial demands and to support the

appetltes of royalty whlch were to lead to the first European expansion .131

This began when the Portuguese captured Ceuta (In North-West Africa) in

1415, under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navlgator, an event

regarded as "the flrst stage of the overseas expansion of Europe.,,132 This

success was followed by Vasco da Gama's achlevement, thanks to

Bartolomeu Dlas's reports of a voyage to the southern extremlty of Africa

ten years 9arller,133 ln reachlng Calicut (Indla) and openlng It to trade ln

130 Ad Il , The History of Malacca, 57-75; Stone, From Malacca, 38-40; R. J.

Wilkinson, "The Fall of Malacca," JMBRAS, vol. 13, pt. 2 (October,
1935), 68-69.
131 Parker Thomas Moon, Imperia/ism and World Politics (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1964), 9.

132 C. R. Boxer, Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415-1825: A

Succinct Survey (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of Callfornla
Press, 1969), 5.
 41

1497. He returned to Calicut with well-armed ships and took it in 1502. 134
(
Albuquerque, who first came to India in 1503 and was appointed governor-
general there, took Goa ln 1510 and used it as the Portuguese base in

India.1t was not untll1511 that hetook Malacca. 135

The conquests in two continents in a single century by the Portuguese

raises the question of how they could have achleved so much in such a
IIHle time. The flrst factor is, certalnly, the technical advances that they

enjoyed in navigation, ship-building for both trading and fightlng purposes,

and arms-manufacture. 136 However, in addition to these, there are the

more important factors of refigion and trade. These can also be suggested
as keys to the success of the portuguese expansion. For Instance, The

seizure of Ceuta, which had a majority Musllm population, was insplred by

both the crusading spirit and trading Interests. Accordlng to J. H. Parry:
{
Ceuta offerad many possibllitles: a base for advance Into Morocco, or
for an aHack on Gibraltar, the other great Moorish fortress in the
western Mediterranean; the incentive, and probably to some extent
the information, needed for the beginning of systematlc Afrlcan
exploration and trade. With the capture of Centa •$Ic· the crusadlng
movement passed trom its medleval to Its modern phase; from a war
against Islam in the Medlterranean basin ta a general struggle to carry
the cqg,.lan falth and European commerce and arms round the
world.

The mixed purposes ot war (crusade) and trade were the main teature not

133 Edgar Prestage, The portuguese Ploneers (London: Adam & Charles
Black, 1966),222-226.
134 Ibid.,248-269; G. R. Crone, The Dlscovery of The East, (London:
Hamish Hamilton, 1972),27-39; Boxer, Four Centuries, 12-14.
135 Crone, The Discovery, 46-54.

136 J. H. Parry, The Establishment of The European Hegemony: 1415-1715

(New York and Evanston: Harper Torchbooks, 1966), 13-25.
13 7 Ibid" 10-11 ,
 42
only of the Portuguese expanslon,138 but of sorne other European

countries, such as Spain, where, accordlng to Parry "crusadlng was in the

blood of most men of gentle blrth and adventurous Impulses.,,139 So

commltted were the Portuguese to Christlanlty that Prince Henry himself

"became the apostolic admlnistrator of the Order of Christ," and eventually

"the progress of the Christian mission ln the East was consequently related
to the success and fallure of the emplre-bullders.,,140 The religlous and

social pollcles of the Portuguese were known as "Parado: relentless war

agalnst the Muslims, and frlendshlp and toleration for the heathens.,,141 To

sum up the relation between Portuguese colonialism and Christlanlty, it is

enough to quote Laurence A. Noonan who says:

few historlans would deny that religion played a very signifieant part
in the story of Portugal's colonial development; wherever the
portuguese went, thetr priests went wlth them: wherever they settled,
the church rose alongside the fort or trading post. and the conversion
to Christianity of the native people was regard~ 4~s a matter of
rejolcing by the merchants as weil as by the prlests.

After capturing Goa ln 1610, Albuquerque turned hls attention to

Malacca. He left Cochin for Malacca on May 2nd, 1511 wlth eighteen shlps

containlng 800 Portuguese, and from 300 to 600 Malabaris. 143 He was not

138 Ibid.; Boxer, Four Centuries, 6-6; Donald F. Lach, Asia in the maklng of
Europe, vol.1, bk.1 (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago
Press, 1966),60-62.
139 Parry, The Establishment, 10-11.
140 LaCh, Asia, 229.
141 Ibid., 233.
142 Laurence A. Noonan, The Flrst Jesuit Mission ln Malacca: A Study of
the Use of the Portuguese Trading Centre as a Base for Chritian
Mlssionary Expansion During the Years 1545 to 1552 (Lisboa: Centro De
Estudos Historlcos Ultramarlnos Da Junta De Investigacoes
Clentiflcas Do Ultramar, 1974),1-2.
 43
the flrst European to come to this entrepot, sinee oiogo Lopez de Sequeira
( had reached Malacca with five ships on September 11th, 1509. He
encountered hostlIIty from the people there, whlch resulted in the jailing of
Ruy de Araujo with twenty Portuguese sallors and their subsequent
expulsion from the town. On hls way ta Malacca Albuquerque stopped at
Pldle, thanks ta the help of a Gujaratl sallor whom he had met at sea. At
thls port he found elght or nlne Portuguese who had accompanied de
Sequeira and who had escaped from Malacca. After Pldle, he stopped at
Pasal and then reached Malacca in early July 1511. A few days after his
arrivai, Albuquerque started ta attack Malacca by burning houses along the
coast and severa 1 Malaccan junks anchored at the port. He apparently
succeeded in releasing ail the Portuguese prisoners. Ruy de Araujo was
able ta provlde very important Information for the second attack. The

( bridge which joined the southern part, where the palace and the
administration center were located, to the northern part, the commercial
center, was the first target of the Portuguese. On July 25th, 1511
Albuquerque launched his second attack on Malacca. The portuguese
succeeded ln landlng in Malacca, taklng the bridge and burnlng many
houses, includlng the palace of the Sul!ln. Yet, the strong resistance of the
Malaccans forced them back to their vessels. Finally, on August 25th,
Albuquerque launched the last attack which ended with his capturlng
Malacca and forcing the Sul!An to leave his palace. 144

143 Winstedt, A History of Malaya, 66. Different account is glven by

Whiteway. He suggests that thls fleet "started on April 2Oth, 1511
with eighteen shlps and 800 men at arms besides slaves." See R. S.
Whiteway, The Rise of the Portuguese Power ln Ind/a 1497-1550
(London: Susit Gupta, 1967), 141.
144 Adil. The History of Malacca, 58-68; Winstedt, A Hlstory of Malaya,
( 65-70; Whiteway. The Rise of the Portuguese, 141-144; Moorhead, A
Hislory of Ma/aya. vol. 1, 157-169; F. C. Da n vers, The Portuguese ln
 44
.. The early years of the Portuguese occupation of Malacca are Identlfied

with several military incidents, slnce Sul!ln Ma~müd, now ln exile, trled
continuously to retake Malacca. The mllitary incidents were launched trom

several ragions where the Sul!An altern ltely reslded, such as Hampar,
Muar, Pagoh and Bentan.

After conquerlng Malacca, Albuquerque declded to return to Goa ln

December 1511. He left '1Vlth three shlps and a junk. He was salling in the
shlp Fior de la Mar, whlch was loaded wlth spoils and treasures trom the
Malacca sultanate and whlch was descrlbed by Danvers as "the richest
spolls that had ever been collected slnce the Portuguese flrst arrlveel in
Indla.,,145 On Its way to Indla. the vessel was wrecked by a storm and sank

off the Sumatra coast, near Aru. 146 Albuquerque was nevertheless able to
reach India with two other ships in early February 1512. 147

From that tlme on, Malacca became one of the most important

Portuguese porta ln the east and was vislted regularly by their traders.

However, the number of Portuguese who settled ln thls entrepot was very

Ind/a, vol. 1 (New York: Octagon Books, 1966), 220-228: R. W.

McRoberts, "An Examlnatlon of the Fall of Malacca in 1511,"
JMBRAS, vol. 57, pt. 1 (1984),26-39.
145 Oanvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1. 239.
146 It has been conflrmed that the remalns of the sunken ship have been
dlscovered about flve miles to the north of Jambo Aye, ln north Aceh.
Items found by a marine archeologlst Robert Marx have been
conflrmed by Maritime Museums in Usbon and Amsterdam ln early
1991. The remalna dated to around 1500. The value of treasures could
reach US 9 billion dollars which could involve Indonesian , Malayslan,
and Portuguese governments in the distribution of the treasures. As of
now the process of searchlng these remalns and treasures has been
put on hold by the Indoneslan government. See Tempo, Vol. 21, No.
S (March 30, 1991), 14 .
..........
147 Whlteway, The Rise of the Portuguese. 144-145; Moorhead. A History of
Afa/aYI, vol. 1,175-176; Winstedt, A History afMa/sYI, 71.
 45
IImited. perhaps not exceeding 600 people. This small number was
(
certainly due to the long distance between Usbon and Malacca.
Furthermore. Portugal. whlch had only one or one and a half million people
ln the slxteenth century, had few men to share among ail lta colonies,
namely Brazil. Morocco. West Afrlca, East Afrlca and South and East Asla.
Usbon settled about 7000 men in Indla and an addition al 4000 or 5000 were
belng prepared for the expedltlon to Morocco. 148

The Importance of the entrepot of Malacca. "holding the gates to one

of the most strategie maritime hlghways of the tlme." 149 motlvated the
Portuguese to organize and Improve thelr defence system. The first
declsion was to bulld a fortress. The place chosen for thls by Albuquerque
was the southern part of Malacca. where the palace and mosque were
located. 150 This building WBS completed ln January 1512. So beautlful was
( the fort that the Portuguese called it "A Famosa" (The famous).151 It
became the center of fortified Malacca. The other decision WBS to
strengthen the eity by uslng sorne surroundlng hills as mllitary centers. such
as St. Paul's Hill. the hill of Buklt Pipi (St. John's Hill), and Buklt Clna
(Chlnese HIII).152

148 1. A. Macgregor. "Notes on the Portuguese ln Malaya." JAfBRAS. vol.

28, pt. 2 (May, 1955),6-17.
149 D. R. Sar Oesal, "The Portuguese Administration ln Malacca
1511-1641," JSEAH, vol. 10, no. 3 (December. 1969),503.

150 Moorhead. A History of Malaya, vol. 1, 169.

151 E. Kock. "Portuguese History of Malacca." JSBRAS. vol. 17 (June.
1886), 126-127.
152 Moorhead, A History of Malaya, vol. 1, 177-179; Rev. Fr. R.
( Cardon. "Portuguese Malacca." JMBRAS. vol. 12. pt. 2 (August. 1934),
1-2,20.
 46
As far as port administration was con cerned , it appears that the

portuguese recognlzed the well-organized administration of the Sul!lns of

Malacca and kept much of It in place. D. R. Sar Oesal argues that

Portugal was "a backward European state. wlth very IIttle commercial
tradition. Consequently, she lacked a sophlstlcated, weil developed
administrative system. ,,163 Reflectlng earlier Malaccan practlce the
Bendahara "had authorlty over ail non-Christlans and strangers,,,154 the

Temanggung controlled "the Mlnangkabau and Malay vassals on Nanlng

and Rlngy,,,156 and the Shahbandars controlled the customs and foreign

shlpping, received forelgn envoys and ln general acted as assistant of the

Bendahara. 156 The flrst Bendahara appointed by Albuquerque was a

Hindu, named Ninachatu. This Is an indication of the Portuguese preference

of other re:igions over Islam, as was the case ln Goa. 157 This was an

expression of thelr enmlty towards Musllms whlch they carried wlth them
trom thelr own great struggles against Muslims ln their own country in the

previous century.

The administration of the Portuguese ln Malacca was centrallzed in the

Town Hall, "where the meetings of the Councll were held.,,158 ln general

the chief officiai ln Malacca was the Captain of the fortress, who was
apPolnted by the King. He was supported by the officiais of the Municipal

163 Sar Oesal, "The Portuguese Administration," 604.

154 Moorhead, A History of Malaya, vol. 1, 184.

155 Wlnstedt, A History of Mataya, 88.

156 Moorhead, A History of Mataya, vol. 1, 184.

167 Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1,228-231; Sar Oesal, "The portuguese
..,... Adminstratlon." 608-509 .
168 Moorhead, A History of Ma/aya, vol. 1, 184.
 47
Couneil, "some of whom were appointed by the government, whilst others
(
were elected, or became members by virtue of their office.,,159 On thls

matter Moorhead wrltes:

ln the flrst group were the Chief Justice (Ouvidor) and the Secretary of
State. In the second were seven aldermen, elected each year by their
fellow cltlzens. Their dutles were to asslst ln the deliberatlons of the
Cou nclI, to aet as maglstrates under the direction of the Chief Justice,
and to supervise the distribution of the Income of the city. It Is
probable that from one of thase elected representatlves the Viador or
Mayor was elected. in the thlrd catego~mas the Bishop of Malacca
and the Mlnisters of the House of Mercy.

There were three suburbs on the outskirts of Malacca. The flrst and the
most Important was Upeh. It was the largest and most populo us suburb,
where foreign merchants lived. The other two were Yler (Bandar Hillr) and
Sabba (Bunga Raya).161

( Basides hls building the fortress soon after the capture of Malacca,
Albuquerque also bullt a church ca lied "Our Lady of the Annunelatlon"

whieh was later called "Our Lady of the Assumptlon" near his famous
Famosa. This was the flrst church bullt ln Malacca. The most famous
church, however, was the church of "Our Lady of the Annunclation" on St.

Paul Hill. whlch was bullt by Duarte Coelho ln 1521 as a symbol of hls
gratitude for "hi8 escape in 1519 from an attack by the Chinese.,,162

Albuquerque also bullt a hospltal for hls people whlch he named the "Royal

159 Ibid.

160 Ibid.
161 E. Manuel Gadlnho De Eredla, "Description of Malacca and
Meridional 'ndla and Cathay ln Three Treaties," transe and annote by J.
V. Mills, JMBRAS, vol. 8, pt. 1 (1930), 19-20; Moorhead, A History of
Malays, vol. 1, 182.
(
162 Moorhead. A History of Malays, vol. 1. 186.
 48

Hospital."

The Christian misslonary activlty in Malacca was carrled out by the

Portuguese in the hope of repeating the very successful conversion in Goa,

whose bishop ln 1534 "was glven eccleslastical jurlsdlctlon over the vast
territory Iylng between the Cape of Good Hope in the west and the 'islands
of China' ln the east.,,163 The flrst Jesuit mission arrlvect at Malacca in

1545-1546 under St. Francis Xavier. Later, on his way to the Moluccas,

Japan and China, he vlsited this town twice- ln 1550 and 1553. The first
Jesult collage was founded in 1549. It was not untll 1558 that this town

became a blshopric. 164

Unllke Goa, where Christlanity was so successful that Xavier ca lied It

an "entlrely Christian City, ,,165 it appears that Malacca and its environs

were not sultable areas for Christian missionary work. 166 There was no

mass conversion of the people. Accordingly, Malacca "became an

administrative center for the church but not a great misslon.,,167 However,

Malacca was used as a stepping stone for Christian missions ln the

Celeb., the MOluccas, Ambon, Ternate and aven to sorne extent to

Japan, China, the Philippines and Cambodla. 168

163 Lach, As/a, 235.

164 Ibid., 287: Macgregor, "Notes on the Portuguese," 39.

165 Francis Xavler's letter to Loyola, Usbon, July 23, 1540, ln
Schurhammer and Wicki, ads., Epls'oiae S. Franc/si Xaverll Allaque e/us
Scrlpta, " (Rome, 1945), 121, quoted ln Lach, Asla, 247.

166 Macgregor, "Notes on the Portuguese," 39.

- 167 Lech, As/a, 287.

168 Ibid., 286.
 49

The Portuguese power in Malacca lasted until January 14, 1641. wh en it

( succumbed to an attack by the Dutch.169 The losa of their power can be

traced to some important factors. The inefficlency of the Portuguese in

handling thaïr trade which was monopollzed by the Portuguese

hlerarchy170 that controlled Malacca, and corruption 171 forced portuguese

trade Into decllne. An unfavorable customs pollcy172 resulted ln a

decrease ln the number of traders coming to thls entrepot. The boycott of

the Javanese, the main source of rlee for Malacca, weakened Malacca. The

Portuguese also had to face bath economlc and mllitary blockades from

other regions in the archipel aga. During the settlement of Malacca by the

Portuguese. Muslim traders were reluctent to come to Malacca. and

Instead used the other ports, such as Aceh, Johor. Dell. Perak and Bantam.

The Portuguese also responded to major mllitary attacks by Aceh. Johor.

( Java and even Ternate,173 whlch regarded the portuguese as high-handed

ln trade matters and as posing a religious threat ta the region. The

Portuguese also had ta struggle agalnst the unhealthlness of Malacca 174

which resulted ln much iIIness and death. In hls article entltled "Notes on

the portuguese ln Malaya." Macgregor wt1tes:

169 Moorhead, A History of Malaya, vol. 1,234.

170 Macgregor. "Note on the Portuguese." 17-20.

171 Ibid., 29: Winstedt, A History of Malaya, 90.

172 An eight percent tax wal imposed upon goods comlng from Pegu,
Sumatra. Singapore and Sabah 'nstead of six percent of universal
tax. A dlscrlmlnatory twelve percent tax was also made on goods
coming from India, except from Bengal. See McGregor, "Notes on the
Portuguese." 25-27: Sar Desal, "The Portuguese Administration,"
506-507.
173 Moorhead. A History of Ma/aya, vol. 1. 190-213.
(
174 Macgregor. "Notes on the Portuguese." 12-13.
 50
Malacca was not always an easy place for Portuguese: there were
times when the men were in arms day and night , sleeping at the foot
of the stockades, exposed to the winds and rain, iII-fed and 111-
clothed. For every one who survived these th\'W;' and reached worldly
succesa there were many who dled or falled.

He adds that "mlsfortune, or an early death, or both were, only too often,

the fate of the Portuguese who came to the East ln the slxteenth and
seventeenth centurles.,,176

175 Ibid., 41.

176 Ibid.
j

Chapter 2

THE RESPONSE OF THE ACEHNESE TO THE PORTUGUESE

The nature of the portuguese presence at Malacca prompted active

reslstance from the people of the raglon. Based as It was on rellglous
Intolerance and on trade rnonopolles, they threatened nearly ail other
Inhabltants and vlsltora ln the raglon. Consequently, several states
challenged the Portuguese, wlth Aceh Dlr ai-Salim belng the most
persistent. lt8 opposition was expressed through military actlvltles, polltles

and trade as weil as rellglous spirit.

( A. Mllitary Encounter

On hls way to Malacca ln 1509, Dlogo Lopez de Saquai ra anchored at

Pldle, where he found the h08pltallty of lta KIng who proposed to be a
frlend and an ally of the Portugueae ln the raglon. He recelved the lame
treatment ln Pasal atterwarda. 1 Later, ln 1511, Albuquerque stopped at
Pldle whare he found elght or nlne portugueae men of Saqualra's fleet who
eacaped from Malacca and recelved h08pltallty from the KIng of Pldle. For
thle klndn_, Albuquerque -expreaaed hlrnaelf sensible of thll Instance of

frlendshlp, and renewed wlth the sultan the alliance that had been formed
by Saquelra. -2 From Pldle he proceeded to Pasal whlch wal laid by hll

1 William Maraden, The Histaty of Sumatra, a reprint of the thlrd ad., Introd.
by John Baatln (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Preaa, 1988), 408.

2 Ibid •• 407: Danver8. The Portuguese, vol. 1, 221.

51
 52
imprisoned friends to have been hostile to them by killing one of them and

forcing them to flee to Pidie. In this country he found the Sul!An in fear of
the Portuguese. Albuquerque proceeded to Malacca from Pasal.
However, on his way he had a confrontation with a large junk. After killing

forty of its men. Albuquerque induced the rest to surrender and become
vassals of Portugal. The leader of the junk was Zayn al-CAbidin. the former

Sul!ln of Pasai. who had been overthrown by his brother. He was on his
way to Java seeklng ald. Eventually. Albuquerque promised hlm hls throne

after flnishing hls mllitary expeditlon to Malacca and asked him to come

wlth the Portugueae to Malacca.3

Pidie and Pasai in the early sixteenth century obvlously had a cordial
relation wlth the Portuguese. 80th were visited by Portuguese

ambassadors who brought presents from the King of Portugal. Those

ambassadors also vlsited the Kings of Pegu, Siam and Bengal for the same

reason. 4 Taklng peppers from Pasal on hls way to China in 1516. Fernando

de Andrade received a frlendly welcome from the King.5 However, the

relation was interrupted by some Incidents. Marsden mentions that about

the same year. Garcia de Sa. the governor of Malacca, sent Manuel
Pacheco to attack Pasal.6 Furthermore, the confllct betwen Zayn
al-CAbidin, who had regained the throne. and Diogo Vaz resulted in the

murder of ail the portuguese men. As a reault, Jorge de Albuquerque. the

commander of Malacca. WBS dlspatched to Pasai in 1521. According to

3 Marsden, Sumatra, 408; Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1, 222: Sald, ACM,
128-129.
4 Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1,330.

5 Marsden, Sumatra, 221.

"
6 Ibid., 412.
1

53
Marsden, Albuquerque and his 300 men attacked Zayn al·%idin's army of
(
3000 soldiers and killed about 2000 of them. Albuquerque lost about 5 or 6
men and several others were wounded, Includlng himself. After thls vlctory,

Albuquerque built a fortress in the area to secure the Portuguese

presence. 7

Unlike Pidle and Pasai, Aceh showed a dlfferent response to the

Portuguese. About 1519, a shlp under Gaspar de Costa was lost near Aceh
and was attacked by the Acehnese. Many of her crew were killed and the
rest, Includlng de Costa, were Imprlsoned. Nina Cunapam, the Shahbandar

of Pasai. payed a ransom to the Sul!an of Aceh, and de Costa was

released to hlm for repatriatlon to Malacca.8 It was not long after this

Incident that another shlp under Joano de Uma was attacked near Aceh

port and ail her men were killed. In retribution Jorge De Brlto in 1521 led a
( fleet from west India wlth hls 200 men and attacked Aceh, whlch reslsted

with a force of 1000 men and 8 efephants. De Srlto waa aoundly defeated
and he, with most of his men, was kllled.9

A year earller, IbrahTm, the brother of «;1\11 Mughlyah Shah, the Sul~ln

of Aceh who ruled between 1511-1530, lad a milltary expadition to Daya

and took the town. 10 ln 1521, with 1000 men and 50 elephants, he

7 Ibid., 414-415,417.
8 Joao de Barros, Scheeps· Togten en Dappere Krygsbedryven door Dlogo
Copez de Sequeira, gedaan na en in dOCost·lndlen, ln 't Jasr 1518 en
vervolgens (ultg Pleter van der As, Leiden 1707), 29-30; P. A. Tiele, "De
Europeera ln den Malelache Archipel," Bljdragen tot de Taa/-, Land-en
Vollcenkunde, 4 e. vlgr, 1(1877), 383, in Iakandar, Hikayat Aceh, 37.
9 Scheeps-Togten, 216-222; Joao de Barroa, Geschlchte der Entdecleungen
und Eroberungen der Portugiesen lm Orient, ed., Dietrich Wlhelm Soltao,
vol. III (Braunschweig, 1821), 167-169, ln lakandar. Hlkayat Aceh, 37-38.
(
10 Iskandar. Hileayat Aceh, 41.
 54
besieged the Portuguese in Pidle under the command of Manuel. the

brother of Andre Henriquez (the governor of Pasal fort). He killed Henriquez

wlth hls 35 men. 11 even though they were hefped by their friends in Pasal

under Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo. 12 ln 1524 Aceh launched an attack

on Andre Henrlquez in Pasai. Danvers states that "the king of Achln

overran ail the country with fire and sword. and entering the city of Pacem
with 15.000 men. he summoned Dom Andre to surrender.,,13

These actlvltles reveal dlfferent responses of the ports. Pldle. from the
early vlsit of the Portuguese. showed a frlendly response. Pasal was

dlstinctly hostile to the Portuguese during their early contact. but in time

became a friend and a vassal of thls European intruder. The Portuguese

were Interested ln building commercial refations with both Pasal and Pldie

for thelr pepper. Their polltical role ln Pasal. accordlng to Kartodlrdjo.

reached a consensus on glvlng the Portuguese the rlght to both bulld a

fortress and to malntaln a monopoly on the pepper trade. 14

Unllke Pldle and Pasal the rulers of Aceh never compromlsed wlth the

Portuguese and used mlIItary power Instead. A discussion of the motivation

of the Acehnese behlnd this response will be given later. However, by

drlvlng out ail the Portuguese settlements in Daya (1520), Pidle (1521) and

Pasal (1524). tAIT MughAyah ShAh proved to be a strong ru 1er and the flrst

Sul!An of Aceh to control the whole Aceh reglon which was called Aceh Dar

11 Marsden. Sumatra. 419.

12 Danvers. The Portuguese. vol. 1. 356.

13 Danvers. The Portuguese. vol. 1. 356.

14 Sartono Kartodirdjo, Pengantar SeJarah Indonesia Baru: 1500-1900, jilld
1 (Jakarta: Gramedia, 1988), 38-39.
 55

al-Sa/im. 15
(
After the conquest of Pasai and until the death of 'Ni Mughayah ShAh

in 1530, there were no major mllitary expeditions on either slde, but two

incidents indicated the intense feeling of the Acehnese and the Portuguese

toward one another. The first was ln 1528 when Simao de Sousa, on his

way to the Moluccas from Cochin, was forced to take shelter ln the port of

Aceh because of a violent storm. He was attacked by the Acehnese who

kllJed hlm and most of hls men. Danvers says that he "was eut to
pleces.,,16 Not only was brutality shown by the Acehnese, but also by the

portuguese when Francisco de Meflo, who was sent ta lead an armed

vessel to Goa, klIIed ail 300 Acehnese and 40 Arabs ln a shlp returnlng from

Mecca off the coast of Aceh in 1527. 17

The relations between Aceh and the Portuguese during the first three

decades of the sixteenth century were marked by violence and war. Still,

Aceh at the tlme was not yet a genuine threat to the Portuguese settlement

ln Malacca. However, it rose rapldly as a mlIItary power. Its vlctory over

the Portuguese saved the north part of Sumatra from the Western

enterprlse for several centuries and led to its being a power whlch "rested

ln large part on weapons captured from the Portuguese, and probably also

on the support of the Musllm commercial elements from the old trading

centres of Pasai and Pidle.,,18 Fernao Lopez Castanheda Inslsted that

15 Djajadinlngrat, Kesultanan Aceh, 20: Iskandar, Hlkayat Aceh, 41. Bustin

a/-Sa/atln conflrms that he was the first SultAn of Aceh DAr ai-SalAm.
See T. rskandar. Bustanu's-Sa/atin, 22, 31. .

16 Danvers, The Portuguese. vol. 1. 388: see also Marsden, Sumatra,

424-425.
( 17 Sumatra, 423-424.
 56

Aceh at this time "was much better supplied with artillery than was the
fortress of Malacca.,,19

The first attack launched by Aceh on Malacca was in September 1537,

and was led by Sul!An CAlA' al-DTn AiCAyah ShAh, the son of "AIT MughAyah

ShAh. This surprise attack, supported by about 3000 fightlng men, was

successful in landing on the first night in Malacca. However, over the

following two nights the Acehnese force was driven out by the Portuguese

with heavy IOSS88.20 The scale of the attack indlcated that Aceh was what
Danvers called an "Irreconcllable enemy of the Portuguese.,,21

It was not until1547 that Aceh launched a second formidable attack on

Malacca. The fleet, consistlng of 60 ships with 5000 men, landed at night in

Malacca, took Upeh, burned two Portuguese vessels ln the port and

captured seven flshermen. Having cut off their noses, ears and feet, the

Acehnese commander sent a letter to the portuguese commander, Simao

de Mello, wrltten wlth the blood of the fishermen. 22 Fernao Mendez Pinto

provldes ln hls book the content of the letter as follows:

l, Blyaya Sora, son of Seriblyaya, Pracama de Raja, who, for his honor,

18 Anthony Aeid, "Slxteenth Century Turkish Influence ln Western

Indonesia," JSEAH, vol. 10, no. 3 (December 1969), 400; Marsden,
Sumatra, 418·419.
19 Fernao Lopez de Castanheda, Historia do Descobrimento e Conquis ta da
Indla Pelas Portugueses, Uvro VII (Colmbra, 1554), Caps. 84, 85, 100 ln
C. A. Boxer, "A Note on portuguese Reactions ta the Revival of the
Aed Sea Spice Trade and the Aise of Acheh, 1540-1600," JSEAH, vol.
10, no. 3 (December. 1969),415·516.

20 Winstedt. A History of Ma/aya, 79; Moorhead, A History of Ma/aya, vol. 1,

198.
21 Danvers, The porruguese, vol. 1, 480.
... "
22 Ibid., 480 .
 57

has stor~:rway ln golden jewel boxes the favor of the great Sultan
( Alaradim, in the form of a candleholder sweetened with incense
tablets from the holy House of Mecca, King of Achin and the land
from sea to sea, hereby make known to thee so that thou ln turn
mayest Inform thy King that in thls sea of his where 1 have come to
rest, terrifying his fortress with my might, 1 intend to keep on fishing
here in spite of him, come what May, for as long as 1 please. And to
prove that 1 mean what 1 say, 1 am taklng over this land and Ils
Inhabitants with ail the other elements on up to the lunar heaven.
Furthermore, 1 hereby certlfy, wlth words that come from my own
mouth, that thy King has been vanquished and stripped of ail honor,
and that his standards lie trampled ln the dust, never agaln to be
raised with the permission of one who has conquered hlm, slgnlfylng
that he has laid hls head beneath the fleet of my King, 8S all-
conquering lord, whose slave he shall be from thls day forward. And
to make thee confess to the truth of what 1say, 1challenge thee, from
here where 1 ~~nd. to come forth If, on hls behalf, thou wouldst
cantradlct me.

De Mello, however, refused to accept the challenge because his troops

were very few. Francis Xavier, who was later sainted by the Cathollc

Church for his efforts at Christianizing ln the East, was in Malacca at that

1 (
time and played an important role in arousing the militant spirit of the

anxlous defenders. He said to them:

Come now, brothers, gentlemenl ... Do not be dlsheartened, for 1

assure you that the lord our God Is wlth us, and ln hls name 1 urge
each one of Vou not to refuse to go along on this holy expedition
because It Is hls will that we do 80. As for the dlfflcultles ralsect by the
factor regardlng the lack of supplies for repalrlngiRe fleet, that Is not
reason enough to deter us from our holy purpose.

There was a strong religious spirit arnong the portuguese of the time and

Xavier's remarks were intended to appeal to that spirit as a means of

survlving the formidable forces confronting them. His remarks also Indlcate

23 cAla' al-Din RifAyah Shah

24 Fernao Mendez Pinto. The Travel of Mendez Pinto, ed. and transe by
Rebecca D. Catz (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago
Press, 1989), 455.
(
25 Pinto. The T,avels. 456.
 58

that the Portuguese venture in the East was often seen as "holy" and God-
..... '
Insplred even though primarily economlc in content.

Flndlng an ali-out assault Impractlcal and the Portuguese unwilling to

flght away from the city, the Acehnese resorted to a blockade of Malacca.
To do thls the Acehnese proceeded to Perils, where they built a fort as a

base fc" attacklng "ail shlps from Goa, Bengal, Siam or Pegu, bearlng food
and reinforcments for the beieaguered.,,26 8y thls effort, they trled ta

"close completefy the northern entrance of the Straits ta Portuguese

shlpping, and by thls long distance blockade, to starve their great rival to
death.,,27

After repairlng sorne vessels, a small fleet under the command of Dom

Fransisco de Eca was sent to pursue the Acehnese in the Perlis river. The

fleet consisted of ten ships with 230 men.28 !n the meantime, the allied

forces of Johor, Perak and Pahang, which were foes of Aceh, with 300

warshlps and 8000 men anchored several days at the harbour of Malacca,
most probably to help the Portuguese and ta 11ft the blockade that was

apparently harmlng thelr !nterests. It took two months for the portuguese

fleet to locate the Acehnese troops whom they met eventually ln battle on
the Perils river. In a furious flght the Portuguese killed 4000 Acehnese and

captured the remaining 1000, sank 20 vessels, and conflscated 300

cannons and about 1000 muskets. The Portuguese lost only 26 of their

men and 150 were wounded.29

26 Moorhead, A History of ma/aya, vol. 1, 197.

27 Ibid.

" 28 Ibid., 453-466; see also, Dan vers , The Portuguese, vol. 1, 481.

29 Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1; Winstedt, A History of Ma/aya, 80-81;

 59
Again in 1564. sorne fifteen years after their defeat in the Perils river.
the "Achinese war fleets were very active in Malaya waters. ,,30 It was not
until January 20th. 1568 that another siege was launched agalnst
Malacca. 31 It was the largest and the strongest attack sent agalnst
Malacca. The fleet was led ln person by the Sul!ln. f'All' al-DTn RlfAyah
ShAh. Diogo do Couto tells us that ln this expeditlon the Sul~ln was al80
accompanied by hls wlfe and his three sons. 32 The fleet was supported by
15.000 men. 400 Ottoman elite troops and 200 bronze cannons. The attack
came as a surprise to the Portuguese who were celebrating the birthday of
King Sebastian when the initial attack occured. There were only 1500 men
defending Malacca. 200 of whom were Portuguese while the rest were
recruited locally.33 Faced with overwhelming odds the Portuguese asked
for help from Johor and Kedah. but their forces did not arrive in Malacca

( until the Portuguese had successfully defended the city agalnst the
Acehnese attempt at conquering il. Accordlng to Portuguese sources,
about 4000 Acehnese were killed, including tAbd AllAh, the son of the
Sul!àn who ruled at Aru. {)ut of anger at Johor for having helped the
Portuguese, the Acehnese stopped there on thar way home and burned
several of its vmages.34

Moorhead. A History of Ma/aya. vol. 1. 196-197.

30 ,. A. Macgregor. "A Sea Fight Near Singapore in the 1570's," JMBRAS,
vol. 29. pt. 3 (August 1956),6.
31 Reid. "Turkish Influence. "405.

32 Joao de Barros and Diogo do Couto, Da 'Asla de Joao de Barros e de

Oiogo do Couto, 8, chap. 22 (Lisbon: Na Regia Officina Typografica,
1778-88). 133-163, ln notes given in Pinto, The Tfavels, 559.
33 Winstedt, A History of Ma/aya. 81; Danvers. The Portuguese. vol. 1. 535;
Hall. A History of Southeast Asia. 241. Hall made mistake in dating this
( attack. i.e. 1558.
,
60

ln 1570, a Portuguese fleet of fourteen ships met an Acehnese fleet

consistlng of sixtY armed ships near the port of Aceh. Eventually, Lulz de
Mello, the portuguese commander, defeated the Acehnese fleet, destroyed

their galleys, captured six smaU vessels and sank the rest. Agaln,

Portuguese sources state that 1200 Acehnese were klIIed and 300
Imprlsoned. white. accordlng to Danvers. the portuguese had no

casualties.35 This was the last mllitary expedition of Sul!in "AI A' al-Din
Rl'lyah ShAh. who was known later as "al-QahhAr.,,36 He died on 8 JumAd
al-Awwal 979 A.H. (28 September 1571 A.D.)37 and was succeeded by his

son. I:Iusayn. who took the title of ~Ii RICiyah ShAh.38

During his reign. Sul~in I:Iusayn continued his 'ather's policy of

attacking Malacca. He maintained a navy which was active ln Malaccan
waters. At the same time he allied himself diplomatically with Johor and

Japara with the alm of removing the Portuguese from Malacca.

Concerning this period Reid states:

The two decades from 1560 to 1580 must be seen as the hlghest point
for the mlIItary fortunes of Islam in Southeast Asia. Durlng this perlod
the Portuguese were conslstently on the defenslve. Atjah domlnated
the Straits of Malacca. wlth fltful support from Johor and Japara.
white the Muslim traders of Japara. Gresik, Ternate and3tre Banda
Islands gained the upper hand ln the eastern archlpelago.

34 Winstedt. A History of Ma/aya. 81.

35 Danvers, The Portuguese. vol. 1, 557.

36 Iskandar, Bustanu's-Sa/atln. 22-23.

37 Oudheidkundlg Verslag. Oundheldleundige Dienst ln Necler/andsch-Indle

(ultgegeven door het Batavlaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en
Wetenschappen. 1914', 78. in Iskandar. Hileayat Aceh. 43.
38 Iskandar. Hileayat Aceh. 46: Djajadlnlngrat. Kesultanan Aceh, 81.

39 Reid. "Turkish Influence." 408.

 61

To counter this adverse position the portuguese consldered a military

(
expedition to Aceh. Anticipating permanent conquest and occupation,
Antonio Moniz Barreto was appolnted governor of the conquest of
Sumatra, in addition to hls regular position as the Governor of the South
Affalrs, whlch covered the Malay archlpelago and Macao.40 About thls

Issue Danvers writes:

On hls arrivai at Goa, Fransisco Barreto employed hlrnself ln flttlng

out a large fleet agalnst the King of Achln, who was th en a great
danger to Malacca. In a few months he had ready 25 gall8Ons, 10
galleys and 80 galliots, ail so weil found that the hopes of flrmly
establishing a Portuguese Empire in India were renewad. But ail thls
labour was in vain; Dom Constantino de Braganza had arrlved to
succeed him, and it appears to have been a prevaillng custom ln
Indla, that nef1Governors never put Into execution the plans of their
predecessors.

Later, proposais for other milltary expedltion were suggested by other

( Portuguese advocates. In 1569, D. Jorge Temudo, the Archbishop of Goa.

proposed to the Crown that in order to conquer Aceh easlly, the

Portuguese should bloekade the economic trade of Aceh. This blockade

should be based ln Malacca. Supported by four or flve gall80ns and about
ten glli.eys wlth 1000 men, thls plan was dlrected "to prevent any shlps

from leavlng Atjeh, to dlsrupt Its maritime trade, and to Interrupt any
Turklsh galleys comlng from the Red Sea."42 However, thls proJect never

came into effect. Agaln, this proposai of the archblshop shows how Church
officiais were involved at the highest leve! of the Portuguese state and
gave advice on politieal matters.

40 Macgregor."A Sea Flght," 6-7: Zakarla Ahmad, Sekltar Keradjaan Atjeh

da/am Tahun 1520-1675 (Medan: Penerblt Monora, 1972),48-47.

41 Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 1, 510.

(
42 Boxer. "Portuguese Reactions/' 421.
 62

Another proposai was put forward in 1568 by Fernao Vaz Dourado. He

created the map of Banda Aceh DAr ai-SalAm showing the proposed

Portuguese position in the siege of Aceh. 43 ln the 1580's. the idea of

attacking Aceh was agaln proposed by Padre Alexandre Valignano, S. J.,

the great reorganizer of the Jesult missions ln Asla du ring the last quarter

of the 16th century, by OIogo do Couto, by Jorge de Lemos. a Viceregal

seeretary at Goa, and by Dom Joao Riblro Galo. bishop of Malacca from

1581 to 1601.44 Agaln, the plan was not carried out because "the

government at Goa could not flnd the necessary men and ships. ,,45

Throughout Sul~An t:fusayn's reign, attacks on Malacca continued. In

October 1573, supported by 7000 men and about 90 vessels, the

Acehenese tired on Malacca and burned the southern suburbs. According

to Winstedt, only a tierce storm saved the city trom this dangerous

attack.46 There were further attacks by Japara in 1574 and Aceh on

February 1st, 1575. With 40 ga lIeys , some smatl ships and about 100

galliots equipped with artillery, the Acehnese destroyed the Portuguese

vessels lad by Joao Pereira, Bernadim da Silva and Fernando Pallares.

They killed 75 Portuguese. including the three captalns, and capturad 40 ot

them. Five Portuguese escaped by swimming.47 Danvers says that "only

43 Reproduced from the original in the collection ot the Duke ot Alba in A.

Cortesao & A. Teixera da Mota, Tabu/arum Geographlcorum
Lusitanlorum Specimen (Usboa, 1960). 16; and Portugaliae Monument.
Cartographlea, vol. 3, 245. in Boxer. "Portuguese Reactions," 422.

44 For further proposais suggested by these men see Boxer, "Portuguese

Reactions," 422-425.
45 Ibid.

46 Winstedt. A History of Ma/aya. 82; Reid, "Turkish Influence." 407;

Macgregor, "A Sea Fight," 6-7.

47 Danvers, The Portuguese, vol. 2 , 10.

 63
150 men now remained for the defence of Malacca, and of this number
(
two-thirds were sick and aged. Want of ammunltlon and men prevented the

captaln from replying to the enerny'8 IIre.,,48 However, the Acehnese retlrad

"for sorne inexplicable reason ...49

Two years later there was another battle. On January 1st, 1577 the

Portuguese fleet led by Captaln Mathias de Albuquerque was Intercepted

by the Acehnese fleet on their mission to protect a Chlnese junk. The fleet

consisted of 150 shlps and was "very weil furnlshed wlth men and munitions

of war and. aboye ail, a will to flght, for they were promlslng themselYes

ylctOry.,,50 The Acehnese fleet of 10,000 was led by Laksamana Sri

Maharajalela and included the Sul~An himself. Agaln, the Acehnese fleet

was defeated by the portuguese who klIIed and captured about 1600 of its

men. There was only sl/ght casualtles on the portuguese side with 13 of its
( troops killed. 51

This was the last military incident with the portuguese during the reign

of Sul~ln t:tusayn, who died ln 1579.52 The series of battlas Inltlated by the

Acehnese agalnst the Portuguese ln Malacca during the Sul~ln'8 IIfetime

dernonstrate hls contlnuing commltment to remove the Portuguese from

Malacca. Like his father before him he had vlctory bafore him at tlmes, but

Portuguese fighting superiorlty and other factors prevented hlm from

achlevlng hls objective.

48 Ibid.

49 Winstedt, A History of Malaya, 82.

50 Macgregor, "A Sea Fight," 12.

51 Ibid.. 11·12.
(
52 Said. Aceh. 205: Ahmad. Sekitar Keradjaan Atjeh, 46.
 64

B. Politlcal Maneuvers

The polltical response of Aceh toward the Portuguese was dominated

by Aceh's deslre to expand its terrltories. This policy was carried out mostly

by military action. Neverthetess. direct mllitary action by Aceh agalnst the

Portuguese ln Malacca must clearly be set apart from Its relatlonships with

other Malay states in the area whlch were primarily poUtical ln nature.

The ambition of Aceh to dominate Sumatra Island was first indicated

when Aceh sent ambanadors to Batak sornetime before 1539. Pinto tells

us that the King of Aceh. tAlA' al-Din MughAyah ShAh, forced the King of

Batak, a Hindu. to convert to Islam. When the request was made the Batak

King refused and the King of Aceh threatened to send an army against hlm.

The Batak King asked for help from the Portuguese. with whom he had a

cordial relatlonship. The ambassadors of Batak appeared in Malacca

when the new captaln of Malacca arrived in June 1539. The opportunity

was taken by the Batak ambassadors to renew their relationshlp as weil as

to complain about the threat from Aceh. The portuguese agreed to help

and gave the Bataks -a hundred powder pans. grapeshot. and

firebombs,.S3 When Aceh attacked in the same year, however, the King of

Batak wal defeated, even though he. was supported by 15,000 men, 8000

of whom were Batak and the remainder mercenarles from Mlnangkabau,

Luzon (Philippines), Indraglrl, Jambl and Borneo. 54

Aceh's next target was Aru, a vassal of the Portuguese. The tlrst

confllct between Aceh and Aru began when the latter sent Its army to help

. ...
~
53 Pinto. The Travels. 22 .

54 Ibid .• 23-26.
 65
the Portuguese in Pasalln 1524.55 ln 1528 the relatlonship was made closer
(
when Aru sent its ambassadors to Malacca. Accordlng to Catz. the cordial
relatlonshlp "was due to the hatred of the Aarus for the former King of
Malacca deposed by the Portuguese. ,,56 The King of Daya and Pidie. as

mentloned above. fled to Aru when Aceh captured Pasal ln 1524. The

seizure of Aru was obviously meant to destroy a vassal of the Portuguese

ln Sumatra and to expand the power of Aceh. Aru could also be used as a

milltary base to attack Malacca as it waslocated very close to Malacca. In

addition, from Aru Aceh could blockade the Straits of Singapore and

Sabang in order to prevent the Portuguese from passing Into the China
Sea, Sunda, Banda and even the MOluccas.57 Aceh also benefited
economlcally from the capture of Aru, where the King of Aceh "could easlly

have access to ail of the splce trade in that archlpetago and thus comply

( with the terms of the new treaty he had slgned with the Grand Turk,
through the intermediary of the Pasha of Cairo. ,,58

Aru was attacked by Aceh in the same year. 1539. wlth about 17.000
men in 160 ships. In thls engagement. the King of Aru wa8 killed and

eventually his wife lied to Malacca. Recelving no help from the Portuguese
in recapturlng her kingdom, the disappointed Oueen of Aru went to Sintang

where she received new hope of help from the King of Johor. whom she
later married. This was not the first time that the Portuguese had not

helped Aru. The King was also dlsappointed earlier by the lack of fighting

55 Catz ln her notes in Pinto. The Travels. chap. 14. no. 6. 545. This note
refers to Barros.
56 Ibid., chap. 21, no. 2. 554.
57 Ibid., 46.
(
58 Ibid.
 66

forces provided by the Portuguese, who supplied only about 40 or 50

portuguese soldiers to train the King's soldiers in addition to "four kegs of

powders, wlth a supply of two hundred cannonballs for the culverins"S9 to

keep hls strength equal to that of the Acehnese. Apparently, the

Portuguese found it prudent to assist other enemies of Aceh, but not

necessarily to risk their own maagre forces in defenee of these local allies.

The occupation of Aru by Aceh lasted up to 1540 when the Oueen of

Aru with her allies Johor, Perak, Pahang and Siak sueeessfully drove out

the Acehnese wlth heavy casualties on the Acehnese side.60 It was not

untll 1584 that Aceh agaln took Aru. Accordlng to Pinto, the King of Johor

and hls famlly was taken to Aceh, where he was later executed.61

The ambition of Aceh to control Sumatra encouraged the King, "Alà'al-

Din Rillyah ShAh, to personaUy oversee the poUtleal, administrative and

economlc rule of Aru rather than delegate thls to the vassalage of tha local

ruler as was the usual case. Consequently, he appointed his son, "Abd

AllAh, as the ruler of Aru. The latter was later killed in an Aceh mllitary

campalgn agalnst Malacca ln 1588.82 Aceh's control over east Sumatra

was followed by control over the western ports of the Island. Sul!An "AIAtal-

Din Rflyah ShAh inltlated the poUtical connectlon wlth thls area when he

deslgnated the ruler of Barus as the Sul!.n of Barus, who helped hlm in the

expedltlon agalnst Aru ln 1539 and marrled his slster. 63 Apparently, "the

59 Ibid., 36-50.

80 Ibid., 58.

81 Ibid., 57.
82 Ibid.

63 J. Kathirithamby-Wells, "Aehehnese Control over West Sumatra up to

i

67

designation of sultan seems to have been conferred on ail Acheh's key

(
representatives in the subordinate ragions. ,,64 From Barus, Aceh's political

connectlon was extended to Pariaman where the Sul!ln appolnted hls son,
prince Mughl', as the ruler. We do not have detailed Information regardlng
the Acehnese administration over Parlaman at thls tlme. It was ln the reign

of Sul!ln of Iskandar Muda (1607-1636) that Acehnese actlvitles ln the

reglon were deflnitely Identlfled.65 However, Parlaman must have been an

Important post for controlllng the western part of Sumatra.

The poUtical situation of ."ceh cannot be separated 'rom the general

political plcture of the archlpeiago in the sixteenth century. At thls time,

several new MusUm kingdoms appeared and showed themselves to be

sovereign klngdoms. Religion was sametimes a basic factor for their

alliance. However. different Interests in trade also strained the alliance.
(
Having reallzed that thetr existence was challenged by ail the Musllm

kingdoms ln the reglon. the Portuguese made an effort to bulld a poUtleal

and economle alliance wlth non-MusUm klngdoms sueh as Sunda, ln 1622,

and Panarukan ln east Java as weil as Mlnangkabau ln Sumatra.66 This

alliance was broken by Demak. who conquered Sunda Keiapa ln 1627.

Banten took PaJaJaran ln the 1570's.67

the treaty of Painam, 1663," JSEAH, vol. 10, no. 3 (December 1969),
457.
64 Ibid.

65 Ibid .• 458.

66 Kartodlrdjo, Pengantar Sejarah Indones/a. 37: J. C. van Leur, Indones/en

Trade and Society, 2nd ed. (The Hague: W. van Hoeve, 1967), 173-174.
(
67 Ibid .• 33-34.
 68

Throughout this century Aceh tried to establish a "pan-Islamic" alliance

with other klngdoms so that they would join it in attacking Malacca. These

kingdoms, led by Johor, showed an unfriendly response to Aceh's milltary

pOlicy and perhaps to Ils economic pollcy as weil. It was mentloned above

that Johor concluded a mllitary alliance with Perak, Pahang and Siak to

drive the Acehnese out of Aru. Johor opposition to Aceh was also
demonstrated in 1547 and 1568 when It appeared wlth Its allies in Malacca

to help the Portuguese flght Aceh. The opposition of Johor. Perak and

Pahang to Aceh and their frequent preference of establishing friendshlps

with the Portuguese was due to the "fear of the new Muslim power. ,,68

However, ln 1574 this situation changed and Aceh and Johor were on

frlendly terms. and the Kings of Johor and Bintan even supported the

Acehnese against Malacca in 1575.69 Correspondence between Aceh and

Johor during thls time showed an improvement in relations. 70 The alliance

was confirmed by a marrlage between the prince of Johor and the

daughter of the Sul!An of Aceh.1 1 However, deterlotarlng relations wlth

Johor prompted the Portuguese to attack Johor ln 1576 and 1578. 72

Still. relations between Johor and Aceh were not entlrely smooth.

Perak. a strong aUy of Johor, was attacked and occupied by Aceh before
1579. The family of the Sul!in of Perak was ta ken to Aceh. His eldest son

68 Wlnstedt, A History of Malacca, 78.

69 1. A. Macgregor, "Johor Lama ln the Sixteenth Century," JMBRAS. vol.
28, pt. 2 (May 1955), 86: Adll, Se/a,ah Johor (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementrlan Pelajaran Malaysia, 1971),30.

70 Couto, 1778-88, 19, 235-36 in "Johor Lama in the Sixteenth Century,"

86.
. ""', 71 Mcgregor, "Johor Lama," 86 .
72 Adil, Se/arah Johor, 30-31.
J---

69
married the daughter of the Sul!An of Aeeh and was later appointed the
(
.
Sultan of Aceh with the title of C'A1l1' al-Din Mansür
. ShAh. He ruled from
1579 to 1585.13 It was the daughter of this Sul!ln who married the prince
of Johor, cAli Jalla C'Abd al-Jalil.

.
This alliance was broken when Sultan CAli Jalla of Johor refused to
obey the rule of his father-in-Iaw, the Sul!ln of Aeeh, over his country,
whieh led to a war in 1582. Having surrendered to the Aeehnese, Johor
asked for help from the portuguese, who eventually drove the Acehnese
troops out of Johor.14 The unstable poUtieal relations between Aceh and
Johor apparently resulted in what Winstedt calls the "triangular flght
between Portugal, Johor, and Acheh,,,75 which allowed the portuguese to
continue to exist as a power in the region.

( Aceh sought aid from both regional and other kingdoms, undoubtedly,
in Its effort to drive the Portuguese out of Malacca. As mentioned above,
it won Japara from a joint attaek on the Portuguese in 1574/1575.
Acehnese ambassadors were sent to Calicut, Bijapure, the Coromandel
coast rulers and Oemak. Ali these kingdoms sent thelr help, exeept Oemak,
"which was so afraid of the insatiable ambition of the Sultan of Atjeh that it
put his ambassadors to death.,,76

The success of Aceh in galning the poUtlcal upper hand Is obviously

indicated by the ethnie pluraUty of the Acehnese army. For Instance,

73 Winstedt and Wilkinson, "A Hlstory of Perak," JMBRAS, vol. 12, pt. 1
(June 1934), 19.
74 Macgregor, "Johor Lama," 88: Adll, Sejarah JOhor, 31.
75 Winstedt. A History of Ma/aya. 84.
{
76 Reid. "Turkish Influence." 405.
 70
accordlng to Pinto, in the campalgn against Ani in 1539 of Aceh's troops

consisted of Acehnese, Ottomans, Abysslnlans, Malabarls, Guiaratis,

Luzons and even Borneans. The commander was an Abysslnlan, Ma~müd

Khin, who had just arrived from Jidda.77 Among these soldiers, the

Ottomans were the most experienCed and Important element.

Sustan al-Salatin, the chronlcle of sixteenth century Aceh, mentions the

relations of Aceh wlth the Ottoman Empire, which took place durlng the

relgn of CAIA'al-DTn Rlttyah ShAh al-QahhAr:

He who created the government Institution (istiCadah) of Aceh Daru's-

Salam and sent an envoy to Sultan Rum, to the state of Istanbul, in
order to strengthen the Muslim religion. The Sultan Rum sent varlous
craftsmen and experts who knew how to make guns. It was also he
who flrst bullt a fort at Aceh Daru's-Salam, ~e he who flrst fought ail
unbellevers and attacked Malacca ln person.

,' ln his study on this matter, Reid suggests that the first poUtical contact

between these two countries took place sometime between 1537-1538.19

SulaymAn, who sent envoys to Gujaratl and Arablan ports ln 1537 to gain
support to attack the Portuguese,80 probably also sent an en voy to Aceh.

This "mlght have served as a stimulus for the flrst Atjehnese attack on
Malacca ln September 1537.,,81 From th en onward, the Ottomans wlth the!r

guns were engaged in ail Acehnese campaigns during this century. The

Ottomans played an Important role ln the Acehnese wars agalnst Aru ln

77 Pinto, The Trave/s, 46-47.

78 Iskandar, Bustanu's-Salatln, 31-32.

79 Reid, "Turkish Influence," 402-411.

80 R. B. Serjeant, The Portuguese off the South Arablan Coast. Hadram;

Chronic/es (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1963), 76-77, 79-80. .

81 Reid, "Turklsh Influence," 402.

 71

1539 and 1540 and against Malacca in 1547.82 It has been mentloned that
(
the largest campaign agalnst the portuguese ln 1568. whlch was

commanded by the Sul!ln hlmself. was strengthened by about 400

Ottoman elite troops and a large number of their guns and artillery.

From Turkish sources we learn that Aceh Is referred to as Acf or Ace.

ln 975/1567, Sul!àn 'AIA- al-Din AI'Iyah ShAh sent t:tusayn to Istanbul to

ask for help in order to wage a war agalnst the portuguese Kefirs

(unbelievers), who had increasingly been attacklng Muslim traders between

Malacca and Sumatra as weil as on Sumatra Island and Its neighbours.83

The death of the Ottoman Sul!An, SulaymAn the Magniflcent, shortly after

the arrivai of the Acehnese ambassador and military campalgn to Sigetvar,

did not cause the aid plan for Aceh to fail, for hls son, Sul!in Selim Il,

gave the same attention to this matter as hls late father had.84 ln his letter
( dated 16 Rabi c al-Awwal 975 A.H. (20 September 1567) Sul!An Selim Il

replied to the Sul!in of Aceh about hls great concern over this matter and

that decided to send 15 galleys, 2 small warshlps, numerous gun masters.

soldiers and guns. The letter W8ti sent through an Ottoman ambassador,

Mus!afà Camus. 85 However, t.(; ... ~qyn" the Acehnese ambassador, had to
stay in Istanbul for two years due to the postponement of the aid. Kurtoglu

Hizir, sent formerly to lead an expedltlon to Sumatra to nelp Aceh, had to

82 Ibid., 403.

83 Ismai! Hakki Uzuncarsili, Osmanli Tarihl, vol. 3 (Ankara: Turk Tarih

Kurumu Basimevi, 1983),31.

84 Uzuncarsili, Osmanli Tarihi, vol. 2 (Ankara: Turk Tarih Kurumu Baslmevi,

1949),388; Reid, "Turkish Influence," 413.

85 Saffet Bey, "Bir Osmanli Filosonum Sumatra Seferi." TOEM, vol. 10

( (1921), 606-609 in Reid, "Turkish Influence," 404: see also, Uzuncarsili,
Osmanli Tarihi, vol. 3, 32.
 72
be sent ta Vaman ta surpress a rebeilion under Mu~ahhar. The regret of

Sul~An Sêllm Il for this delay was expressed ln his letter ta t:tusayn in 5
Rajab 975 A.H. (5 January 1568).86 Hlzlr never came ta Aceh. However. the

aid Indeed came ta this sultanate. Reid writes:

Kurtoglu Hlzlr and his fleet never reached Atjeh. But the importance
the Atjehnese glve ta the cannons. the flag. and the gunsmiths makes
it reasonably certain that these at least were sent. along with sorne
sort of Imperial masage [Sic]. They probably reached Atieh du ring
1568 or 1569, and strengthened her considerably in relation ta her
Indoneslan rivais. They must also have encouraged further thoughts
of a pan-Islamic front agalnst the lfrtuguese. which had its
culmination in the manoevres of 1570-1.

Potitical relations were also establlshed by Aceh with sorne kingdoms

of the Indian sub-continent. B. Schrieke gives sorne remarks on this matter

and says that "the ruler of Achln also maintained official relations with the

sea potentate of Calicut on the west coast of India and the Kings of Bengal

and Ceylan. The seal of the Achinese sultan. patterned on that of the tirst

grand Moguls in Indla. Is another indication of the relation of Achin to that

emplre.,,88

C. Trading Competition

The opposition of Muslim traders ln Malacca ta the Portuguese.

regarded as strong trade rivais. was an undisputable fact. It is said that

the first Portuguese fleet under Lapez de Sequeire reached Malacca in

86 Reid. "Turkish Influence." 404; Uzuncarsili. Osmanli Tarihi, vol. 2,

388-389.

- 87 Reid. "Turkish Influence." 407.

88 B. Schrieke, Indonesian Sociologieal Studies, Pt. 1 (The Hague: W. van

Hoeve. 1966), 44.
 73
1509 and was given an unfriendly receptlon by the Malacca traders. Ruy de
( Araujo told Albuquerque that the Shahbandar of the Gujarati urged the

Sul!in of Malacca not to make a peaee wlth them and Instead strongly
suggested that he wage a war against them.89 Furthermore, the

Portuguese administration in Malacca, as mentioned before, by preferring

the Hindu traders and harming the Musllm traders as much as possible,

eventually aggravated the relatlonship between them and the Musllm

traders.90 It was reasonable, therefore, that Muslim traders should have

moved to Aceh as weil as to other parts of the Indonesian archipelago. It

also has been mentioned that Aceh, by capturing Pldie and Pasai,

"ourished by making use of those two important ports ln north Sumatra.

Vet, Malacca had shown itself to be the most Important entrepot in

Southeast Asia during the Malaccan sultanate. With the capture of Pidle

( and Pasai, Aceh had the self-confidence to be independent in trade. which

enabled it to declare a trade war against the Portuguese.

The flourishlng of Malacca during the time of the Malay sultanate was
obviously due to "good relations with surrounding countrles and to the faet

that its possession of the land on either slde of the water gave It control
over the straits.,,91 Portuguese Malacca had to malntain the early position

of this entrepot. Nevertheless, the fear and hatred of Muslim klngdoms in

the Indonesian archipelago toward them led to a large decrease in the

number of merchants comlng to Malacca. This situation resulted in the rlse

of other ports in the area. such as Aceh and Bantam.92 To counteract this

89 Winstedt, A Histoty of Malaya, 67.

90 Schrieke. Indonesian, 42.

( 91 Ibid., 139.
 74
loss in natural trade the Portuguese approached non-Muslim kingdoms of

the raglon as mentloned above. They also trled to maintaln the commercial

relation wlth Siam and other klngdoms in further Indla. 93 Siam had been an

Important and large scale foodstuff supplier for Malacca. as weil as either a

mediator or supplier of "Iac, benzoln sappan wood. lead. tin, silver. gold.

Ivory, cassla fistula. dishes cast from copper or gold rings, set wlth rubles

and dlamonds, and lastly a large quantity of cheap. coarse. Siamese

cloth.,,94 Another effort was undertaken to make alliances with the Hindu

klngdom of Pajajaran ln west Java and Panarukan in east Java. As a

matter of fact, these alliances were not only initiated by the Portuguese but

also by the Hindu kingdoms,95 who were under the threat of their

nelghbouring Muslim states.

From the earliest years of their presence in the region, the Portuguese

had to face the enmity of those surounding Muslim kingdoms whlch were

active ln trade as weil as ln Islamic propagation. The portuguese attacked

Muslim merchant ships wherever they found them. Aceh seemed to have

reacted ln the same manner by attacking and plundering ail the Portuguese

ships comlng from Bengal and Pegu to Malacca.96 Several attacks of the

Acehnese on Malacca. the intensive mllitary effort of the exiled Malacca

Sul!ln ln the early sixteenth century to restore hls crown, and some military

attacks launched by Japara in 1513. 1551 and 1574 resulted in unsafe

92 Schrleke. Indones/an, 42.

93 Ibid.
94 Melllnk-Roelofsz, As/an Trade, 72.

95 Kartodirdjo, "Religious and Economie Aspects." 191; Meilink-Roelofsl.

As/an Trade, 150-153.
96 Meilink-Roelofsz, As/an Trade, 145.
 75
sailing in the strait of Malacca. To avoid this dangerous situation and
( because of thelr fear of the Portuguese, Muslim traders chose a new route

along the west coast of Sumatra, through which they could reach Java and
the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago via the Sunda Stralt.97

Trade patterns in the archipelago developed along religlous IInes, as ln the

case of Malacca in the fifteenth century.98 This apparently made Aceh "the

chief station ln the intermediary trade of the Muslims of western Asia and
India with the Archipetago.,,99

Because of the changed situation, Aceh became a cosmopolltan state,

visited by Arabs, Persians. the Ottomans, Abyssinians, the traders from

Pegu, Chinese, Indians as weil as the traders from the Indoneslan

archipelago. 100 It exported a large amount of popper from both the ports

of Pasai and Pidie and controlled the supply of gold in the Minangkabau
( port. 101 The advantage of Aceh's position. in the northern tlp of Sumatra
facing the Indlan Ocean, stimulated the Sul!An to make a trading enterprlse

aeross the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Before discusslng the Acehnese
enterprise in this area, it would be helpful if we brlefly explore the
reslstanee of Muslim traders to the portuguese in thls area prlor to Aceh's

participation.

97 F. H. Van Naerssen and R. C. De long, The Economie and Administrative

History of Early Indonesia (Leiden/Koln: E. J. Brill, 1977), 88·89.

98 A brlef discussion on trade and Islam in the archipelago Is given in

chapter three.

99 KartodirdJo, "Religious and Economie Aspects," 192: Melllnk-Roelofsz,

Asian Trade, 143-144.

100 SChrieke,lndonesian. 42-43.

(
101 Meilink-Roelofzs, Asian Trade, 142.
 76
ln the early slxteenth century the Portuguese began to penetrate the
MU811m settlements in Afrlca and Asia by taking Arab settlements in East
AfricI, Mozambique, Kilwa and Mombasa. From thase areas they moved
to Asil, wherethey took Horrnuz in 1508 and Goa in 1510. Thelr ambition to
take trade routes ln the Indlan Ocean and the Red Sea away trom the
Mu.lim traders met wlth strong real.tance from the Muslim states, such as
Mamlük Egypt, Gujarat, Bijapur and Ahmadnagar as weil as the Ottoman
Empire. 102 The Ottomans, by conquerlng Persla ln 1514 and Mamlük Egypt
in 1517, came to control both the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. These
conquests apparently motivated the Ottomans to control the sea-route to
India,103 whlch lad to their struggle with the Portuguese. As a matter of
facto ln the flrst half of the sixteenth century the Portuguese were strong in
the Indian Ocean, while the Ottomans were the masters of the Red Sea. 104

Aceh, as 'an essential coastal state and seaborne empire,,,105 also

took part in the trade traffic ln the Indlan Ocean and the Red Sea. The
export of Sumatra pepper enterad the west coast of India and the Red
Sea. By thls trade Involvement, the Acehnese ships had to face the
challenge from the Portugllese fleets which often intercepted them. 106 It
was natural that the Acehnese, who saw the Portuguese as theïr re!lglous
enemles as wetl as trading rivais, should have sought an alliance with the

102 M. Longworth Dames, "The Portuguese and Turks ln the Indian Ocean
ln the Sixteenth Century," JRAS, pt. 1 (January 1921), 5-12: E.
Denison, !lThe Portuguese in India and Arabia, 1517-38." JRAS, Pt. 1
(January 1922), 1-18.
103 Dames, "The Portuguese and Turks," 3-4.
104 Ibid., 20.

105 Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 416.

'- 106 Ibid.
 77

Ottoman Empire as the strongest Muslim Empire at that time. This alliance,
(
basides having rellgious and strategie reasons, Beems to have been

motivated by trading interests as weil. The Ottomans needed Aceh for

loading spices as weil 8S exportlng their wood products. Indeed, Aeeh

offered spices to the Ottomans in return for their military help to Aceh

against the Portuguese. Another member of the alliance was the Samudrl
of Calicut whieh had been engaged in the splce trade in the West. 107

The participation of the Acehnese in the Red Sea seems to have begun

in the 1530's and increased intensively in the mid-sbdeenth century. Durlng

that time, the Acehnese ships regularly saUed across the Indian Ocean and

the Red Sea. where they had military encounters wlth the Portuguese fleets.

A squadron of the Portuguese, commanded by Ologo da Sliveira, attaeked

a number of freighters coming from Gujarat and Aceh at the entrance of

( the Red Sea in 1534. 108 ln 1546, the Acehnese attacked and captured a

junk of Antonio de Sausa. This case forced O. Joao de Castro to order "all
Portuguese ships bound from Indla to Malacca to sali in convoy.,,109

The threat to the Portuguese posed by the Aeehnese trade and shlps in

the Red Sea was serious. since the Aeehnese trading activlty ln the Red
Sea was much more intensive in the mld-sixteenth century. portuguese

sources tell us that in June 1564, about 23 shlps loading 1800 qulnta/s of
pepper and 1300 quinta/s of other splces reached Jldda from Aceh.

107 Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian Trade. 144: KartodirdJo, "Rellglous and

Economie Aspects." 192.

108 Diogo do Couto, Decada IV (Lisbon, 1602). Uvro 8. cap. 10. in Boxer.
"Portuguese Reactions," 416.

109 The Letter of D. Joao de Castro to the Crown. Goa December 16.
( 1546, in Elaine Sancean, 00., Cartas de D. Jasa de Castro (Usbon,
1945),233, in Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 417.
 78
Baticola and Malabar. The intenslty of this trade resulted in a surplus of
papper and other spices in Jidda and eventually lowered the priee of them

everywhere. 110 This upset the plan of the Portuguese. who apparently

deslred to "set the priees on the market themselves as Egypt and the
Itallans before them had done." 111

Durlng the years 1554-1567. the Portuguese trled to send expedltlons to

Interrupt either Acehnese shlps or other ships comlng from Aceh ln the Red

Sea. By the year 1554/1555, two Portuguese fleets were sent to the

entrance of the Red Sea in order to attack any ships from Aceh and

Gujarat. They were also sent to Suahli with the same mission. By 1559. two

other galleons and eighteen oared vessels were dispatched to the Red Sea

for the same purpose. 112 Vet. "the costly annual expedltions mounted by

... , the Portuguese to try and Intercept these ships on their way to the Red Sea
in the perlod 1554.. 1567. clearly failed in thelr purpose.,,113

ln the Indonesian archipelago the struggle to dominate the trade route

was obviously Indicated by the alliance of several klngdoms. This alliance

weI frequently disrupted by the competition among them. The constant

pressure of Aceh upon the Portuguese in Malacca was also clearly

motivated by an economic motive. Aceh needed Malacca for the transit of

their trade actlvities to eastern Indonesla and Chlna,114 even though the

110 Couto. Decada VIII. cap. 21; Letter of Gaspar and Joao Riblro. Venlce
27 August 1564, Studla, vol. XIII (Lisboa, 1961), 207-09, ln boxer,
"Portuguese Reactions," 417.
111 Schrleke, Indonesian, 41.

112 Couto. Deceda VI, livro 10, cap. 18; Decada VII, Livro " caps.7-8;

- Decada VII, livro 6, cap. 7, in Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 417.

113 Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 419.
 79

new trade route in west Sumatra had been established. Aceh needed
(
Chinese pottery, gOld, sil ver, coins and other Chinese products. 115 The
Chinese traders, IIke other Asian traders dl8appointed by the Portuguese
policy of exaction, turned to vislt other ports ln the area for pepper and

sandalwood, su ch as the west coast of Borneo, the east coast of Sumatra,

Bantam and Timor. 116 Johor, which turned its trade of pepper, tin and
gold to the east after the coming of the Portuguese,117 eventually made

frlends with the Portuguese ln Malacca, though It was dlsrupted by several

mititary incidents between them. Perak welcomed the portuguese who
came to its port to trade for tln. 118 Japara, on the other hand, had a long
history of resistance agalnst the Portuguese. It was a prosperous
commercial center on the north coast of Java, alongslde other Musllm
ports. su ch as Tuban, Sedayu, Gresik, Jaratan, Surabaya, Pasuruan and

( Panarukan. 119 Sorne ports were under its Influence, such as Lawe. Tanjung

Pura (Borneo), Bangka and some other Islands. It also domlnated the spice
trade in eastern Indonesia, where Muslim rulers were also in control. Its
bitter response to the Portuguese was shown by Its several attacks on
Malacca as weil as its hetp ln the Musllm struggle agalnst the Portuguese
ln Ambon and the Moluccas. However, Japara, the main rlce supplier for
Malacca during the Malay sultanate, later developed frlendly terms wlth the

Portuguese by allowing the ships of the latter to anchor at lta port to load

114 Schrieke, Indonesien, 42.

115 Ibid., 43.
116 Meilink-Roelofsz. Asian Trade, 169-170.
117 Ibid., 139-140.

118 Ibid .• 168-169.

( 119 van Leur. Indonesian Trade, 173.
 80
the "surplus of food product.,,120 Demak also became more prosperouB in

trade by exporting foodstuffs to Malacca. This waB probably the reason for

ita rejectlng the Acehnese Invitation to launch a joint attack agalnst the
Portuguese. This trade alliance was also followed later by Mataram. 121

The economlc Interests compelled most of the Muslim kingdoms ln the

raglon to turn toward the Portuguese, building commercial relations wlth

them. Religious alliances were put aslde for economic interests. Mellink-
Roelofsz states:

Economie motives certalnly welghed heavily ln the adoption of thls

attitude towards the Intruder. since most of the Malay-Indonesian
countries depended on Malacca not only as a port of supply and
loading where they could sell their own goods and buy imports from
the West but also aSl~~arge-scale purchaser of the foodstuffs they
themsetves produced

This tendency was never shown by Aceh during the sixteenth century. Its
ambition to boycott Portuguese economic activities. both ln the Malay-

Indoneslan archipelago and in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea

demonstrates its enmity toward the Portuguese. Aceh. whose ports had

flourlshad since the coming of the Portuguese. desired to replace the early

position of Malacca, to control the trading actlvltles in the region and to

create Its own axis. Naturally, thls ambition bothered Johor123 and Java.

whlch also had the same interest. This resulted ln a clash between them

120 Ibid .• 147-149. 160-161: see also. Kartodirdjo. "Rel iglous and
Economie Aspects." 193; Van Naerssen and De longh. The Economlc.
92-94.
121 Ibid., 148-149.

122 Meilink-Roelofsz. Aslan Trade. 137.

123 Schrieke. Indonesian. 42.44; Meilink-Roelofsz. As/an T,ade. 142.

 81
and "enabled the Portuguese to malntain their position in Malaeca.,,124 The
(
military strategy of the Portuguese, as mentloned before, not only
Indieated "the ever-present threat ta Malacca, but also polnted out that the

Atjehnese splce-trade wlth the Red Sel was underminlng the Portuguese

claim to the monopoly of the 'conquest, navigation, and commerce' of the

Indian Ocean."125

D. Islamic Response

The exact rellglous response of the Aeehenese to the Portuguese is

dlffleult ta Identlty slnce there Is no 81ngle work of the slxteenth eentury

fu/8ms' of Aceh on that matter. In Indla, for Instance, reaetlons agalnst

British colonlalism are expressed in the works of t'ulaml' such as ShAh

( C'Abd al-~rz (d. 1824). He wrote several works on religlous matters and

developed his concept of the Islamle polltleal Ylew of DAr al-Islam and Da,
a/-Ifarb in hls fatwas. 126 ln Aceh there were some ~/amA' who wrote a large

number of Important works on rellglous matters and played Important roles

ln rellglous affaira as weil as in politlcs, such as Hamzah Fansurl,127 Shams

al-DTn al-Sumatra nT (d. 1039 A.H.) Shalkh Nür al-DTn al-RlnTrT (d. 1068
A.H.) and Shalkh cAbd al-Ra'üf (d. 1106 A.H.).128 Unfortunately, thera Is no

124 Schrieke, Indonesian, 44.

125 Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 425.

126 Sayyld Athar Abbas RlzYI, ShAh 'Abd a/-t,4z1z: Puritan/sm, Sectarian,
Po/emics and JihAd (Canberra, Ma'rifat Publishlng House, 1982),
225-235; K. A. Nlzaml, "Socio-Religlous Moyements ln Indlan Islam
(1763-1898)," /s/amic Culture, vol. XLIV, nO.3 (July, 1970), 131-146.

127 No one knows exactly the date and the place of hls birth. But we do
know that he lived durlng the end of the sixteenth century and the
( early part of the seyenteenth century.
 82

single extant work of thelrs showlng thelr reactlon to western colonlzation.

There are, however, some clues whlch can be presented through

whleh rellgious response can be traeed. First of ail, it can be observed that

even though the main purpose of the the Portuguese presence in the

archipelago was to obtaln aplces, as auggested by Kartodlrdjo,129 the

spirit of "pan-Islamlsrn" ln the archlpelago exlated from Aceh to Ternate as

a reactlon to the European intrudera. Economie relatlonshlps between the

Muslims of thls area with Musllms of other areas, together with the regular

pllgrimage tradition, tended to result ln good relatlonshlps among Musllm

people as a means of meeting Islamlc obligations. This gave them a new

spirit wlth whlch to wage war agalnat non-Muslim colonialists. The

unyieldlng animoslty of the portuguese toward Muslims, as the

., continuation of cru sade spirit, can be seen in the Albuquerque's plan ta

conquer Mecca, the kllling of 300 Acehnese and 40 Arabs on theïr ships

near Aceh on thelr way home from Mecca, as mentioned above, and tough

polieles toward Musllms in Goa. 130 The Musllms of Southeast Asia, ln

addition to belng aware of these actions, mlght have learned more of

portuguese feelings and behavlor from thelr fraquent contact wlth Muslims

from other areas.

128 For more discussion on thase 'il/ami' see A. Hasjmy, Kebudayaan Aceh
Dalam Sejarah (Jakarta: Penerbit Beuna, 1983), 194-205: A. H. Johns,
"Musllm Mystlcs and Hlstorieal Wrltlng," ln D. G. E. Hall, ed.,
Hlstorlans of South East As/a (London: Oxford University Press, 1961),
37-49.
129 Kartodirdjo, "Religlous and Economie Aspects," 195.

130 A. Da Silva Rego, Portuguese Colonizaf/on ln the Slx'eenth Century: A

History of the Royal Ordinances (Regimentors) (Johannesburg:
Witwatersrand University Press, 1985), 35, 62.
 83
lhese hostile policies of the Portuguese unintentionaUy strengthened
(
the position of Islam in the archipelago. Accordlng to W. F. Werthelm. "it
was malnly the arrivai of the Portuguese whlch induced a large number of
Indoneslan princes to embrace the Islamlc falth as a political move to
counter Christian penetration.,,131 Some Javanese Hlndu princes. for

Instance. wlth whom the Portuguese established a frlendly relatlonshlp for a

few years. had to choose between Islam and Christlanlty. Islam seemed to
be the best choice for them in order to recruit a large number of reliable
!
soldiers from Muslims. who were city dwellers, and to obtain the military
support from the powerful Moguls or from other Muslim prlnces. 132
!
However, Bernard H. M. Vlekke Inslsts that such politlcal opportunism
"does not mean that many of the Indoneslan rulers who had outwardly
accepted Islam did not become convinced Moslems ln course of time.,,133

( The entrenchment of Islam and Its strong resistance to the Portuguese

Is also Indlcated by the fallure of the Portuguese to spread Christianlty ln

the Muslim countries they occupled. The conversion to Chrlstlanlty ln
Malacca, as mentioned ln chapter one, was not a success. Malacca was
only an administrative center for the mlsslonary effort to the eastern parts
of the archlpelago and to the Philippines, Cambodla. Japan and China. The

same failure was also seen in Hormuz. "The strength of Islam ln this
region," Boxer states, "was sufficlent ta prevent the Portuguese from

131 W. F. Werthelm, Indoneslan Society ln T,ansltlon: A Study of Social

Change (The Hague: W. van Hoeve, 1969), 198. The Idea Is also
suggested by two other Dutch scholars J. C. van Leur and Bernard H.
M. Vlekke.
132 Ibid., 199.
( 133 Bernard H. M. Vlekke, Nusantara: A History of Indonesia (The Hague
and Bandung: W. van Hoeve. 1960), 98.
 84

destroying ail the mosques on Hormuz Island, as they did elsewhere in thelr
possessions wherever they had the chance.,,134 This picture Is much

dlfferent from those of non-Musllm areas where the Christian mlsslonarles

achleved great success, su ch as ln some parts of eastern Indonesla, Goa

and other areas mentloned above. Boxer's statement clarifies this Idea. He

wrltes:

ln Malaya, Indochlna, and Indonesia, Portuguese power and

consequently portuguese Influence, was Inevitably weaker than it was
on the coasts of Afrlca and of the Indlan Subcontinent. Neither ln
Buddhist Indochlna nor in Muslim Malaya and Indonesia did Roman
Cathollc Christianity make any striking progress, If we except the
formation of slzeable communlties in Tongking and Annam. These in
thelr early stages were largely the work of Portuguese Jesuits of the
Japan mission, which had been closed to them by the expulsion of
the Island empire in 1639. In MIJslim Malaya and Indonesia, the
principal effect of the impact of militant Roman Catholic Christianlty,
as Introduced by the Portuguese, was to sharpen the resistance and
to spread the influence of Islam. Only in Amboina and in sorne of the
Lesser Sunda Islands (Solor, Timor, Flores, Ende) did the Portuguese
missionaries achieve any lasting successes, and there only in1~!'tain
limlted reglons whlch had not been seriously affected by Islam.

The religious ldentity present ln the Muslim kingdoms in the archipelago

was therefore strong enough to counteract the activitles of the Portuguese.

A Musllm alliance formed during the 1560's and 1570's has been seen by

Aslan and western hlstorlans as a religious reaction. Reid insists that "Islam
was the only basis for such an alliance.,,136 However, he reminds us that

"we should not press this too far. The only Muslim powers in Southeast

Asia which appeared susceptible to the pan-Islamic Ideal were Atjeh,

134 Boxer, Four Centuries, 36.

135 Ibid., 40. For the study of the portuguese influence in Indonesia see A.
Pinto da Franca, Portuguese Influence in Indonesia (Djakarta: Gunung
Agung, 1970).

136 Reid, "Turkish Influence," 408.

 85
Japara. Ternate. Gnsek. and to some extent Johor.,,137

Specifie attention should be given here to the Acehnese response

towards later Outeh colonization which. hopefully. will give us a broader

understandlng of them. In his study of the people of Aceh, T. Braddel

eategorlzed the Acehnese as a Malay race. He writes that:

in the charaeter of the Malays there are many points caléulated to

attract the attention and esteem of Europeans, they are brave,
chlvalrous. attentive to truth, and are devoid of that cringlng servlIIty
observable ln sorne of the Indian races: on the other hand, It must be
admltted that they are of '3~a8ty temper. impatient under Insult. and
qulck to avenge an ln jury.

ln addition. the Acehnese are orthodox Muslims and "adherence to IslalTl

la perhaps the primary factor ln a person's self Identification as

Acehnese ....,,139

These characteristles can deflnltely be regarded as Important factors ln

the Acehnese resistance to the invasion of westerners. The strong

resistance of the Acehnese to the Dutch milltary expansion at the end of

the nineteenth century and the earlv part of the twentieth century eventually

forced the latter to send C. Snouck Hurgronje to Aceh. He was appolnted

a8 a government advlser ln the Netherlands East Indles, especlally in Java

and Aceh. between 1889-1936. Declarlng himself to be a Musl/m. Snouck

Hurgronje staved ln Aceh for several years to study the people ln order to

flnd a way for the Dutch to sUbjugate the Acehnese '40 who. with their

137 Ibid.

138 T. Braddei. "On the Hlstory of Acheen." Journal of the Ind/an

Arch/pelago and Eastern Asla, vol. 5 (1851),5.
.-, 139 Weekes. Muslim People, 3.

140 P. Sj. van Konlngsveld ln his Introduction in E. Gobee and C.

 86
strong resistance f'Jrced the Dutch to wage a long war (1873-1903) which is
( known as Nthe longest and costliest in the history of the Netherlands East
Indies." 141 The Islamie attitude of this people towards the western ers is
described by Snouck Hu rgronje as follows:

From Mohammedanism (which for centuries she ia reputed to have

accepted) she really only learnt a large number of dogmas relatlng to
hatred of the Infidel without any of their mitigatlng concomitants, so
that the Acehnese made a regular business of plracy and man-
hunting at the expense of the neighbourlng non-Mohammedan
countries and islands, and considered that1~ were justified ln any
act of treachery or violence to European .... "

The hatred of the Dutch infidels, whom they called Kaphe (Acehnese
pronunciation of Kafir), was expressed in jihad (holy war) ;ed by the fu/ami'.
The tu/amiJ' played an important role in the poUtical structure and in the
Islamie institutions, and constituted the spiritual figures who stimulated
their students to wage a holy war against western interlopers. Snouck
(
Hurgronje writes:

At the tlme of the coming of the Dutch to Acheh there were

numerous schools throughout the country; and It 18 a notorlous fact
that on more than one occasion the students from thase schools
th rew themselves, practically unarmed, upon the bayonets of the
Dutch troops.
These were youths Inflamed to fanaticism by the teachlng they
had Imbibed ln regard to the holy war and the reboundless
recompense here after awaiting the mart'fr to to his creed, without his
being ca lied on to render further account of hls actions in thls world.
ln estlmating thelr contempt for death, however, we must reflect upon
the fact that at that time the most fearful rumours were current in
Acheh as to the tortures which would be the lot of anyone who fell

Adriaanse, Nasihat·Nssihat C. Snouck Hurgronje Semasa

Kepegawaiannya Kepada Pemerlntah Hindis Belanda, 1889-1936, trans.
by Sukarsi, vol. 1 (Jakarta: INIS, 1990), xiii-xix.
141 James T. Siegel, The Rope of God (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1969), 10.
(
142 Snouck Hurgronje, The Achehnese. vol. 1, vil.
,
87

aUve into the hands of the kafirs. 143

This rellgious attitude of the Acehnese towards the Dutch is most

probably not much different from that shown towards the Portuguese,

when they had to defend themselves agalnst the intense attacks of Aceh.

The difference Iles ln the fact that the reaction of the Acehnese toward the

Dutch was more sophisticated than that of the sixteenth century reactlon

agalnst the Portuguese. Sixteenth century Aceh was only a port state. On

the contrary, Aceh during the struggle against the Dutch was astate which
was more structurally organized and concentrated on both port and inland

areas. The position of the 'iI/ama' in bath court and society was much

clearer. Therefore, it is not possible to judge the Acehnese response to the

portuguese by simply looking at theïr response to the Dutch. One would

expect, however, that in the early period Islam also played a signlfieant raie

in moblllzlng the Musllm Acehnese community against the Portuguese,

slnee the concept of jihad was emphasized at that time as weil. Snouck

Hurgronje admlts that "the passion for rellgious war whlch is so deeply

rooted ln the teaching of Islam Is more marked among the Achehnese than

wlth the majority of their fellow-believers ln other lands, who have come by
experienee to regard It as a relie of a bygone age.,,144

143 Ibid., 166.

144 Snouck Hurgronje, The Achehnese, vol. 2,337.

(

Chapter 3

THE EMERGENCE OF ACEH IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

A. The Rise of Aeeh

The rise of Aceh in the sbcteenth century was reflectect ln its mlIItary,
economic, poUtleal and religlous achlevements. In hls History of Sumatra
Marsden wrltes:

Achln (properly Acheh) is the only kingdom of Sumatra that evar

arrived to su eh a degree of polltlea' consequence in the eyes of the
western people, as to occasion ita transactions becomlng the subJect
of General hlstory..... by this power the Portuguese were prevented
( trom gaining a footing ln the island, and l ' princes received
embassles from ail the grAat potentates of Europe.

MI/ltary Achlevements

Of the major factors ln the rlse of Aceh, milltary power was the flrst ta
manlfest Itself, partlcularly ln the Acehnese confrontation wlth the
Portuguese convoya ln 1519 and 1521, 8S mentloned ln the prevlous
chapter. A few years later Aceh's troops showed their power by conquerlng
Daya (1520), Pidle (1521) and Paaai (1524). These military vlctorles agalnst

European forces ralse questions about the bases and extent of Acehnese
milltary power.

1 Marsden, Sumatra, 398.

88
 89
ln general Acehnese military power rested on its lise of artillery in

combination Ylith the more tradition al weapons. The early military incidents
between Aceh and the portuguese in Aceh/s territory enriched the former

with the artillery token from the latter. Was it the first time that the

Aeehnese used artillery in a military campaign? T. Iskandar suggests that

Munawwar ShAh, the King of Mahkota Alam, used artillery captured from

the portuguese in his military eampaign against Dar al-Kamàl. 2 If the

information is correct, the Aceh-Portuguese military engagements in 1519

were obviously not the first ones. Unfortunately, we do not have any
further information about this matter. However, it should be mentionOO

here that between the years 1000 to 1500, China reached an advancOO

stage in artillery manufacture. In the first half of the fifteenth cent ury, for

instance, the famous admirai Cheng Ho 100 his expeditions to the Indian

Ocean. the Red Sea and even to the coast of Africa with large ships

equipped with many guns and troops. His vessels carried about 1500 tons,

a much bigger eargo capa~ity eompared to the 300 tons capacity of Vasco

da Gama/s vessels whieh crossed the Indian Ocean at the end of the

fifteenth eentury.3 Therefore, it is probable that China, which had a good

relation with the people of the region (Aceh), provided the Klngs there with

artillery.

The effective eombination of artillery and traditional weapons was also

the main mllltary strength of Aeeh. In capturlng Pidle and the Portuguese

fortress in Pasai. for Instance, the Acehnese used artillery, swords and

2 Iskandar, Hikayat ACeh, 35.

3 William H. MeNeil, The Pursuit of Power: Teehnology, Armed Forces, and
Society Sinee A.D. 1000 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1982),
24-62; Carlo M. Cipolla, Guns and Sa ils in the Early Phase of European
Expansion 1400-1700 (London: Collins, 1965), 104-108.
 90
elephants. Aceh's victories in these military campaigns accordingly
(
strengthened their military eapacity in that they were crowned by the
capture of a number of portuguese guns. This surprised Castanheda who

witnessed that the Acehnese had more artillery weapons than the
Portuguese in Malacca.

The use of elephants was also an element of Acehnese military power.

ln Aceh elf'ohants had been used since before the coming of Islam for both
the milita6y and royalty. This tradition was continued by the Muslim
kingdoms of the area. In the twelfth century the Sul!in of Peureulak rode

an elephant adorned with gold. Ibn Banü!a also observed that the Sul!an
of Pasai used elephants and even horses for military purposes. 4

By the sixteenth century Aceh developed its military technology with

( the help of the Ottomans and the Gujaratis. The use of the Ottoman
artillery and the involvement of their soldiers and thelr military advlsers ln

every one of Aceh's military campaigns were the dominant factors in the
advance of Aceh's military power. Accordingly, "in mllitary technology
Atjeh was much more advanced than the Javanese klngdoms and mllitary
tactles and strategy were clearly of Turklsh origln.,,5

Apparently the Acehnese power was shown by their intensive sieges of

the Portuguese fortress ln Malacca ln 1537, 1547, 1568, 1573 and in 1577
which forced the Portuguese to take a defenslve strategy rather than an
offensive one. However, the Acehnese never succeedecl ln drivlng the

4 Battuta, Ibn Battuta Travels, 272-276. For more discussion on the history
of elephants in Aceh see M. Junus DjamU, Gadjah Putih Iskandar Muda
(Kutaradja: Lembaga Kebudayaan Atjeh, 1957),58-59.
(
5 De longh, "The Economie and Administrative History," 88.
 91

Portuguese out of Malacca. The most that. can be said is that the Acehnese
"nearly succeeded in taking Malacca from the Portuguese.,,6 The question

that should be raised here is why dld Aceh fail to take Malacca? To answer

this question the milltary power of Aceh should be analyzed to the extent

that our sources allow us.

There are at least three important elements needed in order to be

strong at sea: the first is guns: the second is warships: and the thlrd Is
military strategy.

It was mentioned above that before the arrivai of the Portug'Jese. the

people of Asia had known the artillery which came from China. The quality

of this artillery was probably as good as that of the westerner's until the

beginning of the fifteenth century.1 When the Portuguese reached India in

the sixteenth century they found that artillery was used in Malabar, Calicut

and Goa.8 Later in Malacca, Albuquerque seized about three thousand

pieces of artillery and about two thousand small calibre bronze cannons. 9

The Ottomans as the main support.!rs of Acehnese military force could

not compete with the rapid development of the military industrif!S in

Europe. Cipo"a says:

They remained "medieval" when the modern age had already begun.
They used guns on thelr shlps (although in their own primitive way)
and they made use of sailing vessels. But essentially they remained
heavlly dependent on human energy: they stuck to the old taetie of

6 Siegel, The Rope of God. 4.

7 Cipolla, Guns and Sai/s, 106.

8 C. R. Boxer, "Asian Potentates and Europen Artillery in the 16th-18th

Centuries," JMBRAS, vol. 38, pt. 2 (1965), 158-159.

9 Albuquerque, The Commentaries, 127.

•
92

ramming and boar~b"g and the galleys were always the backbone of
their fighting force,

This atmosphere was witnessed in Aceh by John David. an English seaman

of the sixteenth century. He tells us that the Sul!An of Aceh "had great
store of brass ordnance. whlch they use without carriages, shooting them
as they lie upon the ground.,,11 "The absence of gun-carrles," accordlng to

Boxer, "may help to account for the relative ineffectiveness of the Achinese
art 1'II ery.... ,,12

The rapid development of technology in Europe in the fifteenth century

was a decisive factor in the advar'lce of military technology. This situation
was tak~·. advantage of by the Portuguese who saw that their strong
power at sea was the main factor for the success of their overseas
exploration,13 ln Gipolla'E words:
{,
During the last quarter of the fifteenth century Portugal had become
an excellent market for cannon merchants. With her involvement in
overseas trade and expansion, Portugal's need for artillery grew vastly
beyond her inadequate home resources, whlle the large profits from
overseas commercial ventures translated needs into effective
demand. portuguese kings import~4Flemish and German gunners
and gun-founders as weil as guns....

The superiority of the European military equipment over Asian military

technology was real. In 1489. for Instance, "the armament of the

10 Cipolla, Guns and Sails, 102. For a more discussion on the war business
ln Europe see McNeil. The Pursuit Power. 63-116.
11 John Davis. The Voyages and Worlcs of John Davis, ed .• introd .• and
notes by Albert Hastings Markham (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970),
150.
12 Boxer, "Asian Potentates," 163.
13 Cipolla, Guns and Sa;Is, 31.
(
14 Ibid.
 93
Portuguese ships was something totally unexpected and new in the Indian

seas and gave an Immediate and decisive advantage to the Portuguese

over thelr Indian opponents." 15

The second factor is the warship. The main vessel for naval warfare in

the region, as reported by E. Manuel Gadinho de Eredia, a M.~lacca-born

Portuguese (1563-1623), was the lancharas. 16 It is "a small single sail and
square-rlgged vessel steered by two oars mounted ln the stern .... " 17

Another type of ship was the so-called Junco's or Somas. 1B The Malay
people ca lied it Jong. 19 Eredia describes that the juncos as "tall boats like

frelght bearing carracks, with 2 rudders and masts and wlth salis made of
woven palm-Ieaves and of matting, traversed by bamboos at definitc
Intervals, so that they could fold and gather up the sail with dispatch when
the wind-storms came on."20 It was a jong that Albuquerque found in the

sea between Pasai and Malacca on his way to Malacca. As mentioned

above, the jong was commanded by Zayn al-cAbidin, the overthrown King

of Pasal. Gaspar Correia describes the ship as follows:

Seeing that the junco wanted to start fighting, the Governor got close
to her wlth hls whole fleet. The galleys started shooting at her, but thls
dld not affect her ln the least, and she went on sailing.... The

15 K. M. Pannlkar, As/a and Wertern Dominance (London: George Allen &

Unwin Ltd., 1970), 29.
16 E. Manuel Godlnho de Eredia, "Description of Malacca and Meridional
Indla and Cathay," trans. and notes by J. V. Mills, JMBRAS, vol. 8, pt. 1
(April, 1930), 36.
17 Boxer, The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 44.

18 Eredia, "Descrlptlon of Malacca," 37.

19 Pierre-Yves Manguin, "The Southeast Asian Ship: An Historical
Approach," JSEAS, vol. xi, no. 2 (September, 1980),266.
20 Eredla, "Description of Malacca," 37.
 94
Portuguese ships then shot at her masts ... and she dropped her sails.
( Because she was lal/... our people did not dare board her and our
firing did not hurt t)er at ail, for she had four super imposed layers of
planks, and our biggest cannon would not penetrate more than two ...
Seing this, the Governor ordered his own nau to come alongside of
her. This was the Fior de la Mar, which had the highest casties of ail.
When she managed to board the junco. her aft castle barely reached
her bridge.... The crew of the junco defended itself so weil that they
had to sail away from her again. [After two days and nlghts of
fightin91 the Governor decided to have the IWo ~,ders she ca"/ed
outside tom away .... [The junco then surrendered].

One of the main characteristics of Malay ships, inc;luding those of

Aceh, was that iran was not uSed in thelr construction; also. their ocean-

going vessels did not carry artillery. This implles the super:ority Of the
Portuguece vessels which were constructed with iron and provided with

artillery. Therefore, "they were ... relatively much more frail than the
Portuguese carracks and galleons which they had to encounter.,,22 On this

issue, Cipolla concludes that "the main reason for thelr [Muslims1 failure
( lay rather in their outmoded techniques of naval warfare.,,23

As far as the military tacties of Malay people are concerned, Eredla

observes the following:

The armed forces of the Malayos do not follow the ordered military
tactics of Europe: they only make use of attacks and sallies ln mass
formation: thelr sole plan Is to construct an ambush in the narrow
paths and woods and thlckets, and then make an attack wlth a body
of armed men: whenever they draw themselves up for2kattle, they
acquit themselves badly and usually suffer heavy losses.

21 Gaspar Correla, Landas da India, vol. 1, 1 (Usbon, 1856),216-218, in

Manguin. "The Southeast Aslan Ship," 267.
22 Boxer, The Portuguese Seaborne, 44; also see Manguin, "The Southeast
Aslan Shlp," 268-270: Cipolla. Guns and Salis. 102.
23 Clpolla. Guns and Sails. 101.
(
24 Eredia. "Description of Malacca," 31.
 95
This statement is corroborated by the fact that in every siege of Malacca.

Aceh had a larger number 0; soldiers and even warships than did the

Portuguese. However, the latter could always repufse the attacks and were

even able to cause heavy losses on the Acehnese side. Snouck Hurgronje.

as mentioned above. informs us how the Acehnese, without demonstrating

military tacties, threw themselves upon the bayonets of the Outch.

However, the Aeehnese mllitary power was respected not only by the

Malay kingdoms but also by the Portuguese who "had long since acquired

a wholesome respect for the Atjehnese as formidable fighters who formed

the greatest threat to Malacca for over a eentury. ,,25 Some Portuguese

sailors who were lost in the west coast of Sumatra in 1561 and experienced

fighting against the Aeehnese said that they (the Aeehnese) are "a roving

and piratical people, formed from many nations, and most bitter enemies

of the Portuguese. and very eourageous warriors.,,26

The strong military pressure of Aeeh upon Malacca reveals the rapid

developmt'nt of Aceh's military power, whieh was unknown durlng the 'irst

decade of the sixteenth century. Military aid trom other Muslim powers,

8uch as the Ottoman Empire, Gujarat, Arabia and Abbyslnia. strongly

accelerated the development. The Sul!an of Aeeh always triad ta attack

Malacca. Sul!an tAli Ricgyah ShAh al-Oahhar, for instance. was described

by Couto as a person who "never turned over in his bed withaut thinking

how he could encompass the destruction of Malacca. ,,27 The entire military

25 Boxer, "Portuguese Reaction," 417.

26 Castaways' aceounts in A. B. de Sa, Documentacao, Insulindia, Il,

" 1550-1562, 394, 405, 425, in Ibid., 418.

27 Diogo do Couto, Decada VIII, Caps. 21, 15-17, in Ibid .• 420.

 96

confllet between two peoples during the sixteenth century shows the

serious determination of Aceh, after its victory in driving the Portuguese out

of the northern part of Sumatra, to drive the Portuguese out of Malacca.

Economie Achievements

The rise of trading activities of Aceh in the sixteenth century can be

seen in the growth of its status as a producer of natural resources and as a

trading center (port) in the west archipelago. Banda Aceh, which was
known as Aceh Besar (Groot-Aceh or Aceh Proper) was the political center

of this empire, although it "was not itself an important source of export

produce.,,28 Pasai and Pidie were bath major ports and producers of

pepper. We do not have detailed information about whether these latter

( two ports were used during the sixteenth century. Banda Aceh, as a center

of political activity, was definitely a center for trading activity as weil. Reid

refers to Banda Aceh as "the commercial emporium.,,29 Hence, the port of

Banda Aceh can, to some extent, be viewed as an entrepot similar ta that

of Malacca, even though, most probably, Malacca's importance

out""eighed that of Aceh. However, the difference between them can be

identified. Aceh, besides its status as entrepot, also exported sornl3

Important products, as identified above, and controlled as weil as

benefited from important ports in west-coast of Sumatra, which the

sultanate of Malacca did not have.

28 Anthony Reid, "Trade and the Problem of Royal Power in Aceh:

1550-1750," in Anthony Reid and Lance Casties, eds., Pre-Colonial
State Systems in Southeast Asia: The Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Bali-
Lombok, South Celebes (Kuala Lumpur: MBRAS, 1979),46.
(
29 Ibid.
•
97

There is no infor~"'tion that has come to us regarding the way the

trade was organizeel. Nor is there detailed information regarding the

exports of Aceh, especially from both Pasai and Pidie. In chapter one, we

mentioned the accounts of trading in both port towns as given by Pires in

the early part of the ~ixteenth century, before ~Ii Mughâyah Shâh's military

campaign. Pepper, silk, oil, benzoin and gold were found in both towns. A

Dutch pioneer who visited Aceh at the end of the sixteenth century states

that "we should be able to drive good trade in Achem: because they have

great store of pepper, which the Rhip from Suratte and Cambaye came
yearly to fetch ana take to the Reel Sea.,,30 Sorne Portuguese sources give

us information about Acehnese products which reached the Red Sea. By

1585 Jorge de lemos, the Portuguese advocate for the conquest of Aceh.

informs us that Aceh exported a large quantity of spices, gold and jewels

to the Red 8ea. 31 ln the sa me year. the Acehnese "were exporting (mostly

in Gujerati 8hips) sorne 40,OOfj or 50,000 quintals of spices to Jidda each

year.,,32 The trading activities ln the Red Sea gave the 8ul~ân of Aceh an

annual income of about three or four million gold ducates, "in return for

30,000 or 40,000 quinta/s of pepper and other spices and merchandise

which he sends there in his ships. ,,33

30 Beschrijvinge vande Straten ofte engten van Malacca ende Sunda met
haer Omllgghende EylandenlBanckenlOndiepten ende Sanden,
reproduced in fascimile on p. 32 of Collectie Dr. W. A. Engelbrecht Lof
der Zeevaart, catalogue of an exhibition held at the Maritiem Museum,
Rotterdam, 1966-67, in Boxer, "Portuguese Reactions," 426-427.
31 Jorge de Lemos, Hystoria dos Cercos, ( Lisboa, 1585), part III, fis. 1-64,
in Ibid., 423.

32 Boxer, Portuguese Seaborne, 59.

,',

33 Jorge de lamos, Hystoria dos Cercos, fI. 61, in Boxer, "Portuguese

Reactions," 424.
 98
The poUtical control over the west-coast of Sumatra, whlch had natural
( resources, benefited Aceh economically. Gold was the main commodlty j
from Mlnangkabau. It was brought to Aceh through the ports of Tiku and
l
"f.
Parlaman, rather than to Malacca. During the Malacca sultanate. nlne to t,
1
,
ten baha,s of goId were Imported every year from both Mlnagkabau and j
.t
t
Johor.34 Rich new pepper plantations were establlshed ln the area around 1
Tlku, Parlaman and Indrapuri around the 1560's.35
~
~
~,
JI
It Is known that Pasal also produced sllk, whlch attracted Albuquerque -l
~
when he stopped at thls port on his way to Malacca ln 1511. However, the
,
production of silk from this area "decllned rapidly in the ensulng century, as ,
<1

Chinese silk becam9 readily available and little was done to replace the
mulberry trees encroached upon by rlce and pepper cultlvatlon.,,36

( Sy the middle of the sixteenth century some important ports emerged

ln the archipelago as a loglcal consequence of the fall of Malacca, su ch as

Aceh, Bantam in the west and Johor and Brunei ln the east. Banda Aceh
became a cosmopolltan city whlch was vlslted by a varlety of Musllm

merchants, Includlng Arabs, Turks, Persians and Abbysfnfans. Sorne aven

came from Pegu and Indla.37 Schrleke writes that "Achln, then, had by the
mlddle of the sixteenth century become the chief station ln the Intermedlary

trade of the Muhammectans of western Asla and Indla wlth the Indoneslan

Archlpelago - a fact with the Portuguese could only vlew with eyes of

34 Reid, Southeast Asia, 98.

35 Reid, "Turkish Influence," 403-404.

36 Reid, Southeast Asia, 93.

( 37 SChrieke, Indonesian. 43.
 99
envy.,,38

As astate whlch "was based upon its commerce and maritime

power,,,39 Aceh also depended for its glory "on the tribute of nelgilbouring

ragions on the coasts and the harbour-dues of the capital of Atjeh.,,40

Therefore, the Interior part of the country was given little attention. Banda

Aceh emerged as an International city. visited by large numbers of foreign

merchants who "Increasingly became involved ln Aceh's state system, its

court ceremonies and Its wars.,,41 So cosmopolitan was this city that the

Malay language. whlch became the business language ln Southeast Asla,

was used rather than Acehnese. 42 John Davis describes this city as "very

spacious, bullt ln a Wood, so that we could not see a house tlll we were

upon It. Neither could we go into any place, but we found houses, and

great concourse of people: so that 1 thlnk the town spreadeth over the

whole land.,,43 ln thls city were also to be found "Gold-Smlthes, Gun

founders, Shlpwrights, Tay/ors, Wevers, Hatters, Pot makers and AQuavitae

Still ers ... Cutlers, and Smiths. ,,44 A French Jesuit also gives his description

of thls City, as foUows:

Imagine a forest of cocon ut trees, bamboos, plneapples and

bananas, through the mldst of which passes quite a beautiful river ail

38 Ibid., 44.

39 Hall, A HlstOty of South-East Asia. 218-219.

40 H. A. R. Gibb et al. eds .• The Encyclopaedla of Islam, New Ed. (lelden:

E. J. Brill, 1980), s. v. "Atjeh," by A. J. Piekaar.
41 Reid, "Trade and the Problem of Royal Power in Aceh." 47.

42 Reid, Southeast Asla, 7.

43 Davis, Voyages and works of John Davis, 147 .

... ..
44 Ibid., 151.

ft
 100
covered with boats; put in this forest an incredible number of houses
( made of canes. reeds and bark. and arrange them in such a manner
that they sometimes form streets. sometimes separate quarters;
divide these various quartera by meadows and woods: spread
throughout this forest as many people as you see in your towns. when
they are weil populated; you will form a pretty accu rate Idea of Achen
[Aceh1 and you will agree that a city of thls new style can give
pleasure to passing strangers ....
Everythlng Is neglected and natural. rustlc and even a IIttle wlld.
When one Is at anchor one sees not a single vestige or appearancat of
a city, because the great trees along the shore hlde ail its houses.

This city was not fortified "because God had glven them stout hearts and

strong character and sound judgement ln fighting ail thelr enemies .... And

this city (negen) is not fortlfled as Is the custom of other fortifled clties
because of the very large number of war elephants in thls City.,,46

The growth of economic activities led to the development of social

classes. There is no doubt that the ruling famUy occupied the first class. As

( in the case of Malacca. the Sul!ins were also involved in trade. In the

second class there was an alite group of merchants ca 1100 Orang Kaya and

religious leaders (Cù/amà'). 80th groups were also involved in the court.

Llterally Orang Kaya means "a rlch man". This term "could be presumed to

describe that class of nobility who, other than holding hlgh officiai rank
such as that of orang besar. were dlstlnctly Influentlal and wealthy.,,47 They

also had territorial powers. administrative positions as weil as positions at

court. Augustin de Beaulieu gives a general description of the Orang Kaya :

45 Pere de Premare. S. J .• to Pere de La Chaise. Canton. 17 Feb. 1699,

in new edition of L.ertres ediflantes et curieuses, ecrites des missions
etrangeres (de la Compagnie de Jesus), vol. 16, 00. V. M. H. de
Ouerbeuf (Paris, 1780-83). 344-45, in Reid. I/The Structure of Cities."
241.
46 Iskandar, Hikayat Aceh, 175-176.

47 J. Kathirithamby-Wells, "Royal Authority and the Orang Kaya in the

( Western Archipelago. Circa 1500-1800." JSEAS, vol. XVII, no. 2
(September, 1986), 260.
 101

The Orang Kayas lived extravagantly. and following the affections of

their nature were addicted to novelties. insolent, and proud. The great
wealth their predecessors had left them, in lands and houses ln the
city, as weil as gold and silver. supported this life: no klngs have
oppressed them nor foretgn nation plundered them. The town was six
tlmes as populous as it Is at present. and so crowded that it was
difficult to move in the streets. The wealth of the Island being
scattered ln diverse hands, there was such a grest number of
merchants that there was no city in the Indies where trade so
flourlshed. Moreover there was no Alfandeque [customs office], or
other duties than that of the tlap, so that merchants could do their
business in a fortnight .... The Orangkayas had beautiful. large. soUd
houses, wlth cannons at their doors, and large number of slaves, both
as guards and servants. They went out superbly dressed. wlth large
retinues, respected by people. Such great power very much
dlmlnlshed royal authorlty, and even safety, for the principal
orangkayas had such authority and power, that when they tlred of the
domination of one king, they massacred hlm ln order to Install
another. Thus a king was very lucky if he enjoyed hls crown for two
years. If he lasted longp.r it was with such exertlon and such
obligations towards s,vIrai orangkayas, that nothlng remained of his
dignlty except the title.

The third and the fourth classes were the common people and slaves.

The trade in slaves increased with the need of manpower for trading and

labour. Before the comlng of the Portuguese to Malacca, there were a

large number of Javanese slaves in thls city. One of the weallhiest

merchants of Malacca. Utama di Raja, Is reported ta have had about elght

thousand slaves.49 Insecurity was another reason for having slaves. The

Malaccan people say that "It Is better to have slaves than to have land,
because slaves are a protection to their masters."SO Some Orang Kaya had

hundreds and even thousands of slaves.51 ln Aceh, as reported by

Beaulieu, "the king uses them [slaves] to eut wood, dig stone from the

48 Augustin de Beaulieu, "Memolres du Voyage aux Indes Orientales," p.

i
î 110-111, ln Melchlsedech Thevenot, Relations de divers voyages curieux,
1 (Paris, Cramoisy, 1664-6), ln Reid, "Trade and the Problem," 47-48.
1
l'
49 Albuquerque, The Commentaries, vol. 3, 109.
f
< 50 Groeneveldt, Hlstorical Notes, 128.
t

51 Reid, "The Stucture of Cities," 249.

 102
quarries, make mortar and build.,,52

ln the 1500's Java was the largest exporter of slaves. However, it was
not long after this time that the Island ceased to export ilS people, since
with the comlng of Islam, whlch forbade the transaction of Musllm slaves.
Therefore, Musllm klngdoms turned ta recru~t slaves from non-Musllm
areas. Aceh recrulted slaves from Nias, southern India and Arakan; Banten
and Makassar from the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands; Patanl
from Cambodla, Champa and Borneo.53

Politlcal Achlevements

The sixteenth century history of the region whlch Is now known as

Indonesia was marked by an Increase ln political actlvitles among same
( klngdoms. The phenomenon seems to have been affected by the presence

of the Portuguese ln Malacca. Kartodlrdjo saye that "the Impact of

Portuguese trade brought about an Intensification of poUtical actlvltles
among both Muslim rulers and traders.,,54

Aceh engaged ln a consistent poUtlcal pollcy by expandlng Ils power

throughout the east and west parts of Sumatra. This gave It control over
the trading actlvltles of the reglon. The abllity of Aceh to malntaln a safe

trade route in the reglon attracted Musllm traders from western Asla and
Indla, the eastern Indoneslan archlpelago and even non-Musllm traders,

such as the Chlnese who avolded Malacca because of the unsafe route ln

52 Beaulieu, Memoires du Voyage, 108, ln Reid, Southeast Asla, 135.

53 Reid, Southeast Asia, 133.
(
54 Kartodirdjo, "Religious and Economie Aspects," 193.
 103
the straits of Malacca and because of the Portuguese pOlicy of exacting
taxes.

Aceh trled to establlsh alliances wlth other Musllm klngdoms based on

Islam. It was mentioned above that these alliances could only be
establlshed for a short period of tlme, which gave the Portuguese a
poUtlcal vi ctory. Aceh won Japara in only one joint attack. The frlendly
polltlt;al relations wlth Johor and Blntan began ln 1574, after several

decades of Acehnese mlIItary campalgns against the Portuguese. But the

alliance was broken in 1682. D. K. Basset writes, "had not the Sultan of
Johore consldered the ambition of Acheh to be so Insatiable and
dangerous as to preclude the posslblIIty of an alliance with that state, there

Is UUle doubt that the portuguese garrlson at Malacca could not have
su rvived. ,,65

It was mentioned in t"e prevlous chapter that Aceh sent its

ambassador to Istanbul to bulld a close relatlonship and to ask for mlIItary

ald. This Initiative led Reid to the conclusion that it was Aceh which took

the initiative for the Ottomans' alllance.56 It seems that both rellglous

Ideals and trading Interests led the Ottomans to help Aceh. Whatever the
reasons may have been, "It was preclsely thls Atjehnese initiative whlch
drew Turklsh attention once more to the Indian Ocean, after Sulalman hnd
abandoned It in 1540.,,57

55 D. K. Basset. "European Influence ln the Malay Peninsula 1611-1786,"

JMBRAS, vol. 33, pt. 3 (1960), 16.
56 Reid, "Turklsh Influence," 409.
67 Ibid.
 104

As quoted above, the Sustan a/-Sa/a~ln mentions that the Sul!ln of

( Aceh sent a mission to Sul!in Rum (Istanbul). The Raja Rum for the Malay
and Indonesian peoples of the slxteenth century referred to the Ottoman

Sul!An. "the strongest of Musllm monarchs end heir presumptlve to the

dignlty of the Caliphate. ,,58 The memory of these relations still remalns

among the Acehnese people. who preserve It ln oral traditions. One of

those oral traditions, the most popular one, Is the story of Lada Sa-chupak
(one bamboo measure of pepper) whlch refers to Ottoman artillery.

Hikayat Meukuta A/am which is attributed to the Sul!ln Iskandar Muda

(1607-1636), tells the story as foUows:

He decided to send an envoy to Istanbul wlth money for the support

of the holy places, because the sultan of Turkey was the greatest
among Muslim rulers and had the care of the holy places. He sent
three shlps, laden wlth padl, beras and pepper respectively. But the
crew had su ch difficulties that they only reached Istanbul after three
( years, by which tlme they had eaten ail the rice. and sold most of the
pepper to support themselves. Only Sa-chupak lada remalned. The
envoys were mortlfied. but Sultan Rum was magnanlmous, and sent
them back ln state with the great cannon, which he named himself.
He also sent to Atjeh twelve pah/awans (war-leadera). These were so
skllful that they enablect Iskandar Muda to build the great fort of
Aceh. the palace. and even the famous Gunongan (more rellably
credlted to Iskandar Thanl (1637-41». Sultan Rum had advlsed
Iskandar Muda to kil! the pah/awans when they had "nlshed thelr
work. He was at first reluctant to so, but the Turks "ntYr allenated
everybody by their arrogance, and were stoned to death.

Even nowadays, thls story still remalns in the memory of Aceh people. One
of the poems in the Acehnese folk-dance tradition known as seudat,.flO
reads:

58 Ibid., 395.

59 This is Raid's phrase in "Turkish Influence," 397 which refers to T.

Mohammad Saoll, Hikajat Soeltan Atjeh Marhoem (Soeltan Iskandar
Moeda) (Batavia, 1932),3-11.
(
60 Zainuddin, Tarikh Atjeh, 219.
 105

Oeungo Ion kisah pangUma Nyak Dom.

U naggro Rum troih geubuka.
Muriam Sicupak trolh geupeuwo,
Geupeujaroe bak po meukuta

This Is the story of the Pangllma (commander) Nyak Dom,

who saUed to the land of Rum (Istanbul),
returned home wlth Sicupak artillery,
whlch was deflvered to His excellency (Sul~An).

"The diplomatie contact of the 1560's between Turkey and Atjeh," Reid

Inslsts, ·reached the hlghest levai, and was Important ln the subsequent

direction of both Turklsh and Atjehnese pollcy. It has been commemorated

ln a varlety of forma ln Malay and Atjehnese IIterature.,,61 Another memory

of thls relatlonship can be seen in the red Ottoman flag that was used ln

Aceh.62

Politlcally, the defenslve attitude of the Portuguese in every Acehnese

milltary campalgn accordlngly reduced their signifieance in the eyes of the

Malay-Indoneslan klngdoms. The Intensive poUtical activities among

Musllm klngdorns ln the archlpelago and other Musllm kingdoms in western

Asla and Indla, and the fallure of the portuguese to malntaln thelr polltlcal

relations with some Hlndu kingdoms ln Java, apparently restricted their

room for poUtleal maneuverlng. Vlekke says:

From a polltleal point of vlew, the portuguese had made tittle

progress. They had no settlements outside Malacca and the
MOlueea,. Malacca had been contlnously threatened slnce Atjeh had
become a., Important power....
Notwlthstandlng the faet that both portuguese settlements ln
Malacca and ln the MoluCC8S were continousW3 threatened, thel'
commercial actlvlty was extended more and more.

61 Reid, -rurkish Influence,· 411.

62 Anthony Reid., The Contest for North Sumatra: Atjeh, the Nether/ands
and Brita/n 1858-1898 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1969),3.
".' 63 Vlekke, Nusantara, 100.
 106
The Leading Center of ISlamie Studies
(
Uke its predecessors Pasai and Malacca, Aceh ln thls century was Ira
center of Isla mie Studies.,,64 Nevertheless, as in the case of Pasai, it is

difflcult to identify exactly the Islamie institutions that Aceh possessed. The
mosque was most probably the main center for Isfamlc studies, besldes the

Pesantren or Dayah. Mosques spread ln the reglon as weil as ln other

regions ln the archipelago. On mosque construction Reid writes:

Mosques were typlcally constructed of wood and thateh. but in the

great mosques of Melaka and Aceh at least the foundations and
outer walls were made of stone and mortar.... The Southeast Asian
mosque of the sbcteenth and seventeenth century had Its own
distinctive form, essentlally slmilar from Aceh in the west to Maluku
and Mindanao in the east. The main building was square, often with a
veranda (serambi) added on the east side, IIght walls, and (usually
four) massive wooden pillars supporting a multitiered that%% roof. A
strong masonry wall usually surrounded the whole complex.

(
Studles ln Islamic sciences were carried on by tulama', both indigenous

and foreign. Sustan a/-Sa/l!in informs us of 'illami' coming trom other

areas to Aceh. There was a ShAfi'i 'Illm of Mecca, Mu~ammad AzharT,

who taught metaphysics in Aceh. Another Meccan tillm whose name was

Shalkh Abû al-Khayr ibn Shaikh ibnf:'lJr also came to this region. He wrote

a book entitled Say( a/-QI!iC and taught film flqh (Islamic Law) in Aceh Dlr

ai-SalAm. The other was an expert in 'flm lf!D1 a/-flqh (Islamie Jurisprudence)

whose name was Shalkh Mu~ammad VamanT. A GuJarati tillm was also
reported to have come to thls reglon: he was Shaikh Mu~ammad JaylanT

Ibn t:bsan ibn M~mmad, a descendent of the Quraysh trlbe. accordlng to

64 Hall, A HistOty of South-East Asla. 216

(
65 Reid, Soutlleast Asia, 67.
 107

this sixteenth century chronicle. A member of the ShâfA school. Jaylani

taught Arabie literature (matan;, bayan and badi'), fiqh and c.f!Ü1 al-fiqh.66 The

fact that these Islamic teachers came to Aceh reveals that Aceh had good
relations with other Muslim countries in the Arab world and South Asia. The
status of the place as a center of Islamic studies and the strong
commitment of the people to Islam stimulated the Acehnese to cali their
land "the gate of the Holy Land.,,67

Islam, which "had been exerting a certain psychological and social

influence on the population, ..68 was involved in the poUtlcal arena. PolIUcal

Islam was represented by Islamic teachers who strongly opposed the royal

government. Bus!.n a/-Sa/a!;n describes the inferior character of Sul!ans

after the death of Sul!ln ':iusayn (d. 1579). The first was Raja Sri "Alam who
was portrayed as 8 bad-tempered person and who did not know how to
lead the country. After his assassination, Raja Sri tAlam was succeeded by
Sul!ln Zayn al..('AbldTn who was also portrayed as a bad-tempered figure.

Accordlngly, thls Sul!ln was also assasslnated after a few months in

power.89 The death of the Sul!An resulted ln the emergence of a non-
Indlgenous power represented by CAli' al-Din Man~l1r ShAh of Perak, who

ruled Aceh between 1579-1585. He and his famlly were brought to Aceh

after Aceh conquered his home country. Bus!ln a/-Sa/l!'n portrays this

.
Sultln as follows:

He was a very plous Sul!An, fair in his decision, and strict ln his

88 Iskandar, Bustanu's-Sa/atln, 33-34.

87 HurgronJe, The Achehnese, vol. 2, 19.
88 Werthelm, Indonesian Society, 204.

89 Iskandar, Butanu's-Sa/at;n, 32-33.

 108
commands. He who loved ~lamA'. practiced the law (shariCSh) of
( Muhammad. forbade ail his people from having alcohol and the
praCtice of cockflghting. asked ail his commanders to keep their
beards. to use robe and turban. asked ail hls people to perform the
five obllgatory prayers. fasti~ of RamadAn. recommended (sunnah)
fast. and to pay alms (zakAh). .

The situation reveals the Important role of rellglous teachers ln creatlng

a political atmosphere ln Aceh. Generally speaking. in ail Muslim klngdoms

in the archipelago, obedience to 'slamic teachings was an important

requirement for being a Sul~An. Wertheim descrlbes that "the prince,

reasonably observant as regards his religlous devotlons. the victorious

general. the properous merchant. ail of them enjoyed the backing of

Islamic law and of the officlally recognised scribes who had entered the
service of the princely authority as judges or advisers.,,71

(
B. Aceh's Motivations

The question whlch should be ralsed here Is what was the nature of

Aceh's milltary confllct with the Portuguese? It will be Interesting to begin

the discussion wlth a statement given by R. O. Wlnstedt ln hls book, A

History of Afa/aya:

It was not religion however that prompted Acheh to flght but

Portugal's insistence on monopolles and her slnking of Achlnese
vessels on their voyages to India and the Red Sea. That trade and
dynastie ambitions actuated Achinese polities 18 shown by her
attitude to the MU811m Empire of Johor. In 1540 Johor had
overwhelmed Acheh's fleet before Aru. Now ln 1684 Acheh's Sultan
not only recovered Aru but sacked the fortlfled town of Johor Lama,
removing his namesake. son of Malacca's last Sultan. to Acheh where

70 Ibid .• 33.
(
71 Wertheim. Indonesian Society. 195.
 109
he died or was murd('red. 72

It has been suggested by many scholars that Islam was brought to the
archipelago by Muslim traders from the Arab lands and India. 73 ln his
study of this issue, Cesar Adib Majul suggests two major trends in the
Muslim trading activities: the first was shown in the traders who played a
double role as merchants and religious propagators, "living in the area
permane"tly and intermarrying with the native population and eventually
inducing non-Muslems to embrace the the Faith.,,74 The second was shown

in those traders whose interest in Islamic propagation came second to

trading and political activities. The latter were much more interested in
worldly affairs and involved themselves in social activities, intermarriage
and political affairs. This is the root of the later emergence of non-native
Muslim political power in the archipelago, su ch as sa.yyids in Aceh.1 5 It
does not mean, however, that the second group was not concerned about

Islam.

It seems that the main activity of Islamic propagation was carried out
by the first group, most of whom were sufls. A. H. Johns argues that the
propagation of Islam throughout the archipelago was inltiated by sufl
organisations. He points out that Islam in the archipelago became strong ln
the form of a Muslim community (ummah) only alter the thirteenth century

72 Winstedt, A History of Ma/aya, 81.

73 S. a.Fatimi, Islam Comes to Malaysia, (Singapore: Malayslan
Soclologlcal Research Institute Ltd., 1963), 8-36.
74 Cesar Adib Majul, "Theorles on the Introduction and Expansion of Islam
in Malaysia," in International Association of Historians of Asia, Second
Biennla' Conference Proceeding (Taipei, Taiwan, October 6-9, 1962),350.
75 Ibid., 351-359.
 110
A.D. He relates this fact to the important role played by sufis in preserving
( the unity of the ummah after the fall of Baghdad at the end of the thlrteenth
century. This leads him to suggest that "the sufl movement was, ln fact,
almost identical with the Islamic world during a period of 500 years, from
the 13th to the 18th centuries, so that it Is hardly an exaggeration to speak
of a sufi period in Islamic history.,,76

ln its development, su'i Islam became stronger. Unity was a main

feature of the sufi orders and corporation (!iifSh). Johns wrltes:

For our purpose, it is possible to characterlze the sufls as they

presented themselves to the Indoneslans as follows: they were
peripatetic preachers ranging over the whole known world, voluntarily
espousing poverty; they were frequently associated wlth trade or craft
guilds, according to the order (tarikah) to which they belonged: they
taught a complex syncretlc theosophy largely famlliar to the
Indonesians, but which was subordinate to, although an enlargement
on the fundamental dogmas of Islam: they were proflclent in magic
( and possessed powers of healing; and not least, conciously or
unconciously, they were prepared to preserve continuity wlth the past,
and to Uff the terms and elements of pre-Islamlc culture ln an Islamic
context.

An Interesting feature of the sufis was that they were a dynamlc group
who were concentrated in urban areas. 78 Besldes teaching Islam, they
were also involved in economic activitles as traders and in the poUtical

structures where they lived. Even though some of them were not traders,
"they were closely associated with their trader countrymen who wielded
economlc power in ail the coastal princlpalitles.,,79 Apparently, their status

76 A. H. Johns, "Sufism in Indonesia," JSEAH, vol. 2, no. 2 (July 1961), 13.

77 Ibid., 15.

78 Ibid .• 21.
(
79 Majul. "Theories on the Introduction," 372.
 111
as traders accelerated the spread of Islam in the archlpelago, especially
. among the Hindu population which was attracted to the Islamic egalltarian
ethic and the prohibition against enslaving other Muslims.80 Political
interests also had a role in their conversion.

ln its later development, Islam became a symbol of resistance, unity

and revolution. 81 Jihad (holy war) could be declared against colonialists,
su ch as the Portuguese and the Dutch, and heathen tribes in the interior.82
Brunei, for instance, declared a holy war against its neighbour to convert
its people to Islam, as Aceh did agalnst pagan Batak in 1539.83 The rapid
development of Islam in the archlpelago led van Leur to characterize it as
the so-called "Islamic period,,84 of the archipelago, especially from the
fifteenth century to the coloniAl tlmes.

Aceh, as a Muslim kingdom in the region, showed strong resistance

agalnst colonialism. Based on the Idea that Islam was strongly
institutionalized in society, it is safe to suggest that Islam was a strong

symbol stlmulating reslstance against the Portuguese and, later, the Dutch.
Agaln, It should be mentioned here that trading Interests also played an
Important role in thelr struggle. 80 important was the trading motive that

sorne Muslim klngdoms were dlvided and eventually entered into a

trading relationshlp with the portuguese as mentioned above.

80 Weitheim, Indonesian Society, 196-198.

81 Ibid., 204-207.

82 Majul, "Theories on the Introduction," 372·373.

83 Ibid., 390-391.
84 van Leur, Indonesian Trade, 149.
 112
Another consistent policy of Aceh was shown ln thelr intensive sieges
(
of fortified Ma:acca. Johor, the main Malay and Musllm rivai of Aceh,
tended to be pragmatic. From the flrst half of the sbcteenth century,
Johor demonstrated Its enmlty toward Aceh. ~ mentloned above, Johor,
with Perak and Pahang, drove Aeeh out of Aru ln 1540. In 1547 they
appeared ln the port of Malacca to help the frlghtened portuguese agalnst
the Aeehnese, who had almost succeeded ln capturlng Malacca. A
question which should be rafsed here Is: why didn't Johor and lta ait/es
capture Malacca whlle there was a good opportunlty to attack the
Portuguese? The probable answer Is that their fear and hatred toward Aceh
overshadowed their will to recapture thelr homeland from the colonlaUsts
and overeame thelr Islamic solldarlty. In 1568, agaln. they showed up ln
Malacca to help the Portuguese. However, ln 1574 Johor became frlendly

( wlth Aeeh. It Is enough to emphaslze here that Islamlc 80Udarity was

shown by Aceh wh en a man of Perak orlgln, CAli' al-DTn Man~Or ShAh, was
appointed as the Sul!An of Aceh (1579-1585). This Is an Interestlng
character of the Acehnese people, about whom ReId states that "Aceh Is a
useful model not only because of lta historie role, but also because of its
synthetle character: a new nation owlng more to economlc and poUtleal
forces than to cosmlc tradition or ethnie soUdarlty.,,85

It Is reasonable then that Aceh had a dual purpose ln lta struggle

against the Portuguese: "to wage war agalnst the heathens (kaffr) and to
combat the portuguese as a competltor ln the spica trade ln order to
defend thelr monopollstlc position.,,86 ft la Interestlng that ln another of hls

85 Reid, "Trade and the Problem," 55.

(
86 Kartodirdjo, "Rellgious and Economie Aspects," 183.
 113

writings Winstedt says that "the Achinese were much like the Portuguese,
1~"
buccaneers. adventurers and traders with a veneer of religion .... But
Acheh, IIke Portugal, was al80 superstltlous and was full of Musllm

mlsslonsrl., mystlcs and theologlens."a7

87 R. O. Winstedt. "A History of Johore," JMBRAS, vol. 10, pt. 2

(December 1932', 19.
(

CONCLUSION

ln the course of the fifteenth century, there were aeveral small

klngdoms ln the northern part of Sumatra, namely Pasal, Pldle, Daya,
Lamurl and Aceh whlch flourished economlcally as trading centers and as
the producers of some natural resourcea, lUch al pepper, allk, gold and
benzoln. Marchants came to thls port from other areal, prlmarlly for
trading but Incldentally for the spreadlng of lalam a8 weil. Therefore, ln
tlme, thase klngdoms became known as both trading and IIlamlc centers,
partlcularly Paaal, the first place touched by Islam ln the archipelago.
Although It waa less weil known than Palal, Lamurt wal a klngdom that
allo had a long contact wlth other people. auch as Arabs. Perslans,
(
Europeans and Chlnese. It was ln th" klngdom that the great Muallm
klngdom of Aceh rose. The new Itate wal to Incorporate ail th_ 1888er
porta Into lta economlc system and to tranacend the politlcal scales of
thole prlnclpalltl. by aRumlng the role of a reglonal power and an
Important International actor ln Southeast Alla and the Indlan Ocean.

It was al80 ln the flfteenth century that Malacca amergeel as the

prlmary entrepot ln the Southeast Aslan raglon. Supported by lta
advantagaoua location on the straits. Malacca had great auCC888 ln
attractlng traders and, accordlngly, became a rlch and a colmopolltan
city, beneflttlng greatly from the Income generated from lta trade. It
replaced Paaai al the chief trading center and even as the main center for
IIlamic Itudles ln the raglon. Although Palal wa~ atlll respected a8 the
center of Islamlc studies at the tlme, Malacca played a mu ch greater role,

114
 115

especially ln its role as a place from which Islamie propagation ln the

archlpelago extended.

The Portuguese, who gained great suceess ln their exploration by

capturlng Ceuta ln 1415 and taklng Goa ln 1510, ultimately declded to
extend the trade system to Malacca ln order to control the trade route for
,picas in the Indlan Ocean from the Moluccas and aven ln the Red Sea.
The comlng of the Portuguese to the reglon resulted in profound changes
to the hlstorieal trends of Southeast Asla, since they subverted the
competition of trade then ln practice ln favour of a eontrolled system and
because they were hostile to Islam and were energetie ln converting local
populations to Chrlstlanlty.

The emergence of Aceh started ln the second and the third decade of
'" the slxteenth eentury and Is Identlfled wlth its mllitary confliet with the
Portuguese and conquest of Daya, Pidie and Pasal. This period is known
as the establishment of Aceh DAr ai-SalAm. 'AIT MughAyah ShAh was

regarded as the founder and the flrst Sul~An of thls kingdom, as mentioned

.
ln Bustin ai-SaIIOn. Some hlstorlans suggest that the comlng of the
Portuguese to the region motivated ~IT to take over the power from hls

father and to take Daya, Pidie and Pasai, where the Portuguese had
established garrlsons. 1 If thls idea can be sustalned, it must have been the
flrst impact of the portuguese on the rlse of Aceh. Economie Interests,
however, were also an Important reason for thls expansion, as evldenced
by the conquest of the rlch ports of Pidie and Pasai.

... 1 Hasjmy, Se/a,ah Kebudayaan Islam, 17-18; Ahmad, Sekita, Keradjaan

Atjeh, 36-37; Sald, Aceh, 164-165; Reid, The Contest, 2.
 116
The strategie location of Aeeh in the northern tip of Sumatra was
(
benefielal in that it rendered it a chief Intermediary station ln the trade
between Western Asia and India and the Indonesian arehipelago. Muslim
traders trom these areas avoided Malacca and opened a new route in
western Sumatra. This situation eventually enabled Aceh to control most of
Sumatra and to get involved in the Red Sea trade as weil as to strengthen
its military power. Politieal maneuvers Inltiated by Aceh with other Musllm
powers ln ln dia and the Ottoman Empire also eould not escape from belng
influenced by the presence ot the portuguese ln the region. Malaeea's
status as a center of Islamic studles was taken over by Aeeh, slnee many

'ùlama' and learned men of Malacca moved to this new kingdom as weil as
to other parts of the archipelago, sueh as Java.2 Aecordingly. these
Indications lead us to eonclude that the rise of Aeeh was mueh influenced

( by the coming of the portuguese to Malacea.3

The strong response of Aeeh to the Portuguese was shown by Its effort
to strengthen its military power by gainlng military ald from the Ottoman
Empire and other Musllm klngdoms in India. This military power was

demonstrated in its severa 1 sieges of fortlfled Malacca. Aceh. however,

never galned vlctory over the portuguese owlng to Its smaller capability in
mifitary weapons. warships and taoties compared to that of the

Portuguese. even though It had an advantage ln manpower. Aceh's mllitary

power and Its ambition to drive out the portuguese from Malacca,
nevertheless. challenged the mllitary power of the latter and forced them to
take a defensive attitude whleh eventually "reduced thelr slgnlflcance as a

2 Majul. "Theories on the Introduction," 385.

( 3 Compared with D. J. M. Tate. The Maklng of Modern South-East As/a. vol.
1 (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. 1971), 223.
 117
poUtleal force in the life of the Malay people.,,4 The sixteenth century,
partleularly the perlod between 1500-1579, showed that the relation
between Aceh and the Portuguese was excluslvely military in character.

With the fall of Malacca, Aceh became the most important trading
center ln the western part of the archlpelago for several reasons: flrstly,lt
was strategically located in the northern tip of Sumatra, whleh connected
the trading routes between west Asla and India wlth the archipelago;
secondly, a large number of Muslim merchants moved to Aceh as weil as
to other parts of the archipelago; thlrdly, it produced important resourees,
such as pepper, gOld, silk and benzoin, especlally from Pasai, Pidle and
Minangkabau; and fourthly, Aceh's military power created a safe
envlronment for trade ln the region. The economic power of Aeeh and its
Involvernent ln the splce business ln the Red Sea undermined the
Portuguese clalm to be the master of the spice trade of the reglon.

It Is reasonable then to say that Aceh, whlch trled to drive out the
portuguese from Malacca, was ambltlous for poltleal supremacy ln the
raglon. The flrst effort was taken by attemptlng poUtleal expansion. Aeeh
attaeked Batak and eonquered Aru and west Sumatra. This gave It
poUtleal, mlIItary and economlc slgnlflcanee. A diplomatie effort was
dlrected to the Ottoman Empire and other MusUm klngdoms ln Indla, an
effort whlch was motlvated by economlc reasons ln addition to Islamlc
Interests. In the archlpelago, Aceh convlnced Japara and, for a few years,
Johor to make a broad Islamlc alliance. However, the fear of some Muslim
klngdoms. su ch as Johor and Demak, toward the new power (Aeeh)

-
".
bothered the alliance. The Islamic alliance was also dlsrupted by economic

4 Basset. "European Influence," 14-15.

 118

interests as sorne Muslim kingdoms forged trade relationships with the

< Portuguese.

Aceh in the sixteenth century also emerged as the center for Islamlc
studies. The fall of Malacca. whlch was a center for rellglous studles. and

the rlse of Aceh as a strong Musllm power resulted ln the movlng of sorne
eulami' of Malacca to Aceh. Some tulaml' from other Musllm reglons also

came to thls place ln order to teach the Islamlc sciences. Islam ln Aceh,
represented by fulamA' and sufl. was active ln rellglous as weil as economlc

and poUtlcal Institutions. Jlhld was deflned as a holy war agalnst the
heathen tribes and the Infldel colonlallsts. Islam, therefore. was a motive ln

their struggle agalnst the Portuguese in addition to economlc reasons.

The sixteenth century showed the rapld development of Aceh as a

( great Muslim power ln the archipelago. Although it dld not sUCCeed ln

driving out the Portuguese, Aceh played a slgniflcant role ln counterlng the

Portuguese penetration Into the raglon and ln brlnglng Southeast Asla Into
the mainstream of Muslim world hlstory. In the words of Wilfrecl Cantwell

Smith. "In the slxteenth century the Musllm world was once agaln powerful,

wealthy, and touched with splendour. Whatever vlew he mlght take of It,

the Muslim of thls perlod -In Morocco. Istanbul, Isfahan, Agra. Acheh- was
participant ln a hlstory expansive and successful.,,5

( 5 Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Islam in Modern History. (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1977), 38.
,
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-
 126

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