Kling, Pedireezen and Toenongers were the principal ethnic and regional designations applied by Achehnese and Dutch observers to the foreign and regional components of the Achehnese resistance in the Atjeh-oorlog as described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96. The Kling — in Achehnese usage, a foreign Muslim, usually of Indian (often Tamil or Hadhrami Arab) origin — denoted the transnational Muslim presence in Aceh, exemplified by the “kling” Habib Lhong. The Pedireezen — people from Pedir, a region on the west coast of Aceh — were a regional subgroup often employed as mercenaries, stationed at Bt. Kesoemba and explicitly tolerated or rejected by other Achehnese leaders. The Toenongers — people of the XXII Moekims — were a regional subgroup whose territory was “by the Atjehers steadily considered as the heart of Groot-Atjeh” and was the source of hostile bands. Together these terms delineate the multi-ethnic and regional composition of the Achehnese resistance.
Etymology and Meaning
The three terms have distinct origins. also kling-kling, keling is a Malay/Acehnese term of debated etymology — most probably from Kalinga, the name of an ancient Indian kingdom on the Coromandel coast, applied in the archipelago to any Indian Muslim (and sometimes more broadly to any foreign Muslim). In Achehnese usage the term had a pejorative tinge but was also applied neutrally to Indian Muslim traders and holy men, including the habibs of Hadhrami Arab origin (whom Achehnese usage sometimes conflated with Indian Muslims). Pedireezen is a Dutch compound: the west-coast Acehnese region of Pedir + the Dutch plural suffix for ethnic/regional demonyms, from eeze = “ish”, as in Amsterdameezen. The Pedireezen are “people from Pedir”. Toenongers is similarly: an alternative name for the XXII Moekims region + the Dutch plural suffix. The Toenongers are “people of Toenong” — i.e., of the XXII Moekims.
Historical Context
In the first semester of 1896 the three terms delineated the principal ethnic and regional components of the Achehnese resistance. The Kling component — exemplified by den kling Habib Lhong and the other Habibs (Habib Lengkong, Habib Samalanga, Habib Koeala van Pedir) — brought transnational Islamic legitimacy and Hadhrami/Arab networks to the resistance, reinforcing the framing of the war as sabil Allah. The Pedireezen — mercenaries from the west-coast region of Pedir, stationed at Bt. Kesoemba — were a hired military component whose presence was contested among Achehnese leaders: Ketjig Bintang van Lam Loempoer “threatened to withdraw if Pedireezen were tolerated”. The Toenongers — the people of the XXII Moekims, the “heart of Groot-Atjeh” — were the source of the most determined hostile benden, including those of Panglima Polim and the principal oelamas Teungkoe Koeta Karang and Teungkoe Tanah Abée. The three groups — foreign Muslim, west-coast mercenary, and heartland Achehnese — together composed the multi-ethnic resistance that the Dutch faced in the spring of 1896.
Examples in the Source
Kruisheer’s principal references include: den kling Habib Lhong — the explicit identification of Habib Lhong as a foreign Muslim (page 244). The Pedireezen — mercenaries from Pedir stationed at Bt. Kesoemba (page 182); the threat of Ketjig Bintang van Lam Loempoer to withdraw if Pedireezen were tolerated (page 143). The Toenongers — people of the XXII Moekims, the “heart of Groot-Atjeh”, source of hostile pages 82, 148, 158, 165, 244. The kling label as applied to other Habibs — Habib Lengkong, Habib Samalanga, Habib Koeala van Pedir (Said Anajatoellah) — implicitly. The Pedir region as a source of resistance fighters more broadly — the report of Radja Pakeh of Pedir supporting Toekoe Bentara Tjoemboeg with 150 men (page 147). The Habib Abdoellah Paroembé of the Westkust, joining Umar’s coalition (page 244).
Significance
The three terms — Kling, Pedireezen, Toenongers — together delineate the multi-ethnic and regional composition of the Achehnese resistance, and thus the strategic problem facing the Dutch. The resistance was not a unitary “Achehnese” force but a coalition of foreign Muslim volunteers (Klings/Habibs), regional mercenaries (Pedireezen), and heartland Achehnese (Toenongers), each with its own motivations, chains of command, and political constraints. The Dutch attempt to detach individual hoeloebalang from this coalition — and to play off the regional subgroups against each other — was a sustained strategic effort. The survival of the Kling label in colonial-era Achehnese Malay — and the persistence of the Pedir and Toenong regional identities into modern Acehnese politics — testify to the enduring importance of these ethnic and regional distinctions.
Account from Het recht op den grond in Atjeh (D. W. N. de Boer, 1931) — non-indigenous cultivators and the right of avail
D. W. N. de Boer recorded that the Atjehnese beschikkingsrecht (right of avail over waste land) applied with markedly greater strictness to non-indigenous cultivators than to Atjehnese. He named two groups: the Chineezen (Chinese) and the Kingaleezen — the South Indian Muslims of the Kling designation — writing with characteristic caution of “niet-inheemsche Inlanders, resp. niet-Inlanders,” non-indigenous natives, or non-natives as the case might be.
Such a settler was obliged not merely to pay the haq radja taléë, as an Atjehnese clearer was, but in addition to enter into the thiplah-tano contract — literally “half of the land,” Malay sebelah tanah. Against receipt of a pangkaj (starting capital) consisting of a buffalo, the necessary seed, and a belandja of twenty guilders as an advance for provisions, he bound himself to cede to the radja either half of the ground he cleared or, each year, half of the half-crop; half of the belandja had itself to be repaid in instalments. So far as rice fields were concerned the contract was granted only if the immigrant undertook to work a minimum area of five naleh of seed, about 8,000 square metres or 0.8 hectare.
Against these burdens stood a substantial advantage: half of the cleared sawah became the “property” of the clearer, so that on departure he might even sell that half, being obliged only to grant the radja concerned a right of preference.
De Boer added in a footnote that alienation of land to “persons not belonging to the indigenous population” had since been taken in hand by the Gouvernement, under article 15 sub I in conjunction with article 29 sub 3 of the Zelfbestuursregelen, referring also to Politiek Beleid, pp. 111 ff. and 233 ff.
See Also
- Habib
- Panglima Polim
- XXII Moekims
- Pedir
- Habib Lhong
- Habib Koeala van Pedir
- Ketjig Bintang van Lam Loempoer
- Sabil Allah
- Kafir
- Thiplah tano
- Beschikkingsrecht in Atjeh
- Haq radja taléë
- Het recht op den grond in Atjeh (De Boer)
Source
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 82, 143, 147, 148, 158, 165, 182, 244.
Het recht op den grond in Atjeh (“The Right to the Soil in Atjeh”), by D. W. N. de Boer, dated Scheveningen, November 1931, pp. 59-80. Offprint DLP-141, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, ‘s-Gravenhage; Bibliotheek KITLV accession 0060 4460 60 081470 428.