Anderson’s Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra — formally Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra in 1825 — is the British colonial report by Anderson that records the principal east-coast topography of Sumatra in the early nineteenth century, and which De Roo de la Faille draws on for the bedekte taal identification of Boeboen with the padoeka Boeboennja of the Sadjarah Malajoe, for the Javanese fortification at Deli, and for the principally Achenese population of Tamijang (i.e. Tamiang). It is the principal British colonial source for the east-coast Sumatran theatre in the immediate pre-Atjeh-oorlog period.
Topographical record
Anderson’s record of the bay of Aroe — “from Timian to Kwala Bubon the land forms a deep bay, not easily perceived from a distance, in consequence of two islands that front it” (the islands being Pulo Tampasalee and Pulo Sampa-tuah, i.e. Tampilis and Kampei) — is, De Roo de la Faille notes, “a clear description of the bay of Aroe with the teroesan between Tampilis and Kampei, and the kampong Boeboen at the river-mouth of Tandjoengpoera”. The same report records the principally Achenese population of Timian (i.e. Tamiang) — the east-coast polity whose Atjehnese population fixes it as part of the Atjehnese sultanate’s sphere in the early nineteenth century.
The Kota Djawa record
Anderson’s record (p. 293) of “remains of a Javanese fortification” along the road from Medan to Belawan, at Deli-Toewa, is the principal British colonial attestation of the Kota Djawa — the Djawaka fortification whose dedication to Putri Hijau ties it to the Atjehnese sultanate’s design on the Deli-Asahan-Aroe cultural zone.
Significance
For AcehWiki, Anderson’s Mission is the principal British colonial source for the east-coast Sumatran theatre in the immediate pre-Atjeh-oorlog period — the source on which De Roo de la Faille draws for the bedekte taal identification of Boeboen with Sjahroe’n Noewi’s padoeka Boeboennja, for the Kota Djawa at Deli, and for the Atjehnese population of Tamiang. Its record of the bay of Aroe also fixes the east-coast topography against which the Atjehnese conquest of Aroe of 1539 is measured.
See Also
- Boeboen
- Tandjoengpoera
- Aroe-baai
- Sjahroe’n Noewi
- Kota Djawa
- Puteri Idjo
- Tamijang
- Aceh Sultanate
- P. de Roo de la Faille
- Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java
Source
Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java, by P. de Roo de la Faille (Den Haag: Maart 1954), chapter “Over Sjahroe’n Noewi”, pp. 25-26, and chapter “Over Soenan Kalidjaga”, p. 29. Citing Anderson, Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra in 1825.