Gampong

Properties3
descriptionThe Acehnese village — the fundamental social and political unit of Acehnese society, led by a keuchi' and teungku meunasah, containing a meunasah (chapel) as its communal heart.
tagsconcept, government, social-structure, achehnese, adat, administration, settlement, term, indonesian, identity, ambonese
aliasesKampong, Acehnese Village, Atjehsche gampong, Kampong / kamponggemeenschap, kamponggemeenschap, village, village community, Negorij, negeri, home community

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Gampong (from Malay kampong) was the fundamental social, political, and religious unit of Acehnese society — the village. All Acehnese social life was organised around the gampong, which combined the functions of a residential community, a political unit with its own leadership, and a religious congregation.

Leadership

Each gampong had two principal leaders:

The Keuchi’ (keuëchi’) — the village headman (keuchik), responsible primarily for maintaining the customary law (adat) and the worldly affairs of the gampong, though promotion of godly living was also regarded as part of his duty.

The Teungku Meunasah — the “mother of the gampong,” responsible for upholding the Islamic law (hukom). The title of teungku was applied both to the leubë (faithful observer of religious obligations), the haji (one who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca), the malém (one with some knowledge of holy books), the além (one who has brought his studies to perfection), the ulama (authority on religious law), and the sayyid (descendant of Mohammed).

The Meunasah

The physical heart of every gampong was the Meunasah — the village chapel, serving simultaneously as a sleeping-place for men, a rest-house for strangers, a house of prayer, and a place of assembly for village affairs. Village festivals were held there, marriage contracts concluded, and affairs of the gampong debated. A person of rank arriving unexpectedly in a gampong would go first to the meunasah and from there announce his arrival.

Communal Character

Every gampong constituted a recognised social entity with collective rights and responsibilities. All members of a kawom (clan) were jointly and severally liable as concerns bila (blood money), so that a blood-feud might keep two clans in a state of mutual hostility for years. The uleebalang was responsible for the external affairs of his territory — a collection of gampongs — while internal gampong affairs were managed by the keuchi’ and teungku.

Prominent Gampongs

The most important gampongs in the vicinity of the capital Banda Acheh included: Gampong Jawa, Pande, Pennayong, Lam Bhu’, Lueng Bata, Lam Seupeuëng, Ateuëng, Batoh, and Meura’sa. Their inhabitants were distinguished by the epithet banda (“town-bred”). All others who spoke their own local dialects were called dusön (countrified).

Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Gampong

The gampong was the smallest territorial and administrative unit of Groot-Atjeh and the foundation on which the entire superstructure of Acehnese native government rested. De Buitenbezittingen calls it “de kleinste territoriale eenheid” and follows Prof. Dr. Snouck Hurgronje’s account in De Atjehers, Vol. I (pp. 61 e.v.), in treating the gampong as the “hoeksteen” — cornerstone — of the Inlandsch Bestuur in Atjeh. Its three-headed administration — the Keutjhï (with one or more waki’s), the Teungkoe, and the Oereuëng toeha — embodied the dual principle of adat and hoeköm that ran through all Acehnese political life.

Origins

Drawing on Snouck Hurgronje, the handbook argues that the gampong grew out of an older genealogical settlement — the kawöm (clan) — so that “oudtijds eene gampong eene kawöm of een onderdeel daarvan bevatte” (originally a gampong contained a single kawöm or a portion thereof). With the rise of the oelèëbalangs as territorial lords, the kinship-based panglima kawöm gave way to a village headman who “zag het meeste van de oude adat kawöm… getransformeerd tot adat gampong” — saw most of the old clan custom transformed into village adat. The transformation produced an unusually “hechte sterke gemeeneenheid” — close and strong community — whose cohesion underwrote the whole Atjehsche system.

Three-headed administration

The gampong was governed by three elements: the Keutjhï with one or more waki’s (deputies); the Teungkoe (also called Teungkoe meunasah, from the village prayer-house or meunasah); and the Oereuëng toeha (literally “old men,” also oereuëng thjiʼ or oereuëng pata), the elders who were consulted on every important matter. The Keutjhï was the “vader der gampong”; the Teungkoe its “moeder”; the two offices balancing adat and hoeköm in a single communal order. The meunasah itself served not only as a prayer-house but as a men’s dormitory for unmarried youths, transient visitors, and husbands whose wives lived elsewhere — the same institution, the source notes, as the langgar, bale, or tadjoeq of Java.

Significance

Although the Keutjhï lacked any formal judicial authority — “geenerlei rechtsmacht,” notes the source, for all serious cases had to be sent up to the oelèëbalang — his role as intermediary, mediator, and representative of his community’s interests was indispensable. The handbook concludes that the gampong and its administration “den hoeksteen vormen van het Inlandsch Bestuur in Atjeh” and “moet blijven vormen” — must continue to form — the cornerstone of native government in Atjeh.

Account from Atjèh by J. Kreemer (Deel II)

Kreemer provides the following account of the gampöng as the smallest political unit in Groot Atjèh.

The gampöng (also called saböh meunasah, “a mosque-ground”) was composed of four “corners” (peuët sagöë gampöng):

  1. Keutjhi — the village head (“father” / koe / eumbah), hereditary (toeroen-moeroen), the “old one”
  2. Teungkoe meunasah — the village religious (“mother” of the village), hereditary office, cares for the meunasah
  3. Oereuëng toeha — the elders, men of experience, wisdom, good manners, and adat-knowledge
  4. Oereuëng leu — the multitude, the “children”

The keutjhi was the village head — the “father” or “old one” of the gampöng. The office was hereditary (toeroen-moeroen), with the oldest son preferred. He must be keutjhi asaj (from an old keutjhi family), otherwise scorned as keutjhi barö (new keutjhi). Generally unsalaried.

The teungkoe meunasah was the village religious — the “mother” of the village. The office was hereditary. The teungkoe meunasah cared for the meunasah, collected djakeuët and pitrah, conducted marriages, performed meuhatam, lijkbezorging, ritual slaughter, adhan at births. Often unlettered (“leubè pateuën”). Income: shares of djakeuët/pitrah, ha gatib, idja peukréng, ha teuleukin, etc.

The oereuëng toeha (“old ones”) were the village elders — men of experience, wisdom, good manners, and adat-knowledge. Their number was indeterminate (ideally four, toeha peuët). One was the waki — the keutjhi’s right-hand. Together with the keutjhi and teungkoe, they attempted amicable settlement (peugèt / poebla) of disputes.

Within the gampöng, members of one kawöm (clan) living together chose a panglima kawöm to manage their common interests, especially bila (blood revenge) affairs. The panglima kawöm was confirmed by the Oelèëbalang, who gave him a set of clothes and weapons (seunalén).

Additional account from Beginselen en Stelsel (1950) — the gampong as territorial community

B. ter Haar BzN, in his Beginselen en Stelsel van het Adatrecht (first ed. 1939; 4th ed. 1950), cites the atjehse gampong (meunasah) as a typical example of a territorial community — a community in which the genealogical factor, “de genealogische faktor, de verbondenheid der personen krachtens gemeenschappelijke afstamming” (the genealogical factor, the connectedness of persons by virtue of common descent), has no significance. Such communities are, Ter Haar writes, “talrijk” (numerous) in the archipelago: “de javaanse, soendase, madoerese en balise désa, de atjehse gampong (meunasah), de dorpen in het maleise gebied en op Bangka en Belitoeng, een deel der streekgemeenschappen van Zuid-Sumatra, de dorps- en steekgemenschappen van Zuid-Celebes, de negorijen van de Minahasa en die van Ambon.” The gampong is thus placed by Ter Haar within the typology of Indonesian village communities as a territorial — not a genealogical — community, on a par with the désa of Java and the negorij of Ambon.

The placement is significant for the legal characterisation of the gampong: as a territorial community, the gampong admits of the accession of newcomers by residence and acceptance, and the genealogical descent of its members is not a criterion of membership. “Is echter eenmaal iemand van elders in het adatverband opgenomen,” Ter Haar writes of such communities generally, “dan heeft hij dien-ten-gevolge de volle lasten te dragen en heeft hij de volle rechten der genoten” — once someone from elsewhere is taken up into the adat-verband, he has, in consequence, the full burdens to bear and the full rights of the genoten (community-members). The territorial character of the gampong is thus, in Ter Haar’s account, the legal foundation of its openness to the accession of newcomers — a feature that distinguishes it from the genealogical communities (such as the Gajo and the Batak clans) in which membership is determined by descent.

Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)

Under H. N. A. Swart the oelèëbalangs “were supported and gradually returned to their villages”; Lamster described the endless work of administrators and patrols “to bring improvement in the condition of the neglected and unhygienic villages* (“villages”)” and the replacement of muddy paths with gravelled paths planted with shade trees. Swart’s own principle was blunt: “before all else it is necessary that the villages, houses and yards be kept properly clean and that practical hygiene be applied.” Many of the incidents of the pacification turn on the gampong: the murder of T. Béntara Titeuë’s coconut dispute, the maloe of the young Acehnese “tegenover zijn gampong (“village”)”, the population of gampong Blang delivering up Tgk. di Atjèh Ma’ Amin in December 1909.

Sources

Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L., by G. W. T. Dames, Maj. Inf. K.N.I.L. b.d. (‘s-Gravenhage: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1954), chapter “Van recruut tot pensioen” and chapter “Tangsi en Tante.” Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L., by G. W. T. Dames, Maj. Inf. K.N.I.L. b.d. (‘s-Gravenhage: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1954), chapter “Van recruut tot pensioen.”

Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 43, 64, 88, 333, 363, 370.

See Also

Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu

Atjehnese village. The ‘gampong-bevolking’ (village population) is sober with few needs. Gampong-geluiden (village sounds) include the rhythmic pounding of rice. Gamponghuisjes (village houses) are generally primitive and dirty.gampong-lieden (villagers) gather at a tree in the sawahAcehnese village settlement; most households have pinangboomen on their erf; cattle brought back togampong stalls for sawahSmallest territorial and legal community in Atjeh, headed by akeutjhi’ (or peutoeha in the onderhoorigheden). A keutjhi’ is assisted by a wakil (deputy) and consults a college of elders (moepakatAcehnese village; smallest administrative unit.Gampong Tirò in Pidië known for many wet-geleerden and schools of the holy sciences; also a vrijplaats (sanctuary).

Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 43, 64, 88, 333, 363, 370.

Source

The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906. Chapter I, §§ 2, 5, pp. 23–80.

De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 39–42. Citing C. Snouck Hurgronje, De Atjehers, Vol. I, pp. 61 e.v., 79.

Beginselen en Stelsel van het Adatrecht, door Mr. B. ter Haar Bzn. Vierde ongewijzigde druk. Groningen, Djakarta: J. B. Wolters, 1950. Pp. 17 (gampong as territorial community), 32 (accession of newcomers).

Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Tweede Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1923. Identifier: Delpher MMKB02B:000001798.

Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), Chapter XI–XIII.

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