Kawan (Malay/Acehnese for “comrade, companion”) was the term used within the Korps Maréchaussée for the ordinary maréchaussées — the rank and file — in the corps’s internal hierarchy of Acehnese titles recorded by W. J. Mosselman.
Place in the hierarchy
In the Maréchaussée-vocabulaire the officers were Oeleuhbalangs, the European non-commissioned officers Toekoes, the indigenous sergeants Panglima’s, the corporals Keutjih’s and the men Kawans. Each Toekoe disposed of one Panglima, one Keutjih and seventeen Kawans.
Seniority among the kawans
Mosselman recorded that among the kawans themselves “voerde de eerbied voor den oudere in dienstjaren den boventoon” — respect for the man senior in years of service predominated — a principle of natural authority operating alongside the formal military hierarchy and contributing, in his account, to the corps’s distinctive discipline.
In Mosselman’s memoir
Mosselman addressed his memoir in the 1930 jubilee number directly to his former kawans: “mijn bedoeling was slechts te schrijven tot en over mijn oude kawans” — my intention was only to write to and about my old kawans. He named among them Kromodimedjo, Sarpan, Diroen, Patty, Wattimena, Limba, Wokas, Mamahit, Sengkey and Mioen.
See Also
- Maréchaussée-vocabulaire
- Korps Maréchaussée te voet in Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- W. J. Mosselman
- Brigade (Maréchaussée)
Source
Het Korps Maréchaussée in Atjeh: De Atjehsche Garde, 1890 - 2 April 1930, Extra Jubileum-nummer of Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië issued for the fortieth anniversary of the corps (1930), pp. 1-16. Offprint DLP-143, Bibliotheek KITLV, accession 621 116 794.