The kwala (Acehnese/Malay kuala) was the Atjehnese term for a river-mouth — the point at which a river or waterway entered the sea, and the natural point of access from the sea to the interior. The kwalas of Groot-Atjeh — Kwala Atjeh at the mouth of the Atjeh-rivier, Kwala Gigieng at the mouth of the Gigieng lagune, Kwala Tjangkoel at the entrance to the lagune — are the geographic features that define the strategic geography of Borel’s narrative.
The Term and Its Geographic Significance
The kwala was, in Borel’s account, the Atjehnese/Malay term for a river-mouth — the point at which a kroeng (river) or waterway entered the sea. The kwala was the natural point of access from the sea to the interior: the place where boats could enter the river, where trade could be conducted, and where military forces could be landed. The kwala was thus both a commercial and a military feature: the Dutch strategische driehoek Kwala Atjeh–Kota Radja–Oeleh Leh took its name from the kwala at the mouth of the Atjeh-rivier; the projected afsluitingslinie from the Kroeng Raba to the Kroeng Raya was intended to close the kwalas of the west and north coasts to Atjehnese trade and contraband.
The Kwalas of Groot-Atjeh
The kwalas of Groot-Atjeh are the geographic features that define the strategic geography of Borel’s narrative. Kwala Atjeh at the mouth of the Atjeh-rivier was one corner of the strategische driehoek — the point at which the river communication from the sea reached the Dutch vestiging. Kwala Gigieng at the mouth of the Gigieng lagune on the north coast was the eastern end of the projected afsluitingslinie; it was reached by lt.-kol. Engel’s colonne on 26 February 1876, and a post was established there to seal the gemeenschap between sea and the mouth of the Kroeng Tjoet. Kwala Tjangkoel was the waterway into the lagune; ships passing it were under Toekoe Nanta’s artillery at Lampanti, Lamti and Sabang until those were reduced. The Kroeng Raba-baai on the west coast was the projected western end of the afsluitingslinie; the landing of the Padangsche brigade there — proposed by generaal Verspijck and rejected by van Swieten out of “vrees” — was, in Borel’s account, the missed opportunity of the second expedition. The kwalas of the vassal coastal states — Pasangan, Simpang Olim, Edi, Gedoeng — were the points through which the Atjehneezen received hulpbenden, wapens and levensmiddelen from their allies.
The Closure of the Kwalas
The closure of the kwalas of Groot-Atjeh was, in Borel’s account, the strategic objective of Pel’s plan: the afsluitingslinie from the Kroeng Raba on the west coast to the Kroeng Raya on the north coast would isolate Atjeh from the sea and reduce it to a binnenstaat. The plan was approved by gouverneur-generaal van Lansberge in the second half of 1875, but was interrupted by Pel’s sudden death on 24 February 1876 and never completed. The closure of the Kroeng Tjoet mouth — achieved by the establishment of posts at Kwala Gigieng and on the eiland Kota Pohama in the lagune in February 1876 — was the most significant single step; the Kroeng Tjoet had been the major contraband supply channel giving access to the XXVI Moekims. The sea-expedition to the mouth of the Kroeng Raya, later undertaken under generaal Diemont’s administration by kolonel van der Heijden, led to “geene bevredigende uitkomst” and did not link up with the Tongah–Kwala Gigieng line. The kwalas thus remained, in Borel’s account, the unfinished business of the Atjeh-oorlog: the strategic objective that Pel’s death had interrupted and that the afwachtende houding of his successors had not resumed.
See Also
- Kroeng
- Kwala Atjeh
- Kwala Gigieng
- Kwala Tjangkoel
- Kroeng Raba
- Kroeng Raya
- Kroeng Tjoet
- Strategische driehoek (Atjeh)
- Pel’s plan for the Atjeh line
- Toekoe Nanta
- Generaal Verspijck
- Luitenant-kolonel Engel
- 1875
- 1876
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 22, 65, 82, 93–95, 103–104, 112–113, 121, 125, 132, 176, 214, 253, 263, 288, 298, 314, 323, 327.