The padi-snijden (rice-cutting) was the concession granted by generaal van Swieten to the bevolking of Langkroek in February–March 1874, allowing them to cut their ripe padi (rice) on the sawah adjacent to the Pedir-dijk provided they “de geweren aflegden” (laid down their rifles). Borel treats the concession as a characteristic instance of the “overdreven zachte en humane” (excessively soft and humane) war that van Swieten waged, and as a strategic error of the first order: the concession fed the enemy, allowed spies to enter the Dutch lines, and was repaid by an immediate resumption of hostilities as soon as the harvest was complete.
The Concession
The concession was granted by van Swieten in February–March 1874, after the expedition to Ketapang Doewa of 15 February 1874 had marked the end of the Dutch offensive. Van Swieten “dreef de gemoedelijkheid zelfs zoo ver” as to grant the bevolking of Langkroek permission to cut their ripe padi, provided they “de geweren aflegden.” Schildwachten were ordered not to shoot. The concession was, in van Swieten’s reasoning, a humanitarian measure: the padi was ripe, the bevolking was hungry, and the Dutch, having declared the war ended in his afscheidsrede of 23 April 1874 — “Ik beschouw den oorlog met Atjeh als geëindigd” — could afford to allow the harvest. The concession was, in effect, the agricultural counterpart of the afwachtende houding (wait-and-see posture): the Dutch would not press the enemy, and the enemy in return would not press the Dutch.
The Consequences
The consequences of the concession were, in Borel’s account, predictable and damaging. “Zoolang het padi-snijden duurde, werd werkelijk geen schot op het bivouak gelost” — as long as the padi-cutting lasted, no shot was indeed fired on the bivouak — but the truce was used by the Atjehneezen to harvest their crop, to feed their warriors, and to send spies into the Dutch lines. Many spies took advantage of the concession to enter the bivouak at Penajoeng and to reconnoitre the Dutch positions. As soon as the last bundle was harvested, the Atjehneezen “weder van alle zijden kwamen opdagen, ditmaal behoorlijk met hunne zware geweren gewapend” (reappeared from all sides, this time properly armed with their heavy rifles) and opened a “levendig vuur” (lively fire). The concession had, in effect, supplied the enemy with food and intelligence, and had given them the time to reorganise. The coordinated Acehnese massed attack on Penajoeng of 11 April 1874 — when a band of 400–500 Atjehneezen “zeer net uitgedoste” approached the omheining, intending to spring with the klewang, and thousands of others waited to rush in — was, in Borel’s implicit judgement, the harvest’s return.
Pel’s Reversal
kolonel Pel — who inherited the bezettingskorps on 26 April 1874 — reversed the policy. Pel harvested the padi for Dutch use, cutting the enemy’s food supply and feeding the bezettingskorps. The reversal was part of Pel’s broader rejection of the afwachtende houding: the daily bombardment of kampongs from 28 April 1874, the cutting of standing padi, the burning of kampongs from which the Dutch were fired on, the establishment of the Oeleh Leh post in early May 1874 — all were of a piece with the harvest of the padi. The padi-snijden concession was, in Borel’s account, the agricultural symbol of the contrast between van Swieten’s afwachtende houding and Pel’s aanvallende tactiek: where van Swieten had fed the enemy, Pel starved him; where van Swieten had allowed spies, Pel bombarded; where van Swieten had declared the war ended, Pel resumed the offensive. The lesson Borel draws is that the Atjehnese enemy — “woest, dapper, vrijheidlievend, onafhankelijk, fanatiek,” “uit eene geheel bijzondere stof gekneed” — could be subdued only by the kracht der wapens and never by proclamations, gifts, or agricultural concessions.
See Also
- Sawah
- Kappen en branden
- Jan van Swieten
- Generaal Pel
- Afwachtende houding
- Aanvallende tactiek in Atjeh
- Padi-snijden on the Langkroek sawah (1874)
- Acehnese attack on Penajoeng (11 April 1874)
- Van Swieten’s afscheidsrede (1874)
- Atjehnees volkskarakter (Borel)
- Langkroek
- 1874
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 52–54, 58, 73, 117, 124–128, 286, 294, 304.