Péngoeloe Si-émpat — “the four péngoeloes” — was the council of four soekoe (clan) chiefs that, alongside the Kédjoerön and the Radja Moeda, constituted the advisory and quasi-legislative body of the landschappen of the Alaslanden: Batoe Mboelan and Bambél. De Buitenbezittingen treats the Péngoeloe Si-émpat as the Alas counterpart of the Gayo tjèq’s and of the Tamiang Datoeq Ampat Soekoe — a council of four that originated as a patriarch-raadsheer (patriarchal counsellor) body of soekoe chiefs and that gradually, over the course of the nineteenth century, acquired a territorial dimension.
Origins and constitutional position
The Péngoeloe Si-émpat, De Buitenbezittingen records, originated as the four senior Péngoeloe’s soekoe of the landschap — the heads of the four principal clan-organisations of the Alas country — who served as the patriarch-raadsheer of the Kédjoerön. The Radja Tjèq of Alas|Radja Tjèq — the Sultan of Atjeh-recognised overlord of the Alas valley — reserved for himself the fourth seat in each landschap’s council, so that three of the four seats were held by Péngoeloe Si-émpat in the narrow sense, while the fourth was held by the Radja Tjèq himself or by his deputy.
Territorialisation
In the course of the nineteenth century, the Péngoeloe Si-émpat — originally the heads of soekoe’s whose members were scattered across the landschap — gradually acquired territorial authority over the soekoe members resident in particular areas. De Buitenbezittingen records that “hunner oorspronkelijke positie als overige Péngoeloe’s soekoe en patriarch-raadsheer hadden ze eerst weten om te zetten in eene, welke overeenkwam met die der tjèqs van de Gajo Loeës” — their original position as the remaining Péngoeloe’s soekoe and patriarchal counsellors, they first managed to transform into one that corresponded to that of the tjèqs of the Gayo Loeës. Each Péngoeloe Si-émpat thus came to gather under himself a number of Péngoeloes soekoe, and the tjèq-authority — originally personal and genealogical — became “meer en meer territoriaal in de door die soekoes bewoonde nederzettingen” (increasingly territorial in the settlements inhabited by those soekoes). At the time of the Dutch arrival, the handbook records, there were four Péngoeloe Si-émpat in Batoe Mboelan and three in Bambél, each with a “hoewel zeer verbrokkeld, toch bepaald aan te wijzen territoriaal gebied” — a, although very fragmented, yet definitely identifiable territorial area.
The 1914 reorganisation
The Dutch reorganisation of the Alaslanden, carried out in consultation with the kerapatan (great council) of the two landschappen, regularised the territorial positions of the Péngoeloe Si-émpat. The landschap of Poeloe Nas (formerly Batoe Mboelan) was divided into four mérga’s under the Péngoeloe si-émpat as bezoldigde hoofden (salaried chiefs): Mérga Klis under Imom Balei; Mérga Képala Dèsa under Batin; Mérga Kling Kérétan; and Mérga Tjébéro under Béntjirim. The landschap of Bambél was similarly divided: Mérga ‘ngKran under ‘ngKran; Mérga Béroeh under Biaq Moeli; Mérga Sékédang under ‘nDjaar; and Mérga Sélian under the Radja Tjèq Batoe Mboelan. The Kédjoerön retained direct administration of his residential kampong.
See Also
- Alaslanden
- Batoe Mboelan
- Bambél
- Radja Tjèq of Alas
- Kérétan
- Batin
- Béntjirim
- Mérga (Alas clan)
- Kerapatan Alas
- Datoeq Ampat Soekoe
- Tjèq (Gayo chief)
- Poeloe Nas
Source
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. 120–125.