The Battle of Paoeh of 12 March 1666 was the defeat of a Compagnie expedition under Jacob Gruys by Atjehsche and Padang rebels entrenched in the fortified village (dessa) of Paoeh in the Padangse, the worst Dutch defeat on the West Coast of Sumatra of the Painansch Contract era. Recorded in Dr. F. W. Stapel’s Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland as a sobering setback that was avenged within months by the Versprect expedition of 16 August 1666.
Background
The Painansch Contract of 6 July 1663 had been ratified in Padang, Tikoe, Priaman and Bajang by the campaign of Jacob Cau in 1664–1665. But Atjehsche influence was not extinguished. “In the years 1663 to 1665 the chiefs of the principal places on the West Coast had acceded to the Painansch contract, yet on various places of that coast there still remained Atjehers, of whom still much influence went out, especially through intimidation” (Hadden dus in de jaren 1663 tot 1665 de hoofden der voornaamste plaatsen aan de Westkust zich bij het Painansch contract aangesloten, zoo bevonden zich niettemin op verschillende plaatsen dier kust nog Atjehers, van wie nog veel invloed, vooral door intimidatie, uitging).
The Hooge Regeering judged it necessary to act against them “in order not to jeopardise the results obtained” (om de verkregen resultaten niet in de waagschaal te stellen). On 12 March 1666 an expedition under Jacob Gruys was dispatched “to attack the hiding-places of the Atjehers” (de schuilplaatsen der Atjehers aan te tasten).
The battle
Gruys learned on the Westkust that the restless elements had gathered in the fortified village of Paoeh in the Padangse. He marched against it and was heavily defeated. “He suffered a serious defeat. More than 130 Netherlands, among whom Gruys and most of the officers, lost their lives” (Hij leed een ernstige nederlaag. Ruim 130 Nederlanders, onder welke Gruys en de meeste officieren, verloren het leven).
The loss of more than 130 Dutch soldiers and officers in a single engagement was a major blow to the Compagnie’s Westkust establishment, which was always small relative to the territory it policed. The death of Gruys and most of his officers also deprived the Westkust command of much of its leadership cadre.
The Versprect revenge
Batavia responded immediately. “Immediately on receipt of this news one fitted out at Batavia a new expedition, which sailed on 16 August 1666 under Abraham Versprect” (Onmiddellijk na ontvangst van dit bericht rustte men te Batavia een nieuwe expeditie uit, die 16 Augustus 1666 uitvoer onder Abraham Versprect). The Versprect expedition “became a great success; Versprect took Paoeh and destroyed the place, which action caused the peace among the other chiefs to return” (Deze onderneming werd een groot succes; Verspreet nam Paoeh in en verwoestte de plaats, welk optreden de rust onder de andere hoofden deed wederkeeren).
The contrast between the two outcomes — the March disaster and the August triumph — is the typical rhythm of the Painansch Contract era. Atjehsche resistance on the Westkust was never strong enough to expel the Compagnie permanently, but it was capable of inflicting sharp local defeats; the Compagnie’s response was invariably a larger expedition that restored the position.
Aftermath
Shortly after Versprect’s return to Batavia, the rulers of Bajang, Indrapoera and Taroesan “transferred to the Compagnie in ownership the place Salido with the gold-rich surroundings, from the kali-Loemoepo to Painan, as well as Poeloe Tjingkoek, in the person of Jacob Jorisse Pits, the Compagnie’s head of the Westkust at Padang” (droegen de vorsten van Bajang, Indrapoera en Taroesan de plaats Salido met de goudrijke ommelanden, van de kali-Loemoepo tot aan Painan, benevens Poeloe Tjingkoek, in eigendom over aan de Compagnie, in den persoon van Jacob Jorisse Pits, ‘s Compagnies opperhoofd der Westkust te Padang). On the island of Tjingkoek a fort was now built — a tangible Dutch military footprint on the Westkust that the Painansch Contract alone could not have secured.
The fall of Paoeh thus opened the way to the cession of Salido and the construction of the Tjingkoek fort, both milestones in the consolidation of Dutch sovereignty over the southern Westkust. The battle itself was a momentary setback; its political consequence was an acceleration of Dutch territorial acquisition.
See Also
- Jacob Gruys
- Abraham Versprect
- Jacob Jorisse Pits
- Painansch Contract
- Paoeh
- Salido
- Poeloe Tjingkoek
- Taroesan
- Bajang
- Indrapoera
- Westkust van Sumatra
- Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
- 12 March
- 16 August
- 1666
Source
De Koloniën, by Dr. F. W. Stapel, in Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1931), kaart 19, blz. 17 (tekst bij blad 4: Atjeh en de Westkust van Sumatra in 1684).