The Death of the Sultan of Atjeh and annexation proclamation (1874) was the sequence of events in early February 1874 by which the “jeugdige sultan van Atjeh” — the young Sultan of Atjeh — died, the Indische regeering, by telegraphic correspondence between generaal van Swieten in the field and the minister of Koloniën in the Netherlands, refused to permit the installation of a successor, and by public proclamation declared that the opperbestuur over the rijk of Atjeh would thenceforth be exercised by the Dutch colonial government — a step simultaneously accompanied by the decision, taken in the same telegraphic exchange, to establish a blijvende vestiging (permanent settlement) on the conquered ground.
The Sultan’s Death
The jeugdige sultan van Atjeh died in early February 1874, within days of the fall of the Kraton of 24 January 1874. Borel does not record the precise date, nor does he speculate on whether the death was natural, the result of disease, or the consequence of the collapse of the Kraton’s defences. What is certain is that the political effect was immediate. The sultanate had, since the first expedition of April 1873, been the only recognised interlocuteur with whom the Dutch could treat. With the sultan dead and no successor recognised, “er bestond nu geen gevestigd bestuur meer” — there was no longer any established government with which to negotiate. No rijksgroot in Atjeh, Borel notes, possessed enough gezag to be a credible partner in a treaty. The Dutch government seized the moment.
The Telegraphic Exchange
By telegraph, in the first days of February 1874, the Indische regeering and the minister of Koloniën settled the future of the conquered sultanate. The decision was twofold. First, no new sultan would be allowed: the Dutch would themselves assume the opperbestuur over the rijk of Atjeh. Second, and at the same time, a blijvende vestiging — a permanent garrison and occupation — was decided upon. Borel is cautious about the political intention behind these decisions: “of men al dadelijk eene volkomen annexatie op het oog had, moet betwijfeld worden” — whether the government had from the first aimed at complete annexation may be doubted. What is clear is that the dual decision — no sultan, and a blijvende vestiging — amounted to annexation in fact, whatever the formal position.
The Proclamation
The decision was carried into effect by the public proclamation of the Indische regeering. The proclamation announced that the opperbestuur over Atjeh would be exercised by the colonial government, and that the rijk was henceforth under Dutch sovereignty. The Kraton, already occupied, was at once rechristened Kota Radja — the City of the King — and designated as the hoofdplaats of the new bestuur. The conversion of the conquered palace-fortress into the seat of a Dutch civil and military administration began almost immediately. The decision to maintain a blijvende vestiging, taken at the same moment, committed the Dutch government to the permanent occupation of the conquered ground — and so, in Borel’s account, to the conduct of the war for the next four years and beyond.
Borel’s Judgement
Borel’s verdict on the annexation is measured. He does not question the political decision — by early February 1874 the Dutch were in possession of the Kraton, the sultan was dead, and the alternative of withdrawing from the conquered ground was unthinkable after the first expedition’s “gevoelig geknakt” prestige. What he questions is the timing and the manner. The blijvende vestiging was decided before the country had been pacified, before the enemy’s army had been broken, and before the Dutch held anything beyond the Kraton itself and a thin line of communications to the sea. The proclamation of annexation thus committed the government to a military task it had not yet accomplished — and the next four years of war would be the price.
See Also
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873–1874)
- Sultan of Atjeh (d. 1874)
- Annexation proclamation of Atjeh (1874)
- Fall of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Kota Radja
- Jan van Swieten
- Van Swieten declares the Aceh War ended (1874)
- 1874
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 38, 48.